Colombus Zoo adding a log flume

Sorry if it has been mentionned before, but I just saw on the Hafema website that they're building a new log flume for the Colombus Zoo. Hafema is the company that built the weird river rapids at Wild Adventure as well as a lot of river rapids rides in Europe with drops, ferris wheels and whirlpools.

There is also a picture of a swinging ship at the entrance to the zoo as part of an advertisement for the new park. I don't think it indicates anything, and they probably just wanted a generic picture of a ride.

The waterslides are really coming together. It looks like it is going to be a rather impressive water park.

Yes, the artistic renderings were not based on blueprints, but rather the "vision" of the park. That said, it is exciting that the log flume (which was indeed in the renderings) is coming so soon! I expected them to start off with just the water slides a few flats, and build from there. This will be a great addition to an already impressive lineup.

That's great news. I was hoping the park would have a few featured attractions in addition to the (former) Sea Dragon. I can't wait to get to Columbus next year and check it out. Maybe I'll find time for millrace and perhaps even Gonch ;)

Thanks for the warning. I'll be sure to stock up on ear plugs.

I'm curious to know if this is one of their "Flying Boat" ride. The flying boat is a strange log flume/rapid ride hybrid that features 3 seat modules connected by an inflatable rubber ring. They can put whirlpools, rapids and large drops on that ride.

The Hafema flume's been listed on the Zoombezi fact sheet for quite some time. However, I've had trouble finding any additional information about it -- or another example of a Hafema flume. All I've been able to find are some odd river rapids rides over in Europe.

Does anyone else know of other Hafema flume installations? I figure I'll be spending a good part of my summer at the zoo/waterpark in 2008 and would like to know what I'm in for, LOL.

ETA: Oh, their website works now! I'd tried to go on it before and it had never worked, wasn't sure if it was on my end or theirs. Whatever the reason, works now!

Also, someone posted on here a list of sixteen (?) or so rides that were going to be installed -- I don't recall all of them, but it was a few new from what they had as Wyandot. So yay for that!

ETA2: Sorry for the edit and re-edit, but I finally found an installation... this is the only one I could find, but if this is what the zoo means by 'log flume,' then WOW. I mean I guess it technically is, but this would be freakin' awesome... of course zoo- and not egyptian-themed, but still.

http://english.rides.nl/attractie/fotos/fluch-des-pharao#15126

Ok, no more editing, promise. :) *** Edited 11/7/2007 8:28:43 PM UTC by CarrieR***

I'm also expecting to be there quite a bit in 2008, and if this is what we are getting, that is good news :)

Great find.

^^http://english.rides.nl/attractie/fotos/fluch-des-pharao#15131

That is the *whirlpool section*....amazingly reminiscent of the one on WA's Tasmanian River Rapids. When it comes from Hafema, be prepared for something you might not have seen before... :)

I still think they made a BIG mistake *re-imaging* Wyandot. It was clearly among the best-themed SF parks outside of SFFT, potentially even second-best. The New England feel was even more deeply ingrained than it is at SFNE...

^That water ride is bananas.

^It's pretty sweet...and the weird *raft* MIGHT be what Absimilliard was referring to here, although I'm doubtful: "The flying boat is a strange log flume/rapid ride hybrid that features 3 seat modules connected by an inflatable rubber ring."

Pic of TRR's whirlpool:
http://www.pbase.com/rollergator/image/82028634

And a little more of the layout:
http://www.pbase.com/rollergator/image/82028628

edit: If you look thru the foliage, you can see one of the 3-piece rafts from TRR here. http://www.pbase.com/rollergator/image/82028626
Something makes me *think* Hafema's got something NEW though...

Oh, and a better link than the one above, LOL.

http://tinyurl.com/386jg5

*** Edited 11/8/2007 12:40:25 AM UTC by rollergator***

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I still think they made a BIG mistake *re-imaging* Wyandot. It was clearly among the best-themed SF parks outside of SFFT, potentially even second-best.

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Maybe, but it was decaying steadily over the years. I dont think they are re-imagining" it at all, really...its more like WL has gone the way of GL...wiped off the map. Only here, they are starting anew, and keeping their historic roller-coaster.

This is at least the second time that the park has started over. And if you've seen any of the infrastructure improvements they've made up there, you can see that there was no way to keep the park as it was and still fix the parking lot, the main entrance, and all the other stuff that they have done to the site. Changes that, quite frankly, were long overdue.

Add to that Six Flags total refusal to invest anything into the park, and it was definitely time for a major overhaul.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

They have two "toilet-bowl" type slides already erected and it also looks like they are putting up the popular funnel ride that a lot of the parks seem to be getting. As a Columbus resident I am very excited about this.

Looks like a good reason to take a trip to Columbus next summer for something other than the fair.

Some of the dry rides for '08:

Hafema Log Flume
Zamperla Family Swinger
Larson Flying Scooters
Zamperla Galleon 42 Swinging Ship
Chance Jeep Safari Ride (Antique Cars)
Zamperla Mini-Tea Cups
Chance Frog Hopper
Zamperla Rio Train
Zamperla Flying Elephants

Returning from Wyandot Lake:

RDC Bumper Cars
Eli Bridge Co. Scrambler
Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl
Sea Dragon (PTC - Wooden Coaster)

That's more flats (adult and kiddie) than SFMM!

Well, Larson is better than no flying scooter, I guess. 8-/

LOL, that's almost exactly what I had envisioned for GL....substitute a more adult version of Sea Dragon, trade out a few flats, and include a beach instead of a zoo.

The really swwet ride that won't get enough mention - RDC dry-land bumper boats. :)

Hmmm...The place needs a Wheel or some other big signature piece. I mean, yeah, it sounds like they may be getting a funnel slide, and those are highly visible, but a Wheel, preferrably a gondola-type Wheel, would be perfect.

Interesting that they're getting the Zamperla Mini-Jet flying elephants (I'm guessing). They just sold an older version of that ride (albeit a Sartori rather than Zamperla) to Stricker's Grove at the auction.

And I fully understand phantomrider3000's comment about the Flying Scooter. Yeah, Larson did a nice job of bringing them back, but somehow they just didn't get it quite right. Premier Rides, on the other hand, when they built the set at Idlewild...THOSE things, they did right. I want a set like that in my back yard. And while Zoombezi Bay isn't *quite* in my back yard, it's just about close enough...!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.