[fishels]

Still searching. I think it's gonna be long shot to find anything showing the entire ride when it was good.

Appreciate it! It’s super fascinating to me that the ride was once different so if you ever even come across a picture please forward it

What year was this removed?

I don't remember exactly but I think it was around 1998 or 1999 after a piece of the ceiling fell in. I think it was done fairly quietly so you won't find much on the web. It used to have a big waterfall over the entrance of the tunnel, and waterfalls down the sides. There were also geysers (maybe still are?) on several of the straightaways. That stuff broke down or was turned off at various times due to the nasty water. Originally the ride have wavemakers and a whirlpool too but that stuff was turned off after boats kept flipping over. The original ride also had bluegrass music playing through hidden speakers throughout the ride.

Holy cow that sounds amazing

Thanks for the description. I probably came for the first time as a young child in the early 2000’s. So it looks like I just missed out.

[Rabidfrog]

http://www.carowindsearlyyears.com/enterearlyyears.html

This site has a couple photos of the original boats and a bunch of other old links and the like.

[uscbandfan]

Well, that shows they had 8-person boats back then. Don't know why they switched to 6-person boats.

[tarheel1231]

IIRC, the original boats were made in-house and flipped over.

[phareous]

Yes the original boats were death traps and also injured people. They replaced with them with Intamin boats

Here is an interesting web page that covers a little of that:
https://parkvault.net/tag/rip-roaring-rapids/

[uscbandfan]

Yes, I remember the flipping over thing. I was just referring to the fact that 8 people CAN sit in that size boat. Capable engineers can design an 8 person raft that wont flip over. Doesn't look like they're gonna open it back up anyway.

[phareous]

They maybe could physically fit but I wonder if the additional weight would cause issues with the boat being heavier and sitting lower in the water.

Of course Americans have been getting heavier since the ride was first opened anyway

[cwgator]

Yes, I remember the flipping over thing. I was just referring to the fact that 8 people CAN sit in that size boat. Capable engineers can design an 8 person raft that wont flip over. Doesn't look like they're gonna open it back up anyway.

They maybe could physically fit but I wonder if the additional weight would cause issues with the boat being heavier and sitting lower in the water.

Of course Americans have been getting heavier since the ride was first opened anyway

Intamin has an 8 person boat that is about the same size as RRR's 6-seater. They have them on Infinity Falls at SWO. Even if those don't fit, I'm sure Intamin could design some that would with higher capacity. Whether or not Carowinds wants to spend the money to do so remains to be seen.

[Edwardo]

Cedar Fair isn’t going to work with intamin unless it’s legacy work on an exhausting ride.

[phareous]

It doesn't look like Intamin is hurting any with plenty of work from Universal, Seaworld, etc. It always seemed to me like Intamin is the company you go to for river raft rides or boats, but I'm sure there are other companies out there... it just seems very niche to me

[jeffdavis]

I think "Shoot the Rapids" may have hurt Intamin's water ride prospects with Cedar Fair.

[Chris]

Everything about Intamin sucks (from a park owner point of view, not a coaster enthusiast). Shoot the Rapids. Maverick re-profile. Intimidator 305 re-profile. Hell, even Millennium Force had to be altered because they put a support within reaching distance when you're flying by at over 90 MPH. What could possibly go wrong?
Especially when a part goes down and it takes weeks, if not months, for the part to be shipped to the park. There's only so much parks can put up with before they give up on a company.

[Edwardo]

It also doesn’t help that a new motor for Shoot the Rapids cost a quarter mill.

They should have let the company that approached them first build it.

[tarheel1231]

It also doesn’t help that a new motor for Shoot the Rapids cost a quarter mill.

They should have let the company that approached them first build it.

What are your thoughts on the RRR situation?

[Edwardo]

My thoughts are I can’t wait to see how this turns out .