silentabomb Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Some of you from Southern California might remember a water park called Wild Rivers (which is now closed and demolished), and a ride called The Edge, which was the most terrifying water slide ever built, I found some amazing construction pictures of that ride and some of you might get a kick out of. I really don't believe the designers had any concept on physics and the speed that would be built up before the massive drop. Here are some amazing construction pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerManic Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Well - we do always want more airtime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry M Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I mean ... There is no doubt it had potential, and the first bit looks good. However, it looks like the designers did the first part, got bored, and ended it like they have. Remindes me of a kid on No Limits, when they get bored and just end the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Looks pretty cool. When you hit that drop it can be pretty scary if you have any speed and catch a little air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCoasterKid211 Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 The moment of "HOLY CRAP WE'RE GONNA DIE"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp1086 Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo von Sol Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 I think I actually would be afraid of the ending if I survived the plunge. That definitely does not look like enough room to stop before hitting the end! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarmor Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 There's a thread like this already. . . right here . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixFlagsAstroworld Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Wasn't The Edge on a TV show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnlloyd Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 There sure were quite a few crazy water slides built in the 1980's! I've been on a couple fun and somewhat scary water slides. They are The Plunge at Canada's Wonderland and Cascade at Dorney Park. The Plunge is a Proslide large 50 foot tall triple hump water slide where riders sit in a large raft. You really experience some amazing airtime and it is possibly the most intense slide in Splashworks! Cascade in Wildwater Kingdom at Dorney Park is quite similar to the Plunge except it's only 30 feet tall and riders sit in a two passenger inner-tube. It was quite funny watching people ride down that slide as they would smack their butts off the slide every time they had gotten airtime. My dad and I had decided to ride it and we had received quite a bit of airtime! I was glad I had rode it during my first visit to the park last June. I wish more water parks have these kind of water slides as they appear to be intense or scary but, are actually quite fun! Photo Credit: My World of Photos Cascade (circled with red) at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFOG1991 Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 ^Splash Island at Wild Adventures has a similar family raft slide and White Water Atlanta has one similar to that 2 person slide and I agree they are both surprisingly intense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytterbiumanalyst Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Wasn't The Edge on a TV show? Yes he was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleDown Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Oh boy! Talk about nostalgia! My friends and family would go to Wild Rivers atleast once a year for about a decade straight. They used to have this deal on Mondays if you came after 4pm, you could get an entire van of people into the park for like $45 or something absurdly low. The Edge and the Ledge were absolutely the monster slides of the park, and were very intimidating being up at the top of the hill, especially to younger me. The photo's really don't do these slides justice, as they looked high as hell perched up on the top of the mountain, and the final drops, when looking at them from the splashdown, pretty much looked like they were straight down, and looked at least 50 feet tall. And people would SHOOT out of the the enclosed tube right before they went down the drop! After I got a little older and manned up to ride this thing, my ass definitely came off the slide and it was like I was free falling, and the slide would catch you as the slide began to angle into the splash. The splash was pretty rough I remember, but its what came with the territory when riding the big boy slide. After a couple years, they changed the one on the right to be less of a steep angle for whatever reason, and they had it enclosed with clear tubing. So for a while they operated as one slide with the steep open drop, and one with a ramp type enclosed drop. Then Malcom in the Middle aired an episode at a water park of a different name, but it was actually Wild Rivers. And I believe for the episode, the show or the park added a huge sign at the top of the Edge/Ledge tower that said The Liquidator, which permanently stayed with the two slides until they closed down years later. In the episode Lois (the mom) gets a "tap" from one of her sons which pushes her down through the Liquidator. However, in fact, the slide they filmed the shot was on the Abyss. After the shot of her going into the darkness ends, they actually showed the Liquidator, as if she got pushed down this very intense slide instead. Years later they modified the left side to be a ramp type slide at the end as well, but the tubing was black instead of clear. I don't think I ever rode it this way, because not long after that, one season the ride was closed, and it never opened again. The exit was fenced off and they took it off the map. Probably the best water slide I have ever been on. It was something about going in the circle, not knowing when it was going to end, or when that drop was coming up that was the scariest. All of a sudden you'd straighten out, see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel then FLOOSH! You shot out with some crazy airtime, and were crashing into that splash down before you knew it. Wild Rivers was a lot of fun, another good one was the Bombay Blasters. It was a 5 second underground slide of pure speed that shot you into a pool instead of a splashdown, so it was pretty unique and a different type of experience. Great photos I have never seen before, so thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lameformer Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Oh boy! Talk about nostalgia! My friends and family would go to Wild Rivers atleast once a year for about a decade straight. They used to have this deal on Mondays if you came after 4pm, you could get an entire van of people into the park for like $45 or something absurdly low. The Edge and the Ledge were absolutely the monster slides of the park, and were very intimidating being up at the top of the hill, especially to younger me. The photo's really don't do these slides justice, as they looked high as hell