| Wild West Falls Adventure Ride | |
|---|---|
| The final splashdown and station of Wild West Falls | |
| Location | Warner Bros. Movie World |
| Status | Operating |
| Cost | A$18,000,000 |
| Opening date | 26 December 1998 |
| Type | Flume |
| Manufacturer | Hopkins Rides |
| Designer | Warner Bros. Movie World |
| Course layout | Custom |
| Lift/launch system | 2 conveyor belt lift hills |
| Height | 20 m (66 ft) |
| Drop | 20 m (66 ft) |
| Max speed | 70 km/h (43 mph) |
| Duration | 6 minutes |
| Capacity | 1440 riders per hour |
| Height restriction | 95 cm (3 ft 1 in) |
| Must transfer from wheelchair | |
Wild West Falls Adventure Ride (formerly "Wild Wild West") is an 8-seater flume ride at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Australia. The ride features geysers, mine shafts, a ghost town and an inevitable drop as the climax of the ride. The drop is the largest of its kind in Australia.[1]
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The ride originally opened as Wild Wild West on 26 December 1998. Despite having little to do with the movie's content, the ride was opened and named after the film of the same name starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline. The name was changed to Wild West Falls Adventure Ride in 2001 due to a licensing dispute.[1]
The ride was closed in December 2003 when an after hours fire caused significant damage to the top of the ride.[2] After repairs and modifications, it was reopened a few weeks later.[3]
Riders enter a queue next to the Rio Bravo merchandise shop. The indoor queue weaves around a series of wild-west-themed items. During peak periods, an undercover queue can be opened which is located south of the normal queue. With or without the extended queue, riders then pass through an unused pre-show room before arriving at the ride station.
Throughout the load and unload station riders must mount and dismount the boat while it is moving at a slow speed along a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt can be stopped for those who need assistance in boarding. Guests are loaded into one of several 8-person boats which seat pairs of riders across 4 rows.
The first section of the ride is slow water channel the weaves its way towards the first lift hill. At the top of the lift hill riders are slowly rotated on a turntable. A surprise backwards drop takes riders into a faster section of whitewater rapids. This heavily themed section includes an Indian settlement, a wild-west ghost town and a graveyard, before taking guests into the Rio Bravo mine.[4][5] The boat ascends the second lift hill to the top of the mine. A distressed miner warns the riders to escape before the mine explodes. A second turntable rotates riders to face the final drop. As the doors open the raft is slowly pushed out of the mine and down the drop.[4] Riders can reach speeds of up to 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) as they descend the 20-metre (66 ft) drop.[5] A on-ride photo is taken of the riders near the top of the final drop.[4] A turn to the left takes the riders into the unloading station. Riders exit via the Rio Bravo shop where ride photos are displayed.
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