I was in Great America several times in the 1980s, so as I try to remember the
times I rode the rides, I can think of memories of some of them….
WHITEWATER RAMPAGE
Well, it is supposed to be the water ride at that theme park that would bring us more
thrills than the already-installed Log Flume that I rode before in Six Flags.
It was announced on TV that a ride called the Whitewater Rampage was going to be
on, and even with a slight fear of water, I decided to take on the Rampage.
After I got through a rather long line, I see a warning message that said “You
are going to get wet…probably soaked…after riding this ride.” I knew I was going
to get wet, but I don’t know at that point how much. I was sitting with about 6-7
people in a sort of saucer module with an outer skin of yellow and seats with seat
beat restraints in black. The ride is innocent enough in the begging with the gentle
whitewater bumps, but then, the saucer picks up speed gradually in the middle
of the ride. I got lashed in the back at least once with a bit of water. Then, the surprise
comes after I got through halfway through the ride, after going through a rather long
tunne….exploding geysers fire in the air up to 40 feet high, and I was about 25 feet
away from it when it fired. They released about ½ to ¾ gallons of water and when
they dropped all of that water on me, I got a partial brunt—ending up being wet with
about 1/3 gallons of water. Then the grand finale of the ride was the climax, the
module goes down into more whitewater bumps that were larger and bigger, and I got
lashed 2 more times with water, and on the last bump, I think I got a direct hit from
behind by the water….and then, it was all over. I had an extra set of clothes to change
after I got off the ride.
THE
LOG FLUME
The ride seems to be in 4 phases. I had been on the Flume twice, so I can remember:
Phase 1
You go across the first sinuous curve and you are taken up with the first
ascent of about 75 feet, feeling a shaky wooden-like feel even though this is not a
wooden rollercoaster. Must be steel cables doing the work.
Phase 2
Then, I feel the light drop and then it is a sinuous ride with left banks, right banks, and
then left banks again, and then, a slight drop of 15 feet gets you a bit wet (a prelude to
the grand finale of the ride), and then, you end up in a new straightaway.
Phase 3
Another slight drop of about 10 feet gets you down and gets you slightly more wet
again, and then a few more short straightaways and a few more banks. At that point,
I feel like a log but I know that there is another final big climb to come.
Phase 4 – The Grand Finale
This challenged me a little bit—because I was a bit afraid of heights but I was able to
deal with it---the final ascent, the second of the ascents, as big as the first,
gets you as high as about 85 feet, then you go straight for about 15 more feet. Then I
see what is coming below—the big drop with the great pool of water below to splash
me at, and then I braced myself for the drop that
would happen at speeds as high as 50 mph, I placed my head down forward as the
drop happened, punctuated by a mule bump in the middle (about 40 feet), and then, I
can hear the great splash, and I got sideswiped with a splash of water. Then I raised
my head and I found out that part of my legs and my back of the shirt got wet, but
I knew that the ride was over.
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