Trip Report – Water Slide Database

Trip Report: Adventure Island (March 19, 2015)

Posted on April 14, 2015March 2, 2016 by Marcus

It’s been 5 years since the last time I was at Adventure Island. Armed with a Sanyo waterproof camcorder, this was one of the earliest water parks I had ever documented for Water Slide Database back in 2010! This time I come prepared with a DSLR and GoPro Hero4.

Trip Report: Holiday World Splashin Safari (August 31, Hyena Falls Review)

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Marcus

Having not been able to visit Holiday World earlier in the year, I was able to find an opportune time to make a drive up on Labor Day weekend. This would be a particularly short visit since I wanted to be out of the park and driving before sundown, so I made sure to hit the essentials immediately.

Upon arriving and getting in to the park, I made my way to the lockers where I would place my belongings (including camera), then made a bee-line straight to Hyena Falls. If you’re not familiar with the layout of Holiday World, then you should probably know that the walk to there can be, admittedly, quite lengthy. On your way there, you pass a wave pool, two water play structures, a world class wooden roller coaster (Voyage), and an Intamin shoot-the-chutes (Giraffica, previously called Pilgrim’s Plunge).

Eventually you make it to a more quiet corner of the amusement park where the new ProSlide complex was placed, along with a small splash and fountain area for smaller children, a new large restroom stall, an extra Dippin’ Dots stand and a roofed area containing free Pepsi drink stalls and a pretzel stand. The area was fairly quiet upon arrival considering it was far from most of the other water slides in the park, but as the day went on, people began to migrate more towards it and that’s when the lines really filled up.

So how about the new slides?

Hyena Falls is yet another water slide complex built by ProSlide company for Holiday World Splashin’ Safari. On the lower deck are three enclosed inner tube slides named Chuckles, Giggles, and Tee-Hee. The slides vary in having helixes or regular turns, but each one has a section that has riders coming out of an enclosed section and down a dip to gain a bit more speed before coming back into a tunnel. They’re fairly short, but can pick up some fair speed when riding with a partner.

On the upper deck sits a specialty slide, the new ProSlide Wave named Laughs. This particular slide is longer than the three previous ones, and has a larger tunnel to accomodate ProSlide’s special two-seater whirly wheel inner tubes and larger single-person inner tubes. It begins with an s-bend curve before coming down a fast drop into the slide’s main centerpiece, which is a halfpipe element that is completely rounded to give a smooth, zero-gravity experience when riding up and down the wall. The exit from the element did have minor jarring due to the inner tube riding over rough waters at the bottom and coming quickly towards the edge of the flume before slowing down, but nothing to cause any discomfort from the floating sensation one receives on this slide in particular.

All four slides make a very nice addition to the park’s already impressive lineup, especially with Laughs. I was able to try each of them at least once (Laughs twice) before going back to the water park and re-riding other slides.

Right after Hyena Falls, I was able to hop in the single rider’s line for the park’s largest Hydromagnetic Water Coaster, Mammoth, and had an experience on it that definitely beat my first time on it (when the water was freezing cold)! It’s safe to say that the water this time felt especially warm, and the raft almost felt as though it moved quicker on the course! With the excessive amount of water that was thrown around during the quick course, it still made for a very, very wild ride that must be experienced before leaving the park!

The only other slides I was able to hop on were Wildebeest and Jungle Racers before taking on the
dry-side of the park. Coming from the Thanksgiving area later in the day, I noticed that the park had silently removed two inner-tube slides that used to sit near the entrance of the water park, their names AmaZOOM and Bamboo Chute.

All in all, the day visit went smoothly. The coasters were still running wonderfully, and the same could be said about the rest of the park; especially considering the crowds on a Labor Day weekend.

(*Edit [May 7, 2014]: It has been confirmed that both AmaZOOM and Bamboo Chute were relocated to the Lake Rudolph campgrounds next door where it now operates as Santa’s Splash Down.)

Ratings for slides ridden (N/A= Unavailable)(*=Updated):

*Hyena Falls:
   *Chuckles: 7/10
   *Giggles: 7/10
   *Laughs: 8/10
   *Tee-Hee: 7/10
Jungle Racer: 7/10
Mammoth: 10/10!

Wildebeest: 10/10!

Atlantis Clarksville Trip Report (July 12, 2013)

Posted on July 18, 2013March 2, 2016 by Marcus

Because I wasn’t able to visit another water park since May, I did another visit to Atlantis in Clarksville, Indiana but made it a surprise visit since I wanted to see how the water park was doing, and would be like on a busy day.

A very sunny morning about an hour after the park had opened had some light, but very good crowds. The majority of visitors were large groups of very excited children on field trips, but the rest were mostly teens and adults looking for a very nice day out in the sun.

