Holiday World closes Raging Rapids after three decades

I remember years ago at an event a bunch of us went on this ride a number of times in a row and had a blast. See, I like water rides a whole lot better if I’m dressed for the water park and don’t care how drenched I get.
These rides, while a part of the amusement park landscape since the 80’s, are slowly starting to drift away. Some places, like SDC, reinvested and designed an updated version. Others just closed their rides. I think safety and maintenance concerns have gotten the best of some, although news from Kennywood is that they are reopening their ride after a hiatus. (Maybe it will operate in the rain, lol.)

Dorney also has a good setup where the rapids ride and the shoot-the-chutes are adjacent to the waterpark.

It seems like with a little redesign they could make it so fewer people get drenched, and maybe you could choose to sit in the front of the boat (soaked) or the back (splashed). Rampant pipe-dreaming on my part. But in general, I have minimal desire to stomp around in wet sneakers all day.

That's always my biggest issue with the rapids and shoot the chutes rides. Parks that require me to wear shoes and/or not allow me to be in my swim gear.

I'd love to try Infinity Falls at SWO and would love to ride Popeye & Blutos and Ripsaw Falls at IoA more often than I do. But I never go to those parks in flip flops, and I have no desire to drench my sneakers.

I'm in the same boat (pun intended?). I love log flumes because they get you just a little wet. Wet gym shoes and socks are incredibly unpleasant.

If I recall correctly, when WoF put in their splash ride they purposefully placed it on the border between the dry side and the waterpark. They also had 2 separate queues, one for each side. So when you rode you could be sitting in a boat with fully clothed people as well as others in their swimsuits. I thought it was a great idea, but I’m not sure if they still have it that way. For that matter I’m not sure if they still even have the ride.
I always thought that if I owned a waterpark I’d include water rides, not just slides and pools.

Mulfinator:

Wet gym shoes and socks are incredibly unpleasant.

I take my socks off and stash them in my hip pack. It doesn't seem like it would make a difference because your shoes are still wet but a decent pair of sneakers dry quickly compared to socks.

When I ride soaking water rides I simply wear a swim suit (with cargo pockets) with a t shirt and Teva sandals with a back strap. That way I can ride coasters and not get swamp feet.

Back when Breakers was cheap and crappy we’d get a room for a few nights, and usually during one of the days we’d go back to the room, change into swim suits, tanks and flip flops then go spend an hour or so on water rides. Once done we’d go back, shower off that lake water, and change back into park (or drinking) attire for the evening. It was the only time I ever actually hoped I’d go under the waterfall and be disappointed if I didn’t, or stand on the bridge and not run away. It was so much fun to act like a kid who didn’t care how wet things got, and go back over and over for more.
One of my best ACE memories was when the club went to Myrtle to enjoy Pavilion (R.I.P) and Family Kingdom as part of a southern Con. Pavilion had an electric plant themed raft ride, Power Surge (I think) that got great reviews. So a bunch of us guys set aside an afternoon for a ride takeover. We all showed up in swim stuff and had a blast riding it many times. And it was an awesome ride, really clever, and really drenching. But we didn’t care.
And that, kids, is how we had fun back in the day, lol.

A huge benefit to staying at the Grand Californian is you can ride Grizzly River Rapids, get soaked, and be showering in your hotel room less then 10 min later.

RCMAC:

Back when Breakers was cheap and crappy

That was our unofficial slogan back in the day. Sorry...just made me laugh. I took a job at CP Resorts without ever stepping foot on the property. I was hired as the Housekeeping Training Manager largely because I had experience working at Disney. When I got the lowdown and expectations from the General Manager I was prepped for what the conditions were. Prepped? Yes. Prepared? No.

No amount of training could develop a housekeeper that could make those rooms look appealing. I remember that was when I first heard (and used) the phrase, "You can put lipstick on a pig...but it won't make you want to kiss it." Thank goodness the powers that be finally invested some money into the resort...it was a greater blessing when Ouimet showed up and saw the real potential.

Back to river rides...my first experience on one was at Magic Mountain in about 1981/82 on what was the second or third built version of the ride. It was very popular. The Popeye's River Ride at IOA moves along at a good clip compared to most. I didn't ride the river ride at California Adventure because it looked like it spun too much and I can't do that anymore. Thunder Canyon at Cedar Point is fine but if I want to smell like Lake Erie I'll just jump into Lake Erie.

Was thinking when parks started getting rid of their older log flumes, these would likely be next.

I've never been on this one but have worked at an Intamin rapids ride. They're costly operate, require a lot of staff to open, have low throughput, and take up a pretty big footprint. The cleaning of the track/through in the off season was crazy labor intensive as well.

All I know is that whatever they do with the site, I'd sure like to see this happen:

(ALT: Aerial view of Raging Rapids showing a path cutting across the site from the waterpark to the catered picnic grove)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I believe there's a Vekoma Family Boomerang on the way. Shipping records have been found online.

Walking is hard.

Ride man do you find yourself in Holidog Funtown often and then need to proceed directly to Splashin Safari? I guess in all my times there I’ve never viewed the raft ride as a massive impediment to moving around. I’m usually only in the 4th area midday when there is no reason to rush through.

Jeff:

Walking is hard.

Epcot parking lot > Universal parking garage > whatever walk RideMan is talking about?

Looks like he is standing so he should be on the right. Left side is for people who are walking.

Ah the Universal Parking garage, it’s so nice to skip that and take a boat instead.