AquaLoop

AquaLoop
Four AquaLoops at Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast in Australia.
General statistics
Type	Water slide
Designer	WhiteWater West, AQUARENA
Height	17 m (56 ft)
Drop	16 m (52 ft)
Length	88.4 m (290 ft)
Speed	60 km/h (37 mph)
Duration	7 seconds
Installations	20+
Restrictions	Riders must be at least 120 cm (3 ft 11 in) in height and weigh between 45 kg (99 lb) and 130 kg (290 lb) to ride.

An AquaLoop is a type of body water slide where single riders are dropped down a near vertical slide and into an inclined loop. They are usually located in water parks.

History

Austrian manufacturer Aquarena developed the world's first mass-produced fully inverted looping water slide, known as the AquaLoop. The slide is currently licensed and distributed by Canadian water slide manufacturer WhiteWater West. There are nearly 20 AquaLoop installations around the world. The first installation was at Terme 3000 water park, Slovenia in 2008. Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast was the first to install more than one AquaLoop at a single location. The AquaLoop uses a trap-door to release riders down a 17-metre (56 ft) near-vertical descent at a speed of up to 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph). Riders experience 2.5 Gs in less than 2 seconds. The whole ride is over within 7 seconds.

Ride

An AquaLoop is launched from a 17-metre (56 ft) platform. A single rider is loaded into a launch chamber where they stand with their hands across their chest. After a countdown, a trapdoor opens and the rider immediately drops 16 metres (52 ft) inside a near vertical slide. The rider accelerates to 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph) in just 2 seconds before entering the loop element. This element is a variation of the traditional vertical loop because it lies on an angle of approximately 45°. This variation of a loop is called an inclined loop. The 88.4-metre (290 ft) slide is over within 7 seconds.

Installations

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

AquaLoop at Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast

Name	Water park	Location	Number of slides	Opened
360Rush	Wet'n'Wild Sydney	Prospect, New South Wales, Australia	4 slides	12 December 2013
Climax	Waterbom Park	Bali, Indonesia	1 slide	2010
AquaLoop	Paradise Island Water Park	Chengdu, China	1 slide	28 June 2013
AquaLoop	Beijing Watercube Water Park	Beijing, China	1 slide	8 August 2010
Mambo	Blue Bayou and Dixie Landin'	Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA	4 slides	2012
Aqualoop	Calypso Park	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada	2 slides	24 June 2011
AquaLoop	Caribbean Bay	Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea	4 slides	17 June 2011
AquaLoop	El Rollo	Tlaquiltenango, Morelos, Mexico	1 slide	2014
El abismo	Parque Acuático Ixtapan	Ixtapan de la Sal, State of Mexico, Mexico	1 slide	2010
La Chute	Jay Peak Resort	Jay, Vermont, USA	1 slide	25 November 2011
Aqualoop	Jolly Roger Amusement Park	Ocean City, Maryland, USA	1 slide	2012
Aqualoop	Terme 3000	Moravske Toplice, Slovenia	1 slide	May 2008
AquaLoop	Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia	4 slides	18 September 2010
AquaLoop	Camping Le Pommier	Villeneuve-de-Berg, Ardeche, France	1 slide	June 2013
AquaLooping	Aqua Magis	Plettenberg, Germany	1 slide	19 September 2008
Climax	Waterbom Park	Kuta, Bali, Indonesia	1 slide	2011
Cyclone	World Waterpark	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada	1 slide	12 August 2011
Goop Loop	Cartoon Network Amazone Waterpark	Pattaya, Thailand	1 slide	3 October 2014
L2	Wave	Wörgl, Austria	1 slide with double loop	March 2010
Liwa Loop	Yas Waterworld	Abu Dhabi	1 slide	Unknown
Looping-Rutsche	Aqualand	Köln, Germany	1 slide	11 April 2009
Lunar Loop	Wilderness Territory	Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA	1 slide	June 2012
Scorpion's Tail	Noah's Ark Water Park	Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA	1 slide	29 May 2010
Booster Loop	Aquaparc	Le Bouveret, Valais, Switzerland	1 slide	8 May 2010
Unknown	Therme Amadé	Altenmarkt, Austria	1 slide	August 2011
Pegasus II	Kristall Palm Beach	Stein, Germany	1 slide with double loop	12 December 2012
Hurricane Loop	Miramar	Weinheim, Germany	1 slide with double loop	July 2012
Skyron Rocket	Odissea 2000	Rossano, Italy	1 slide	June 2014
AquaLoop	RamaYana Water Park	Pattaya, Thailand	1 slide	May 2016

Similar water slides

The first known existence of a looping water slide was at Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey in the mid-1980s. Their water slide featured a vertical loop but was repeatedly closed due to safety concerns.

More recently, ProSlide developed the SuperLOOP which features a fast, downward spiralling helix after a trapdoor release. The first installation was The Wedgie at WhiteWater World. It was marketed as a looping water slide despite riders never actually experiencing an inversion.

External links

• Official website

• Austin, op. cit., 21.
• Fergus, Tom; May 2006; "Another Action Park Employee Spills His Guts", in "The Reaction to Traction at Action Park"; Weird NJ, 29.
• Braybrook, Steve; May 2006; "A Survivor from Action Park Writes In", in "The Reaction to Traction at Action Park"; Weird NJ, 29.