Journey to the Surface (Amusement Park Ride)

Journey to the Surface is the main attraction of Ryan Amusements, the theme park of Rapture. It details a journey beginning in the country of the surface and finally to the lighthouse, down into Rapture.

History
Journey to the Surface was designed by Carlson Fiddle on Andrew Ryan's command to be the most powerful piece of propaganda directed towards children. It served the purpose of scaring children away from ever leaving Rapture, as Ryan believed that contact with the surface was to be avoided at any cost, lest the secret of Rapture be leaked. Carlson Fiddle was unhappy with this approach, but nonetheless obeyed.

The Ride
The first part of the ride is a speech by Andrew Ryan sitting in his office, while the audience is standing in the queue. Here, he talks about why he built Rapture in the first place, and whether or not the surface has changed since.

Then, the customers enter carts shaped like bathyspheres on a track and ride up to the surface world. The next stop is at a peaceful farm, with a man working and his wife and child holding each other in the background. With Andrew Ryan still narrating, a big hand by the name of God and Government takes the roof of the house and proceeds to take some of the contents. Other scenes include the idea of forced mediocrity, government censorship of art, a skewed vision of the draft (depicting a ten-year-old boy being stolen from his parents to die in a war), and several scenes depicting a recreation of Andrew Ryan's office, complete with his signature golf club and ball off to the side, where the ride stops momentarily and Ryan lectures the riders on the horrors of the surface and the superiority of Rapture.

In between scenes, the ride takes its audience through a run-down surface city, with buildings such as the Censorship Bureau and the Ordinance hall lining the streets, with side passages with names such as War Road and Curfew Alley. The end of the ride shows a mannequin child inside a miniature bathysphere in front of a recreation of the lighthouse that serves as the accessway to Rapture, symbolizing the children's escape from the fearful surface world to the safety of the underwater city.

Interspersed throughout the ride behind the scenes are different maintenance and upkeep areas for employees. There are workshops, storage areas, maintenance junctions, and even access points back up to the museum. One of the workshops, the Ride Cart Garage, has an auxiliary bathysphere that is out of service.

Park transcript
"I am Andrew Ryan. Welcome to Ryan Amusements. Please, enjoy the park."

- Upon entering the attraction.

"Why, hello there, my name is Andrew Ryan. I built the city of Rapture for children just like you, because the world above had become unfit for us. But here, beneath the ocean, it is natural to wonder if the danger has passed, if those we left behind will ever come to their senses. So, let us imagine, you and I, what might befall us ... on the surface."

- Second Ryan display.

"On the surface, the farmer tills the soil, trading the strength of his arm for a home and lands of his own. But the parasites say "NO! What is yours is ours! We are the state, we are God, we demand our share.""

- Farmer Display

"The Parasite makes nothing for itself. Its only tools are taxes and tithes, meant to trick you into offering what it has not earned. In Rapture, we keep what is ours."

- Third Ryan display.

"On the surface, the scientist invests the power of his mind in a single miraculous idea and naturally begins to rise above his fellows. But the parasites say "NO! Discovery must be regulated! It must be controlled and finally surrendered.""

- Scientist Display

"On the surface, an artist strives to frame his ideals in an image, to challenge his audience and make his vision immortal. But the parasites say "NO! Your art must serve the cause! Your ideals endanger the people!""

- Artist Display

"Lacking its own ingenuity, the Parasite fears the visionary. What it cannot plagiarize, it seeks to censor; what it cannot regulate, it seeks to ban. Rapture was founded on an idea, and here they are held inviolate."

- Fourth Ryan display.

"On the surface, your parents sought a private life, using their great talents to provide for you. They learned to twist the lies of church and government, believing themselves masters of the system. But the parasites said "NO! The child has a duty! He'll go to war and die for the nation.""

- Family Display

"Unable to provide for itself, the need of the Parasite grows until war is made to justify it. Your parents brought you to Rapture, where you need never fear the Parasites again. So you see, there is no place for you on the surface, but you may bring the world to you! If you know someone who belongs in Rapture, write a letter to the Ryan Industries mailroom. And you never know! The next new face... might be familiar."

- Fifth (vandalized) Ryan display.

"(No Dialog) "Rise, Rapture, Rise" plays in the background."

- Upon seeing the model Lighthouse.

Single Use Events

 * There is 1 Power to the People vending machine.
 * There is 1 ADAM body.

Plasmids and Tonics (Found)

 * Booze Hound

Audio Diaries

 * Nina Carnegie - You, Me, and 1959 - On a desk in the Ride Maintenance room at the entrance of Journey to the Surface.
 * Carlson Fiddle - Escape Plan - Beside a gatherable corpse in the Ride Maintenance area.
 * Andrew Ryan - Lamb the Problem, Sinclair the Solution - On crates in front of Conformity & Co. exhibit of Journey to the Surface.
 * Sofia Lamb - Truth is in the Body - On desk in the workshop room above Collapse Ave. in Journey to the Surface.
 * Nina Carnegie - Deterioration - Beside a corpse on a ledge, accessed by climbing up a hand in a storage rack at the back right of the family exhibit.
 * Stanley Poole - Working for Sinclair - In an alcove of the flooded room with a Power to the People vending machine.
 * Mike Novak - Doctor Lamb - Near the Security Camera, in a small room blocked by breakable wooden boards.
 * Andrew Ryan - Efficacy - In the maintenance hallway across from the Lighthouse at the end of Journey to the Surface.
 * Devin LeMaster - Dating Tip - In the locked employees only room at the beginning of Journey to the Surface.

Behind the Scenes

 * The periodic table of the elements in the Science exhibit of the ride bears the label "Arrangement by CIENCIAS CIENTIFICAS, 1945." It is actually an exact copy of a periodic table arranged by Glenn T. Seaborg, with only his name removed.
 * The portraits in the Artist exhibit of the ride are in the style of Tamara de Lempicka, a well-known Polish Art Deco artist whose works adorned the covers of the Penguine Modern Classics editions of Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged' and 'The Fountainhead'.