Roaring Rapids | |
---|---|
Six Flags Magic Mountain | |
Area | Rapids Camp Crossing |
Status | Operating |
Opening date | 1981 |
Six Flags Over Texas | |
Area | Tower |
Status | Operating |
Opening date | 1983 |
Six Flags Great America | |
Area | Mardi Gras |
Status | Operating |
Opening date | 1984 |
Replaced | Traffique Jam |
General statistics | |
Manufacturer | Intamin |
Lift system | 1 lift hill |
Restraint style | Seat Belts |
Flash Pass Available at all three parks |
The article's lead section may need to be rewritten.(December 2024) |
Roaring Rapids is a river rapids ride located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas [1] and Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois.
Six Flags Astroworld and Intamin partnered in 1979 to build the world's first river rapids ride in 1980 called Thunder River. The water ride became so popular at Astroworld that Six Flags debuted two new river rapids in 1981 at Six Flags Magic Mountain, in 1983 at Six Flags Over Texas, and in 1984 at Six Flags Great America. The version at Six Flags Over Texas features a dual loading station where boats can be loaded at twice the rate of one loading station. The Magic Mountain version doesn't feature a dual loading station but is built to feature one. The Great America version also doesn't feature a dual loading station but features a turning station where the station moves in a circle with the boat where riders can depart and get on. The Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Magic Mountain rides operate from spring to the end of Fright Fest in October. The Six Flags Great America ride operates from spring to around Labor Day. At some parks, the ride is transformed into a Fright Fest maze during October. At Six Flags Over Texas the ride is closed during both Fright Fest and Holiday in the park.
The Six Flags Great America version closed for the entire season in 2021 due to a $1,000,000 refurbishment on the ride, and closed for half of the season in 2022, but later re-opened on July 30, 2022. The Six Flags Magic Mountain version was closed for the entirety of the 2022 season and half of the 2023 season for an unknown reason, but reopened on July 3, 2023. [2]
The ride made an appearance in a Kidsongs episode, "Ride the Roller Coaster".
Once the twelve riders strap themselves into one of the boats, the boat then leaves the station to the artificial river that is shaped like an oval at Over Texas and Magic Mountain. The twelve riders at Great America's version go through a unique course rather than in an oval. During all three rides, different objects are in the water that disrupt the flow of the river that creating the rapids. Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Great America's versions feature waterfalls towards the end as another way to get passengers completely soaked. Once riders go through the full course of the ride, the boat will then reach the lift and be taken back to the station.
On March 21, 1999, a 28-year-old woman died at Six Flags Over Texas, and 10 other guests were injured, when the raft they were on overturned in 2–3 feet of water due to sudden deflation of the air chambers that support the raft. The raft then got caught on an underwater pipe, which provided leverage for the rushing water in the ride to flip the raft over. [3] In a subsequent settlement, Six Flags agreed to pay US$4 million to the victim's family, and the company would join the family in a lawsuit against Canyon Manufacturing Co., the company responsible for parts that were related to the accident. [4]
On July 15, 2012, a goose was trapped in the conveyor belt of the ride and would not fly away despite the attempts of the ride's staff; the staff decided to let the ride proceed, thus killing the goose. A goose endangerment protection organization requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investigate the incident. A Six Flags spokeswoman defended the staff's decision to not endanger passengers' lives by saving the goose, as evacuating the passengers would have involved flushing the rafts into the ride's reservoir and having the riders exit the raft by a rope climb. [5] [6]
Six Flags Astroworld and Intamin partnered in 1979 to build the world's first river rapids ride in 1980 called Thunder River. The popularity of Thunder River caused the start of the construction of another rapids ride, Roaring Rapids, at Six Flags Great Adventure in 1980. It was modeled after the kayak slalom course that was built in West Germany for the 1972 Summer Olympics. [7] It was constructed in place of one of the park's first attractions, The Great Train Ride. After construction, it made its public debut at the park on June 16, 1981. [8] After its debut, Roaring Rapids at Great Adventure received major modifications to get guests wetter with a safer ride experience. In 1991, Roaring Rapids received a new name, Congo Rapids, with the new theme area Adventure Rivers. Today, the river rapids is located in The Pine Barrens, along with Nitro, Jersey Devil Coaster and a kids area: Jr. Thrill Seekers. Roaring Rapids operates from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.
Six Flags Great Adventure is an amusement park located approximately 20 miles southeast of Trenton in Jackson, New Jersey. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park complex is situated between New York City and Philadelphia and includes a water park named Hurricane Harbor. It first opened to the public as simply Great Adventure in 1974 under the direction of restaurateur Warner LeRoy. Six Flags acquired the park in 1977. The park is located right off of Interstate 195 and is along Monmouth Road.