perched up on the top of the mountain, and the final drops, when looking at them from the splashdown, pretty much looked like they were straight down, and looked at least 50 feet tall. And people would SHOOT out of the the enclosed tube right before they went down the drop! After I got a little older and manned up to ride this thing, my A$$ definitely came off the slide and it was like I was free falling, and the slide would catch you as the slide began to angle into the splash. The splash was pretty rough I remember, but its what came with the territory when riding the big boy slide. After a couple years, they changed the one on the right to be less of a steep angle for whatever reason, and they had it enclosed with clear tubing. So for a while they operated as one slide with the steep open drop, and one with a ramp type enclosed drop. Then Malcom in the Middle aired an episode at a water park of a different name, but it was actually Wild Rivers. And I believe for the episode, the show or the park added a huge sign at the top of the Edge/Ledge tower that said The Liquidator, which permanently stayed with the two slides until they closed down years later. In the episode Lois (the mom) gets a "tap" from one of her sons which pushes her down through the Liquidator. However, in fact, the slide they filmed the shot was on the Abyss. After the shot of her going into the darkness ends, they actually showed the Liquidator, as if she got pushed down this very intense slide instead. Years later they modified the left side to be a ramp type slide at the end as well, but the tubing was black instead of clear. I don't think I ever rode it this way, because not long after that, one season the ride was closed, and it never opened again. The exit was fenced off and they took it off the map. Probably the best water slide I have ever been on. It was something about going in the circle, not knowing when it was going to end, or when that drop was coming up that was the scariest. All of a sudden you'd straighten out, see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel then FLOOSH! You shot out with some crazy airtime, and were crashing into that splash down before you knew it. Wild Rivers was a lot of fun, another good one was the Bombay Blasters. It was a 5 second underground slide of pure speed that shot you into a pool instead of a splashdown, so it was pretty unique and a different type of experience. Great photos I have never seen before, so thanks for sharing! Wild Rivers may be coming back. Press the link below for the full discussion. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=71665&p=1683785#p1683785 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedarFlags Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Omg. I think I only went to Wild Rivers once or maybe twice, but hearing that name jogged my memory. I don't remember anything about it other than the name and it being INSANE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glowskull9 Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 long time reader, first time poster. someone posted the famed 'cannonball loop' from action park above, the true classic of 'scary/impossible' water slides. But I feel like everyone forgets the action park speed slides: I'm talking about those suckers on the left. At the top you can see they are covered. Not sure if anyone remembers, or if my memory is even accurate at this point, but from my memory, you sat down with your legs just going straight down, as the slide was a complete 90 degree angle at the top, not your usual you lay down and push off and slide down the sloping slide. This was more of, you throw yourself off the edge, hit the tarp, and slap back onto the slide (which at the time felt like was straight down) and then stuck to it. A truly wild ride, and I feel like it's been lost behind the tales of the cannonball loop and other ridiculous action park moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIPDUDE Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Did accidents actually happen on that ride or does it just look super unsafe? (Also, yeah, hate to be one of "Those guys" but I do already have a designated thread for that sort of thing >_> ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerManic Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 There sure were quite a few crazy water slides built in the 1980's! I've been on a couple fun and somewhat scary water slides. They are The Plunge at Canada's Wonderland and Cascade at Dorney Park. The Plunge is a Proslide large 50 foot tall triple hump water slide where riders sit in a large raft. You really experience some amazing airtime and it is possibly the most intense slide in Splashworks! Cascade in Wildwater Kingdom at Dorney Park is quite similar to the Plunge except it's only 30 feet tall and riders sit in a two passenger inner-tube. It was quite funny watching people ride down that slide as they would smack their butts off the slide every time they had gotten airtime. My dad and I had decided to ride it and we had received quite a bit of airtime! I was glad I had rode it during my first visit to the park last June. I wish more water parks have these kind of water slides as they appear to be intense or scary but, are actually quite fun! Photo Credit: My World of Photos Not to mention that it looks even bigger than the two posted earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedarFlags Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Then Malcom in the Middle aired an episode at a water park of a different name, but it was actually Wild Rivers. And I believe for the episode, the show or the park added a huge sign at the top of the Edge/Ledge tower that said The Liquidator, which permanently stayed with the two slides until they closed down years later. In the episode Lois (the mom) gets a "tap" from one of her sons which pushes her down through the Liquidator. However, in fact, the slide they filmed the shot was on the Abyss. After the shot of her going into the darkness ends, they actually showed the Liquidator, as if she got pushed down this very intense slide instead. Oh My God, the ABYSS!! Wow, I forgot until you mentioned it. That was a great water slide too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I don't recall ever being that scary to me as a kid. I remember we used to call them the wedge because of the massive wedgie you'd get as you hit the final drop. In addition to the wedgie, usually I get a heavy dose of water shoved up my noise. All in the name of good fun though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleDown Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Oh My God, the ABYSS!! Wow, I forgot until you mentioned it. That was a great water slide too. We all talk about having the last ride of the night on a certain coaster when it comes to theme parks, but as for waterslides at Wild Rivers back in the day, the Abyss was the best last ride of the day to go on. A great finale to a day at the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCoasterKid211 Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Wasn't The Edge on a TV show? Yes he was. Good one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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