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How to make your own rides - River Rapids Ride
How to make your own rides - River Rapids Ride / By: Bayard Davis, Thursday, July 03, 2003 -
We all love thrill rides, which amazing and designers and manufacturers create, but have you ever thought about making your own on a smaller scale? This guide will show you how to make some of the worlds most popular rides, on a smaller scale. Please note that none of the ideas are guaranteed to work.



River Rapids Ride


So you are looking to make a water ride? A good idea would be a river rapids.



Requirements:

- Kiddie snapset pool – Does NOT blow up – Bigger the better

- 2 folding lay down lawn chairs OR 6 pieces of square 3 feet by 3 feet wood

- 2 water splitters w/ turn on turn off control

- 2 small blow up tubes

- High pressure nozzle

- 3 hoses à don’t need to be long

- A water source

- A post to place controls

- 4 Hinges if you are using wooden walls



Step One:



First make sure that you have found a level area, possibly with enough room for a small queue line. Spread out the new pool and fill it up with water. Once it is filled, the water may be generally “leaning” on one side. Use the deeper side for the main part of the ride and the shallower side for the entrance/exit. But if the water on the shallow side is under 10 inches, the ride may have some trouble. If this is the case, move the pool.



Step Two:



If you are using lawn chairs for the “track” place them in. The “trail” of this ride is not a complete oval. It should look like this:

Both “walls” are shaped like “ /--\ “



If you are not using the lawn chairs, then use the square pieces of wood for walls. Connect them with “door hinges” to make them fold to your liking and to fit in the pool.



Step Three:


So the track is in place and the water is in right? You are on your way! Next connect the hoses. There should be one hose coming from the water spout. That hose goes up the “control post” where a splitter splits the house into two other hoses. Connect the two other hoses. One of those hoses will be placed right where riders board. The other will be placed throughout the second part of the ride. If there is excess hose, use a large plastic storage bin to hide it.



Step Four:


For the dispatch system, use a high pressure nozzle connected to the hose. It should be held into either the ground of the pool by rocks or even dumbbells. Or it can be tied into the wooden/lawn chair wall aiming toward the tube. The high pressure will push the tube through the ride.



Step Five:



Throughout the ride you can place the other hose. Some ideas involve using another high pressure nozzle to create small rapids. Another idea would be to use a roof water collector to create a waterfall by placing just the hose on it. There are many ways to use water during the ride.



Step Six:



Use a small crate as the loading and exiting platform and make a small queue with small posts and some poly rope. You might even want to make a sign for the ride with paint. These decorating ideas are up to you. If you have fake flowers or fake vines use them! Try to theme the ride just like a real amusement park. You can even use a small microphone to say the rules.



Operation:



Operating the River Rapids is quite simple but can take some practice if you are running two tubes. When a rider is loaded there should be no water on. As soon as it is clear to dispatch, turn on the water that leads to the high pressure nozzle which will force the tube out of the loading area. It should float around the next corner but might need a little push. Then turn of the “launcher” and turn on the water effect during the ride. This will also give the ride a little “push”. Feel free to splash riders, spin them, or rock them up and down. Just have fun! – in a safe way.