Fate of Ripsaw Falls

[Elijah Abrams]

There are rumors spreading that Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls will permanently close because of hurricane and tropical storm damage. Will the ride be able to reopen?

 

[spewey]

I saw that - it seems a couple of "unnamed" employees (ride ops, NOT management) are speculating about the future of the ride. But of note what is also being reported is that the current shut down, which initially was due to storm damage, may extend for quite some time because of unrelated ongoing, embedded operational issues that need addressing.

This ride has been a handful since inception. The original drop, which I was lucky enough to experience back in 2000, was VERY aggressive and legend has it led to more than one nose injury. It has been reprofiled at least once, and the boats themselves redesigned a couple of times, tinkering with the restraints to ensure the safest ride possible.

I don't notice that much of a difference, to be honest. It's not like what they did to Cat in the Hat, which is unrecognizable from its beginnings (it's basically been neutered). Dudley is still firmly in the thrill ride category, and still one of the best, if not the best, flume rides in the world. And as much I as would dismiss the rumours of it "never opening again", all rides eventually (look at Dueling Dragons) will be viewed through the Cost Benefit lens. The answer to all your questions is money, and if an unreliable ride becomes a money pit, its days are certainly numbered.

A huge challenge here, of course, is that this ride absolutely dominates the sky line in its area. Not like you could through a tarp over the thing, and tearing it down would create a massive eye-sore.

 

[SusanDK]

What did they do to Cat in the Hat? It's been many years since we've been on it because the spinning made DH sick.

 

[spewey]

What did they do to Cat in the Hat? It's been many years since we've been on it because the spinning made DH sick.

The intensity of the spinning has been lowered significantly over the years. In fact, for a while it didn't spin at all. No doubt this is a response to complaints from riders such as your husband that it is making them ill.

My wife and I rode Cat just a few months after it opened, and man did it kick your butt. We did NOT expect that - thought it would be just this silly little kiddie ride. But until it was tamed, it easily had the greatest g-forces of anything in Universal.

Normally I would decry the defanging of a ride - unless it was dangerous, or hurting people (like reprofiling the drop on Dudley to lessen the chance of people smashing their faces when they hit the water) - but this kind of makes sense to me. If, like my wife and I all those years ago, you had a family hop on what they assume is a gentle, Winne-The-Pooh attraction but end up "bio-spilling" all over each other I can see why they would be peeved.

That was, though, the beauty of IOA when it first opened. It was actually a little subversive. Take the water guns in Seuss Landing (don't know if they're even there any more). You could shoot at passers by, but every once in a while water would spray back at you. There's your first lesson in Karma, kids. But I'm sure that also led to a lot of complaints from parents who didn't appreciate the education.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I’m sorry to hear this. Ripsaw Falls I finally got to ride on my last trip and it was a blast! The fact they used the narrator from the Brendan Fraser Movie made it even more fun!

 

[Skywalker3]

The intensity of the spinning has been lowered significantly over the years. In fact, for a while it didn't spin at all. No doubt this is a response to complaints from riders such as your husband that it is making them ill.

My wife and I rode Cat just a few months after it opened, and man did it kick your butt. We did NOT expect that - thought it would be just this silly little kiddie ride. But until it was tamed, it easily had the greatest g-forces of anything in Universal.

Normally I would decry the defanging of a ride - unless it was dangerous, or hurting people (like reprofiling the drop on Dudley to lessen the chance of people smashing their faces when they hit the water) - but this kind of makes sense to me. If, like my wife and I all those years ago, you had a family hop on what they assume is a gentle, Winne-The-Pooh attraction but end up "bio-spilling" all over each other I can see why they would be peeved.

That was, though, the beauty of IOA when it first opened. It was actually a little subversive. Take the water guns in Seuss Landing (don't know if they're even there any more). You could shoot at passers by, but every once in a while water would spray back at you. There's your first lesson in Karma, kids. But I'm sure that also led to a lot of complaints from parents who didn't appreciate the education.

