How does a rapids ride work?
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- Опубліковано 19 жов 2023
- Lets talk about a subject that will get you wet!
Rapids rides seem like easy things but there is a lot that goes into making them work. The sheer amount of water used is incredible to think about.
The pumps are massive, and what do we do during the off season to a rapids ride?
This is the first time I use Google Earth to take a look at some water rides from around the world. You can use these concepts and apply them to almost any rapids rides anywhere.
SPLASH AT BEGINNING FROM Crazy Day Adventures - Розваги
Probably my favourite ever UA-cam video intro ever.
I didn’t care for it
The commitment to these bits is getting insane :o
Well they aren’t that often so I can invest more haha!
If you're feeling adventurous for a small/short part 2, there's 2 examples of white water 'rides' in North Carolina that follow your stored in ride vs. stored off ride scenario even though they are not in amusement parks per se.... the national white water center in Charlotte is essentially a giant flume ride with storage in the lower pond. And very surprising for most people the Nantahala River near Bryson City, which has a hydroelectric dam at the top which can and sometimes does effectively turn off the actual river. They are both really cool experiences and basically mega flume rides.
Interesting I’ll have to look into those! Thanks
Hafema rapids are very cool. Their rafts are split into 3 sections that move independently. That means there's a hole in the middle of the boat, so when you go down the drops, a jet of water will come out of the middle and soak everyone.
Interesting
I am loving the hairstyles in this one
Thanks
I've been going to Cedar Point for over 35 years, and i never knew that little area was for while going around perimeter road! I think I remember many years ago that i heard thunder canyon used lake Erie water, but i never knew how until today, so thank you for that!
Your welcome!
"Start with a torch or a cut off wheel". More true words were never spoken about working on water rides. I don't know what was better the reaction on my boss's face when he found out we needed all new stainless hardware or when he saw the bill for all the cutoff wheels.
One time we overhauled the lift on the rapids ride. Mechanic started slamming down stainless on stainless hardware the lead did t know not to do that without lube. Galled every pice. Couldn’t tighten. Couldn’t loosen. Had to cut about 300 bolts. Yuck.
I've waited years for somebody to make this exact video. Glad you were the one to do it as you really nailed it. Thanks a bunch.
Love all the hair styles throughout the video.
Ha! Thanks. Not a lot of people noticed. Had to keep it wet to move around.
Six Flags Great America has its Roaring Rapids closed for several years, then reopened this season. This one has a tunnel, not part of the ride, for that can take boats out of the course to the top of your picture for offseason and long term storage. It is where you pointed about not being sure. Our family loved it ! Seemed to me to very very similar to the others the park owns such as in St. Louis. My kids only complaint, it should be longer!
Yea thanks for verifying that. That particular rapids has a very complex layout more so than other rapids like it. Not sure why though. Must be location.
i've been waiting 30+ years for a video like this... well done!
Thank you glad you enjoyed it!
So have i!! But if you want to see behind the scenes/ backstage/ underfloor, pumps pipes valves ,i have just found ' ThePoolGuy ' for these type of rides!
So have i!! But if you want to see behind the scenes/ backstage/ underfloor, pumps pipes valves ,i have just found ' ThePoolGuy ' for these type of rides!
honestly I was constantly hoping that you'd go over Rattlesnake Rapids at my home park, though, that's my home park so absolutely no bias haha
I have no idea how they managed to fit River Quest into phantasialand. The ride footprint is tiny. there are basically 3 floors of channels, with 2 huge drops. Has a lot of downtime and bad throughput, but it is such a great ride.
Why do good rides generally have bad throughput? I love x2 but man 3hours is too long to wait.
@@ryantheridemechanic Pushing the limits of design will often mean making sacrifices in some areas. X's trains are expensive, so the park didn't have money for 3 of them and a separate offload station, and unique, so the loading procedure takes a bit longer. Another example, maverick's layout would be too forceful with 4 car trains. But also intamin always overestimate the theoretical capacity on their rides . As for RMCs, those are just badly programmed and sometimes don't have a MCBR when they really should. They don't have any kind of multimove and never have separate offload stations. After 12 years, RMC really should be able to do better than they do.
@@ryantheridemechanic But also there are so many great rides with amazing throughput, especially these days. Pretty much all the great B&Ms (Nemesis, Fury 325, Shambhala). A lot of multi launch rides, like Toutatis, Taron, FLY, Helix, or Velocicoaster. Launch adds another block without breaking up the pacing or adding too much time to the cycle, so you can get more throughput from a higher number of shorter trains with fewer ride cars to maintain overall. And shorter trains mean more flexibility in the layout design
@@SkeledroMan oooh FLY is on my bucket list. Such an awesome looking ride.
