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Roaring Rapids
Roaring Rapids at Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Area	Rapids Camp Crossing
Status	Operating
Opening date	1981
Six Flags Over Texas
Area	Tower
Status	Operating
Opening date	1983
Six Flags Great America
Area	Mardi Gras
Status	Operating
Opening date	1984
Replaced	Traffique Jam
General statistics
Manufacturer	Intamin
Lift system	1 lift hill
Restraint style	Seat Belts
Flash Pass Available at all three parks

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Roaring Rapids is a river rapids ride located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas and Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois.

History

Six Flags Astroworld and Intamin partnered in 1979 to build the world's first river rapids ride in 1980 called Thunder River. The water ride became so popular at Astroworld that Six Flags debuted two new river rapids in 1981 at Six Flags Magic Mountain, in 1983 at Six Flags Over Texas, and in 1984 at Six Flags Great America. The version at Six Flags Over Texas features a dual loading station where boats can be loaded at twice the rate of one loading station. The Magic Mountain version doesn't feature a dual loading station but is built to feature one. The Great America version also doesn't feature a dual loading station but features a turning station where the station moves in a circle with the boat where riders can depart and get on. The Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Magic Mountain rides operate from spring to the end of Fright Fest in October. The Six Flags Great America ride operates from spring to around Labor Day. At some parks, the ride is transformed into a Fright Fest maze during October. At Six Flags Over Texas the ride is closed during both Fright Fest and Holiday in the park.

The Six Flags Great America version closed for the entire season in 2021 due to a $1,000,000 refurbishment on the ride, and closed for half of the season in 2022, but later re-opened on July 30, 2022. The Six Flags Magic Mountain version was closed for the entirety of the 2022 season and half of the 2023 season for an unknown reason, but reopened on July 3, 2023.

The ride made an appearance in a Kidsongs episode, "Ride the Roller Coaster".

Ride

Once the twelve riders strap themselves into one of the boats, the boat then leaves the station to the artificial river that is shaped like an oval at Over Texas and Magic Mountain. The twelve riders at Great America's version go through a unique course rather than in an oval. During all three rides, different objects are in the water that disrupt the flow of the river that creating the rapids. Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Great America's versions feature waterfalls towards the end as another way to get passengers completely soaked. Once riders go through the full course of the ride, the boat will then reach the lift and be taken back to the station.

Incidents

On March 21, 1999, a 28-year-old woman died at Six Flags Over Texas, and 10 other guests were injured, when the raft they were on overturned in 2–3 feet of water due to sudden deflation of the air chambers that support the raft. The raft then got caught on an underwater pipe, which provided leverage for the rushing water in the ride to flip the raft over. In a subsequent settlement, Six Flags agreed to pay US$4 million to the victim's family, and the company would join the family in a lawsuit against Canyon Manufacturing Co., the company responsible for parts that were related to the accident.

On July 15, 2012, a goose was trapped in the conveyor belt of the ride and would not fly away despite the attempts of the ride's staff; the staff decided to let the ride proceed, thus killing the goose. A goose endangerment protection organization requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investigate the incident. A Six Flags spokeswoman defended the staff's decision to not endanger passengers' lives by saving the goose, as evacuating the passengers would have involved flushing the rafts into the ride's reservoir and having the riders exit the raft by a rope climb.   

History

Six Flags Astroworld and Intamin partnered in 1979 to build the world's first river rapids ride in 1980 called Thunder River. The popularity of Thunder River caused the start of the construction of another rapids ride, Roaring Rapids, at Six Flags Great Adventure in 1980. It was modeled after the kayak slalom course that was built in West Germany for the 1972 Summer Olympics. It was constructed in place of one of the park's first attractions, The Great Train Ride. After construction, it made its public debut at the park on June 16, 1981. After its debut, Roaring Rapids at Great Adventure received major modifications to get guests wetter with a safer ride experience. In 1991, Roaring Rapids received a new name, Congo Rapids, with the new theme area Adventure Rivers. Today, the river rapids is located in The Pine Barrens, along with Nitro, Jersey Devil Coaster and a kids area: Jr. Thrill Seekers. Roaring Rapids operates from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.

See also

• Thunder River

References

1. "Roaring Rapids". Retrieved May 6, 2012.
2. Monday, April 25, 2022 Village of Gurnee Village Board Committee of the Whole Meeting, April 28, 2022, retrieved May 8, 2022
3. "'Unimaginable' events led to accident, officials say". Corpus Christi Online. April 21, 1999. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2006.
4. "Six Flags to pay millions to victim's kin". AP. February 23, 2002. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
5. Rossi, Ray (July 16, 2012). "GOOSE DEATH AT GREAT ADVENTURE – WHO'S SAFETY COMES FIRST [POLL]". Townsquare Media Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
6. "Goose Killed by Six Flags Ride in NJ". Associated Press. July 16, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
7. Diamond, Robert (August 30, 1981). "Great Adventure Says Its Business is Great". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
8. Harry (March 13, 2019). "Harry's Corner: Interesting Facts About Congo Rapids". Six Flags. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.

Primary sources

• The Coaster Guy, Roaring Rapids full of information and facts of Roaring Rapids

v t e Six Flags Great America
Hurricane Harbor Chicago Former attractions
Carousel Plaza	Columbia Carousel Sky Trek Tower Maxx Force
Orleans Place	Condor Rue Le Dodge Superman: Ultimate Flight The Dark Knight Coaster
Mardi Gras	Big Easy Balloons Roaring Rapids
DC Universe	Aquaman Splashdown Batman: The Ride DC Super-Villains Swing The Flash: Vertical Velocity The Joker
Yukon Territory	Little Dipper Logger's Run Winner's Circle Go Karts
Camp Cartoon	Crazy Bus Sprocket Rockets Yahoo River
County Fair	American Eagle Demon Fiddler's Fling Goliath Great America Scenic Railway Sky Striker Wrath of Rakshasa X-Flight
Metropolis Plaza	Justice League: Battle for Metropolis
Kidzopolis	Bouncer Krazy Kars Krazy Kups Splish Splash Zone Up, Up and Away ZoomJets
Hometown Square	Great America Scenic Railway Hometown Fun Machine The Lobster Triple Play Whizzer
Hometown Park	Lady Bugs Red Baron Tot's Livery
Southwest Territory	Chubasco Ricochet Giant Drop Raging Bull River Rocker Viper
Events	Fright Fest Holiday in the Park (former)

• Operating amusement attractions
• Amusement rides introduced in 1981
• Amusement rides introduced in 1983
• Amusement rides introduced in 1984
• Water rides manufactured by Intamin
• Water rides
• Six Flags Magic Mountain
• Six Flags Over Texas
• Six Flags Great America
• Six Flags attractions