I wondered if the spinning was less. I rode this past year and felt it wasn't much movement at all. Cat in the Hat is one of the only rides (WDW/Universal) that one of my kids got hurt on. First time my daughter rode it, probably in the early 2010s, she smacked her face against the side of it on one of the first spins, cheek was red, a little sore, for hours after that. didn't complain, but soured the day, and our opinion of the ride at the time

per Ripsaw, I woudln't mind a retheming, or maybe even a different ride. It's super fun if you want to get wet, but you get SOOOO wet. We didn't ride on any of our 4 trips last year, as couldn't figure out a good time to get wet/go back to hotel to change, etc. There were previous trips where kids rode that and Bluto over and over.I don't love the seating, especially when they seat you w other parties. Theming is out of date, kids don't even know who those characters are. I wouldn't mind a whole new ride there

 

[Minnie1222]

We went on Cat in the Hat last month. I felt it was even tamer than what we experienced in 2019, which was already 90% slower than the original. The swinging felt softer and slower than Toy Story Mania. There were still two 360° spins, but thankfully they were slow.

My daughter used to call the original ride "Seuss Teacups".

 

[mom2rtk]

Thanks for the commentary on Cat in the Hat. We rode it last year for the first time in 17 years and it was completely underwhelming. And I remember really enjoying it before. It makes sense now.

 

[spewey]

I wondered if the spinning was less. I rode this past year and felt it wasn't much movement at all. Cat in the Hat is one of the only rides (WDW/Universal) that one of my kids got hurt on. First time my daughter rode it, probably in the early 2010s, she smacked her face against the side of it on one of the first spins, cheek was red, a little sore, for hours after that. didn't complain, but soured the day, and our opinion of the ride at the time

per Ripsaw, I woudln't mind a retheming, or maybe even a different ride. It's super fun if you want to get wet, but you get SOOOO wet. We didn't ride on any of our 4 trips last year, as couldn't figure out a good time to get wet/go back to hotel to change, etc. There were previous trips where kids rode that and Bluto over and over.I don't love the seating, especially when they seat you w other parties. Theming is out of date, kids don't even know who those characters are. I wouldn't mind a whole new ride there

I thought better of mentioning the speculation around the reason for why they stopped the spinning a few years ago, but it did centre around someone (or several someones) getting hurt while being jerked around. The idea was they locked the cars until they could figure out spin sequences that would lessen or eliminate that possibility.

It's a trade-off for sure. Reading the above, we see people that won't ride as it's still too intense, and others that are unhappy because it's not intense enough.

As to Dudley, I know it goes over the heads of 99% of patrons, but I like the theming; it's well-done and fits the ride. It's also so integral to the design I'm not sure how easy it would be to change it.

Having said that, all things change eventually, one way or another, and I'd be good with a new theme as long as that meant the ride stayed put. Just, please, not Minions ... not again ...

 

[SusanDK]

Glad to hear about Cat in the Hat. I might get my husband to try it again, lol. We went on it in the early years of IoA and were surprised at how rough it was, considering it was in what we perceive to be the kiddie land. He can't handle thrill rides so there are already a ton he doesn't ride and we thought, at the time, that it looked tame.

 

[ghtx]

I have been on Cat in the Hat a few times, most recently five years ago, and I don't remember any intense spinning. So it's been a while since they ended that.

 

[xipotec]

Ripsaw was such a surprise hit for us. We skipped it till we were exiting one night, and went on and GOT SOAKED….

But what a thrill that ride is…

Since it was already dark and getting cold, we got to ride it walk on 3 more times, just as fun each time.

US got us for 4 sweatshirts that night as we were literally soaked…

good times.

A retheme would be great, and no one knows the characters anymore…

Time for some theme park to have a horror themed thrill ride year round….
The should theme is for Ghostbusters and say the water is slime.

 

[maverik85]

I love the flume and would have to see it removed. It is one of my favorites. I enjoy the Dudley Do Right theming but a retheme would be ok. Feel like the whole land will get an eventual retheme as most of the characters aren't well known to younger crowds. Could see the whole land get a retheme eventually to a bigger property and adding a new ride where the theatre is that rarely gets used.

 

[spewey]

So I just noticed the ride is back up with wait times listed on the app. I checked around and it seems it resumed operations a couple days ago. Great timing for us - we arrive end of next week with temps forecast to top out in the 80s.

 

[Minnie1222]

Yes, it's running. Wait time was only 5 min today, but unfortunately we also had to pass.