Six Flags America was one park that already had just about every type of amusement park water ride possible. First, there was Renegade Rapids, built in the early nineties as a white water-rapids-type ride; then came Shipwreck Falls in 1996, your standard 50-foot splashdown boat ride generating an exceptional wave; next was Typhoon SeaCoaster in 1997, a twist on the log flume type of ride with a long, adventurous layout containing three turntables and a final sixty-foot plunge; and finally, 2002 brought Penguin's Blizzard River, a new type of slide-like raft ride combining spinning action with a dampening experience. What else was there left for the park to install to help guests beat the summer heat? The answer came on May, 2005 when the Six Flags-brand Hurricane Harbor water park opened, born from a renovation of the former Paradise Island water park that led to the creation of the adjacent amusement park itself. And this Hurricane was so intense that it spawned a storm within a storm that would have heads turning: Tornado.

In just several years, a company named ProSlide has turned the entire country into a Tornado alley with their aptly-named Tornado model slides appearing at several new water parks every season. As soon as the slide came on the market in 2003, water parks like Splashin' Sarari at Holiday World, Boomerang Bay at Paramount's Kings Island, and the Hurricane Harbor water parks at Six Flags New England and Magic Mountain snatched up the concept. The specialty of these slides is a giant sixty-foot-tall, sixty-foot wide funnel that riders plunge into after an initial slide just like any other. From there, the inclined funnel serves up some oscillation motion while the four-passenger, clover-shaped rafts slide from side to side of the funnel, starting at the widest side. While the tube works its way towards the bottom end, the back-and-forth sliding becomes quicker while the funnel narrows. Finally, riders exit through the funnel's opening, entering into a splashdown pool.

To have such a new concept hit the world of water parks and make such a stunning impression, major operations that could fund the water rides stood up and took notice. So when Six Flags America planned a multi-million-dollar makeover of their aging 1980's water park, the ProSlide Tornado made an ideal choice, especially after working with the company twice in the past, and the Largo, Maryland park became one of six Six Flags properties to receive one of the cyclonic slides in 2005 alone. And along with Tornado the Hurricane Harbor renovation bought the green and purple, enclosed family tubing slide Bahama Blast and Buccaneer Beach, a redesigned play area for the future amphibious thrill-seekers. The complete package brought Six Flags America's Hurricane Harbor up to ten major slides. Combine the slides with an enormous one-million-gallon wave pool, lazy river, water play complex, and the amusement park's four water rides, and Six Flags America guests have no problem escaping from the summer temperatures provided that they aren't waiting in line.

From the moment guests park, they can see the Tornado's blue and yellow checkered funnel poking up over the other slides in Hurricane Harbor. Anyone wanting to head straight to the water park can turn left after entering into the theme park's front Main Street 1776 section and walk past the shops and eateries before finding themselves standing directly in front of the enormous inclined funnel. The queue line begins and leads up alongside the open end of the funnel, providing an entertaining show for anyone waiting in line as the tubes shoot down the slide and then up the side of the conically-shaped slide. After a level bridge, another ramp takes eager ride participants to the boarding platform seventy-five feet above the Maryland soil. From the top, riders-to-be have a panoramic view of the Hurricane Harbor water park, the park entrance, and Six Flags America's large parking lot just beyond. A wet experience awaits shortly.

Finally, the slide attendant directs the next group of riders to board one of the yellow, cloverleaf-shaped water crafts seating four passengers all facing inward for a good perspective of the other three's reactions throughout the ride. Hanging on tight, the tube is let on its way, moving forward courtesy of a water current. The tube enters a pitch black tunnel, drifting along through the blue and yellow tube and then starting around a turn to the right. Riders are taken around a full U-turn, and then the ride really gets going. Tornado's tube angles steeply downward and the cloverleaf craft plunges, more, more, until it reaches the base of a sixty-foot drop and riders find themselves moving along quickly at the bottom of the yellow and blue checkerboard-patterned funnel as water swirls around inside.

Speeding smoothly up the opposite side of the giant funnel, the yellow and blue fiberglass rushes past underneath while the raft reaches a good way up the funnel. Once momentum expires, riders plunge back down in the opposite direction and reach the bottom, experiencing some slight positive forces, then heading up the other side for a half-pipe-like effect. When gravity takes over again, Tornado's downward fury takes hold again and sends the craft up the other side of the funnel, burrowing deeper into the sixty-foot-tall structure. As the funnel continuously narrows, the tube's pace remains quick, reaching the smaller radius of the funnel's other narrow end. Finally, once the momentum expires and the raft reaches the far end of the funnel, it slides through the opening into the splashdown pool. If they aren't wet already, the splashdown might just do the trick just before the ride concludes. Finally, the craft drifts to the other end of the pool and passengers exit back onto the concrete pathway.

If you're heading to Six Flags America for the day during the summer, don't forget to throw in the bathing suit, because the major coasters aren't the only attractions worth checking out!