I was really looking forward to this. Still a great attraction even with its age. I mean come on, its Universal’s thrilling iteration of Splash Mountain. Great theming and even better thrills. Great insight and video as always. Nothing better than IOA footage from opening year. Also thanks to Jack for explaining the actual ride story that we never pay attention to because we’re too busy trying to not get wet and bracing for the plunge. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
The drop is definitely more intense and the ride soaks you way more than Splash ever could. I just wish the theming was a little more consistent throughout. And when this ride is in bad shape, it’s hard to overlook it. It’s still one of my favorites, although I prefer Popeye and Bluto just a little bit.
I was kind of expecting more actual history in the video. One thing that's noticeable is that the current iteration of the ride has lap restraints, but you can see in promotional footage from the park's opening that the original ride didn't have any. This is how I remember riding it in the early 2000s - I was so terrified of flying out of the ride as 90 pound kid and the only thing really wedging me into my seat was being sandwiched between my parents.
Splash Mountain is my favourite Disney ride, I absolutely adore it and the main reasons being it's mood created through the story and real physical elements of animatronics used. I think that's one of the reasons why I loved RipSaw Falls so much. Though I've only ever visited Islands of Adventure once, it was a standout moment.
Well hopefully he sorta discussed how it was once a crazy spinning ride to now more of a docile dark ride. I know why but I wonder if the RU-vid Theme Park Community knows.
I was looking forward to this and was not disappointed. When I rode it I did not register the Disney references at the time, and it was amusing learning that a movie for the cartoon existed. I would love to see the cat in the hat ride next.
This has always been one of my favorite rides at Islands of Adventure. The last time I went it was closed for refurbishments. I'm looking forward to going on it again next year!
I rode this ride recently, and for some reason, the Dudley animatronic that rides on the back of his horse has been removed, and a few of his audio tracks as well
I went on it recently and ya, some of the animatronics were missing or were in rough shape. The audio sounded fine for the most part. I just hope they continue to up-keep it and that it stays forever.
@@ThemeParkHistory Can you do a History of the eras for Universal attractions? Given the Jurassic Coaster construction and a new park being built with Nintendo and it's rides that are groundbreaking, I would claim Universal is exiting its "screen" era and entering a new era (too soon to name since we don't know it's impact). I know Expedition Theme Park did this, but for HHN. I think it's a cool idea.
The whole concept art of the splitting of the flume for the finale seems interesting! I wonder how it would have looked if they would actually gone through with it.
My guess is that the flume would have been made up of two individual parts, held together with strong magnets, which would be separated when the split happened
It's a great ride, one of my favorite water rides of all time. When going to Islands of Adventure my family packs our bathing suits and flip flops before doing Popeyes and Dudleys
@@jtbackup4553 i rode that ride with my wife, my brother and his family - as my brother walked off, someone getting on saw him and we just heard "that dude is WEEEEEETTTTTT" he was, he was absolutely soaking, he looked like youd just dropped a swimming pool on his head.
I absolutely love this ride, it’s one of my favorite rides of all time, there were a few differences when I rode it, a Dudley animatronic and Snidely animatronic were missing, they might be fixing them considering the ride is over 20 years old, I love this ride and I hope to go back to Universal and ride this ride again
I was there in January, and when I found out that I had to pay to get dry I totally refused to do that. Instead I just hop on the Hulk to dry up and it worked. Not worth it to pay 5$.
Yes!! I absolutely ADORE this ride - I always go with my aunt and cousin to Universal Orlando and they don't like it but I make sure to go on it every time I go, aha. It's aged so well
I don't even care about most of these rides, but the overall presentation and things I learn from this channel makes me click these videos as fast as I can.
A character from one of my all time favorite cartoons got his own innovative ride. Such a blasty blast. Makes me wanna go back to Orlando SO BAD. Thanks again, Jack, for this epically nostalgic video.
