jedimaster1227 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 (edited) http://www.thenational.ae/featured-content/channel-page/news/uae-news/middle-teasers-list/the-wadi-to-grow-a-bit-wilder After 12 years of terrifying people brave enough to hurl themselves down its 33-metre-long slide, the Jumeirah Sceirah at Dubai's Wild Wadi Water Park has finally run dry. The park has closed its doors so workers can begin taking down the famous slide, along with the rest of the structure. When the tourist attraction reopens on February 1, only the slide's tower will be left. The Jumeirah Sceirah may have had the wow factor for more than a decade, but today's thrill-seekers are looking for something more breathtaking, according to Chris Perry, the park's general manager, who revealed the decision to take down the popular ride was based on comments from visitors calling for more "high-throw attractions". "People want the type of rides that take your breath away and really get the adrenaline going," he said. "Rides you don't see at your typical water park." Mr Perry said visitors can now look forward to a bigger and better ride, which is expected to be ready for operation by the end of the summer. "This slide has done us very well over the years, but the way technology has developed there are just so many other new things out there." The attraction that will replace the Jumeirah Sceirah, the tallest slide outside North America up until three days ago, will be "just as exciting and thrilling", according to Mr Perry, although details are not ready to be revealed just yet. "It's being tendered right now, we're just finalising things for the demolition package and the main contractor and designer." Hayden Holmes, the water park's manager, said the demolition marks the "end of an era". "It's a very sad state of affairs for us. The tower and the slide has become as much a part of the Dubai landscape as any of the buildings around it," said Mr Holmes, who has worked at Wild Wadi since it opened in 1999. The decision to remove the slide may have come as a surprise to fans of Wild Wadi but bosses said plans had been pending for a while, although they were not officially approved until after the park closed for maintenance on January 11. Mr Perry said the management, Jumeirah Hotel Group, decided to take advantage of the closure to make things "more convenient for guests". "We would have liked to have told people about the plans to take it down in advance so that they could have come in for a last ride before we started demolishing, but it all happened very quickly," he said. The Jumeirah Sceirah, which hurtled visitors down an almost vertical water slide at speeds of up to 80kph, has seen 30 seasons of use since the park opened in August 1999. Rumours about someone falling from the slide began circulating this week after the park closed, but Mr Perry said these were false, sparked by a campaign on Wild Wadi's Facebook page. The park's employees had uploaded photos of the team dressed all in black, looking sad with their heads hanging over the edge of the slide, mourning its departure. "We were putting on a kind of parody about the death of the Jumeirah Sceirah, but then we suddenly had tonnes of comments and people started thinking someone had died," said Mr Perry. "We posted a comment saying it was only a teaser of more to come and that we'd never had a death inside the park". This was not the only rumour circulating about the park recently. Last week Wild Wadi became caught up in an international online "design" scam. Mr Perry revealed he was contacted by Steven Harris, a Yale University architecture professor, enquiring about a design competition he had found online to create a new waterslide for Wild Wadi. Prof Harris wanted to bring his students to Dubai to take part in the competition. "Someone set up a design competition without our knowledge. We had no idea about it until Yale approached us for more information," said Mr Perry. The phony competition asked for a US$50 (Dh183) fee to enter and promised the winning team US$10,000 and the chance to design a new slide at the park. Mr Perry said he tried to contact the person who advertised the competition but without any luck. "He didn't respond, so it looks like a scam. It's amazing what some people will do to make money." The website was removed a few days later. This is the second time the park has undergone changes to its rides in recent months. Last year two new attractions - the Tamtrum Alley and the Burj Surj - were added, bringing the number of rides to 30. (These last two photos were posted by Gav from his Wild Wadi TR found here. Edited August 28, 2012 by jedimaster1227 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollercoaster Rider Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Just sent the news to Screamscape Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Wow, I was going to say this is fairly unheard of to remove such a new, signature attraction but I had no idea that WIld Wadi had been around for 12 years. Either way I'm excited to see what the replacement is, should be exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubaidave Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 This was just announced today here. Everyone was surprised. Will try and get some updates soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastuso Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Maybe the new attraction can include some grandstand seating at the end. There was quite a large group of guys at the bottom of JS when I was there. Apparently waiting for an errant boobie to pop out. -RO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Man, I always dreamed of riding this thing. It's so beautiful, and it looks crazy! Hopefully whatever replaces it will be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubaidave Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Maybe the new attraction can include some grandstand seating at the end. There was quite a large group of guys at the bottom of JS when I was there. Apparently waiting for an errant boobie to pop out. -RO Very true. The flow rider is the same. They usually make women wear t shirts if they have bikinis on so the errant boobies don't pop out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/leisure/wild-wadi-to-launch-new-waterslide-1.1066329 Adding to its 30 rides, Dubai’s Wild Wadi Waterpark will unveil a new Jumeirah Sceirah water slide on September 4, promising thrill-seekers a new and daring ride. The water slide has two tandem slides. Thrill-seekers will make their way up to a height of 32 metres where they will stand on a trapdoor. They will then be released rapidly descending down the 120 metre slide through a tunnel at a speed of over 80km/h. A breathtaking 360 degree view of the Arabian Gulf and the entire city is visible at the top of the slide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDG Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Any pictures around of the new slide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mean Streak Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 that slide was used in a promotional video for Dubailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalCoasters Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Looks like a great replacement for the older slide, doubles the capacity too hopefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Any pictures around of the new slide? I found a bit out there: http://www.coasterfriends.de/forum/attachments/weltweite-news-asien-und-mehr/132826d1349130990-wild-wadi-ersetzt-jumeirah-sceirah-wildwadi0.jpg http://www.thenational.ae/deployedfiles/Assets/Richmedia/Image2/WEB-na05se-wild-wadi.jpg http://www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/pictures/gallery/Leisure%20facilities/newjumeirahsceirah.jpg http://www.thenational.ae/deployedfiles/Assets/Richmedia/Image/SaxoPress/AD20120905893801-The_new_Jumeira.jpg Also, an opening media event gallery of the slide from the parks FB page; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Those standing capsule things seem to be all the rage now. Looks like they did a good job bringing their signature tower into the current generation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) ^Yep--even Water Country in Williamsburg has a "capsule thing" now (Vanish Point). I thought the old one at Wet 'n' Wild in Orlando was terrifying. This one looks like fun (and appears to be not as painful). Edited October 16, 2012 by cfc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Looks like a nice addition that essentially doubles the capacity of the old slide and adds in the unique "capsule drop" experience, but honestly compared to the original slide (and the rest of the park) this thing is a bit of an eye-sore. That may be a bit picky, but the old Jumeriah Scierah was one of the coolest looking water slides in the world in m opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastuso Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I'm surprised it is enclosed, and sand colored. Does look a bit utilitarian. I'm sure it will have fewer bikini top losses too. -R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 This looks like a great replacement for the former slide complex! Great to see this park continuing to add new offerings, as it really looks like a must-visit when in Dubai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteornotes Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Looks cool. I would never, ever get into one of those capsule slides, though. dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrenata Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Sorry to correct you guys, but the world's tallest water slide is actually in Brazil. It's called Kilimanjaro, it stands 50m tall and it is located at Aldeia das Águas (http://www.aldeiadasaguasresort.com.br/) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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