Ripsaw Falls and modified drop

[some sort of coaster dude]

Can you still get airtime on ripsaw falls after they altered it ?

 

Was it normal to get airtime on the flume?

 

I went on it once and for fear of damaging my cell phone sat in an odd configuration. The heaviest person was in front, then a little girl, then me.

 

I had incredible floating air in this log flume.

 

So I am wondering : was that normal :

does it still happen?

: is there a giant IOA thread ?

 

Perhaps the greatest drop ever, it was.

[JT3000]

The drop was indeed tamed significantly from its original configuration. The new lap bars are also pretty snug, even for smaller people. I wouldn't expect much in the way of air.

[some sort of coaster dude]

why did they do this?

[JT3000]

The drop was changed because it was supposedly hurting people. The lap bars were installed because idiots kept leaving the log.

[sam06pr]

The drop was modified? when?

[natatomic]

The drop was changed because it was supposedly hurting people. The lap bars were installed because idiots kept leaving the log.

 

That happens on pretty much every flume ride with a walkable surface next to the flume. I worked on Splash Mountain, and it happened at least once a week. And during busier times, it seemed to be almost a daily occurrence.

 

I don't know how true this is, so please someone correct me if I have bad information, but one of my very knowledgeable friends on Splash told me that most states (including Florida) have laws that forbid there from being any sort of restraint system on water rides and and water vehicles. It's to prevent people from being trapped in case of the boat capsizing (not that flumes rides are exactly deep enough, but you know how weird some laws are). Aside from now-Ripsaw Falls, I can't think of any water ride with a restraint system except for rapids rides, which typically only have a velcro strap, which are easy enough to undo in any emergency situation.

 

Of course, the obvious way to disprove this theory - duh - is that Ripsaw has restraints, so clearly it's not a law, but still. It makes me wonder why no other flume ride has any sort of restraints when people hopping out and standing up is a relatively common thing.

[coastercrazed49]

Well read this if you want to know why they installed lapbars:

www.themeparkinsider.com/reviews/universal%27s_islands_of_adventure/dudley_do-right%27s_ripsaw_falls/accidents/

[Spideyfreak]

I think the lapbar installation was probably due to guests hopping out mid-ride.

 

Here's a little known fact: The last little bit before the lift on Popeye's rapids is actually in the lagoon at lagoon level, and just has a guide rail and catwalk next to it. So when Ripsaw and Popeye E-stop, they drain into the lagoon, which causes the water level to rise in the lagoon, and on Popeye, Which causes Popeye to E-stop as well.

 

So anytime someone jumps out of Ripsaw, they press E-stop, which automatically E-stops Popeye.

 

So installing lapbars makes sense, and probably causes less E-stops.

[Carnage]

I remember the lap bars on Ripsaw being pretty brutal on us tall people.

 

It took quite a bit of effort to get out of it. I was worried for a minute that I wasn't even going to be able to get out of it.

[cfc]

^Tell me about it. I'm only about 5' 9", and I had trouble wriggling out from under those lapbars.

[monsterfan99]

^ 5'8 and 240 here and it was the worst experience I have ever had at a theme park. I caused a nice stacking due to being stuck in the back seat. Oh, and it was painful the entire ride.

 

What is sad is it was my favorite water ride before riding it with the lap bar. Oh well, makes seance as to why they did it.

[seasonpass_Doug]

Yup. I love the ride, but both my wife and I struggled with entering and exiting the log. It also makes loading time in general a nightmare.

[KDFAN]

They are extremely difficult to get out of, they seem to practically trap you in, and thinking of water rides with restraints, Journey to Atlantis, Jurrasic Park both have Lapbar type things.

[ECZenith]

Natomic, you bring up a good point. I have noticed that most log flume type rides do not have a lap restraint system but many of the new water rides being made have some kind of restraint system. I know Grizlly River Run uses a buckling seat belt and that's it. Many of the large shoot-the-chutes rides have a single lap bar for a row of 4 or 5 and the more extreme rides like Knott's Perilous Plunge have the vest-style restraint.

 

I would expect almost any new log type ride to sport some kind of restraint. Pilgrim's Plunge and Shoot The Rapids at CP (2010) use a new lap bar system and I would expect any new Intamin water ride to have the same.

