Roaring Rapids Water Ride Six Flags Magic Mountain Television Commercial (1981)

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.Show more

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 and at Six Flags Great Adventure, 1983 at Six Flags Over Texas, and 1984 at Six Flags Great America. The Magic Mountain version doesn't feature a dual loading station but is built to feature one. The Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Magic Mountain rides operate from spring to the end of Fright Fest in October. At some parks, the ride is transformed into a Fright Fest maze during October.

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

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. During all three rides, there are different objects that are in the water that disrupts the flow of the river that creates 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 into the station.

Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known simply as Magic Mountain, is a 262-acre (106 ha) theme park located in unincorporated Valencia, adjacent to the city of Santa Clarita, 35 miles (56 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971 as a development of the Newhall Land and Farming Company and Sea World Inc. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name "Six Flags" to the park's name.

With 19 roller coasters, Six Flags Magic Mountain holds the world record for most roller coasters in an amusement park. In 2017, the park had an estimated 3.3 million visitors, ranking it sixteenth in attendance in North America.

With the opening of Great American Revolution in 1976, Magic Mountain became the first park in the world to have a modern, 360-degree steel looping coaster (though previous roller coasters with loops had been built and dismantled elsewhere due to safety issues). When it was built, there was very little in the way of surrounding brush. Now, the tracks are surrounded by trees and bushes, which prevents the riders from knowing the track layout beforehand. Universal Pictures then filmed a major movie at Magic Mountain with the Revolution as its centerpiece called Rollercoaster in 1977.

In 1978, Colossus, at the time the fastest, largest dual-tracked wooden coaster, opened. Following its first season, it was closed and extensively redone. When it reopened, it was a much smoother ride. In 1991, the camel hump before the last, or third, turn was replaced by a block brake. One of the trains sometimes ran backwards for a few years in the mid-80s. However, until the late 1990s, this kind of ride was no longer possible due to the newer ride system in place, as well as different trains. During Fright Fest, the park runs one side backwards using a set of trains acquired from the now-demolished Psyclone which was located on the other side of the park. In 2015, the coaster was re-tracked with steel tracking and several inversions were added to the coaster. It was subsequently rebranded "Twisted Colossus". This renovation was completed by Rocky Mountain Construction.

In 1979, the park was sold to Six Flags and became known as Six Flags Magic Mountain. In 1981, Six Flags Magic Mountain introduced a ride that was on the west coast for the first time called Roaring Rapids. It was developed by Intamin in conjunction with the now-defunct Six Flags Astroworld, which had opened a similar ride in 1979. Along with Rapids came the completion of the midway near Spillikin Corners to link with Revolution's area. Finally, a complete circuit could be made around the park. It was originally designed as a dual-sided station, but only one was fully developed, and all that exists of the possible second side is a few supports. It uses large pumps to circulate water, and each of the two pumps can circulate 88,500 gallons per minute. The reservoir can hold 1.5 million gallons of water, and one of the innovations used on it was the introduction of guide boards to help eliminate jam-ups.

© 1981 Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. All Rights Reserved.​
(https://www.sixflags.com/magicMountain/)
Posted for entertainment and educational purposes only.

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