Oddly Obscene Roaring Rapids Sign

[29yrswithaGApass]

Who remembers the rather odd and somewhat obscene sign at Roaring Rapids that said "You Ride Hard and Come Out Wet"?   It was part of the ride's 1981 debut but only lasted a few of years.

 

[GAcoaster]

Wow, we finally have a picture of it! I remember it and how all the boys would snicker. That was the same era as those "happy feet" posters where when you're a little kid you don't get it, but it's the poster on the wall of some older kids bedroom wall (next to the Farrah Faucet poster). I seem to remember both of those posters being sold at the park as well...  

[29yrswithaGApass]

I don’t remember happy feet posters.  I googled it and only got penguins!  What am I forgetting?

[Daved Thomson]

I remember those signs and the phrase vividly, but, I have to admit, I never thought of them as being obscene.  This is the first I've heard of that interpretation. It is interesting to note that Roaring Rapids was introduced in 1981 and the phrase for its introduction that you noted on the sign was likely written by someone either in the marketing department or at the park's advertising agency.  That would be the same department or agency that introduced the park's new tag line that year, "Come Together."  Come Together's meaning was sometimes misinterpreted at the time by both park employees and guests because of it's sexual connotations.  Come Together was intended to communicate that guests should come to the park together with their entire family, but was sometimes misinterpreted by those with wandering thoughts as encouraging mutual orgasm.  A pre-testing of the advertising slogan at that time would have caught such an issue.

[29yrswithaGApass]

I guess it didn’t seem too funny to someone in management because the signs only lasted two seasons and were gone by 1983.  

[Daved Thomson]

23 hours ago, 29yrswithaGApass said:

I guess it didn’t seem too funny to someone in management because the signs only lasted two seasons and were gone by 1983.  

If I'm not mistaken, Come Together also only lasted for the 1981 and 1982 seasons as well.

[Daved Thomson]

I'm sure the actual sign posted on GA's Roaring Rapids with the phrase "You Ride Hard and Come Out Wet" on it was freshly painted for our park and our rapids ride. That being said, I was surprised to learn today while reading an East Texas Historical Association journal article covering the complete history of AstroWorld, that the phrase was widely known and appeared in the queue house of that park's Thunder River.

 

Another interesting tidbit I took away from the article, if it is correct, is that it appears that Great Adventure may have been the first Six Flags acquisition of a park that they purchased outright.  The article claims that Six Flags had leased AstroWorld from interests of the Hofheinz family beginning in 1975, but did not actually purchase the park until 1978.

 

Some good stuff (much of it surprising to me) about AstroWorld's history can be found in this journal article.  https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj/vol36/iss2/12

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Daved Thomson

[I Have No Name]

Not going to lie .... than sign makes me crack up like I was 12

[GAcoaster]

I remember it along with the Ramblin' Rootbeer sponsorship signs