River rapids ride

The river rapids ride concept was proposed by Bill Crandall (general manager of AstroWorld in Houston) and developed by Intamin.

Despite being an incredibly popular attraction, AstroWorld's Thunder River (being a prototype) was initially plagued by issues that were corrected in the first few seasons of operation.

Multiple manufacturers have introduced new elements to the rapids ride concept: a vertical lift system, shoot the chute-style drops, and a whirlpool feature.

The rubber ring provides buoyancy as well as shock absorption for when rafts collide with an obstacle during the course of the ride or with each other.

A lift hill then brings the boats back up to station level at the end of the ride.

Rocks are also sometimes bolted to the base of the river channel on metal frames, which helps create a more natural rapids feel.

There are generally two types of river rapids ride stations: those with conveyor belts and those with turntables.

Those with conveyor belts are able to lift the raft completely out of the stream of water (usually as an extension of the lift hill at the end of the ride) and advance it to various points in the station to allow passengers to enter and exit via raised straight platforms on either side of the conveyors.

Some parks (for instance, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay), have coin-operated water jets and cannons so that passersby can pay to attempt to soak riders.

On 25 October 2016, a malfunction of the Thunder River Rapids Ride at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, resulted in the deaths of four people.

[3] On 9 May 2017, an 11-year-old girl, Evha Jannath fell into the water on the Splash Canyon Ride at Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire, England at around 2:20pm.

On July 3, 2021, a raft on Raging River at Adventureland in Altoona, Iowa, carrying six passengers overturned, sending four guests to a local hospital with severe injuries.