Roller coaster connoisseurs tend to dismiss water rides as too slow, too tame, and too wet. But the next generation of splashy tech should make coaster snobs take a closer look. Clever engineering is sending thrill — seekers higher and faster than ever (up to 135 feet and 65 mph), while sophisticated modeling software is enabling gnarly chute and flume designs that won't fling riders to a horrible, horrible death. Here are six slides that will squeeze a scream out of even the most jaded coaster fans.
Vulcano Siam Park, Tenerife, Canary Islands
DEBUT TBD
TECH Momentum is so much cooler than gravity. Riders drop into a dramatic 60-foot bowl and swoop from side to side, half-pipe style, flying as high as 35 feet above the bottom of the funnel and getting vertical.
CAUTION Totally freaking out when you catch air.
Deluge Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, Louisville, Kentucky
DEBUT May 2007
TECH A linear-induction motor drags rafts embedded with magnets up the slopes. It works on the same principle as some magnetically levitated trains, particle accelerators, and the Flight of Fear roller coaster at Kings Dominion theme park in Virginia.
CAUTION While management assures us that the maglev poses no danger to pacemakers, we don't want to test their theory.
AquaVenture Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
DEBUT March 2007
TECH Riders in inner tubes float around a white-water river and can choose to veer onto a conveyor belt to ride the slides. Tunnels feature fire, smoke, and video, and powerful water jets propel the tubes up inclines.
CAUTION Combining special f/x with thrill rides is great — until the system breaks down. Watch for delays as the bugs are ironed out.
Curling Wave Wave House Mallsport, Santiago, Chile
DEBUT July 2007
TECH High-powered nozzles shoot 2,000 gallons of water per second over a 50-foot-wide by 60-foot-long stainless steel and foam wave. Result: Surfing sin sharks or seaweed. One of few water attractions that is as fun to watch as it is to ride.
CAUTION One rider per session means long lines.
Blue Ringed Octopus WhiteWater World, Gold Coast, Australia
DEBUT December 2006
TECH Eight tubes knot around one another to propel riders through 270-degree turns, then spit them all out at the bottom at (close to) the same time.
CAUTION Finale may include a rough landing or, worse, getting beaten to the bottom by your kid brother. Outcome: injury, humiliation, or both.
The Time Warp Noah's Ark, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
DEBUT
May 2006
TECH If you've ever flushed your toilet, watched the contents go swirling down, and thought, "Hey, that looks fun," this ride is for you. The Time Warp relies on the physics of a whirlpool: Park-goers descend into the world's largest bowl, swirling down until they — * whoosh!* — drop through the hole at the bottom.
CAUTION Terrifying for the imaginative few who fear death by maelstorm; kinda boring for everyone else.
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