That 10-to-5 log split would have been such a cool touch!! Would have given two parties the opportunity to briefly mingle before "see ya later"! This wasn't the only part of DDR's Ripsaw Falls affected by budget cuts. One of the designers mentioned on Season Pass podcast that there were huge cuts to the props/gags in the dark-ride portions, to the point where some of the rooms felt like empty warehouses compared to their intentions, and the ride's designers generally considered it a failure. It's a real shame that money got in the way, because I agree with those designers that while the ride system is pretty thrilling, the whole experience feels a bit empty and flat compared to Splash Mountain, or even to its neighbor Bilge-Rat Barges.
If they had kept the budget up to really flesh out and improve the indoor scenes and dark ride elements it might have best Splash Mountain for best flume. It is more thrilling but feels like a cheap knockoff due to the limited scenery.
I went to Universal Studios four years ago with my mom and dad. When we approached this ride, Mom really wanted to go on. I said something about wanting to wait for water rides because I didn't want to spend the whole day soaking wet. She told me "you won't get wet, it's probably just like Splash Mountain where it's one drop and you hardly get wet. It'll be fine." Oh, the shit I gave her when we got off that ride. Glad we went on, though! Super fun ride!
This was by far one of the best rides I've ever ridden! It managed to cool me off and the design of it was top knotch! It was colorful, and looked cartoony as well as zany! (Something I don't see too much from the folks at Disney who are trying to make the characters as real as possible.) You are seriously making me miss Universal and Islands of Adventure!
I also think that there many references to Knott’s Berry Farm’s Timber Mountain Log Ride. The idea of a log manufacturer and mill theming on a log flume was originally a Knott’s Berry Farm idea, and infact, they were the first themed log flume. The bear that attacks Dudley most likely parodies the part of the Knotts ride when a bear attempts to attack the riders. And the saw area may parody the start of the ride at Knott’s in which a log manufacturer company is to your left and right and you can see people sawing and many saws. The drop at the end of Knott’s’s ride include explosions, which this ride does as well. It’s just a personal theory.
Good catch. I think that the parody of Disney rides is more likely for the simple reason that this attraction is only at Islands of Adventure and Disney is nearby, whereas Knott's is on the other side of the country and not as widely known outside of California. But it is also unquestionable that the designers could have, and likely were, influenced and inspired by different log rides. ;)
Can you do a few more attractions from Island of Adventures: - Doctor Doom's Fear Fall - Popeye and Pluto's Barges - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - Poseidon's Fury - The Cat In The Hat
I went on this thinking it was going to be like Splash Mountain. Boy was I wrong. A lot more wet, and a lot more fun, at the expense of story and theming. Definitely the superior ride.
Dude!!! These videos are so amazing and I love how you cover things other than Disney, and you make Universal History just as interesting as Disney. The quality of these is on par with Defunctland. I'm glad your getting more attention and I hope it continues. Cheers!
I’ll never forget this ride as I got stuck on it for a whole hour in Florida July heat, because someone in front of me got stuck in one of the cars. I will never get ‘and so our hero proves that a mountie always gets his man, but not always...his girl’ out of my head lol
It's my favorite log ride at any park, plus I grew up watching Rocky and Bullwinkle all the time. My only problem is that I tend to take my family during fall break in October, so drying out can be an issue in the cooler weather. Ponchos help a lot. :)
It’s a fun ride, but good GOD does it need to be closed for maintenance. I rode it for the first time back in April and coming out of the first turn my lap bar failed to lock and popped up. To the operator’s credit they caught this IMMEDIATELY and e-stopped the ride but that was the biggest scare I’d ever received in my life.
I love this ride. I didn't have cable growing up so Rocky and Bowinkle was like the only daytime cartoon I could watch. Going on this ride has some real sentimental value for a lot of us older folks
I visited Universal in August 2018, I wasn’t really looking forward to riding this, but it had literally no wait time so we went anyways. The queue is incredibly long and it takes at least a good 10 minutes to get to the boarding area WITH NO PEOPLE. It’s pretty old and beaten down, and when I was there the water was pretty dirty. My family and me are just a lil overweight hehe so the trunks were super difficult to get out of. I don’t think i’ve ever ended so dripping wet after any other attraction.
