Originally Posted By juicer Does anyone remember a former dark ride ar San Francisco's Fishermans Wharf - called "The San Francisco Experience"? It had a fun theme song that I would like to hear again - Can anyone help me? Thank you
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I know I did The San Francisco Experience, but unfortunately remember absolutely nothing about it. I thought someone might have a video on YouTube, but I found nothing. A Google search turned up nothing either (although I only looked for a few minutes.) Good luck. I hope you find something because my curiosity is piqued.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I remember it well. It was created by Sid & Marty Krofft, of "HR Pufnstuf" and "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" fame. Itwas a very good dark ride that took you, via a little cable car, through San Francisco's history -- the gold rush, through the great quake of '06 and into modern day SF. It was all set to music, like it's a small world. I had a little 45 rpm record of the song. I can't seem to find it online, which is surprising, but it began with "San Francisco, San Francisco, out on San Francisco Bay..." I can remember the melody, but you can't hear me humming, can you? ; )
Originally Posted By DlandDug Amazing how profoundly something can disappear! I remember seeing the promotional pieces on the front of the building for this back when I was a kid visiting Fisherman's Wharf. My grandpa was too cheap to take me and my cousin in, though. That would have been in the early 1970s. "Old San Francisco" is gone today... but after some really excruciating sleuthing on line (really!), here is a YouTube video of the film loop that used to run outside the old Wax Museum on Fisherman's Wharf. It is almost all about the Museum, and is being delivered by "Merlin," a barker figure. But at 4:48 should be nirvana (of sorts), as you are treated to various scenes of the trolley ride, as well as the theme song. Unfortunately, the song is played behind the narration, with only a short reprise of "San Francisco, San Francisco, out on San Francisco Bay..." clearly reprised at the very end. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62gJtTUYf5U" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...JtTUYf5U</a> P.S. While this piece does claim that the attraction was created by Sid and Marty Krofft, there is not a single mention of it in any Krofft bios or fan tributes. Very odd...
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Thanks for that Dug, it brought back some childhood memories. And also shows that if Disney had used their own take on the SF ride, DCA could have had something truly awesome.
Originally Posted By juicer OMG - Thank you DlandDug! I think the song is pretty good I almost thought I dreamed it - lol
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Well done, Dug!!! But boy, did it ever look better in my mind's eye. Wow, for some reason, I remember it being much more elaborate and with better effects. I will therefore ammend my statement above from "it was a very good dark ride" to "it was an okay dark ride." (I blame it on the fact that back in the 70's, I was starved for Disney entertainment.)
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Amazing how profoundly something can disappear! << I know, you get used to just Googling (or Yahooing or Binging) and getting way more than you could ever want to know about just about anything. Then something like this, that was there for years and... almost nothing. And how strange is it that nowhere on anything about Sid & Marty Kroftt is this even mentioned in passing.
Originally Posted By Daannzzz Actually wasn't "The San Francisco Experience" the mixed media presentation they had down there. We did this once and it was not a regular theater but tables with tall flashy bar stools and a "Movie screen" made out of a material that was stretched different directions. The presentation was all about SF and had some in theater effects (bubbles).
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Wow, I'm with Kar2oonMan. My memory of this attraction has been much kinder than the actual footage. Yikes! Great find, though, DlandDug -- thanks.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Seems like the attraction was called 'The Enchanted World of San Francisco.'
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Mine must be a repressed memory, because those pics make it look like a nightmare.
Originally Posted By DlandDug It is likely there were two very different attractions-- the San Francisco Experience, and the Enchanted World of Old San Francisco. The way I finally found this was to Google "san francisco" and "dark rides." (After a lot of other searches!) This led to some discussion threads on other sites, one of which included the link.
Originally Posted By Mickeyfan1 Oh my gosh, I had fogotten all about that attraction in San Francisco. It sure brought back some memories. Very sad, much like all the things that Knotts' has taken out. Sometimes the simpler things were the best. Thanks for posting this link Dug!
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes I remember the Sid and Marty dark ride at the wharf, and there was a theater style attraction with several effects in the theater (much like EO)at Ghirardelli Square. I thought the one at Ghirardelli was "The San Francisco Experience". It was all too long ago for me to remember any of this clearly. The dark ride was very expensive for what you got, so I think I only did it once. The theater show was much better and I saw that several times.
