Paradise Pier: Maliboomer!

When it came to the massive California Adventure expansion/re-theming project, not all of the modifications were additions. While rides such as California Screamin’ received cosmetic upgrades and Toy Story Mania filled a void left by various deep-fried foods, not all rides made the cut.

Enter the Maliboomer.

Maliboomer was located on the Southwest side of the lagoon, very close to the present day Mickey’s Fun Wheel. The ‘Boomer was a reverse drop experience, rather it would shoot you straight up in the air at about 40 MPH. The ride had the separate towers and three separate propulsion systems, so this helped in keeping the guest lines to a reasonable wait.

Interestingly, the ride itself had plastic shields installed in front of each seat. I just assumed these were installed for those that ate fish and chips prior to boarding but later learned that the high elevation and terrified guest screams could travel far distances and were disturbing local neighborhoods. Think of a Britney Spears or Justin Beiber concert several hundred feet in the air.

Wanna go for a ride?

Unfortunately, the ride was a late cut during the renovation. You can find several photos of the Maliboomer still ‘boomin after other modifications to the Pier were complete. Alas, it was not meant to be.

A short attraction life also equals less opportunities to create pins commemorating your ride.  Maliboomer has only a select handful of pins including these pictured here.  This first pin has a pretty nifty slide feature to it as the “O” shoots up the tower.  Perhaps not so nifty however, is the pin itself, which sort of reminds me of the old Batman tv series when fight words would pop up on the television screen.  Not a particularly attractive pin.

another option is this LE 2000 pin of Donald freaking out as the Boomer does its thing. This pin is part of an seven-pin commemorative set for DCA that includes several long-since closed attractions.  Here is the complete list:

Pin #21905 – Sun Wheel Mickey
Pin #21906 – Soarin Over California with Fab 3
Pin #21907 – Grizzly River Run with Fab 4
Pin #23720 – Mulholland Madness Goofy
Pin #23721 – Golden Zephyr Chip n Dale
Pin #25655 – California Screamin Pluto
Pin #25657 – Maliboomer Donald

While this particular attraction never really fit the theme that Disney intended, I will miss it none-the-less (although I doubt Donald will.)