Log Flumes w/ Alernating Drops

Ther are a number of log flumes that have alternating drops, Logger's Run, Yankee Clipper, Arrowhead Splashdown (Jetstream), etc., but none of them alternate the drops anymore. Is there a park that still does this, and why did all (alot) of parks stop alternating them ?

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I think CP still alternates White Water landing, as does IOA with Duddly Do-right. (sp?)

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- Peabody

I never really saw why they had to have two different drops to begin with. Many Log Flumes run just fine with one.

Cedar Point and Hersheypark both alternate.

What is an alternating drop?

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It is a log flume where it has two drops and they can changes the rails so it can go down either one. Sort of like on a train where there are rails and it can go straight or turn.

The log flume at PGA still does that
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I think it was a safety issue. I am not sure though. I think that is what I heard. Besides, why? They work fine with just one drop.

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Rob

I HATE SNOW!!! I am boycotting snow, I refuse to have fun in it.

Alternating drops allow greater capacity since the boats have to be spaced out on the drops for safety.

I think that Hershey still uses the alternating drops on Coal Cracker.

I think Coal Cracker at Hershey park has one. And it alternates.

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Millennium Force......It has its ups and downs.

With alternating drops dont the boats still go through at the same speed. I dont see the point in 2. The one a PKI that got removed cause of TR:TR hadn't used both drops for like 3 years. I though because of the trees were to close to the flume. But now that I think about it they could have easily chopped the trees. With 2 drops u still end up on the same track at the end about 75 feet down the track, so how does it help them get more boats through because you can't send 2 down at the same time like they race.

I actually like the fact that there's two seperate drops on flumes, kind of makes it like you're getting the possiblity of two different rides.

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Excalibur Crew for 2002!

These are the Hydro-Jump flumes that have the double down-chutes. Consider White Water Landing, for instance, which still uses both chutes. On a Hydro-Jump flume, there is no blocking system as we know it on roller coasters because it's a low speed, low force ride, for most of the ride...if the boats collide with one another, it's no big deal, and in fact it happens on occasion if the top of the chute gets backed up.
Now, on a traditional flume, the big drop comes right after the conveyor, so the operator can stack the boats on the conveyor and send them down the chute one at a time. At the bottom, the boat makes a splash, then continues on arond the corner, and the performance won't vary much from boat to boat. So once the boat slows down , the next boat can go down the drop. With the Hydro-Jump flume, there is a ramp at the base of the drop that lifts the boat out of the water so that it will hydro-plane through the run-out at the base of the drop. This results in higher speed, but more important it also means a less predictable performance. A heavier boat or a boat with the front end heavier than the rear will slow more rapidly than a lighter, back-heavy boat will. Add to that the momentum effects of heavier boats (some heavier boats will go further than light ones, some heavier boats won't go as far) and the boat performance is very unpredictable. The entire run-out had better be clear before another boat
comes down or you risk a collision. So they came up with the double down-chute. The boat can go down whichever chute is clear, then the next boat can use the other chute even though the first chute isn't completely clear yet. By the time the third boat arrives at the weir at the top of the drop, the first chute ought to be clear again.

The bottom line is that the double downchute allows the boats to run closer together while still maintaining safe separation on the high-speed run-out at the base of the drop.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I really hate how the boats at CP rise out of the water...you don't get wet at all.

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Splashdown (Jetstream) at SFMM stop doing the alternating drops when Ninja was built. I don't know how Ninja affected the alternate drops but I know that thats why they stopped using the other drop.

Poland Spring Plunge at Great Adventure has it and sometimes uses it.

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Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls at IOA has the alternating drops at the end -- and, yes, it does alternate. Then again, at that point one has to argue whether it's a flume ride or a coaster.

Chewman said:
Poland Spring Plunge at Great Adventure has it and sometimes uses it.
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Yea the "poland spring plunge" at Sixflags Great Adventure has it but I never knew what both sides of the chutes where for, but it only uses the left side.Maybe it dose us both chutes? ,I been riding it since it was called Asian Towers or somthing to that sort and it never did. But I love that ride I just dont like the new name. I thought maybe they use to race down the chutes? My grandmother has a very old Great Adventure decrative plate in her house and you see both sides with boats racing down the chutes at the same time. And the plate is years old ,my mother bought it for her in the erlie 80's. Qestion thou is it ment to be that the boats hop when they hit the water.. Thats the best part... Also i think Coal Cracker at Hershey park uses two chutes... cant really remember.

From my point of view, on many of the hydro-flumes you wouldn't safely be able to have a boat occupy the run-out and the down chute at the same time, simply because if the boat in the runout flips or gets stuck for whatever reason, there is nothing stopping the boat going down the other chute from ramming it. But I only know about the safety system of the one at my home park, others could be different.

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Hersheypark's Coal Cracker uses both chutes, and I love how the boat jumps and hydroplanes at the end of the chute.