Water parks aren’t the only place where you can cool off on a hot summer day. Amusement and theme parks are adding water attractions to let the park-goers chill out when the heat is on.
There are different types of water rides found in theme parks, with the most common being the traditional flume ride where riders sit either one or two per row with three or four rows in each car. The car travels up a lift hill and down a large drop giving everyone a splash at the end. You usually don’t end up drenched on these type rides, but you do get wet. Examples of this type of ride include Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World and Ripsaw Falls at Universal Orlando.
If you want to get drenched, the “rapids” type rides are usually the ones to do it. Multiple people sit in rafts and head down a “river” where waterfalls and other water features do their best to make sure everyone and everything gets soaked. Examples of this type of ride include Kali River Rapids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Thunder Canyon at Dorney Park in Allentown, PA.
Another type of water ride involves large boats and large drops! The boats usually have several rows which seat 4 – 6 adults. After traveling up a lift hill the boat drops and when it lands creates an amazing splash zone that gets everyone in the boat wet, not to mention the bystanders who stand around the ride to get wet without riding. Examples of this type of ride include the Sklooosh at Knobles Amusement Resort and White Water Landing at Dorney Park, both in PA.
Today we’re taking on the Sklooosh!
We visited Knoebles on a hot afternoon in July. By mid-day, we were looking to get cooled off and after watching several boats make their splash, we got in line for our very own drenching. Now, there’s no theming here. This is just a standard issue ride that is bare-bones and designed to do one thing – get you wet!
We got in one of the five-row boats and headed up the lift hill, around the bend where a ride attendant was looking to make sure we were all secure (and behaving) before we headed down the 50-foot drop. As we sped down the hill at 34 mph we picked up enough speed to create one massive wave that fanned out in every possible direction soaking all of us and the folks perched on the supervised observation deck. Standing there getting pounded with the water from the boat’s wave was almost as exciting as being on the ride itself!
Check out some of the pictures and the video I shot as our boat made its way down the hill. Keep in mind, my video was shot on my phone which was securely tucked inside a 100% waterproof case. As Kirby would say, “respect your tech” and don’t take your sensitive electronics on water rides unless they are in waterproof cases!