29yrswithaGApass Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Click here to see the wholeSpotlight! Comments and discussions welcomed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulieGBones Posted November 27, 2007 Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 I really have to give you credit for all the work you put into these spotlights. The pics are great. The information is equally great and then you have video for a lot of the rides. This is such a great feature you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 I really miss the Hydro Flume shame the park could not save it. I was lucky enough to ride it one night in 06 before it's last breakdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 I think I remember riding this maybe once or twice during it's time in the Adventure Rivers section of the park, but never enough to really be attached to it. It definitely would be nice to still have it around with the loss of the Movie Town Water Effect and only a few water attractions at all left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 (edited) I miss it, there had been years I did not get to ride it but that was because the park hardly ran the Hydro Flume in it's later years. Back when I was little they ran it much more often which was also the case with the Skyride. Back in 06, even thouh I was at the park many times Hydro Flume was only open once that I was there that year. So I rode it 12 times in a row since there was no line and it was hardly ever open but had I know it was the last season for it I would have rode it all night! Edited February 13, 2008 by The Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Whatever type of shrubs they had planted encircling the loading platform always seemed to give off the scent of peaches. I guess sitting nose level while waiting for our boat to spill free into the rapids gave us plenty of time to take it all in. The two section belt lift on this ride always seemed very impressive from the bottom. It was much longer than either of the Log Flume's lifts. In the early years we would try to guess which side we would drop down on the last hill. I remember the switch mechanism and the automatic gates would make the track shake. Oddly, for years the ride was sponsored by Kodak but they never offered "flume photos". Those were only available on the non-Kodak sponsored Log Flume at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 That's interesting. You would certainly think a ride sponsored by Kodak would get some sort of picture feature even if not the best in the park. After re-reading the spolight I also found it interesting that this ride was given the Poland Spring Plunge Nickname, and the Log Flume had the Plunge Nickname early in it's tenure at the park due to another sponsorship deal (forgot where the photo was I did all the guessing on but I believe it was Nestea). Had they all been continued GA could have advertised them by telling guests to come in and pick their plunge if they dared (sort of a play on pick you poison) Just a thought lol I find these odd things running through my head sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 (edited) The Coal Cracker at Hershey is pretty similar to Hydro Flume and Hershey still has working double chutes and gate at the last drop. Edited February 13, 2008 by The Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 I always laugh at the photo below which was featured on a GA postcard and in a souvenir booklet. It's obvious that the boat on the drop was "Photoshopped" into the picture, but they added it to the occupied track! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddyChrist Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Could it have been a time lapse photo? I'm still amazed at how photoshop was done back in the days before computers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 For a photoshopped picture at that time I am impressed with how well it worked. To an eye not so familiar with the workings of the park, noone would realise that this is not how the ride worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 (edited) That is a pretty well done picture! For some weird reason alot of people were glad Hydro Flume was ripped out. I am not one of them since I liked that flume. Edited February 13, 2008 by The Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Back then creating a picture like that was a literal "cut & paste". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Here's a closeup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 ^ Haha I love the clear cut and paste job up close like that, but hey they worked with what they had at that point and it looked nice on paper so all the props to them. While I am sure some people were happy to see the Hydro Flume removed and be replaced by another kiddie section, I wonder if those same people would have been as happy had they known that in a few years only two water rides in total would remian in the park. While it was not my favorite, I would still rather the Hydro Flume as a third option at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 The Hydro Flume seemed like it was always the underdog of water rides. It sure suffered from an identity crisis with some many names - Hydro Flume, Hydra Flume, Moon Flume, Ride the Rapids, Spalsh Down, Kodak's Splash Down, Riptide, Poland Spring Plunge, and Irrawady Riptide. I was disappointed when the park got rid of the park's first major addition ever, originally added in 1975. Too bad it couldn't have been refurbished and integrated into Wiggles World - we could have used a Big Red Boats ride to go with the Big Red Planes and Big Red Cars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Now I don't have kids but a big red boats ride would certainly have been interesting. I think that the ride may have been too intense for a childrens area however. Most rides in Wiggles World are capable of being ridden by kids alone and I don't know if the Hydro Flume would have fir that criteria. Unfortunately with it now gone it is unlikely to come back just because of the sheer amount of work that would have to be put into rehabbing the ride itself and then digging out the trenches for the ride all over again in a different are of the park. I suppose we can't ever say never with some rides though, and there certainly is plenty of open space and land for the park to use in the future so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 I think most of the people who wanted it gone were young people who never got to ride it much and saw it as a eye sore (there words). But I say it was a shame Hydro Flume had to be torn down and you really don't see many new water flumes being built and there are parks that don't have any flumes. I remember my mother (who has been going to the park since the 70s) telling me they added Hydro Flume because the Log Flume lines got really long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcji Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Nice spotlight! It's a shame rides like these get removed from problems like the budget otherwise it will probably still run today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 If only this ride could have survived a few more years for the company to get itself back into good financial shape. We may only be dealing with closures for a refurbishment or something instead of the knowledge that it's not coming back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 (edited) I think besides not being in good shape it was also in the way of Wiggles World. Of the two I would rather have the Hydro Flume. Edited February 14, 2008 by The Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railer Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 This is one I miss alot. I had a couple things I really liked about this ride. The long ground level ride you had before the lift, for some reason when I was little it made it feel more like a "real" boatride, I quess because you weren't in fiberglass the whole time. And the drop, with the hump at the bottom. That always gave a bigger splash and it was delayed till' after you landed from the jump. And the sound was diffrent too, you would hear the rumble when it was coming down the drop and when it hit the ramp it it was real quiet for a second until it hit the water and then a big splash. I always remember it as the bigger flume in the park, because it was the one I "graduated" up to after I went on the Log Flume when I was little. And it will always be the Moon Flume to me and I always called it that through all the name changes. I'm just glad I took my older daughter on it the last year it ran, and it was her first flume ride ever also so it made it little more special. *R* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted June 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Even though I always favored the Log Flume, the Moon Flume always impressed me. I think it was because compared to the Log Flume, it had options. You never knew which side you were going to drop down. Of course that all ended when they modified it to one dedicated drop track, but the mechanics of all the gates before the drop always seemed interesting. And yes, it will always be first and foremost the Moon Flume for me too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Days like the last few really make me miss having more options while within the park itself, and this would have been a great one to head towards, especially with how busy the two still running get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted November 24, 2009 Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 Hey Harry, in your book you guys refer to the splash down as the Moon Flume, was that ever an official name for the one here at Great adventure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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