Shoot the Rapids?

STR is not so much a disappointment for what it is, but for what it should/could have been. It could have been a world class flume ride, but due to the numerous engineering shortcomings, it's average at best.

Ikr Shawn, one on the ride ops was like, ok everyone, fasten your seat belts before you punt the lap bar. People stood up and were looking everywhere for a seat belt. The worker kept a straight face the whole time. That was funny!

Pete said:
...doesn't get you extremely wet...

Tell that to the people who were in the boat that flipped over!

^Aside from that, you only get wet If you sit in certain areas such as the very front or very back. Alex, I like how the ride ops ask you If your ready to ride like three times before they dispatch. I think that's funny as well! :)

TTD 120mph said:
It's great you like STR and all but I think it's becoming a bit overwhelming.

Says the guy who calls himself the Dragster nut. :)

That's actually become less prevalent these days. Had to grow up at some point.....right? ;)

Chuck Wagon said:
STR is not so much a disappointment for what it is, but for what it should/could have been. It could have been a world class flume ride, but due to the numerous engineering shortcomings, it's average at best.

So true! It was a huge disappointment to me. The announcement, watching it being built, late opening, then my awful first and last ride. White Water landing was a far superior water ride experience. One would have thought STR was going to be a much better ride. I am very disappointed that the park that claims itself as "best in the WORLD" has a pretty weak selection of water rides.

I've rode STR for the first time this summer. I'd never been on it but my 6 1/2 year old son has gotten me on a few times. He loves it. He especially loves the water canons that spectators(who pay 25 cent) can use to splash the riders.

I agree with other's sentiments that the ride is a snooze. The drops are nothing spectacular and the rest of the 6 minute ride is very boring.

The boat ride is dull. the splashes are often not effective. Only positive for me has been the ride has had very little wait time the few times I rode this summer.

For all this talk about how disappointing STR is, I can't help but notice how it has a thrill rating of 5 (aggressive thrill).

On the other hand, that's probably only true if your boat flips over like it did last year...

Old meme reporting in :P

http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=7506860

^LOL. And I said it's probably only true if your boat flips over, didn't I? :)

Shoot the Rapids didn't have an anti roll back system until the 2014 season. The boat missed a proxy causing it go up the lift wrong therefore it didn't connect to the track properly. Dry wheels and proxies, not anti roll back systems. Because the ride didn't have an anti roll back system until this year... - former STR crew member

Sounds like a bunch of BS. As far as I remember, their was always the anti-rollback track in place for the dogs on the boats. What park or manufacturer would approve installing a lift Hill without rollback protection? What I can believe is that a boat didn't engage the lift properly and a prox sensor was supposed to detect that but didn't. That is a somewhat believable version of the story, but no anti-rollbacks is BS.

You never know with Intamin.

There may be some validity to what she said. Reading the article below, it would certainly make sense that a lack of upstop wheels could have played a part in what happened last year. I agree that it has always had anti-rollback track on the lift sections but perhaps this was the scenario that caused them to not do their job properly.

http://www.coaster-net.com/blogs/399-piecing-together-the-week/
I'm not trying to play this as truth, just as something to think about.

Where are ya Dave? What's your input on this? Have we actually talked about this as a possibility?

That article is not accurate. If you look at the lift and drop, you will see sort of a T rail. That acts as both the up stop and guide. The only scenario I can figure is that the boat didn't line up for the lift properly and actually went above the T rail. The flaw with that though is that I would think the dog isn't long enough to engage the chain if the boat was in that position. So, who knows what happened.

Yea, caught that just now. Perplexing.

I'm fairly certain that Shoot the Rapids has the same anti-rollback system as the Supermen:Rides of Steel. Those use a magnet on the safety pawl to lift the pawl out of the sawtooth as long as the vehicle is moving forward. See US Patent #5,947,030. Notice that as the boat crests the lift, you can hear the safety pawl engage lightly with the sawtooth; I presume this is because the angle changes up there...and it has always been noisy up there.

Apart from repairing the broken concrete at the base of the first lift, I have no idea what changed on the ride after the incident. And I don't know the cause of the incident. It does seem that single-car rides are more prone to lift hill rollbacks than trains are, though...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

And if you watch the official POV video from before the incident, you can see that both hills appear to be fitted with anti-rollback devices. But I don't get why they seem so quiet in the video...?

Dave explained why the anti-rollbacks are silent in the post just above yours.