Shoot the Rapids still not running fully loaded boats

I enjoy the nonsoaking flumes at Waldameer, Kennywood, and Knoebels.

Thanks for the explanation.

godsonsafari said:

(for the record, not that anyone actually cares, I'm not "anti" STR. They did a lot of work building landscaping around it and it looks kinda nice. I'd probably have preferred something like a OD Hopkins Superflume but I'm not managing the park obviously and so we got something I probably ride once every 3-4 years instead of something I'd ride anytime the temps broke 70. somewhere Dick Kinzel is rich and I'm not and maybe that will get brought up in discussion about how I have a differing opinion about a log flume constructed with the "finest" 21st slovakian engineering)

Hmm...new memeber as of today. Do I smell PG?!? A very strong statement of opinion for a first post while stating things "for the record".

godsonsafari said:
There's numerous examples of log flumes that exist in the world which don't get rides completely and utterly drenched. The 4 such rides with the highest ridership in the world would certainly fall in that description...

Which 4 flumes/rides have the highest ridership?

djDaemon said:

godsonsafari said:
There's numerous examples of log flumes that exist in the world which don't get rides completely and utterly drenched. The 4 such rides with the highest ridership in the world would certainly fall in that description...

Which 4 flumes/rides have the highest ridership?

Splash Mountain, Disney Tokyo

Splash Mountain, Disney World

Splash Mountain, Disneyland

Dudley Do-Right, Universal Orlando

Now, a Jurassic Park might sneak into this discussion, but I don't consider those log flumes. I also admit I don't have any hard evidence that these are the four log flumes with the most ridership in the world, but given their popularity and the attendance of the parks they reside at, I'd think it's obscenely likely to be the case.

And like I said: the preponderance of those sorts of rides at major theme parks seem to indicate that there is some market for them and some interest on the part of ridership to go on them. They certainly aren't "strange" attractions nor do they cater to a market that doesn't exist, otherwise they wouldn't be as omnipresent as they are.

Thrillerz said:
Hmm...new memeber as of today. Do I smell PG?!? A very strong statement of opinion for a first post while stating things "for the record".

Legit no idea who that is. I'm guessing some guy that got banned recently or something?

^ not sure if he was banned or not, havent heard from him for awhile though. Just said a lot but never had a lot to say if that makes sense!

thedevariouseffect said:
I called it/still call it shoot the shi* lol

Interestingly enough, Shoot the Sh!t is what the employees affectionately called the first Shoot the Chute.

This was another ride that I thought was doomed for failure as soon as I heard it announced. It had nothing to do with landscaping or even the ride itself but what it was "intended" to be vs what it actually was.

They called it a "family ride" yet it couldn't be ridden by anyone under 48" and it required an OTSR. Other than the two hills the ride has very little character.

Just completely bland and something that didn't come as a surprise given Kinzel's final years.

godsonsafari said:

Legit no idea who that is. I'm guessing some guy that got banned recently or something?

Hellen Keller can see through this crap! LOL

Disney Mike said:

godsonsafari said:

Legit no idea who that is. I'm guessing some guy that got banned recently or something?

Hellen Keller can see through this crap! LOL

Dude, seriously: Don't know who your masked poster in the night was. Don't really care either. I've been posting about stupid rides for children on the intarwebz for god, 15 years? That's actually incredibly shameful, but whatever.

Thrillerz,

godsonsafari posts on other forums I frequent and I can assure you, he is no PointGuru.

While WWL wasn't anything spectacular, it's replacement (StR) was a step in the wrong direction. I'm a Shoot the Rapids hater. The boats should be on a tubular track if they are so concerned with balancing the boats. On top of that, the seats and restraints suck and aren't as accomodating like WWL was. Cedar Point needs rides that the family can enjoy together that aren't spinning rides or transportation. I'm hopeful that this regime will make that happen.

With StR and I305 being the last installs from Intamin at any of the Cedar Fair parks, I wonder if they are *done* with them. I was very surprised when Levithan was announced as a B&M Giga.

~Rob

Rob, I seriously think that Intamin burned their bridges with Shoot the Rapids. Their reluctance to rectify the problem that IMHO they were responsible for was the end of any new purchases from them by CF. They have been selling and building flume rides for over thirty-five years, they should have been able to do this ride in their sleep.

Dutchman said:
Rob, I seriously think that Intamin burned their bridges with Shoot the Rapids. Their reluctance to rectify the problem that IMHO they were responsible for was the end of any new purchases from them by CF. They have been selling and building flume rides for over thirty-five years, they should have been able to do this ride in their sleep.

The thing is this: Intamin has sold log flume rides for 35 years. Historically, they're a ride broker, not a design firm. So when we're talking about how Intamin has built lots of successful flume rides, it is important to remember that in the case of Shoot The Rapids/Giraffica (which have extremely similar ride systems) they weren't outsourcing that. Well, I guess they kinda were, but not really? It isn't the easiest thing to explain.

I don't really understand the whole "I want to ride a water ride and not get wet" mentality.

And I don't understand the mentality of not understanding it.

In fact, I don't like water rides where I get drenched at all...but love a nice relaxing water ride that includes a "light misting" as you say, and maybe a little splash here and there. But to each his own.

I'll be in Williamsburg and BGW all next week, and I can't wait to ride their flume (Le Chute, I believe?..it's French)...it's, as they say...magnifique!

The main point I would argue is that a water ride (much like WWL, Pirates of the Car., etc.) that does not get one drenched is, like a dark ride, a perfect family ride. A "soaking" factor automatically dissuades a portion of the family from riding it, if what you are looking for is an inclusive ride.

Shoot the Rapids is, and ever shall be, an expensive strike-out on a nice piece of land. They did a good job with the decorations around the ride, I suppose...but that's like wrapping a turd in gift-wrap.

I would be surprised if Cedar Fair did business with Intamin again any time soon.

I'm not sure whether to be sad or thrilled at that prospect. On one hand, I rank all CP's Intamin coasters above our others (except maybe Magnum, and yes that includes Gatekeeper which I like quite a bit, but I like the Intamins THAT much). On the other hand, I see that Intamin seems like a PITA to work with--they seem arrogant. Also Maverick broke down 2 days in a row as I was in line, that wasn't pleasant.

If the comment of "fat Americans" to justify why the boats don't have enough capacity is true, that is an extremely arrogant comment. Not only are they insulting both their customer and their customer's guests, but wouldn't you engineer a ride for the U.S. to be ridden by Americans?

Plus if that's true, they are biting the hand that feeds them. How many millions of dollars did CF send over to Intamin over the little 10 year fling they had?

Yeah, I think there will be a drought of Intamin's within Cedar Fair for awhile, but I hope things change as soon as possible. It's the Intamin rides I tend to get most excited about (with StR being an exception).

Even if the ride had worked flawlessly from the start, I think it'd still be a dud. I've wondered how this ride ever came about. It didn't look like a ride where Intamin was given the go ahead to give us their latest material. For example, most modern Intamin's have innovative lifts.

It looked like Cedar Point wanted something very modest and reliable that utilized the lagoon setting. This was not Intamin's comfort zone, and StR was the result.

Out of curiosity though, what were CP's other options for water rides these days? It seemed like flumes and such were always Arrow or Intamin back in the day.

I must be the only one on here that likes Shoot the Rapids.