{"count":30,"items":[{"slug":"body-slide","name":"Body slide","rider_format":"You ride on: your body","summary":"The rider slides directly on the flume surface with nothing under them. Open or enclosed, from toddler slides to 50 m speed slides. Every major maker builds them: ProSlide Twister and FreeFALL, WhiteWater AquaTube and Speed Slide, Polin, Wiegand.","url":"/types/body-slide/"},{"slug":"speed-slide","name":"Speed slide","rider_format":"You ride on: your back","summary":"A steep, near-straight body slide, typically a 60-80° drop into a long flat run-out that stops the rider without a deep pool. Ridden lying back with arms and legs crossed. ProSlide FreeFALL, WhiteWater Freefall, Wiegand Kamikaze.","url":"/types/speed-slide/"},{"slug":"kamikaze","name":"Kamikaze","rider_format":"You ride on: your back","summary":"Generic name, from George Millay's 1979 Wet 'n Wild Orlando ride, for a fast body slide with one or more steep dips. Wiegand still sells a Kamikaze model rated above 50 km/h, 180 riders an hour and 60 m³/h of water.","url":"/types/kamikaze/"},{"slug":"trapdoor-slide","name":"Trapdoor slide","rider_format":"You ride on: your body","summary":"The rider slides directly on the flume surface with nothing under them. Open or enclosed, from toddler slides to 50 m speed slides. Every major maker builds them: ProSlide Twister and FreeFALL, WhiteWater AquaTube and Speed Slide, Polin, Wiegand.","url":"/types/trapdoor-slide/"},{"slug":"looping-slide-aqualoop","name":"Looping slide (AquaLoop)","rider_format":"You ride on: your body","summary":"A trapdoor launch into a ~17 m drop and then an inclined loop, tilted about 45° so gravity helps the rider through. Riders reach 60 km/h in about two seconds and pull ~2.5 G. Co-developed by Aquarena (Austria) and WhiteWater West; the first opened at Terme 3000, Slovenia, in May 2008. Roughly 60 exist.","url":"/types/looping-slide-aqualoop/"},{"slug":"tube-slide","name":"Tube slide","rider_format":"You ride on: an inflatable ring","summary":"One or two riders sit in an inflatable ring and follow an open or enclosed serpentine flume. ProSlide Pipeline, WhiteWater AquaTube and Python, Polin and Wiegand equivalents. The workhorse of every park.","url":"/types/tube-slide/"},{"slug":"constrictor","name":"Constrictor","rider_format":"You ride on: a tube or raft","summary":"A coiled tube slide with tight-radius, high-banked turns; sold open, enclosed or \"sawtooth\" (alternating). Runs two-person tubes or 3-6 person rafts.","url":"/types/constrictor/"},{"slug":"dark-slide","name":"Dark slide","rider_format":"You ride on: body or tube","summary":"A fully closed flume, often black or opaque, so riders cannot see the route. Modern versions add LED rings, projections or translucent bands (WhiteWater AquaLucent; Polin introduced its natural-light effects in 2009).","url":"/types/dark-slide/"},{"slug":"mat-racer","name":"Mat racer","rider_format":"You ride on: a foam mat","summary":"Four to eight parallel lanes; riders lie head-first on foam mats and race over dips. ProSlide ProRACER was first installed at Blizzard Beach and won IAAPA's Best New Water Park Ride in 1994; OctopusRACER and KrakenRACER twist the lanes round a tower. WhiteWater's Whizzard sends riders through an enclosed 360° tube before the open racing lanes.","url":"/types/mat-racer/"},{"slug":"racing-tube-slides","name":"Racing tube slides","rider_format":"You ride on: a tube","summary":"Two mirror-image flumes for side-by-side racing. Polin King Cobra, WhiteWater Parallel Pursuit and Dueling AquaLoop (2010), ProSlide Dueling Pipeline and Launched Dueling RocketBLAST.","url":"/types/racing-tube-slides/"},{"slug":"king-cobra","name":"King Cobra","rider_format":"You ride on: a two-person tube","summary":"A two-lane racing tube slide: a figure-eight, a 25 ft drop, then a half-pipe shaped like a striking cobra. Polin says it was the first slide \"designed during manufacturing\" using resin transfer moulding. Won Most Innovative Product 2013 and Europe's Best Waterslide 2014.","url":"/types/king-cobra/"},{"slug":"family-raft-ride","name":"Family raft