That swift water return section sounds really similar to those weirs in rivers that are notorious for drowning people :| Couldn't even begin to imagine how terrifying itd be to fall into one of these rides
Yea… don’t fall in!!!!
Your past to videos have been literally the best things on UA-cam! Thanks for all the information that you share on this channel. Makes we want to go back to working for Cedar Point.
Glad you enjoy it!
Love your videos Ryan thank you! I’ve Always wanted to be a ride mechanic especially coasters. Ended up doing Automotive for 12 years. Now doing HVAC. Can’t wait for the next video.
LOVE the intro!!!!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Really like your way of asking people to subscribe its a nice refreshing change.
I subscribe to people all the time. It’s just a mindset. But I’ve heard some channels kind of shaming some into subscribing. It mainly boils down to the channel trying to keep a steady income from UA-cam. So I do make a point to ask people to subscribe but personally I feel like “who needs notifications for UA-cam, just open the app, done” thanks for the comment.
🤣 loved the video Ryan. Ha ha I thought about you a lot today at CP! Everytime I walked up to an air gate, or wheels on all the trains I saw roll through the final break run. Keep up the good work!!!
Thanks!
Thunder Canyon is one if my all time favorites ar Cedar Point. My takeaway is I'm very glad people much more educated than me make sure its safe for me to eide 😅
Was nice to trio over this today. The RC Valley video brought me here
Nice! Welcome!
Love your videos! You have the route backwards on the Adventureland rapids though. The river ran clockwise.
Really? Wow. Never went on they one just watched some videos. But most don’t film on a rapids rides so the quality is not great. Thanks.
Fascinating video! You’ve got a new subscriber and I even dinged the bell. Looking forward to more! Thanks Ryan 👍
Also love all the Disney stuff in the background, former CM now working for a Disney blog lol
@@MyNameisStitch thank you! And welcome to the channel I hope you fine my content useful. My family and I are very big Disney fans. I’d say Matterhorn mountain ignited my passion as a kid for all things rollercoasters.
@@ryantheridemechanic very fitting as the first tubular steel coaster ever! Disneyland had the same effect on me, inspired my love for theme parks. My first job was as a ride operator for Six Flags Astroworld’s Texas Cyclone, Loopin Starship and Antique Taxis and I’ve loved the industry ever since. Keep up the great work 👍
@@MyNameisStitch thanks
Very interesting as always!! A video on the power consumptions of various rides and attractions, and of overall parks, would also be very interesting.
I’ve never see it but I would love to see the power bill sent to the park. I’ve heard (just hearsay) my old park was close to $130k a month in power.
@@ryantheridemechanic That's a lot of power!!
Speaking of weirs, when i was on a theme park (was one where most the rides are prototypes) i got the joy of spending all day adjusting weirs and being the test dummy. Wasnt bad till we got into the night of testing. Another fun part of our gully washer was testing the pumps having to climb into the casing for the pump to get the megger on the pump, and replacing that pump cable. Also the turn table and gates, always fun walking on alge covered bracket to get to that motor to test
Oh the joys of water rides. Never had to do anything like that. Closest we came was spent 1/2 day load testing a shoot the chutes ride trying to determine difference in adjustments vs splash. We had the whole maintenance department some ops and part of marketing as splash test dummies haha.
@ryantheridemechanic I wanna say it was due to a fatality on another park maybe 2 or 3 years ago, so we had to do so much testing and upgrades, not sure how much I'm legally allowed to say about what we did but yeah, that was one of my favorite rides, spent about half a day getting water level alarms set up. (Then again making a 10mm adjustment and getting 6 engineers to agree was always the fun part) I have some stories about the rides on the park I was on. But I do got to ask I'm guessing your park was the same way, how come there is no condition monitoring on most of the equipment?
@@burnedupsparkytipsandrevie9597 condition monitoring in what way? Or what equipment. Lots of monitors. But the parks never went to central monitoring. Mainly because the electrical engineers got spooked someone could tap into a ride that’s being externally monitored. I know of one park that’s monitoring status messages from the PLCs but the rest I’m imagining are a ways behind. Where I was at least.