[Absimilliard]

Another flume that is equipped with lap bars is Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland. Boats are similar to WDW, but instead of those handrails that serve as a fixed lap bar, they got BTM style lap bars in each row. More efficient loading due to separate load and unload means capacity is similar or even better than in Florida. It also has the nice effect of lowering the height restriction to 36 inches.

[Electerik]

I'm actually trying to stay out of this thread, but I just want to (maybe) slightly clarify one thing:

 

So anytime someone jumps out of Ripsaw, they press E-stop, which automatically E-stops Popeye.

 

If the lagoon levels are particularly high (say, after a lot of heavy rain), that can happen. But, traditionally, a Ripsaw e-stop has only very rarely taken Bluto's down with it.

 

Of course, my knowledge of these two rides--while fairly extensive--is a couple of years out of date, so it's possible that something has changed and I no longer know what I'm talking about.

[stricklandCC]

I've only been on rip-saw one time when IOA first opened, I vaguely remember the drop and airtime being fairly intense. Does anyone have pictures of the alterations, before and after shots?

[RctInfinity]

^ Just looking at the after shot compares the old and new drop. If you find a picture of it from the side, the yellow is the old drop, the blue is the new.

[jamesissoocool]

I've only been on rip-saw one time when IOA first opened, I vaguely remember the drop and airtime being fairly intense. Does anyone have pictures of the alterations, before and after shots?

 

Here you go.

new

old

[DBru]

I haven't ridden RF, but just comparing the pictures, I don't understand why the new drop (which looks to have a quicker transition from shallow to steep) is worse than the old drop.

 

Can someone please explain?

[JT3000]

I'm not entirely sure what they did, but the difference is obvious if you ride it. Of course, you'd have to remember what it was like beforehand. It doesn't feel as steep. Also, there's a bunny hop at the bottom of the drop, out of view, which was flattened out somewhat.

[nomorefloor]

The ride before all the modifications was amazing and the ride now is still one of my favorites in the park. If I remember correctly the only thing to hold onto was a metal bar under the sides of the log, which is unbelievable considering the size and angle of drop. is their any word about fixing the shack so it would actually explode like it would in the old days?

[whorabunny]

If Im right didnt Splash Mountain at WDW went to a lapbar system as well? I havent ridden it in a few years so I dont remember that much. I do remember the handle bars attached to the seat in front, but I thought they tried it on that. Yeah I remember when we had the jumpers and Ripsaw and we would have to hit the estop at the slightest movement and we normally had a down time from anywhere from one to three hours..... ah good times, and potato salad

[coasterfreak101]

I haven't ridden RF, but just comparing the pictures, I don't understand why the new drop (which looks to have a quicker transition from shallow to steep) is worse than the old drop.

 

Can someone please explain?

 

A parabolic drop (i.e. El Toro, or half-a-parabola Ripsaw) offers the most airtime, as you're constantly getting steeper and steeper and gravity is being fought against more and more rather than being 'restored' when the train (or log) reaches it's steepest point.

 

Just think about a normal log flume -- just because the drop hits its steepest point relatively quick and the drop is straight doesn't mean that you're flying out of the seat the entire time. A parabolic drop changes that. It gives you the most extreme and most sustained airtime before you start to level out at the last minute. That's why a ride like El Toro is so insane -- you're out of your seat until you're forced to slam back into it at the very bottom.

[natatomic]

If Im right didnt Splash Mountain at WDW went to a lapbar system as well? I havent ridden it in a few years so I dont remember that much. I do remember the handle bars attached to the seat in front, but I thought they tried it on that. Yeah I remember when we had the jumpers and Ripsaw and we would have to hit the estop at the slightest movement and we normally had a down time from anywhere from one to three hours..... ah good times, and potato salad

 

No, Splash Mountain does not have any lap bars or restraints. That's interesting that Ripsaw has to completely e-stop at any signs of movement. Whenever a sensor was triggered on Splash, we did a basic ride stop, and sent the person at Unload into the mountain to check it out. Even if the sensor was triggered by a person getting out of the log, the CM just went to them, walked them out of the mountain, and roughed him up a bit (okay, maybe not that third thing). The whole process took 5, 10 minutes max, and then we were back up. E-Stops were typically reserved for someone falling/jumping into the flume - though that's pretty rare - or if a sensor was triggered at the bottom of the final drop where the brake is, and even then it usually only took 10-15 minutes to get the mountain back up. Though if it for some reason took 20+ minutes, we evacuated and then did the reset.