New Indiana Beach water ride flies under the radar?

I was checking into going to Indiana Beach and I see they have a new attraction called "Splash Battle." It's described as an interactive water ride where you can shoot at targets and get people wet from a submarine-like vehicle (pictured on site), or save yourself from getting wet by also shooting targets. This is the first one in America and I'm kind of suprised that I haven't heard anyone mention this all winter/spring, unless I was just too distracted by that other Inidiana attraction.

edit: I initially asked who made the attraction, and then immediately afterwards decided to Google it. Suprisingly, IB is using the official attraction name, and Splash Battle has its own webpage--
www.splashbattle.com

*** Edited 5/21/2006 3:44:53 AM UTC by Intamin Fan***

Well it was announced awhile ago, but I assume it flew under the radar because it's not a major attraction.

Splash Battle will replace the Tanks and use the same pool that the Tanks did. From what I have heard the attraction isn't close to being finished yet.

They are also building a new interactive water play area where the beach volleyball was located.

Preston Barberie is the builder of the ride (but not the designer) and another one opens at Legoland, CA in 2006. It may not be a major attraction compared to a lot of other things this year, but, it looks to have the same thrills of Super Saturator/Roller Soaker and that is to "Douse or be doused."

This type of attraction will truly hit all targets - if you excuse the pun.

The little kids can easily ride it with the parents - the teens will have a blast.

On a hot summer day this is a can't miss attraction that probably didn't cost a ton of money.

Very clever!

The site preparation is done, but the ride hasn't arrived yet. From what I understand, it's on a boat heading over. Splash Battle will be included in POP/Combo ride passes, whereas the Boat Tag was an upcharge.

The cost of a version going to a small park in France (Walibi Aquitaine) was only 1.85 millions euros! The prototype at Walibi World is great fun, but suffers from average capacity (700-800 pph).

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CoasterDude316 said:
but I assume it flew under the radar because it's not a major attraction.

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Naw, there's more to it than that. Probably a combination of all the other stuff being built in the area, plus IB's marketing team possibly not seeing the marketing potential of the ride. This is a ride that an awful lot of people would be and should be excited about if they only new about it.

Look at it this way, if Holiday World had been building this we would have seen it hyped to high heaven and back.

Went to IB on opening weekend and looked at the prepped site. It looks like it is going to be a very short ride since they are using the same pool as boat tag. I can't see them pushing it as a major attraction. Just a nice way to cool off on a hot day.

By the way, did Sally come up and work on Den of Thieves since they were in Indiana? The ride looks like it got some new paint and some effects were working that I don't remember working before.

On the matter of upcharges, too many upcharge rides in a park send s the wrong message after you pay so much for admission or for a ride-all-day wristband. Sure, there are some rides such as Skycoasters that justify an upcharge because of their very low capacity or intense thrills but if there are a lot of such rides at a park, they should be placed in a separate area outside the gate. CP does this with their Challenge Park.

Some rides that formerly had upcharges are coming out with bigger versions that are included in POP. An example of this are the new bigger Screamin Swings at CP, KW, VF, and LC. IBs new ride is a welcome addition to this trend as well.

Here is what I posted on the IB Club message board after my annual spring trek to the park:

The old Boat Tag is out along with its accouterments. It looks more spacious now without those nets all around. The pool is very clean and will be used for Splashbattle! This ride (POP!) will have a monorail type system for the vehicles that travel a looping/switchback circuit, thus giving the riders many opportunities to spray other guests riding. It will also have targets that spray when hit. A tunnel will be on the mountain side. The original Boat Tag platform will be used for load/unload. The ride will last about 2 1/2 min. and have 5-6 vehicles. Ginny Davis was showing a video in the office and it looks fun. Good fit for the park!

With this *and* the new kids' play area, IB is poised for another great year.

Congrats to the Spackman family and everyone at IB....and thanks to Dommerrie for introducing me to the wonders of IB! :)

Sounds like the one Walibi Aquitaine is building right now... Capacity will be very low, so expect long lines during the summer.

Here is some news about it from a Lafayette, IN newspaper.

Click these words

Maybe by the time I actually get down there, they will have some construction going or have it finished and I'll post some pics and maybe a review.

What a cool-looking ride.

I tell ya, it seems that Indiana Beach does nothing but make smart decisions. Each ride they add is perfect for their park. Definitely one of my all-time favorite parks to visit... too bad a live many states away!