Beste intro ever, funny to see the shirt dry over the course of the video :)
My home park had a Hafema rapid with a (im not joking) Ferris wheel lift and then a slide, only 2 years in operation because the it was a difficult process to evacuate and slow ferris wheel lift means slower operations in general. its el rio at Bobbejaanland.
Thanks for the compliment! I went a watched a couple of videos on El Rio. Looks like a very nice ride despite the slow lift.
A lot of the stuff he says- you are like "huh? I don't get it" but that was just the set up. By the time some of the visuals start popping up and we look at the ride as a whole it all comes together and explains not only the earlier parts of the video- but fundamental questions you had about the ride all along!
I do try to explain parts and pieces with enough detail to show how they work but not too much to confuse people. But I also don’t like explaining things to where a 3 year old can understand it either. So I struggle to balance that some times.
@@ryantheridemechanic I think by the end of the video it makes a lot of sense. I really enjoy the details like how there is a person who's entire job is going around and deciding where the weirs go!
There is way more to these rides than I thought, well dome!
Thanks.
Amazing intro!
Thanks!
I gave your channel to my boss for new employees to watch, that have never worked at an amusement park before.😊
That is awesome!
Ryan. Great video! I'd love for you to take a look at lagoons new ride Primordial. I'd also love to hear your lion opinion on how you think it works, ect...
Someone else asked me about that was well and I’m still trying to figure it out based off of the on ride videos. Such a cool little ride though.
YES!
Wow! Always loved these types of rides (minus walking around in wet clothes 😂) Curious - is a traditional log flume any easier to maintain? I would guess the basic principals are somewhat similar?
Log flume rides are always worse. More moving parts more units with more mechanical.
The "death trap," huh? Good name. I've been terrified of these things since Fascinating Horror told me about the Dreamworld river rapids accident.
That was mainly crappy maintenance. I know exactly what lead to that accident without a news story. Just took seeing 2 pictures and I connected the dots.
I work in Terra Mítica (Spain) and our rapids ride has 4 pumps. The ride decides automatically wich 3 of them work in that day in order to maintain the pumps in good shape (As you know they are expensive as hell hahahaha). It is possible to put all 4 pumps, but the level of water becomes too high and the boats flow with more speed 😵💫
Awesom. With 4 pump operating, does the rapids become stronger or do they weaken like a river?
@@ryantheridemechanic It becomes stronger, so strong that the boat can skip the positioning conveyor and enter the station directly sometimes... It´s impossible to operate with the 4 pumps, too dangerous hahahaha
@@Deltosio nice to know thank you!
Great intro😂
Thanks
Another great video, these rides are so much fun it's almost a shame how they are a maintenance and through some extent a safety nightmare (at least the ones i've had experience with). But hearing you speak of seatbelts on the rafts made me think of something. In Europe the rafts are not equiped with seatbelts, I was told that putting seatbelts in would be a safety hazard when the boat flip. I kinda find it kinda strange because in most other parts of the world including the USA this is a common practice. Are the seatbelts easy to open? Or is there a system that opens them when submerged?
Yes the seatbelts are a massive safety hazard and should not be used. This is why most manufacturers do not include them. That being said. The United States is run by lawyers so everyone is put into lawsuits constantly. So parks have to do thing to try and prevent people from being stupid. The seat belts are mainly like a car you just press the button to release. Some made Velcro straps. A hand full of parks in the US don’t use them I guess they haven’t been sued yet. It’s a shame when the park has to be run to prevent idiots from harming themselves.
@@ryantheridemechanic Ah that makes sence. Over here when someone hit their head because they stood up or did something stupid, the park would just be "thats your problem''. Too bad the "idot-proofing'' is making it's way in the European parks as well these days.
@@Scjheinen much better process! Maybe one day we (US) will wake up but not as long as they give out money for getting hurt…. Such a shame.
01:30 ...at some point in time...
09:06 ...at that point in time...
12:20 ...at some point in time...
12:27 ...at that point in time...
14:14 ...at that point in time...
25:18 ...at that point in time...
25:52 ...at this point in time...
25:58 ...up this point in time...
28:08 ...at that point in time...
29:56 ...at this point in time...
30:57 ...by that point in time...
31:31 ...at this point in time...
40:46 ...at this point in time...
50:40 ...at that point in time...
59:41 ...at that point in time...
1:14:02 ...at this point in time...
You should hear all the “um” that I edit out haha
How could holiday world and splashing safari in santa-claus indiana innovate the raging rapids rides in Boulder canyon?
Is there not a composite alternative to the lift hill wood or does that special wood just not rot?
