AquaLoop

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AquaLoop
AquaLoop at Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast
General statistics
Type Water slide
Designer WhiteWater West, AQUARENA
Height 17 m (56 ft)
Drop 16 m (52 ft)
Length 88.4 m (290 ft)
Speed 60 km/h (37 mph)
Duration 7 seconds
G-force 2.5
Installations 20+
Restrictions Riders must be at least 120 cm (3 ft 11 in) in height and weigh between 45 kg (99 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. They are usually located in water parks.

History[edit]

Austrian manufacturer Aquarena developed the world's first mass-produced fully inverted 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 Gold Coast 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 descent 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[edit]

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 165-metre (541 ft) slide is over within 7 seconds.[10][11]

Installations[edit]

2 AquaLoop slides aboard Norwegian Breakaway.
Name Water park Location Number of slides Opened
360Rush Wet'n'Wild Sydney Prospect, Australia 4 slides 12 December 2013 [12]
Climax Waterbom Park Bali, Indonesia 1 slide 2010 [citation needed]
AquaLoop Paradise Island Water Park Chengdu, China 1 slide 28 June 2013 [citation needed]
Loopy whoopy Aqua magica Mumbai, Maharashtra, India 1 slide
AquaLoop Beijing Watercube Water Park Beijing, China 1 slide 8 August 2010 [13][14]
Mambo Blue Bayou and Dixie Landin' Baton Rouge, United States 4 slides 2012 [15]
Aqualoop Calypso Park Ottawa, Canada 2 slides 24 June 2011 [16]
AquaLoop Caribbean Bay Yongin, South Korea 4 slides 17 June 2011 [17]
AquaLoop El Rollo Tlaquiltenango, Mexico 1 slide 2014 [18]
El abismo Parque Acuático Ixtapan Ixtapan de la Sal, Mexico 1 slide 2010 [19]
La Chute Jay Peak Resort Jay, United States 1 slide 25 November 2011 [4]
Aqualoop Jolly Roger Amusement Park Ocean City, United States 1 slide 2012 [20]
Aqualoop Terme 3000 Moravske Toplice, Slovenia 1 slide May 2008 [21]
AquaLoop Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast Gold Coast, Australia 4 slides 18 September 2010 [22]
AquaLoop Camping Le Pommier Villeneuve-de-Berg, France 1 slide June 2013 [23]
AquaLooping Aqua Magis Plettenberg, Germany 1 slide 19 September 2008 [24]
Climax Waterbom Park Kuta, Bali, Indonesia 1 slide 2011 [citation needed]
Cyclone World Waterpark Edmonton, Canada 1 slide 12 August 2011 [citation needed]
Goop Loop Cartoon Network Amazone Waterpark Pattaya, Thailand 1 slide 3 October 2014 [25]
L2 Wave Wörgl, Austria 1 slide with double loop March 2010 [26][27]
Liwa Loop Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 1 slide 2014 [citation needed]
Looping-Rutsche Aqualand Köln, Germany 1 slide 11 April 2009 [28]
Lunar Loop Wilderness Territory Wisconsin Dells, United States 1 slide June 2012 [citation needed]
Scorpion's Tail Noah's Ark Water Park Wisconsin Dells, United States 1 slide 29 May 2010 [4]
Booster Loop Aquaparc Le Bouveret, Switzerland 1 slide 8 May 2010 [29]
Unknown Therme Amadé Altenmarkt, Austria 1 slide August 2011 [30]
Pegasus II Kristall Palm Beach Stein, Germany 1 slide with double loop 12 December 2012 [31]
Hurricane Loop Miramar Weinheim, Germany 1 slide with double loop July 2012 [32]
Skyron Rocket Odissea 2000 Corigliano-Rossano, Italy 1 slide June 2014 [33]
AquaLoop RamaYana Water Park Pattaya, Thailand 1 slide May 2016 [34]
AquaLoop Wild River Country Little Rock, United States 1 slide May 2015 [35]
The Bullchute Typhoon Texas Katy, United States 1 slide May 2016 [36]
Lassoloop Epic Waters Grand Prairie, United States 1 slide January 2018
AquaLoop Water Park Tychy Tychy, Poland 1 slide 30 April 2018
Posseidons Revenge Atlantis Aquaventure Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2 slides May 2013
Free Fall Norwegian Breakaway (Cruise Ship) Nassau, Bahamas 2 slides 30 April 2013 [37]
Free Fall Norwegian Getaway (Cruise Ship) Nassau, Bahamas 2 slides 2 November 2013 [38]
Free Fall Norwegian Escape (Cruise Ship) Nassau, Bahamas 2 slides 15 August 2015 [39]
Ocean Loops Norwegian Bliss (Cruise Ship) Nassau, Bahamas 1 slide with double loop 15 March 2018 [40]
Ocean Loops Norwegian Joy (Cruise Ship) Nassau, Bahamas 1 slide with double loop 4 March 2017 [41]
Ocean Loops Norwegian Encore (Cruise Ship) Nassau, Bahamas 1 slide with double loop 30 October 2019 [42]
Wipeout Hurricane Harbor Rockford Cherry Valley, United States 1 slide 2017 [43]

