funnel slides

Hello~

The latest trend in waterparks seems to be the funnel slide (e.g., Holiday World). I've never been on one. Does the funnel serve any purpose, other than look funky?

I thought that it was rather fun sliding back and forth in the funnel portion of the slide. It's almost like a "half-pipe" in skateboarding and freestyle biking. Though it is not quite as thrilling but it is still alot of fun and quite different. I would bet the heavier the load the faster one might go down the slide. I know Zoombabwe is better with a load of heavier people.

In my opinion the funnel is the best part of the whole slide! The funnel is where you go back and forth up the sides. It is a different feeling, one that is very cool!

I was extremely scared the first time I rode Zinga (Just ask Kick the Sky!). I screamed the Whole way down and into the funnel. I am terrified of water to start with, then you put me in a dark tube and I can't see whats going to happen next, well lets just say Kick probably couldn't hear for a little while after that. :) Of course after that first ride was over we went right back up and did it again! I may be terrified of water but I'm not going to let that stop me from have a great time.

My question is why dont they just build a half funnel, its not like anyone is going to go higher then half way anyways, wouldn't that save on construction costs?

...because one of these days, someone is going to do a full loop in one of those things.

...either that, or it just adds to the experience & makes it "look" like (from the spectator's point-of-view) that it could go upsidedown (most shoot water from the top as well).

I think it's an awesome experience aesthetically, but from a riding standpoint, I was not impressed with Zinga. I enjoyed all the other tube slides at Splashin' Safari more.

My wife and I did not get very high on the sides of the funnel. We only sloshed back and forth about twice before we straightened out and slid into the pool.

Personally, I think a much better experience would be for the funnel to be vertical, and the sliders would zip around the outside like water in a toilet bowl. I think these exist but I've never seen one.

Canada's Wonderland has one of the "Toilet Bowl" slides you describe. They call there's Barracuda Blaster. Here's a link:

http://www.pcwjunkies.com/pcw/flatrides/barrab.htm

I think Proslides may call them simply "Bowls." Here's a link to Proslides site. Scroll down to see the different versions of the toilet bowl type slide.

http://www.proslide.com/whatsnew/whatsnew.htm

Also, I am pretty sure Schlitterban has a "Bowl" slide as well. And somewhere there is one called a "Royal Flush."

Shaggy *** Edited 12/16/2003 7:32:25 PM UTC by Shaggy***

Well, seeing that all of thr ProSlides "Half Pipes" were changed to funnels, I would say that ProSlides decided that it was necessary for some reason. Whether it was structural or safety, we will probably never know.

Oh yeah - the slide in that link above looks incredible... and based on that beautiful photo at the bottom, I need to get to PCW!

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Touchdown said:
My question is why dont they just build a half funnel, its not like anyone is going to go higher then half way anyways, wouldn't that save on construction costs?

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I believe Proslide did offer the option of having just a halfpipe instead, but Holiday World opted for a funnel for asthetic reasons. Either everyone else has done the same, or they've simply stopped offering the halfpipe option. The Tornado pdf on their site says nothing about an option, but that doesn't mean it isn't still offered.

-Nate

I like the single person body slide the best out of the bowls. That looks like more fun cause you simply drop out the bottom then out a small slide to a pool. *** Edited 12/16/2003 8:14:03 PM UTC by BeastFreak***

The body ones are also more intense. You get so switched around inside the bowl when you drop out the life guard has to blow a whistle so you know where to exit the pool. The tube bowls are pretty slow and the tubes tend to get stuck often.

But therin lies the problem.

Most parks would shy away from such, simply because of the *danger* aspect of dropping through a hole into a shallow pool below. As far as I know, other than the originals, all of the toilet bowl slides have since eliminated the open hole plunge at the end.

Shaggy

Danger, schmanger. The first waterslide I rode, you had to stay on the mat, and any part of your body that strayed from the mat would get burned from the rough slide.

In addition, we used to come running from about 20 feet and dive into the slide head first with the mat wrapped around us like a blanket. Once I stepped on the corner of my mat and flew into the slide without it, sliding halfway down and scraping lots of skin off. Luckily some kind-hearted soul sent the mat down the slide for me. ;)

p.s. this (rather big) slide was at a privatly owned church camp, so we could pretty much do what we wanted on it.

I went on a bowl slide then drop slide. It was "Storm" at Wet n' Wild. The thing was pure insanity. First you'd fly out of the ultra-fast chute at 40 MPH into the bowl. They had Fog Machines going too , so it wasn't easy to breathe. Then after flying around two or three times , you suddenly hit the drop and flew down either Head-First or Feet first , splashing , getting up , and having no sense of direction.

Truly , I hope that parks will still get these , as they are incredibly wild and intense.

---------------
Setenta you Freak!

I don't know about other places, but at Splashtown in Spring, you drop into one of the deepest pools in the park coming out of their "toilet bowl" slides. They have a fully anclosed one and one with an open top on the toilet part side by side. When you drop out of the bottom, you drop into a 10 or 12 foot deep pool.

"I hope that parks will still get these , as they are incredibly wild and intense."

Then that means no one will ever get them. :(

Has anyone ridden "Hidden Rapids" at The Beach near PKI, or anything else like it? It's such a cool ride... it combines the relaxation of a lazy river with the thrills of a tube slide. Basically it has several in-ground, concrete tube slides, connected by pools in which you can tool around as long as you like, until you get sucked down the next slide. The last slide is insane, with giant sheer drops.

/wondering why I don't go to waterparks more often

*** Edited 12/16/2003 8:53:27 PM UTC by Den***

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Shaggy said:
But therin lies the problem.

Most parks would shy away from such, simply because of the *danger* aspect of dropping through a hole into a shallow pool below. As far as I know, other than the originals, all of the toilet bowl slides have since eliminated the open hole plunge at the end.

Shaggy

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A waterpark near my town just added a toilet bowl slide with the open hole. I really wanted to go and try it out, but never had the time to get to the park.

Den I have ridden the Hidden Rapids at the Beach as well and I have to agree. Those are some of the best water slides/attractions that I have ever rode. They are extremely fun and a fairly original concept. The final dips are great.

One fun thing I like to do with a group of people is form a train. That makes it even better but make sure while holding someones elses tube you hold yours. It seems like everytime I do this someone gets their tube riped out from under them.

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Sarah Jackson said:
I was extremely scared the first time I rode Zinga (Just ask Kick the Sky!). I screamed the Whole way down and into the funnel.

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I remember that scream well. Liz and I heard it on Zoombabwe...which carries sound quite well, I must say. Not that the neighboring states couldn't hear you anyway! ;)

I thought Zinga was awesome--I could ride it all day. Even though Liz and I didn't get the spectacular height that some of the full tubes did, it was still the best slide I've ridden at any waterpark. Something about the freeform experience once you enter the funnel, and slamming into the deeper water at the base of it, was just so much fun.