ride","rider_format":"You ride on: a big round raft","summary":"A wide open flume carrying four to six riders in a round raft. ProSlide's Mammoth raft slide debuted in 1990; WhiteWater sells the Family Raft Ride. Disney's 1,400 ft Teamboat Springs at Blizzard Beach is the long-standing benchmark.","url":"/types/family-raft-ride/"},{"slug":"funnel-slide-tornado","name":"Funnel slide (Tornado)","rider_format":"You ride on: a raft","summary":"A raft drops from a tunnel at about 45° into a giant funnel lying on its side and swings wall to wall before exiting the back. ProSlide pitched it in 2002; the first three (Zinga at Holiday World, High Anxiety at Mountain Creek, Tornado at Hurricane Harbor New England) opened in 2003. Models are named for funnel diameter in feet: Tornado 60, 45, 24, 18, 12, plus TornadoWAVE. Nearly 100 built. Competitors: WhiteWater Abyss, Polin Magicone and Sphere.","url":"/types/funnel-slide-tornado/"},{"slug":"half-pipe-boomerango","name":"Half-pipe (Boomerango)","rider_format":"You ride on: a tube or raft","summary":"The raft shoots down a drop, up a near-vertical wall, hangs for a moment, then slides back. WhiteWater's Boomerango takes 3- or 6-person tubes; the first was The Fall of Icarus at WaterWorld, Cyprus. Polin's version is the Sidewinder element on the King Cobra.","url":"/types/half-pipe-boomerango/"},{"slug":"bowl-slide","name":"Bowl slide","rider_format":"You ride on: body or raft","summary":"The rider spirals into a round bowl, centrifugal force holds them high on the wall for several laps, then they drop through the centre hole. Body version: WhiteWater Space Bowl (the UK's Waterworld Stoke had one by December 1992). Raft version: ProSlide BehemothBOWL, first at Golfland-Sunsplash, California, 2004, with an 18 m bowl and four-person cloverleaf rafts; the compact CannonBOWL followed in 2008. Wet 'n Wild's Disco H2O (2005) added lights and music inside.","url":"/types/bowl-slide/"},{"slug":"flying-saucer","name":"Flying Saucer","rider_format":"You ride on: a raft","summary":"A run of tilted, dish-shaped elements that throw rafts through high-speed banked turns modelled on giant-slalom ski turns; founder Rick Hunter raced for Canada. Debuted at Siam Park, Tenerife, in 2015 and won IAAPA Best New Water Ride. Models 20/30/45/60; 30-plus installed, including Volcano Bay and Chimelong (Asia's first Saucer 60, 2025).","url":"/types/flying-saucer/"},{"slug":"water-coaster-jets","name":"Water coaster (jets)","rider_format":"You ride on: a tube","summary":"A slide with uphill sections. High-pressure jets in the flume floor fire along the direction of travel and shove the tube up each hill. Invented by Jeff Henry at NBGS; the first Blasters opened at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels in May 1994 after the technology swept three IAAPA awards in 1993. WhiteWater West acquired the rights in 2006 and counts 200-plus installations. ProSlide's water-jet equivalent is RocketBLAST (first: Singha, Siam Park, 2015).","url":"/types/water-coaster-jets/"},{"slug":"water-coaster-magnets","name":"Water coaster (magnets)","rider_format":"You ride on: a raft","summary":"Linear induction motors in the flume create a travelling magnetic field that acts on conductive plates in the raft, inducing eddy currents that push it uphill with no water pressure. ProSlide says the motors are energised only about 2.5% of the time, cutting energy and water use. Debuted as Deluge at Kentucky Kingdom (opened 26 May 2007; some sources say 2006). Sold as HydroMAGNETIC Rocket (tubes) and Mammoth (six-person spinning boats).","url":"/types/water-coaster-magnets/"},{"slug":"water-coaster-conveyor","name":"Water coaster (conveyor)","rider_format":"You ride on: a raft","summary":"Rubber conveyor belts lift rafts up each hill, like a log flume's lift. Simpler and cheaper than jets or magnets, at the cost of a slower ride.","url":"/types/water-coaster-conveyor/"},{"slug":"slidewheel","name":"SlideWheel","rider_format":"You ride on: a four-person raft","summary":"A wide open flume carrying four to six riders in a round raft. ProSlide's Mammoth raft slide debuted in 1990; WhiteWater sells the Family Raft Ride. Disney's 1,400 ft Teamboat Springs at Blizzard Beach is the long-standing benchmark.","url":"/types/slidewheel/"},{"slug":"game-slide-slideboarding","name":"Game slide (Slideboarding)","rider_format":"You ride on: a board with buttons","summary":"The rider's board has coloured buttons; hit the matching colour as LED rings flash inside the tunnel and you score. 