Well the wood kind of helps with the rubber grip as well. But it’s always been the special wood or rubber belts. That’s been about it. The water eats everything else. Basic wood is almost instantly crushed and broken under the weight and stress
I used to work on one of these rides at Lagoon Amusement oark....
I know the ins and outs as well...
All the way down to re roping the boats as well to tge 1200 lbs of cement in the boat bottoms to the 20,000 $ for one of those 6 newton's of air in the 6 chamber tube...
I would say the pumps do about a million gallons an hour...
I just know a little right...lol
Yes! The pumps we had I think I spec at their max curve was 1.4m per hours
So funny story on water rides: i got a ride call from my log flume, glaciers are forming in the reserve lake. Apparently, a guest took a bottle of dawn, and dumped it at brake 2. When i got to the ride, it looked like Alaska! Im not gonna lie it was pretty. 😂
Such a mess tho!
How was that cleaned up? Just let time take its course?
We actually had to drain entirely, and refill.
@@Jenlovescoasters yuck. Did someone have to scrub the scum line around the pond or was swapping the water enough.
@@ryantheridemechanic The cleanup was extensive. Lots of scrubbing and power spraying. The soapy glaciers looked cool though.🤣
@@Jenlovescoasters haha!!
3:38 I would like to add that the fiberglass tubs are able to float on their own, at least the one I've worked on, but you sure as hell don't want them running that way haha
Funny. The ones I worked on could not. The current could start to move them but they would just sit there in the water.
@@ryantheridemechanic really shows incredibly varried these rides can be, our fiberglass tubs have a pretty good amount of hollow space Inside so for a time they can float but eventually that hollow space will be overcome, should have specified that, and understood that that's no exactly an acceptable level of floating capability lol
@@ZoniesCoasters honestly never thought about it. I take a lot for granted until I start talking with other mechanics and both sides are like “really?” Lots of differences everywhere on everything.
@@ryantheridemechanic yeah it's pretty wild, I'm still watching your video right now and there's just so much you're talking about that just isn't present on mine, but I mostly just work on the rafts themselves not the rest of the ride, I've got the giant 12 seaters that are made of two halves joined together
@@ZoniesCoasters I know there are thousands of different variations for everything out there. That’s generally why I make my videos very generalized because me pointing out one thing specifically just doesn’t answer enough questions for the majority of people.
Efteling shared a video their Intamin rapids is using 6 pumps. So according to your video, isnm thatbpossibly how they can control the different climate settings for that ride? Also, Efteling closes their rapids from Nov-March in a year round park to do heavy maintenance to it. I would love to see your opinion on this. And Piraña is quite a small rapid in terms of lenght and size.
So the pumps won’t put off enough thermal energy to warm a large body of water.
They are probably running water through a large heat exchanger, either gas or electric. Once the body of water is warm a smaller amount of energy is needed to keep it that way. Most water rides are not heated or cooled however. But I could see running the water through heat exchangers for chillers at near by buildings. Does that help or hurt your question?
@@ryantheridemechanic No because Efteling does not use heaters. They control the different climate settings by raising or lowering the water level. The more water is pumped into it, the wilder the river gets. (Somehow the opposite of what you described) and the lower the water level, the less wet and wild the ride gets. Piraña is using water from a nature water body. And no chlorine water. So the water does not get treated by chemicals. So I was just wondering that those 6 pumps, shutting one of them down can adjust these settings. If I followed you right?.
@@DJWezzyK oh, I get what you’re saying now. I had other people talk to me about this as well and although I’m not 100% sure what exactly it is. I think it has to do with the design of the weirs being used to make the Rapids. And the ride I’m talking about. They typically use a round piece of PVC tubing as the obstruction in the path of water. Some rides use dips in the concrete and more of a lobe instead of an obstruction to create the rapids. I believe the rides that use a lobe or a dip in the concrete, these rides would have a rougher rapids effect with some more water you used. Just my thought.
@@ryantheridemechanic Ah yeah and Piraña uses "wooden" logs in the flume as well by the way to create the rapids. Also with the mentioned steel pipes in front. It looks like wood so I have put it between ".
@@DJWezzyK also I notice some put the pipe or logs in at very wide angle and most pars put them almost 90° in direction of travel. That could be part of it as well
Walking the trough of White Water Canyon, it always freaked me out wondering if you were to be ejected from the boat, it wouldn’t be pleasant.
