Fresh from installing the world’s tallest water ride, Holiday World is preparing to unveil another record-breaker for 2010. Located at the adjacent Splashin’ Safari waterpark, Wildebeest will be the world’s longest waterslide coaster.
The new attraction will be the second-largest ($5.5 million) ride addition in Holiday World’s history and measure 1,710ft long – or a third of a mile. Riders will experience two-and-a-half minutes of spills, thrills, hills, twists and turns.
The attraction is a hydro-magnetic Rocket coaster by ProSlide Technology, using linear induction motors (LIM) to propel four-person rafts through the ride at up to 36ft per second. The ride’s tallest elevation is 64ft higher than its lowest drop. A conveyor-style lift hill replaces any slide-tower stairs, making the attraction accessible to riders who might have difficulty walking up stairs, or are simply too tired.
“The LIM technology for shooting the rafts up the hills is fascinating,” says Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari president Will Koch, who earned an electrical engineering degree at Notre Dame. “An alternating magnetic field beneath the slide surface propels the rafts, pushing them rapidly and smoothly uphill. LIM technology is a popular feature in some steel rollercoasters; it’s cool to see it applied to water coasters too.”
