Is Shoot the Rapids even really open on Saturdays and Sundays?

I am not looking for it to fail.

My point is if very few people are in line, say 20-30 per the above and even fewer based on the web cam shots I saw, on what is likely the busiest day the park will see all year, and the weather was perfect (clear blue sky with temps in the 80s) then it becomes a matter of money. Why pay the staff to operate it? Why pay for the additional wear and tear on sending 25% filled boats around?

Yes, the park was quite busy. And yes, it was unseasonally warm yesterday. But that's where comparisons to a mid-summer weekend lose steam. I'm guessing there weren't a lot of people headed to the park with their swimsuits or water-friendly gear packed in the trunk. Additionally, it was only 80, which yeah, is damn warm for October, but not exactly sweltering enough to make people not care about getting their clothes soaked.

The park knows the ridership and cost-per-rider numbers (and so on), and they're the ones paying for it. Based on that, it seems to me that it makes financial sense for them to operate it, based on the fact that it's operating.

If people are not thinking about riding a water ride on a great weather day then why is it open? If people won't ride it when it is 80 why would they think about riding it when it is 50 and overcast?

People were riding it.

Sure they were. But where is the line at which it makes no sense? I can argue that over the course of a day in May that some people would eat at every food stand in the park if they were all open. But they are not all open. Why? Because it does not make sense have them open because not enough people will eat at every stand to justify having them all open.

Shades said:
...where is the line at which it makes no sense?

As I alluded to earlier, the people in charge of stuff at the park know precisely where that line is.

Seeing as how the ride was operating this weekend, and that there's still water in the troughs*, it seems rather obvious that they've not yet reached that line.

*Remember, though - they've drained & refilled the ride at least once since the start of weekend-only operation, so being empty might not mean anything anyway.

I was at CP this past weekend and yes, STR was operating. It was my first chance to ride it so I gave it a shot. Not a bad water ride at all. My only question is if STR was running, why weren't they running Snake River Falls..?

They used to run white water landing durring halloweekends as well. I remember that they did shut down wwl early a few times because of the leafs clogging the pumps.

Maybe more people would have ridden shoot the rapids if you did not get soaked on it? Even in cool weather, people still went on wwl.

Shades said:
I am not looking for it to fail.

My point is if very few people are in line, say 20-30 per the above and even fewer based on the web cam shots I saw, on what is likely the busiest day the park will see all year, and the weather was perfect (clear blue sky with temps in the 80s) then it becomes a matter of money. Why pay the staff to operate it? Why pay for the additional wear and tear on sending 25% filled boats around?

Because it doesn't matter if there is 1 person in line or 100--as long as all the boats are going out full (or, rather, 8/10th full in this case) the ride is operating at capacity.

Usually we're complaining about rides being closed, now we have switched to complaining about rides being open. :)

I guess the next question would be "Did they dial down the wetness of the ride"? And if they did, how?

I know they said they were going to in the colder months.

I don't feel that they did. The water bombs were not toned down/ turned off, the waterfalls in the ride were getting people soaked, and the water bombs that people pay for were not roped off.

^^ I heard that they didn't have the jets on and that people were only getting noticeably wet in the front row. So aside from the drops, the only things (that contribute to the wet factor) that can be dialed/turned off are the jets, water fall, and watercannons. Other than that everything else is just effects and doesn't really increase the wet factor for the riders.

From looking at the webcam, it appears StR may be done for the season (shocking, I know). The ride's water is drained, and nary a boat (eh?) to be seen on either lift.

EDIT: Fixed inadvertent Canuckism. Thanks Mike. :)

What's an 'about'? Are you taking pronunciation lessons from Vince? ;)

Shoot the Rapids seems to be open today.

I rode StR for the first time on October 9th and I can confirm what TTD 120mph said. We sat in the second row and didn't get very wet...not much wetter than we would have been on White Water Landing. The people in the first row had soaked pants because of the surge of water that came in when the boat hits the bottom of the hills.

The waterfalls were on, but the boats didn't come close enough for us to get wet. Since this was my first ride, I'm not sure if this is the normal experience.

Rode it today for the first time. Would have gotten off pretty dry if not for the 25cent cannon shots at the end.

Shoot the Rapids is still running because it's CP's new ride and the weather has been nice. I think you have to be a water ride person to ride and enjoy it. I was excited to ride it but when I saw the long line in late Aug. when I was there I passed on it.

I got to ride it yesterday and I hardly got wet. Only a few drops on my jeans. I got lucky I guess because some people came off wet like you got in the summer. All the water effects are turned off except the cannons, but I think that most people don't do it to anyone for fun and only to the people they know.