Ive asked about swimming or just an inner tube and engineering said more than likely you would get stuck in a weir and legs broken drown that sort is stuff not pleasant.
@@ryantheridemechanic I could imagine!
Kings dominion?
@@car_tar3882 King's Island
Hi Ryan, Love your channel. Have you heard about the recent accident on bullet coaster in China where the train rolled back and crashed into another train waiting behind in the station? I wonder if you might have any insight into what might have caused this?
No I haven’t heard about that one. Did it come down off the lift and crash? What was the park / ride name?
@@ryantheridemechanic It apparently rolled back from the top hat. Bullet coaster is located at Happy Valley Shenzhen.
@@haydnchan7880 thanks let me look
@@haydnchan7880 so I can’t really find anything on that. But a rollback from the top hat is a semi common thing although not for an S&S. All I can think of is a delayed brake not rising on time would allow the same thing although the impact might not be hard. I see the track is equipped with 2 sets of brakes but not sure how hast they are applied after the launch.
Looks like the train derailed during the launch
Train could not make it over the top hat.
I’m guessing on the way back down, the Eddie current shoes impacted the brake fins ripping them off not slowing the train down the best. Would have been a pretty big impact.
Again not knowing anything Elsie I hope all involved are ok.
1200a at 480 volts. Wow! How does that compare to a lift hill on a large coaster? Can you give some insight into how much it costs to operate some of these rides for a given day for just electricity?
Traditional lift rollercoaster use hardly any power compared to large water pumps running constantly. I’ve never tried to calculate power consumption for cost. Hmmm
Pls can u do a vid about log flumes?
It Gets a bit muddy there. I’ve never actually worked on a log ride. But the concept is the same and the methods are similar. So I can do one but it wouldn’t be from first hand experience. It’s like a car mechanic telling someone how to work on a bus. Would that be ok?
I feel like you put maximum effort into this video
Thank you I had fun and it’s a huge topic
Pumping water up and than letting it drain back down for water level control doesn't waste energy?
its probably more energy efficient than trying to control the ramp of a large pup like these.
Walibi Holland is not in Belgium by the way, but in The Netherlands😂 And it is made by Vekoma, but now has Hafema rapids.
Sorry.
As a dutchy it hurts to hear you say Walibi Holland is in Belgium instead of the Netherlands. Walibi Belgium however is located in Belgium. Also: While the ride was built by Vekoma, the 4 segment vekoma boats have been replaced by 3 segment hafema ones.
Sorry for the improper names. I knew I was going to have plenty of trouble with those.
I want to know why people wear ponchos on those rides?
Ryan, I have some questions for my small park. Can I email you?
Feel free. If you include pictures or links it winds up in spam. But it’s fine just let me know and I’ll go get it. I honestly don’t check it more than once a week because the activity is low.
Ryantheridemechanic@yahoo.com
the trees look kinda crazy in 3D
Look like cob webs all over them. I’m wondering if I payed for google earthe what they would look like.
I thought they sort of looked like folded paper instead of leaves
Walibi Holland is in Holland (Nederland)
Walibi Belgum is in Belgum
Walibi Rhône-Alpes is in France
For Dutch to be called to be Belgum is nearly an insult.
I apologize I was just reading the name off the map I guess that was close but not correct.
Everybody, hurry up and like + subscribe. Just look at what all of this is doing to his hair.
😂😂
Is your hair wet for theming to the video? :D
Yes it’s in the intro
You got wet in clothes just for that lmao 😅 I love it
I had the idea! I though it would be funny.
love the hair styling too!@@ryantheridemechanic
It was pretty funny. Along with all the different hair, um, styles? 😂
@@timstokes2485 ha! Good you noticed! I feel like it’s sad when I do funny things and nobody notices.
@ryantheridemechanic yeah haha, I saw the mowhawks and all
How in the world you can say Walibi Holland in Belgium? Although it is not in Holland but in the Netherlands to be precise in the province of Flevoland. Certainly not in Belgium. Walibi Belgium is 400km to the south. Btw your world is upside down. 😊
Ha! Thanks. Yea so manny comments on the wrong location and bad pronunciation
Of the name
How do you spell "bongozi" wood. I've Googled it, and can't find it. I just wanted to read about it.
It’s an odd name. Honestly the times I’ve needed to type it out I’ve had to resort to the manual. I’m not sure if the exact spelling but it was something like bongzossi the US has a similar wood called purpleheart wood if I’m recalling that correctly.
Aha, I found it. Bongossi. Thanks for the help!