AquaLoop

AquaLoop
Four AquaLoops at Wet'n'Wild Water World in Australia.
Type Water slide
Designer WhiteWater West, AQUARENA
Height 17 m (56 ft)
Drop 16 m (52 ft)
Length 88.4 m (290 ft)
Max speed 60 km/h (37 mph)
Duration 7 seconds
Acceleration 0 to 60 km/h (0 to 37 mph) in 2 seconds
Max G force 2.5
Installations 20+
Restrictions Riders must be at least 120 cm (3 ft 11 in) in height and weigh between 40 kg (88 lb) and 130 kg (290 lb) to ride.[1]

An AquaLoop is a type of body water slide where single riders are dropped down a near vertical slide and into an inclined loop.

Contents

History

Austrian manufacturer Aquarena developed the world's first mass-produced looping water slide, known as the AquaLoop.[2] The slide is currently licensed and distributed by Canadian water slide manufacturer WhiteWater West.[3] There are nearly 20 AquaLoop installations around the world.[4] The first installation was at Terme 3000 water park, Slovenia in 2008.[5] Wet'n'Wild Water World was the first to install more than one AquaLoop at a single location.[6][7][8] The AquaLoop uses a trap-door to release riders down a 17-metre (56 ft) near-vertical decent at a speed of up to 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph). Riders experience 2.5 Gs in less than 2 seconds.[9] The whole ride is over within 7 seconds.[10]

Ride

An AquaLoop is launched from a 17-metre (56 ft) platform. A single rider is loaded into a launch chamber where they stand with their hands across their chest. After a countdown, a trapdoor opens and the rider immediately drops 16 metres (52 ft) inside a near vertical slide. The rider accelerates to 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph) in just 2 seconds before entering the loop element. This element is a variation of the traditional vertical loop because it lies on an angle of approximately 45°. This variation of a loop is called an inclined loop. The 88.4-metre (290 ft) slide is over within 7 seconds.[10][11]

Installations

Name Water park Location Number of slides Opened
Aqualoop Terme 3000 Moravske Toplice, Slovenia 1 slide 2008
Aqualoop Jay Peak Resort Jay, Vermont, USA 1 slide 25 November 2011 [4]
Scorpian's Tail Noah's Ark Water Park Wisconsin, Wisconsin, USA 1 slide 29 May 2010 [4]
AquaLoop Beijing Watercube Water Park Beijing, China 1 slide 8 August 2010 [12][13]
AquaLoop Wet'n'Wild Water World Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia 4 slides 18 September 2010 [14]
AquaLoop Caribbean Bay Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea 1 slide 17 June 2011 [15]
Aqualoop Calypso Park Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 2 slides 24 June 2011 [16]
Cyclone World Waterpark Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 1 slide 12 August 2011 [17]

Similar water slides

The first known existence of a looping water slide was at Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey in the mid-1980s. Their water slide featured a vertical loop but was repeatedly closed due to safety concerns.[18][19][20]

More recently, ProSlide developed the SuperLOOP which features a fast, downward spiralling helix after a trapdoor release.[21] The first and currently, only installation is The Wedgie at WhiteWater World.[22] It was marketed as a looping water slide despite riders never actually experiencing an inversion.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "AquaLoop - Wet'n'Wild Water World". MyFun. http://wetnwild.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Rides/AquaLoop.htm. Retrieved 10 December 2010. 
  2. ^ "AquaLOOP". Aquarena. http://www.aquarena.at/English/AquaLOOP/. Retrieved 15 October 2010. 
  3. ^ "AquaLoop". WhiteWater West. http://www.whitewaterwest.com/aqualoop.html. Retrieved 15 October 2010. 
  4. ^ a b c MacDonald, Brady (22 November 2009). "Water parks vie to open first U.S. looping water slide". LA Times. http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/aqualoop-water-slide-5875/. Retrieved 15 October 2010. 
  5. ^ "Aqualoop". Aquarena. http://www.aquarena.at/English/References/index.php?KarteID=12#Karte. Retrieved 12 september 2011. 
  6. ^ "WhiteWater launches Dueling AquaLoops". WhiteWater West. 29 June 2010. http://www.whitewaterwest.com/cgi/page.cgi?aid=17&archive=1&_id=45&zine=show. Retrieved 15 October 2010. 
  7. ^ "Fun the theme for school holidays". Gold Coast Bulletin. 16 September 2010. http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/09/16/256075_news.html. Retrieved 15 October 2010. 
  8. ^ Ardern, Lucy; Westthorp, Tanya (30 December 2009). "Gold Coast theme parks in ride war". Gold Coast Bulletin. http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/12/30/174191_gold-coast-news.html. Retrieved 16 October 2010. 
  9. ^ "New attractions for Coast theme parks". Gold Coast Bulletin. 14 July 2010. http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/07/14/238251_tourism-news.html. Retrieved 16 October 2010. 
  10. ^ a b Stojceska, Milena (17 September 2010). "Wet'n'Wild's new AquaLoop set to thrill". Gold Coast Bulletin. http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/09/17/256425_gold-coast-news.html. Retrieved 16 October 2010. 
  11. ^ WhiteWater West (12 January 2010). "AquaLoop". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nw68VNOYb8. Retrieved 29 January 2011. 
  12. ^ Farrar, Lara. "Beijing's Water Cube now has slides, rides, a wave pool and spa". CNNGO. http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/play/beijings-watercube-water-park-now-open-040746?hpt=C2. Retrieved 29 January 2011. 
  13. ^ "Attractions - AquaLoop". Beijing Watercube Waterpark. http://waterpark.water-cube.com/english/Attractions_Aqualoop.aspx. Retrieved 29 January 2011. 
  14. ^ "AquaLoop (Wet'n'Wild Water World)". Database Entry. Parkz. http://www.parkz.com.au/parks/_/_/_/rides/1251-.html. Retrieved 10 December 2010. 
  15. ^ "아쿠아 루프 오픈기념 1,000명에게 쏜다!". Samsung Everland. http://www.everland.com/caribbean/event/EVLDaqlp/aqualoop_gate.html. Retrieved 22 June 2011. 
  16. ^ Levine, Arthur. "Calypso Waterpark". About.com. http://themeparks.about.com/od/finduswaterparks/p/CalypsoWP.htm. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
  17. ^ Official, WEM. "World Waterpark Opens Calypso". WEMOfficial. 
  18. ^ Austin, op. cit., 21.
  19. ^ Fergus, Tom; May 2006; "Another Action Park Employee Spills His Guts", in "The Reaction to Traction at Action Park"; Weird NJ, 29.
  20. ^ Braybrook, Steve; May 2006; "A Survivor from Action Park Writes In", in "The Reaction to Traction at Action Park"; Weird NJ, 29.
  21. ^ "SuperLOOP". ProSlide. http://www.proslide.com/rides_08_d.php. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  22. ^ "SuperLOOP - Installations". ProSlide. http://www.proslide.com/rides_08_d_inst.php. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
  23. ^ WhiteWater World (7 April 2010). "THE WEDGIE WATER SLIDE". Commercial. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89anWDhhZpg. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 

External links