The OmnIcon of the Realm of the Deep
The Pequod's main entryway
The Realm of the Deep took guests onboard an enormous submarine that explored the greatest depths of the ocean.
Although the Realm's theme and aesthetics borrowed heavily from Jules Verne's novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (and from the Walt Disney film of that name), Dalton Teague always claimed his primary inspiration had been Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick.
And while the Realm as a whole did have a 20,000 Leagues ambiance, Teague's Moby Dick influences are equally pervasive -- from the Captain who narrates the Realm's main attraction, to the Natntucket family portraits in the Crew Cafeteria, to the fact that the submarine itself is named the Pequod, after the ship on which Moby Dick takes place.
Realm Layout and Design
Unlike the other six Realms, which were set in static locations, the environment of the Realm of the Deep was designed to simulate an ongoing voyage on an enormous submarine, the Pequod. Guests arrived at the Realm by entering a small "submersible," which took a "dive" far beneath the surface of the sea, simulated by decreasing light levels and noisy bubble effects outside its windows. When the submersible "docked" about 60 seconds later, an "airlock" was sealed by the Pequod's crew members, and guests were free to disembark into the Realm's main entry chamber.
The Captain's Table Restaurant, circa 1979
The Pequod's interior design was a blend of Steam Age and Atomic Age aesthetics: its walls were composed of thick iron plates secured by riveted support beams. Water-refracted light beams danced along corridors.
To make this simulation as immersive as possible, the Realm's hallways would undergo unpredictable vibrations, complete with metal-creaking sound effects. The Pequod would also periodically "dive" or "rise," causing floors throughout the realm to tilt slightly, and interior light levels to subtly change.
Hallways opened off from both sides of the Realm's main entryway. Along the left hallway, guests could wander freely through several Control Rooms packed with intricate panels and readouts. This hallway also contained the Captain's Table restaurant, where guests could dine on poached salmon, broiled tuna, calamari, and other seafood "freshly caught by the Pequod's own crew."
The Map Room shop
(Note: This eatery was originally named the "Mess Hall" at OmniPark's 1977 opening, but park management quietly rebranded it in March 1978, upon realizing that few guests were dining at a restaurant with the word "mess" in its name [citation needed]).
The right hallway branched off into the Map Room shop, where guests could inspect (and purchase) nautical maps, sextants, astrolabes, lodestones, and other artifacts from many eras of seafaring; along with Realm-themed souvenirs.
This hallway also contained the Generator Rooms, where guests could explore chambers of whirling machinery, along with tanks containing a variety of mysterious glowing, bubbling fluids.
A young park guest stands in one of the viewing chambers, circa 2001
Toward the "fore" ends of both hallways, guests could enter the Underwater Viewing Chambers. In a unique design concept, these spherical chambers extended out into enormous saltwater aquariums. Livestock in these saltwater tanks included hammerhead and tiger sharks, giant manta rays, yellowfin tuna, and innumerable smaller marine species. The lighting was designed to prevent guests from seeing the tanks' walls, and water flow was carefully engineered to create the illusion of a limitless open ocean.
Upon entering the Viewing Chambers, guests stood on transparent plexiglass panels of approximately 400 square feet (the size of a two-car garage), which were mounted at the center cross-section of each sphere. This 360-degree transparency created a startling effect of complete immersion in the underwater environment, as marine creatures swam not only in front of guests (as in a conventional tourist aquarium) but also above, beneath, and behind them.
On the Foredeck of the submarine, guests could take in a more traditional wide-window view of the aquarium, behind the Pequod's main navigation panels: a vast complex of mysterious screens, buttons, gauges, levers, and dials, where several crew members could often be seen busily at work. The Foredeck also contained the line entrance to the Realm's main attraction, crowned by a brightly colored sign that beckoned guests to ride "Mariana Trench Dive: An Undersea Encounter."
Attraction: Mariana Trench Dive
1999 Publicity art for Mariana Trench Dive, featuring the Fisherman
Unlike most rides at OmniPark, this attraction was based not around two-person ride vehicles, but around a single "submersible" chamber capable of accommodating 30 guests per ride. It was narrated by the Fisherman: an old sailor who explained that he'd sailed all around the world netting and killing fish, but had decided to devote the remainder of his life to a new quest: exploring the deep sea and cataloguing its inhabitants.
Once the Fisherman had introduced himself, the submersible embarked on the first of a series of "dives" -- simulated through a combination of vibrations, light changes, and bubble effects similar to those used in the submersible ride by which guests arrived at the Pequod -- then followed a steel track through an area of a vast saltwater aquarium where guests could peer out the portholes at bizarre marine creatures.