Congo River Rapids is a

river rapids ride A river rapids ride (or river rafting ride) is an amusement ride that simulates whitewater rafting. History The river rapids ride concept was proposed by Bill Crandall (general manager of AstroWorld in Houston) and developed by Intamin. AstroW ...

made by

Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement ins ...

. It is located in the Katanga Canyon area of

Alton Towers Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often referred to as Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water park, ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The rapids comes close to the Runaway Mine Train as it passes through the tunnel. It featured twin waterfalls, and rafts passed between the two waterfalls. Congo River Rapids shares its name with a ride at

Busch Gardens Tampa Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a animal theme park located in Tampa, Florida, United States, with the entire park landscaped and designed around themes of Africa and Asia. Owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, the park opened on Ju ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, but it has different layout.

History

Congo River Rapids first opened in 1989 as Grand Canyon Rapids and was part of the Aqua Land area of the park. The entrance to the queueline was originally located where the path to Cat Canyon starts in Mutiny Bay today, meaning that the ride was hidden from view. This was changed when Katanga Canyon was built in the centre of the rapids circuit as part of

John Wardley John Richard Wardley (born 6 June 1950) is a British developer for theme parks in the UK and Europe: an innovator of special effects, dark rides and roller coasters in the themed attraction industry. Career Wardley started his career as a st ...

's plan to open up the area. Katanga Canyon opened in 1992 along with the new Runaway Mine Train. The Grand Canyon Rapids were rethemed to adopt the African safari theme of the new area, including the change of name to Congo River Rapids. The original rafts held six riders. These were changed years later for eight seat rafts to increase passenger throughput. The ride would close for safety on May the 17th, 2017 when it was announced that the Swiss company Intamin were the makers of the similar ride, Splash Canyon, involved in an incident where an eleven year-old child fell from a raft into the waters and died. On 22 January 2018, Alton Towers announced that the ride would operate seasonally for 2018, operating only from 26 May to 4 September, but the ride operated throughout the season after a negative social media response. Some key features of the ride that were designed to get riders wet such as the waterfalls were removed. The ride did not operate during the 2018, nor the 2019, Services Day events. For the 2019 season, the boats were modified to have gates in the inter-seat gaps where boarding and disembarking occurs, grip matts have been added on the floors and seats, boats can only contain a maximum of 7 riders each (a reduction from 8) and children can not ride alone anymore - at least one adult must be in each boat.

Operation

The ride's energy requirements are considerable, with its large pumps requiring 15 minutes to bring water volume to the required level for operation. It features its own electrical substation and 1.3 million gallon water reservoir. The rapids effect of the water is largely achieved by the placement of wooden blocks secured to the bottom of the ride's concrete channel. When water flow is activated via its pumps, turbulence is seen at the wooden blocks as the water flows over.

Inspiration

The inspiration for this ride comes from the real

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

rapids. They lie on the outskirts of

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

in the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

, where the

Djoué River The Djoué River is a river of the Republic of the Congo. It is a right tributary of the Congo River. Course The Djoué River rises in the Pool Department to the north of Mayama, and flows through that town. It then follows a meandering southeas ...

meets the Congo.

Gallery

Congo River Rapids.jpg, Ride boats Alton Towers Congo River Rapids entrance.jpg, Ride entrance

References

External links

Congo River Rapids at Towers AlmanacCongo River Rapids at Towers Nerd
{{Alton Towers Water rides Amusement rides introduced in 1986 Alton Towers