SeaWorld San Antonio announces Catapult Falls, a launched flume
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From the press release:
SeaWorld San Antonio is thrilled to share that the much- anticipated “Catapult Falls” will now open in Spring 2024. The groundbreaking coaster will be the world’s first launched flume coaster with North America’s only vertical lift. It also will have riders screaming in anticipation of a speedy downward plunge with the steepest drop of any flume ride.
“Sometimes it takes a little delayed gratification to produce something completely innovative; it was important to us to ensure that our first-of-its-kind water flume coaster is perfected in every part of the ride experience and that is what we have done,” said Jodi Davenport, President of SeaWorld San Antonio. “We know our guests are going to agree it was worth the wait once they take their first jaw-dropping plunge on the world’s first launched flume coaster.”
“Catapult Falls” will combine the thrill of a launched roller coaster, the excitement of a vertical lift elevator that lifts riders above the theme park, and a water flume ride with the steepest drop, to produce multiple rushes of adrenaline as well as moments of exciting splashes to cool guests down.
Eleven boats, each with eight riders, will catapult through the launch at speeds of 30 feet per second, allowing riders to feel the rush of a coaster while experiencing the rocking and swaying of riding on a track of water. After winding through a series of twists and turns, “Catapult Falls” uses a state-of-the-art elevator, the only one on the continent in an attraction of this kind, to lift guests up seven feet per second to reach a height of over 55 feet.
Once at the peak of the ride, guests will experience the world’s steepest drop in a flume attraction! Angled at a staggering 53 degrees, the chute plummets riders into a watery splashdown at over 37 miles per hour. It’s a perfect ride for guests to get wet and cool down in the hot Texas heat.
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Boats ran for hours and there were no issues in regards to water accumulation on Biberburg, if that's what you were talking about Jeff.
If you want to hear about a complicated and delicate piece of machinery when it comes to water rides, look no further than the Mack Power Splash. How it works: boat is launched over the hill, goes over the water and partly up a spike. It moves forward through the still dry splash pool, pass the airtime hill and turntable for a LSM boost. Roaring up another spike, the boat falls backward and give you another boost as you pass the still dry splash pool. In the few seconds the boat stalls on the spike, gates open and fill the splash pool with just enough water to generate a massive wave as the boat goes through. The boat then parks on the turntable as the flood gates close and 4 massive boats work hard to quickly remove hundreds of gallons of water. This did not stop Mack from selling a few of them around the world.
I was just making a joke, apparently one that was cosmically unfunny, like sportsball.
Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
If I remember right, it’s a rubber check valve on the back of a flume boat. It drains water while the boat is on a lift and closes to keep water out in the trough. It looks like a duck bill when it’s closed.
I love the theming of the two flume videos that Absimilliard linked to. It's a very good example of what I think is missing from the new Sea World Antonio flume.
-Travis
www.youtube.com/TSVisits
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