Cover Story
www.parkworld-online.com
The wonders of water
Why water rides? Park World explores the answer to this question with the help of Kelly Sall, general manager, water rides at WhiteWater; Dennis Speigel, founder & CEO of International Theme Park Services; Gerard Pascua, director of technical & safety at VinWonders; and Jonathan Smith, corporate vice president, rides & engineering at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
Super Flume, VinWonders
Phu Quoc, Vietnam
Kelly Sall, general manager, water rides, WhiteWater
Dennis Speigel, founder _ CEO, International Theme Park Services
W 24
Gerard Pascua, director of technical _ safety, VinWonders
Jonathan Smith, corporate vice president, rides _ engineering, SeaWorld Parks _ Entertainment
ater rides hold a place in the hearts of theme park guests the world over - and they have done for a very long time. This shouldn’t come as a surprise; humans have a natural affinity for water. We flock to spend our leisure time near rivers, lakes or the ocean - whether we’re swimming, sailing or simply sunbathing near the shoreline. Meanwhile, the earliest evidence of surfing can be traced all the way back to 12th century Polynesia. Humans have always sought out ways to have fun with water.
Indeed, the history of water rides themselves stretches back longer than you might expect, with the shoot the chute, tunnel of love and toboggan each making their first appearances in the 1890s.
But it was during the 1960s that water rides really took off. Dennis Speigel, founder & CEO of International Theme Park Services, states: “One of the rides that really set the industry on its ear was the Arrow Dynamics log flume. This copied the logging industry, where they were quite literally riding moving logs down chutes, and someone had the idea of hollowing them out and using them in amusement parks. The first log flume ride was installed at Six Flags Texas back in 1963 by Arrow.”
Arrow Dynamics’ log flume opened the floodgates, and then came another noteworthy water ride, the themed Timber Mountain Log Ride which opened in 1969 at Knott’s Berry Farm in California.
JUNE 2023
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