I'm writing this message in the wee hours of September 9, 1998. A couple of hours ago, at 11:15 PM on Tuesday, September 8, I was one of the privileged few who took the final Submarine Voyage aboard sub #301, the Nautilus.

This unique attraction was opened by Walt Disney on June 6, 1959 as part of expansion of Disneyland that included such attractions as the Matterhorn and the Monorail. Until 1985, the eight submarines were gray. Then, the attraction was rethemed slightly and some of the subs were renamed.

Before the park opened on Tuesday, a decommissioning ceremony took place. All throughout the day, guests took their last rides of the subs, taking pictures and taking mementos such as cups of water.

There are 38 seats for guests in each sub, and there were more than that many guests trying to get on the last sub after the 9 PM closing of the park. Triton was the last sub to carry guests around the 1365 foot course, which miraculously transported passengers past sea life, under the North Pole, over mermaids, through the sunken ruins of Atlantis, and around a sea serpent, all in about 10 minutes.

Afterwards, cast members where able to take their last rides. Once the line of cast members was cleared out, one last sub was filled with Voyage cast members, a handful of others (including me, Roberta - from Disneyland Facilities, and Tony Baxter - from Walt Disney Imagineering, of course).

Tony had worked the attraction while he was a ride operator at Disneyland, and can recite the spiel of those days by heart. He watched as others preceded him in their last voyages, chatting with cast members and reminiscing. Designing Disney parks is not just a job for this guy. He cares about the guest experience and is very sentimental about historical attractions such as this one.

Most of us sat quietly and reverently as we took our last trip. Tony sat to my left, leaning into the window, soaking up the experience. Roberta sat next to him. We cheered as we went under the falls (turned on for this trip) one last time. We laughed when the recorded captain's voice advised "Mr. Baxter" to check the air pressure. We applauded as the ride came to an end at about 11:25 PM. Most of the people stayed around to chat more and take pictures.

The attraction did show signs of age, and people do have differing reactions to the closing of the ride, from anger to indifference, but just about everyone is in agreement about this: we hope that Walt Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney Attractions, (and maybe Walt Disney Feature Animation, too), work together to bring Disneyland guests a great new experience in the not-too-distant future.