Similar water slides[edit]

The first known existence of a looping water slide was at Action Park in Vernon, USA, in the mid-1980s. Their water slide featured a vertical loop but was repeatedly closed due to safety concerns.[44][45][46]

More recently, ProSlide developed the SuperLOOP which features a fast, downward spiralling helix after a trapdoor release.[47] The first installation was The Wedgie at nearby WhiteWater World.[48] It was marketed as a looping water slide despite riders never actually experiencing an inversion.[49]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "AquaLoop – Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast". MyFun. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  2. ^ "AquaLOOP". Aquarena. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  3. ^ "AquaLoop". WhiteWater West. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  4. ^ a b c MacDonald, Brady (22 November 2009). "Water parks vie to open first U.S. looping water slide". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  5. ^ "Aqualoop". Aquarena. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  6. ^ "WhiteWater launches Dueling AquaLoops". WhiteWater West. 29 June 2010. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  7. ^ "Fun the theme for school holidays". Gold Coast Bulletin. 16 September 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  8. ^ Ardern, Lucy; Westthorp, Tanya (30 December 2009). "Gold Coast theme parks in ride war". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  9. ^ "New attractions for Coast theme parks". Gold Coast Bulletin. 14 July 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  10. ^ a b Stojceska, Milena (17 September 2010). "Wet'n'Wild's new AquaLoop set to thrill". Gold Coast Bulletin. Archived from the original on 19 September 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  11. ^ WhiteWater West (12 January 2010). "AquaLoop". Retrieved 29 January 2011 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ "360Rush (Wet'n'Wild Sydney)". Parkz. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  13. ^ Farrar, Lara. "Beijing's Water Cube now has slides, rides, a wave pool and spa". CNNGO. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  14. ^ "Attractions – AquaLoop". Beijing Watercube Waterpark. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  15. ^ "Weltweit erste Aqualoop Loopingrutsche". Archived from the original on 9 February 2012.
  16. ^ Levine, Arthur. "Calypso Waterpark". About.com. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  17. ^ "아쿠아 루프 오픈기념 1,000명에게 쏜다!". Samsung Everland. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  18. ^ "El Rollo Aqualoop". Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  19. ^ "El abismo". Archived from the original on 3 August 2014.
  20. ^ "Aqualoop | Water Park Ocean City MD". Jolly Roger Splash Mountain Water Park Ocean City MD. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Weltweit erste Aqualoop Loopingrutsche" (PDF). Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  22. ^ "AquaLoop (Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast)". Parkz. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  23. ^ "Aqua Park – Aqua Breeze". Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  24. ^ "AquaMagis Plettenberg – Rutschen & Action – AquaLooping". AquaMagis. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  25. ^ "Goop In This Gravity-defying Water Rollercoaster Thailand". Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  26. ^ "L2 – die Doppel-Looping Rutsche". Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  27. ^ ""L2" – The World's First Double-Loop Water Slide" (PDF). Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  28. ^ "Aqualand in Köln mit Loopingrutsche". Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  29. ^ "L'Aquaparc du Bouveret inaugure le Booster Loop le 8 mai 2010". Archived from the original on 15 May 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  30. ^ "THERME AMADÉ – Water Slides". Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  31. ^ "Kristall Palm Beach in Stein – Doppel-Looping Rutsche". Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  32. ^ "Rutschvergnügen – Miramar".
  33. ^ "Acqua Park Odissea 2000 – Skyron Rocket". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  34. ^ "RamaYana Water Park – Rides".
  35. ^ "Wild River Country – Attractions".
  36. ^ "Typhoon Texas Waterpark Houston – Rides and Attractions".
  37. ^ TODAY, Gene Sloan, USA. "5 things you'll love about the new Norwegian Breakaway". USA Today. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  38. ^ "11 Things to Know About the Norwegian Getaway Cruise Ship". Cruise Hive. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  39. ^ "Cruise ship tours: Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Escape". USA Today. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  40. ^ Meltzer, Matt. "The World's Newest Cruise Ship Also Has the Sickest Rides Onboard". Thrillist. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  41. ^ "The Most Exciting Things to Try on Norwegian Joy |". Cruise Addicts. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  42. ^ "Look inside Norwegian Encore, cruising to New England in 2020 | Boston.com". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  43. ^ "Wipeout | Hurricane Harbor Rockford". Six Flags. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  44. ^ Austin, op. cit., 21.
  45. ^ Fergus, Tom; May 2006; "Another Action Park Employee Spills His Guts", in "The Reaction to Traction at Action Park"; Weird NJ, 29.
  46. ^ Braybrook, Steve; May 2006; "A Survivor from Action Park Writes In", in "The Reaction to Traction at Action Park"; Weird NJ, 29.
  47. ^ "SuperLOOP". ProSlide. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  48. ^ "SuperLOOP – Installations". ProSlide. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  49. ^ WhiteWater World (7 April 2010). "THE WEDGIE WATER SLIDE". Commercial. Retrieved 30 December 2010 – via YouTube.

External links[edit]