Water slide
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A water slide is a type of slide or tube designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use, typically with water pumped to its top and allowed to flow down its surface, although some may simply be wet. A person is able to sit directly on the slide, or on a raft or tube designed to be used with the slide, and slide to the bottom via gravity. The water reduces friction so sliders travel down the slide very quickly. Water slides typically run into a swimming pool (often called a plunge pool) at the end. Some, however, have long, flat, straight sections at the bottom with a few inches of standing water, frictional material, or rollers attached to the slide designed to slow the slider and allow them to safely exit the slide.
Water slides are popular at water parks, such as the Wet 'n Wild parks located throughout the United States or Sandcastle Waterworld at Blackpool in the United Kingdom and are great alternatives to those who don't like such intense rides at other amusement parks. If these empty into a pool, the pool is usually designed only to catch sliders who must exit the pool immediately after coming to a stop, to prevent sliders entering the pool at high speed from striking other swimmers. These Plunge pools are usually quickly cleared by other swimmers to avoid injury. Smaller water slides may be found at actual swimming pools in water parks, private locations and community recreation centers where larger "thrill" slides are absent.
In some countries, they are more commonly referred to as flumes, water chutes, or hydroslides.
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[edit] Types of water slides
Slides may be straight or curvy, with a steep or gentle gradient. Large slides in thrill parks may be otherwise designed to maximize g-forces experienced by the rider and the "fear factor" involved with such amusement type rides. Sometimes, to add to the overall excitement of a water slide, names are used which are intended to increase the "fear factor", such as the "Kamikaze slide", although in fact the slides are quite safe for normal users. Like any amusement ride, slides may be built to include other features, such as interactive laser light shows or mist inside a tube, to add to the enjoyment experienced by the user.
[edit] Extreme slides
Extreme slides or speed slides are straight, with a near vertical drop in the middle designed to give the rider the most possible speed. These are called "plunge" or "plummet" slides, and are one of the most fearsome slides due to their height. They can accelerate people up to 55 miles per hour[citation needed]. The tallest plummet slide in the world is Summit Plummet at Blizzard Beach, a part of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
[edit] Body slides
Other slides wind down a very curvy path which is not as steep, although some slides allow significant speeds to be obtained. The sharpest curves are typically completely enclosed or have high walls on the outside of the curve to prevent users from leaving the slide; thus these slides can be a long tube or alternate between an open chute and closed tube. G-forces experienced in these slides can range from gentle and family-friendly to surprisingly intense. Most riders will be required to lie flat on their backs, and cross their arms over their chest to prevent injury on these types of slides.
[edit] Tube/raft slides
Some slides are designed to be ridden with a tube or raft. These are commonly family slides, and some tubes allow up to 8 riders at one time. These are normally slow and include many twists and turns, and sometimes have pools along their length to simulate whitewater rafting.
[edit] Uphill slides
A small percentage of slides are hydro coasters. They shoot riders up and down with water or a conveyor belt. This is normally a "high intensity" water slide. A company called pro slide has recently developed a hydro magnetic water coaster. It uses LIMs to push the inner tube up the incline.
