“Not only will it provide thrills for those wanting the exhilaration of a coaster-type ride, but being a water ride, it will give guests one more way to cool down in the hot Texas temperatures. “Catapult Falls will be the perfect addition to our already fantastic line up of family rides,” said Byron Surrett, SeaWorld San Antonio President. The first-of-its-kind ride combines 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. I had tried late last year to get some information from some local parks about ride evacuation procedures, and they were very hesitant to provide that, and I would expect similar hesitancy when it comes to line item operational costs.SeaWorld San Antonio today announced the construction of a NEW water flume coaster, Catapult Falls, coming in 2023. So while it would probably be a pretty interesting column, it would be insanely difficult to pry this type of information out of a theme park. Like many attractions, once it's "broken" it, and has a dedicated maintenance staff, the costs would gradually decrease over time aside from major part replacements and refurbishment. Having never worked in park maintenance, I have no clue how much more effort is required to maintain a water ride versus something else. Also, the maintenance costs are never discussed when theme parks talk about the cost of an attraction. Additionally, with parks like Disney and Universal, they have on-staff engineers that are always working on new designs and ideas (R&D) that are rarely disclosed when they talk about the cost of a ride. Some give out numbers, but it can be difficult to tell how much of that is real cost to design, build, and construct and how much of that is just marketing. It took until the 1960’s before modern log flume rides were perfected, but the three main types of water rides - Shoot the Chutes, Rapids, and Log Flumes - all draw on technology from industrial log flumes.Ĭomparing attraction costs can be extremely difficult to do because companies are not forthcoming with specific costs of attractions. Man has been using flowing water to move things for centuries, but the idea of creating artificially sloped “V” shaped trenches filled with running water to eliminate “log jams” is credited to James W. Flumes date back over 150 years, originating as a method to move heavy objects. This first part of my elemental series dedicated to water will focus on the use of water as a method for propulsion and motion in rides.Īside from roller coasters, just about every major amusement park of the 20th century had some sort of flume ride. From propulsion to special effects, to landscaping and ambiance, to cooling and hydration, water and other liquids are as necessary to the life of a theme park as they are to human life. The applications are actually so vast that I need to split this column into two parts to adequately cover water’s use in theme parks. Theme park fans probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, but every major theme park in the world uses water in multiple ways. Russell Meyer Theme Park Tech – Water, Part 1: Liquid Propulsion February 17, 2014, 11:44 PM
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