Unofficial Adventureland Park Iowa Information Site
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The recently re-opened Raging River was down today. Christian E. in the Facebook group reports that the conveyor belt wasn’t working.
The G-Force has also been down lately, but I don’t have any details on why.
The Inverter remains closed.
Facebook group member Joey Hayes posted an update on Monday about the Raging River. This white water rafting ride recently opened for the season after a rehab. When it first opened, it was reported that some of the waterfalls were not yet turned on.
Today, Joey confirmed that they are back…
I have ridden many white water rafting rides over the years, including the very first one that ever was built at Astroworld in Houston, Texas. I have often been quite lucky at staying dry while all the others in my raft got drenched… but these waterfalls put an end to such “luck.”
Thanks, Joey, for this update.
Joey Hayes shared these photos of the Raging River’s new load area today in the Facebook group.
The load and unload area for the two rafts now have air gates. According to desertions posted in the group, the unload gates open to let folks out, then the other gates open to let folks in. I’m still not sure if this is different than how things worked in past years, before the gates.
As previously mentioned, new foot switches are also installed that workers have to stand in for the rafts to deploy. Joey provided a photo of those, as well.
And, here is a look at what used to be a waterfall. I know some parks adjust the water level of their wet rides based on temperature, but it seems if this was working, the park would certainly have it on when the temperatures are as hot as they have been lately (90s!).
I rarely ride water rides due to not wanting to be wet and soggy walking through a theme park, but I expect I’ll have to give the River another shot – especially with the waterfalls being off 🙂
Thanks, Joey, for the report and allowing use of your photos.
Yesterday, Facebook group member Toni Smith and Christian Gerald Evans reported that the Raging River has finally opened for the season – just in time for the hot summer days ahead.
Dee and Anna Lipscomb posted a few photos showing that new air gets have been installed in the loading area. Earlier reports say new foot switches were installed that will require multiple workers to stand on them to deploy a raft, bringing this ride up to date with more modern redundant safety systems.
Some earlier comments pointed out that there used to be some additional waterfalls that hadn’t worked in awhile, so hopefully someone familiar with the ride can go on it and give us a rundown of what’s new and changed.
Update: Christian reports they are still loading just one raft at at time. Some had hoped that the updated system might allow them to load two rafts simultaneously.
Until then … line up early! It’s going to be a hot weekend!
Facebook group member Joey Hayes was at the park today and reports that the Raging River now has water in it with empty rafts going through it.
The Inverter remains closed.
Although The Inverter was operating earlier in May, it has been down the past several weeks.
Lately folks have been repeating a rumor that The Inverter will be the next ride removed by the park. This was even mentioned by a few park workers this season, with one saying they heard a new log ride was going to be built “this year.”
The park has made no such announcement. But rumors are fun. 🙂
While many would welcome a new water ride to the park, with Adventure Bay being part of standard admission (and it’s nothing but “water rides”), maybe a new water ride isn’t necessary. It also seems highly unlikely a ride would be shut down during the season and construction started on a replacement. Even the huge Monster project wasn’t started until after the end of the 2015 season.
If the park were to remove a ride, which ride would you not mind going away? And what kind of ride would you like to see in its place?
Meanwhile, down near River City, Raging River has yet to open this season.
Posters in the Facebook group say that the ride is gaining new foot switches that multiple operators will need to stand on the deploy a raft. This is similar to how rides like Storm Chaser operate, where multiple workers must press buttons at the same time for the ride to start.
A member of Theme Park Review wondered if they would be updating the system to allow loading and deploying two rafts at a time, instead of just one. They pointed out the load area was designed for this, and someone in our Facebook group mentioned they used to do it that way before seat belts were added which added to the load time.
I don’t know. I’m just a guy who likes amusement parks and takes a bunch of pictures 😉
Got any rumors about Raging River? Feel free to post them in the comments…