Shoot the chute

Shoot the chute is an amusement ride consisting of a flat-bottomed boat that slides down a ramp or inside a flume into a lagoon.

[4] The oldest ride of this type still in operation is the boat chute constructed in 1926 and 1927 located at Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park in Rossville, Georgia, near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

[citation needed] Many shoot-the-chute installations also have an observation platform or bridge so that spectators, in addition to riders, can get wet from the splash created by the boats.

[citation needed] Intamin took the shoot-the-chute concept to extremes with the opening of its first Mega Splash, Perilous Plunge at Knott's Berry Farm.

Upon landing in the lagoon below, the boats created a 45-foot (13.7 m) high splash that drenched riders as well as spectators standing on an observation bridge overlooking the ride.

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, built an even larger shoot-the-chute ride named Pilgrims Plunge.

Designed and built by Intamin and dubbed a Hyper Splash, it was, at its opening, the world's tallest water ride, with a top speed of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h).

Pilgrims Plunge featured a 135-foot open elevator lift leading to a 131-foot (40 m) drop at a 45' angle that would propel the boat to speeds approaching 50 miles per hour (80 km/h).