Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!
Oh look, this is my shocked face.

2019-03-04-16.png
 
I am seeing reports that something happened st WWC today. POSSIBLY involving a raft flipping.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Zachary
Raft did NOT flip. The situation you are hearing about occured to prevent any potential incident(s). Everybody was safe and nobody was hurt. Ride opened back up at 9pm.
Can you elaborate on it all I have seen on facebook is unclear I am very curious as to what happened.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nicole
This is my first year visiting KD.
The first time I rode WWC a guest behind me in line told me about how there are supposed to be waterfalls at the end of the saw mill.

Since I have been waiting for them being turned on every visit just to see them still off after my 6th visit and probably 15th ride we asked the supervisor what's up with the waterfalls and if they will turn them on sometime.

We were told that those were gone because they had been using the water out of the river to dump on the guests.

I guess I am glad now that I was spared that fate, but how hard would it be to connect a line pulling cleaner water for the waterfalls in there?
 
  • Wow
Reactions: belsaas and Mwe BGW
That’s not necessarily true, but not too far off from the reasoning. There’s a reason the blasters got turned off and replaced with a little water hose too….
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mwe BGW
This is my first year visiting KD.
The first time I rode WWC a guest behind me in line told me about how there are supposed to be waterfalls at the end of the saw mill.

Since I have been waiting for them being turned on every visit just to see them still off after my 6th visit and probably 15th ride we asked the supervisor what's up with the waterfalls and if they will turn them on sometime.

We were told that those were gone because they had been using the water out of the river to dump on the guests.

I guess I am glad now that I was spared that fate, but how hard would it be to connect a line pulling cleaner water for the waterfalls in there?
They had them working a few years back when they refurbished the ride for the anniversary year but like Nessie's effects at BGW many elements have slowly stopped being used. Also the "waterfalls" in question were not as major as the name makes them sound they were a small maybe 3ft curtain of water on each side of the end of of the sawmill the rafts would sometimes miss them completely or hit right and get one person soaked or spin their way through and get everyone a little wet. I am not sure I by the lake water explanation as it is the same water that runs all throughout the ride and is splashing you the entire time it seems that the blasters and water curtains would make little difference.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nibbins
I was not aware that there use to be an observation area on WWC does anyone know the history of when it operated and why it closed?
 
I was not aware that there use to be an observation area on WWC does anyone know the history of when it operated and why it closed?
Don't quote me on this, but rumor was there was an accident on this stretch of the ride. As a result they closed the observation area. Also before the accident, the ride didn't have 3 tower operators, only 2...1 at each lake. Tower 3 was added after the accident and their main job is to watch for boats getting too close or capsizing. But I'm not sure if there is any articles about this accident to confirm any of this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zachary
It’s for staff only purposes
It is now but this line from the posted manual suggest that hasn't always been the case.

"OBSERVATION AREA – Area that overlooks parts of the ride; guests are no longer able to use this area."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zachary
Don't quote me on this, but rumor was there was an accident on this stretch of the ride. So they closed the observation area. Also before the accident, the ride didn't have 3 tower operators, only 2...1 at each lake. Tower 3 was added after the accident and there main job is to watch for boats getting too close or capsizing. But I'm not sure if there is any articles about this accident to confirm any of this.
I have seen an article on the accident but was not aware there was a connection I believe the boat gates were either added or changed after it if i remember correctly
 
Found it:
Dale Brumfield:
After a few years of relatively trouble-free operation, one morning in late September the white water hit the fan – one boat caught up to another one before the waterfall. With the trough too narrow to allow two loaded boats side by side, one was pushed into the wall and up the side of the trough where it spun, went vertical and flipped completely over.

It was a terrifying situation – six guests were trapped upside down in seat belts under about three feet of rushing water. The tower one operator saw the accident and slammed the e-stop, which stopped the pumps and immediately dropped the water level. A “code one,” life or death situation (one of only a handful in KD history) went out over the radio.

Maintenance, park police and EMTs rushed to the scene and got the guests out from under the boat. The situation was handled extremely well under the circumstances, with operations working hand-in-hand with the other departments to avert a tragedy. And miraculously, the passengers in the flipped boat suffered only minor injuries.

It took a week of experimentation with empty boats to determine what had happened – apparently two boats got out of Lake 1 too close together. I will never forget this week – several of us rode the ride 26 consecutive times trying to re-create the fluke incident (although not the flip, of course). It was cold, rainy, and after 26 times I simply got out of the boat in the station and threw up over the exit handrail. You can’t imagine how dizzy this ride makes you after that many circuits. And, we were unable to exactly duplicate the situation. It was truly a freak occurrence.

The maintenance manager designed a gate system, yours truly drew up the plans (after I stopped vomiting), and maintenance then went to work building the air-operated, cable-driven gate system that could only be manually opened by the tower 1, operator but quickly closed automatically when the released boat passed a photo-eye switch. Also, an automatic emergency gate was installed just past Lake 1 as a redundant backup. There has never been a repeat of that terrible, and potentially deadly occurrence.
Before the incident, two boats could accidently bump through the gates which is really dangerous. An emergency gate was added right after the lake 1 gates which the tower 1 operator can manually engage if two boats go through the gate at the same time.
 
Last edited:
It is now but this line from the posted manual suggest that hasn't always been the case.

"OBSERVATION AREA – Area that overlooks parts of the ride; guests are no longer able to use this area."
Rolly might be able to correct me, but the observation area was used by guest in the early years after the ride opened. Today, it’s rarely used for evacs only to get back to the station. Guest safety is held to a lot higher standards today than 30 years ago. I think one of the main concerns is guest being able to walk around the inside of the ride with no supervision. Going back to your point about the boats capsizing, your statement about Tower 3 is correct. They do not have a gate or any buttons to push(other than the E-stop which is shown in the manual linked). They are there to insure the full ride is able to be watched. Also, not only the backup gate, but the main gates were added after the accident, if I’m reading the article correctly. When watching the adventure land rapids POV, you can see the ride also have drive drums to try to prevent a boat jam, but there’s no gates to spilt boats up like there is at WWC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zachary

I just finished going through and damn it sounds like being an operator on this ride may be just as or even more complex than most coasters - so many moving pieces at a time with several more team members to coordinate with plus a lot of extra responsibilities in dealing with ride issues... Which may also include several life or death scenarios given the ride is fast moving water in a concrete trough.
 
  • Like
Reactions: horsesboy
I just finished going through and damn it sounds like being an operator on this ride may be just as or even more complex than most coasters - so many moving pieces at a time with several more team members to coordinate with plus a lot of extra responsibilities in dealing with ride issues... Which may also include several life or death scenarios given the ride is fast moving water in a concrete trough.
I think they say the three hardest rides to operate at the park are this, flight of fear and xtreme skyflyer in no particular order. It’s just a lot of information to know when you’re fully trained for the ride
 
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad