Cedar Point's Shoot the Rapids planned years in advance

Aren't most well-run parks' capital improvements planned years in advance?

How can there not be a plan?

You mean life isn't like Roller Coaster Tycoon? I'm shocked. :)

I think its a great article. The comments left by Sandusky readers, however, are not so great.

It's also meant as a ride that everyone can enjoy, including Grandma and little kids

Based on this I would guess a height requirement of 42-44"

Negative comments from Sanduskians? Nah, can't be.

Worst thing newspapers ever did, was add "comments" sections to their news articles.

They are usually dominated by one or two old cranks, always pontificating about the same thing, regardless of the topic of the article.

CreditWh0re said: They are usually dominated by one or two old cranks, always pontificating about the same thing, regardless of the topic of the article.

Sounds often like the forums here on Buzz too!

Shoot the Rapids fills the slot for a traditional flume ride, a ridein which boats float along in a water trough, Innes said, although ituses a chain to get up the first hill. A vacancy for a flume ride wascreated when the last one, White Water Landing, was dismantled afterthe 2005 season to make room for Maverick, which opened in 2007.

Guests have been asking for another water ride, said John Hildebrandt, the park's general manager.

STR is nothing like a traditional flume ride...nothing. I am a little displeased that this is it, and we will probably never see a real replacement for White Water Landing, all in the name of technological advancement.

White Water landing was one of the best traditional flume rides that I have ever been on. I will miss it. Why couldn't the park have replaced WWL with another flume ride in the same location, and build Maverick where the new water ride is going in? It really sucks for those of us who like real flumes.

Great article, by the way. :)

- Old crank lol

I think you know that insurance companies will likely never allow another traditional log flume style to ever be built.

I just finished a 9 park trek through South Korea. I must say I was delighted that 7 of those parks were furnished with a log flume. While the name 'Flume Ride' was less than stellar...I felt like I was back in the '80s and I wouldn't have it any other way. Also the double dip final drop was exciting and more dry.

I agree with Jeff on the insurance thing. I honestly didn't always feel safe at these parks, and that's what made it fun!!!!!!

WHERE HAVE ALL THE LOG FLUMES GONE!?!?!

The one at Canobie Lake is still going strong. ;)

Jeff said:
I think you know that insurance companies will likely never allow another traditional log flume style to ever be built.

Nonsense! Columbus Zoo just built one, opened it last year. Sure, most of it is in concrete channels in the reservoir pool, but that is no worse than the flumes at Camden Park or LeSourdsville Lake.

Insurance and jurisdictional authorities seem to be pretty good about allowing just about anything that conforms to industry standards unless and until there is a demonstrated problem. And the nature of a flume ride is such that compliance with the standard is not a huge problem.

I think there are much more important considerations that have kept us from getting more decent traditional flumes--

1) Service life. It seems to me that amusement parks are building rides for a much longer expected service life these days, and the old 'glas flumes just aren't up to the task. Galvanized steel, like the one at Kings Island, is a potentially viable alternative, but it is very expensive. Concrete is an excellent choice as long as you're at grade level, and that's what we're seeing a lot of now.

2) Cost of materials. Steel is EXPENSIVE! Besides, most rivers don't run 40' in the air anyway.

3) Environmental concerns. Treated water is necessary for flumes to keep the pumps happy, and besides the industry standards do talk about water quality, although only in very general terms. Trouble is, treated water can be a problem when it leaks out of the ride. Also, water treatment chemicals present a storage and maintenance hazard...about twice a year we hear about chemical leaks in waterparks.

And the biggie--
4) Failure of Arrow Dynamics and O.D. Hopkins. I'm not sure what happened to Hopkins (the owner went exclusively into skyrides, the company was briefly a part of Reverchon, and then Reverchon and Hopkins both went away), but we all know what happened to Arrow. Arrow practically invented the modern log flume, and apparently Karl Bacon put a tremendous amount of effort into designing around water flow characteristics and really getting to know and to understand how flumes behave. I fear that much of what he did may have been effectively lost to the industry along with Arrow Dynamics. And these days I don't think anyone is developing rides quite the way that Arrow did back when they built all those great old flumes.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Mamoosh said:

CreditWh0re said: They are usually dominated by one or two old cranks, always pontificating about the same thing, regardless of the topic of the article.

Sounds often like the forums here on Buzz too!

You're not that cranky, Moosh. ;)

You could eliminate part of the problem of the convor belt in the flume and do something like HW did with Pilgrim's Plunge.

It'd be less distance to reach the same high (straight up versus a longer distance at a 35-50 degree angle.

"The park has plans in place for new attractions for 2011, '12, and '13, although Decker says they are 'subject to review.'"

And nobody in here has started speculating yet? I'm shocked!

500 ft dueling flyer for '12? :)

I giant 100 ft tall robot that picks up riders in his robot hand and swings them around, up, and down. It will be themed to Terminator. lol

^Sounds like a Robocoaster, with or without theming... :)

Well, if you made the thing look like a giaint ape or lizard arm you could have it theamed to King Kong or Godzilla, respectively.