Six Flags AstroWorld, also known simply as AstroWorld, was a seasonally operated amusement park in Houston, Texas. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park was situated between Kirby Drive and Fannin Street, directly south of I-610. The park opened on June 1, 1968, and was developed originally and constructed as part of the Astrodomain, the brainchild of local philanthropist and former Houston mayor Roy Hofheinz, who intended it to complement the Astrodome. The Hofheinz family sold AstroWorld to Six Flags in 1978.
Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a 209-acre (85 ha) amusement park located in Valencia, California, 35 miles (56 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newhall Land and Farming Company and Sea World Inc. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added "Six Flags" to the park's name.
A pirate ship is a type of amusement ride based on pirate ships, consisting of an open, seated gondola which swings back and forth, subjecting the rider to various levels of angular momentum. A variant where the riders must pull on ropes to swing the ride is known as a swing boat.
Six Flags Great America is a 304-acre (123 ha) themed amusement park located in Gurnee, Illinois, within the northern Chicago metropolitan area. The amusement park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976, as one of two theme parks built by the Marriott Corporation. Six Flags acquired the amusement park in 1984 after the theme park division was an earnings disappointment for Marriott. The sale gave Six Flags rights to the Looney Tunes intellectual properties.
Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein, best-known for designing and constructing thrill rides and roller coasters at dozens of international theme parks, amusement parks and other establishments. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement installations". The company has corporate offices across the world, including three in Europe, three in Asia, and two in the United States.
Sky Whirl was the name of two amusement rides which featured triple Ferris wheels. Both debuted in 1976 at the California's Great America and Six Flags Great America amusement parks. The ride in Santa Clara closed in 1997, and the ride in Gurnee closed in 2000. Two additional triple Ferris wheels were later built for the Seibu-en and Lotte World parks in Japan and South Korea (1989–97), respectively. All four rides were manufactured by Waagner-Biro and brokered by Intamin.
El Toro is a wooden roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Intamin, the ride opened to the public on June 11, 2006. Intamin subcontracted Rocky Mountain Construction to build the ride, and the coaster's track was prefabricated, allowing for quicker installation and lower construction costs. El Toro is the main attraction of the Mexican-themed section of the park, Plaza Del Carnaval. It replaced another roller coaster, Viper, which closed following the 2004 season.
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Flashback was a steel roller coaster made by Intamin of Switzerland. The coaster was located in the Six Flags Plaza area of Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. The model of the ride, a Space Diver coaster, was intended to be mass-produced, however, Flashback was the only installation.
Alpine Bobsled was a steel bobsled roller coaster located at the Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor amusement park in Queensbury, New York. Manufactured by Intamin, the coaster first opened to the public in 1984 at Six Flags Great Adventure. It was relocated to Six Flags Great America in 1989, and then to Six Flags Great Escape in 1998. The Alpine Bobsled closed permanently on September 4, 2023 and was dismantled to make room for The Bobcat.
Shockwave was a roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Standing 170 feet (52 m) tall and reaching speeds of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h), it opened in 1988 as the world's tallest and fastest looping roller coaster with a record-breaking seven inversions: three vertical loops, a boomerang, and two regular corkscrews. Shockwave was closed in 2002 and has been dismantled.
The Freefall is an amusement ride developed by Giovanola and marketed throughout the world by Swiss company, Intamin.
A river rapids ride is an amusement ride that simulates whitewater rafting.
Batman The Escape was a stand-up roller coaster located at Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, Texas, United States. Manufactured by Intamin, the ride featured one inversion and originally opened as Shockwave at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 1986. After briefly operating at Six Flags Great Adventure, it was moved a second time to AstroWorld, where it reopened in 1993 as Batman The Escape. The coaster operated there until the park's permanent closure in 2005. The track was eventually moved to Six Flags Darien Lake, placed into storage, and never reassembled.
Amusement rides and stunt shows themed to the Batman franchise its derivative elements are commonly found at Warner Bros. and Six Flags amusement parks across the world.
The Gold Rush Country is a themed land at the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Green Lantern: First Flight was a steel roller coaster formerly located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, United States. The ZacSpin model from Intamin was the first of its kind in the US when it opened on July 1, 2011. Its debut allowed Magic Mountain to reclaim its status of having the most roller coasters in the world.
The Gully Washer is an Intamin river rapids ride located in the Crackaxle Canyon section at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, Texas, since 1992. The ride is themed to a raging river in the town of Crackaxle Canyon.
Thunder River is a river rapids ride located at two American amusement parks. The first opened in 1980 at Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, Texas, which was the first of its kind in the world. The popularity led to other similar installations at various Six Flags theme parks throughout the 1980s. Only two with this name remain. One currently operates at Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell, Georgia; the other operates at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka, Missouri.