I spent about a few hours in the water park and had myself a pretty good time. I spent most of my time sliding down the slides since I didn’t really feel like bothering with the wave pool. With this visit, I was able to compare what the park would be like with a crowd. The splitting of the staircase for body sliders on the left, inner tubers on the right was a very nice idea and allowed for body sliders to bypass those with inner tubes and head straight to the slide of their choice. The top of the complex was much less organized though, with people standing in random locations unsure what line they might be in for the slide they want. It takes a bit of squeezing-by other people sometimes to be able to reach the slide of your choice.

The slides themselves were just about the same as the last visit, except that the slide surfaces were cleaner and smoother, and the water felt slightly warmer than my first visit in the cold. One very noticeable change was in the enclosed body slide where I had mentioned that the second helix on the slide previously had back-scratching, which wasn’t felt on this visit!

So, I’m happy to say that this visit turned out to be a better visit compared to the last, and the water park was doing much better than it was earlier this summer! I can definitely recommend this water park if you’re ever in the Louisville of Clarksville areas and want to get your feet wet, just be sure to avoid weekends since those are the busiest times for the park. Also, if you want to avoid additional charges for locker use, bring your own locks!

Ratings for slides ridden (N/A= Unavailable)(*=Updated/Changed):

Body Slide (Closed Flume): 7/10

Body Slide (Open Flume): 6/10

Tube Slide (Closed Flume): 7/10

*Tube Slide (Open Flume): 7/10

Overall Water Park Rating: 6/10

Splashin’ Safari Mammoth Review (June 2, 2012)

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Marcus

I recently made a trip to Santa Claus, Indiana to attend the Holiwood Nights roller coaster enthusiast event at Holiday World. The event mostly consisted of exclusive ride times on the park’s most popular rides, including their three wooden roller coasters, Raven, Legend, and Voyage.

This event also included exclusive ride times on the park’s two (count it, two!) ProSlide Hydromagnetic water coasters: Wildebeest, and new for 2012 Mammoth.

I’ve already written a short review of Wildebeest before, but I feel like giving another just to reiterate what was said before. Wildebeest was the park’s first water coaster, and was the world’s longest of it’s kind when it first opened. It first consists of an easy conveyor lift to the top of the hill while sitting in the green 4-person inline raft, which makes riding this slide easier for people who have difficulty climbing stairs and makes it much less of a hassle to get on the slide.

The lift ends when you are greeted by an operator at the top, and enter the tunnel with a flood of water that constantly pours in from the sides. Then the slide gets going and never stops until it reaches the end. It flies through the entire course at a very quick speed, sending riders down airtime-inducing drops and back uphill at speeds that would match a real roller coaster (hence the name “Water Coaster”). Once the slide reaches the end, it lands on a conveyor belt that brings the raft to a halt at a separate exit station for riders to disembark.

(The following POV footage was shot with the express written permission of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari management during a private event.)

Wildebeest is a hit with any roller coaster enthusiast who rides it, and it is definitely a must-ride if you ever visit the park. But of course, it’s not the only slide one must experience if they ever come here.

Sitting beside the Wildebeest is the newest water coaster to open at Splashin’ Safari for the year 2012. It stole Wildebeest’s record for being the longest water coaster on the planet, and absolutely dominates Wildebeest by its sheer size. With its size also comes a suitable name: Mammoth!

Mammoth is the park’s second ProSlide Hydromagnetic water coaster. It breaks a record by being the longest of its kind, and is the first of its kind to feature the new 6-person cloverleaf rafts. The rafts are just like the 4-person cloverleaf rafts used by select ProSlide raft slides. The difference is that it seats more people, does not have a hole where you can touch the surface of the flume through it, and the seats are a little bigger and more cozy to sit in.

Mammoth starts with a conveyor lift up the hill side, with an operator to greet you at the top just like Wildebeest. Once you get going on this slide though, you are either facing forwards, backwards, or sideways depending upon where you sat. Another fun part about the round seating is that you get to rotate during the slide, which adds to the excitement.

Unlike Wildebeest, Mammoth doesn’t exactly speed its way through the entire course and it doesn’t pull any airtime on the hills (except for the fourth drop, which is angled at 45 degrees and can give a good scare for any riders going backwards!). What it does do is soak you with a ridiculous amount of water; more than Wildebeest! In some of the tunnels, the raft will pass through floods of water that completely soak every passenger on board. And when you reach the end, it gives a whitewater finale by ending in a small flowing river of water instead of on a conveyor belt like Wildebeest does.

(The following POV footage was shot with the express written permission of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari management during a private event.)

Mammoth is absolutely amazing to ride, and is beautiful to look at. Wildebeest will provide more thrills, but Mammoth is probably more fun to ride with friends because of how you are facing each other and how Mammoth has a higher capacity.

I was able to ride both of these slides once during the exclusive ride times (ERT’s). I wish I could have ridden them more, but I wanted to be able to take photos of both slides. Also, the water that morning was freezing! The air temperature during the ERT session was around 60 degrees (Fahrenheit), and the water was cooled the night before when temperatures were around 50 degrees. Don’t think that the water is like this all the time though. On normal warmer days, the water is pretty nice. Splashin Safari even has an app on their website to tell you how warm their water is.