36 difficulty levels, leaderboards and an app. Debuted Memorial Day 2015 on Zipp Zapp Zoom at Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas and later took a Thea Award.","url":"/types/game-slide-slideboarding/"},{"slug":"vr-slide","name":"VR slide","rider_format":"You ride on: a tube, wearing goggles","summary":"One or two riders sit in an inflatable ring and follow an open or enclosed serpentine flume. ProSlide Pipeline, WhiteWater AquaTube and Python, Polin and Wiegand equivalents. The workhorse of every park.","url":"/types/vr-slide/"},{"slug":"crazy-river","name":"Crazy river","rider_format":"You ride on: a tube","summary":"A wide, fast flume with buffer pools where many tubers ride at once. The Falls at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels (2011) runs about 0.7 miles and is billed as the world's longest tubing river.","url":"/types/crazy-river/"},{"slug":"lazy-river","name":"Lazy river","rider_format":"You ride on: a tube","summary":"A slow artificial river about a metre deep with a pumped current. Early rivers ran at walking pace (~1.5 ft/s); modern \"action rivers\" push 4-5 ft/s. George Millay trademarked the name and Wet 'n Wild Orlando (1977) gets credit for the first. Waco Surf in Texas claims the longest at one mile / 45 minutes (not Guinness-verified).","url":"/types/lazy-river/"},{"slug":"wave-pool","name":"Wave pool","rider_format":"You ride on: yourself or a tube","summary":"The raft shoots down a drop, up a near-vertical wall, hangs for a moment, then slides back. WhiteWater's Boomerango takes 3- or 6-person tubes; the first was The Fall of Icarus at WaterWorld, Cyprus. Polin's version is the Sidewinder element on the King Cobra.","url":"/types/wave-pool/"},{"slug":"surf-simulator-flowrider","name":"Surf simulator (FlowRider)","rider_format":"You ride on: a surfboard","summary":"A 7-8 cm sheet of water pumped at speed up a padded, curved incline; riders use bodyboards or flowboards. Tom Lochtefeld's first FlowRider, Boogie Bahn, opened at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels in 1991 and still runs. WhiteWater acquired the line in 2014; 250-plus installed, including Royal Caribbean ships.","url":"/types/surf-simulator-flowrider/"},{"slug":"splash-pad","name":"Splash pad","rider_format":"You ride on: your feet","summary":"A wide open flume carrying four to six riders in a round raft. ProSlide's Mammoth raft slide debuted in 1990; WhiteWater sells the Family Raft Ride. Disney's 1,400 ft Teamboat Springs at Blizzard Beach is the long-standing benchmark.","url":"/types/splash-pad/"},{"slug":"kids-slides-and-play-towers","name":"Kids' slides & play towers","rider_format":"For younger riders","summary":"Scaled-down versions of the adult rides (ProSlide KIDZ, WhiteWater Mini Boomerango and Mini Blaster) and multi-level play towers with tipping buckets (WhiteWater AquaPlay and RainFortress).","url":"/types/kids-slides-and-play-towers/"},{"slug":"inflatable-slide","name":"Inflatable slide","rider_format":"Made of: air!","summary":"PVC or vinyl-coated nylon kept up by a blower. In the US it falls under ASTM F2374 for inflatable devices and is explicitly excluded from the water slide standard F2376.","url":"/types/inflatable-slide/"},{"slug":"steel-slide","name":"Steel slide","rider_format":"Made of: shiny metal","summary":"Wiegand built its first water slide in 1982 from the stainless elements of its summer toboggan runs. Steel gives a very smooth surface and a long service life, at a higher price than fibreglass; Wiegand added FRP in 2007 and Dutch maker Van Egdom specialised in steel until its designs passed to Wiegand in 2023.","url":"/types/steel-slide/"}]}