Instead of a specific ride, can you make a video about the history of WDW and UO? I work at both and I can certainly tell you that each announcement from one sparks an announcement from the other the following day. They're competitive as heck. If you ever thought about doing a video like that, I'd love to help write the script with you (it would probably be a 30 minute special as there is *A LOT* to talk about). Either way, I do enjoy these. You're definitely in my Top 5 favorite Theme Park RU-vidrs.
My mom loved this show as a kid. When Teletoon retro began (I’m Canadian eh?), we would always make sure to watch it together when it was on. When we went to Universal about 10 years ago, I was so excited that Dudley Doright got his own ride
Ahh, Rocky and Bullwinkle, I remember those two back in my childhood days, nice to remember them. Another great history video, hope to see more rides like this, I got a thing for water rides really.
Honestly when people lament the loss of things like Jaws and Earthquake/Disaster to more modern things and say "but Ripsaw Falls is still going, for some insane reason," I get really grumpy. I have never in my life watched any of the comics featured in this area (with the exception of the terrible live action Rocky & Bullwinkle) and it didn't make a lick of difference. This ride is so much fun and I'd be just as sad to see this go as I was to see Jaws and Earthquake and all the other classics. It just goes to show that if the ride is great, the IP attached wouldn't make a big difference.
"For a small fee..." First time used to talk about water guns that cost quarters to use Second time used to talk about people dryers that have a Minimum fee of $5 .... One of these things is not like the other! :P
I very recently finally got to ride this ride at Universal Islands of Adventure and I have to say, it was a TON of fun to ride and I'm sure it was a world class water ride back in 1999 when it first opened and is easily the best water rides I have ever ridden for sure.
Reason given was due to budget cuts. We didn't include it because we couldn't confirm but another reason was due to safety concerns and during testing not being able to get the logs to properly split when they were suppose to at the finale.
I can't believe they called some of these scenes "parodies" of Disney rides when they're not making fun of the scenes and they're just doing them with their characters.
That's how it was for a while until Ward Productions was purchased by Dreamworks Animation, so technically Rocky and Bullwinkle is now owned by Universal.
Great video! Is it possible to do the history of Sindbad's Storybook Voyage at Tokyo DisneySea? It's probably one of the most underrated Disney attractions out there and one of my favorites.
I went on this ride for the first time this past November and I honestly had no idea how soaked you would get on the ride and me and my two friends were soaked when we got off and ended up going on it again because we loved it so much! I do prefer splash mountain but when it comes to how wet you can get this ride blows it out of the water!
Best log flume ride theming wise with splash mountain and has a very good layout. One of the best water ride queues as well! How steep was the original drop btw? We’re very lucky this ride exist cause I just love the fibe and theme it has!
The original drop started at 45 degrees then descended to 50 as riders went down. To be honest I'm surprised there isn't more themed log flume attractions at parks, I can only think of 4: Do-Right/Splash Mountain/Jurassic Park/Journey To Atlantis.
I've only been on it once shortly after it opened, but it felt very intense due to the smaller sized ride vehicles compared to both the Splash Mountain versions.
Theme Park History I think it’s just the shear size and cost of these High themed water rides. Theme parks don’t like building new water rides anymore or don’t have the space for it. Plus most parks have an old log flume ride so they don’t want to redo it.
When I rode this ride as a young kid it was terrifying and I remember not being strapped to the seat or anything. After it got refurbished it felt safer but I was also a lot older too.
I can testify to the fact that this ride drenches you! It gets you wetter than a typical rapids ride. Would have loved to ridden it more than once but the restraints are not tall person friendly.
We'll look into it, if we talk about the early years it would be included in a video about Six Flags Great Adventure as a whole. Thank you for the suggestion Teddy.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget the two dudebros whom I shared a log with. They were behind me and my sister in line and we’re like, absolutely gushing over every. “Dude, y’know this was my favorite ride as a kid. It’s so good man” one of them said. The other replied about how awesome it was gonna be. These twenty something guys in muscle shirts, board shorts and Ray bans were so hyped for a purposely cheesy water ride based on old cartoons.