Still, even with the frigid water that morning, everyone who rode Mammoth seemed to love it!

I’ll have to take another trip back to Holiday World later this summer so I can try Mammoth again when the water is warmer. I definitely can’t wait for that!

Ratings for slides ridden (N/A= Unavailable):

Mammoth: 10/10!

Wildebeest: 10/10!

See more photos of Mammoth and Wildebeest

See last review of the entire water park

Six Flags White Water Trip Report

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Marcus

On Friday, August 12, I was able to spend some time at Six Flags White Water before I had to leave the Atlanta area for good. Due to a bad choice in what time I wanted to go there and traffic on the way to the water park, my day was shortened to exactly 1 hour. Within that hour I hit the water slides I wasn’t able to hit on my last visit last year.

After that, I made my way to Black River Falls. This was the longest I waited that day. After waiting 30 minutes for an inner-tube, I head to the top to wait another 20 to get on the slide. It takes quite a while for the light to turn green and let the next slider down the chute. After the light does turn green and you start down the slide, you immediately enter a tunnel and hit a left turn helix. The water slide consists of multiple left and right turns in a pitch black tunnel filled with air holes punched out of the top of the slide. The slide also consists of jagged trims to slow down your inner tube along the course, and they can hurt if you do not lift your butt while riding! Soon the slide ends with a drop finale into the pool, where you disembark your tube and hand it to the awaiting rider.

Next in line was the Bermuda Triangle and Caribbean Plunge (which also meant I skipped Gulf Screamer, this was because Bermuda Triangle had a much shorter wait. Well get to Gulf Screamer soon.). Bermuda Triangle was practically a walk-on once you retrieved your double inner-tube. After climbing the stairs, getting on your tube and pushing off, you move slowly around one turn, take a dip and then complete a helix in the opposite direction. Along the course of this slide are a few trims as well to slow down your inner tube. Soon you go down another small dip and enter a tunnel where you make another complete helix in the opposite direction. Eventually you will exit the tunnel, go down a bigger dip and splash in the pool. Caribbean Plunge (Not Pictured) was a little more intense than Bermuda Triangle because of it’s very steep double-down drops. Both slides okay in my opinion, but none of the inner tube slides I rode this day were as good as Gulf Scream.

Gulf Scream was another inner tube water slide with a couple dips and many turns. What makes this slide stand out? It has wilder turns, no trims, and it ends shooting you outwards 3 feet above the pool! This slide has one of the most spectacular finales of any water slide I’ve seen. Being that you just came out of a turn and are still swinging left and right, you can hit the pool sideways causing you to fall out of your inner tube!

That was all for this day. The last slide I was able to hit before they closed the water slides and the entire water park was Dragon’s Tail for a second run. It’s now my favorite water slide in the water park!

As for the Flash Pass system? I think it would really sell at a water park like this. Lines usually get pretty long during peak seasons and a way to skip the lines would totally catch my eye. Today, though, was a very slow day. The longest I waited felt about 30-40 minutes (Black River Falls), at least 20 of those minutes were waiting for an inner tube. The Fastpass system for inner tube slides is that you get to go through a separate and obviously shorter line to get an inner tube, but then you will have to wait to get on the actual slide. For body slides like Dragon’s Tail, the normal line was big enough to have a rope split it into two; thus allowing Fastpass-ers to virtually skip the line.
I only saw one person use the fast pass system that day and it was for getting on Dragon’s Tail. I didn’t mind the Fastpass system that day since there was a smaller crowd, but on a busy day where lines back up all the way to the entrance, I would feel pressured to pay extra to use the system. I’m not saying that I dislike the Fastpass system or how Six Flags uses them, I think they are very useful when you don’t want to wait in long lines. I will try the system one day just to see how much of a difference it can make on a busy day.

Updated Ratings:

Water Slide Ratings (N/A = Not Available)(* = Updated/Changed)

100-Meter Splash: 6/10

Bahama Bob Slide: N/A

*Bermuda Triangle (2): 7/10

*Black River Falls (2): 5/10

Bonzai (2): 6/10

*Caribbean Plunge: 6/10

Cliffhanger: 9/10

*Dragon’s Tail: 8/10

*Gulf Coast Screamer (2): 8/10

Lizard’s Tail: N/A

Mutiny Chute: N/A

Rapids (2): 8/10

Run-A-Way River: N/A

Tree-Slide Body Flume (3): 6/10

Tidal Wave (2): 6/10

Tornado: N/A

Other Rides/Attractions
Atlanta Ocean Wave Pool: 7/10
Buccaneer Bay: N/A
Little Hooch River: 6/10
Tree House Island: N/A

*Overall Water Park Rating: 9/10

Click here to view more photos of Six Flags White Water

http://www.youtube.com/p/681D7B4F308657FD?version=3&hl=en_US&fs=1