Wild Adventures has a very rare water rapids ride, Tasmanian River Rapids, made by German manufacturer HAFEMA. In fact it’s the only one of its type in North America and one of only two in the Western Hemisphere. On top of that, did you know that Wild Adventures Tasmanian River Rapids uses the same HAFEMA “Wild Raft Rides” system as Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure at Universal Studios Singapore? Even more surprising is that HAFEMA Wild Raft Ride with a Minions theme is coming to Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, Texas later this year! The ride experience itself of Wild Adventure’s Tasmanian River Rapids packs some surprises too, but we’ll put a spoiler warning before we get to them. There are of course other manufacturers and iterations of a river raft ride, but the version at Wild Adventures is installed at some major international parks including Phantasialand and Universal Studios Singapore. HAFEMA originally served as an Intamin supplier before becoming independent in 1990, hence any similarities you see with their rides and older Intamin river rapids rides.

Did you know that Wild Adventures Tasmanian River Rapids uses the same ride system as Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure  at Universal Studios Singapore?

Tasmanian River Rapids is a fantastic water ride, blending excitement and beauty while getting you wet enough to cool down on the hottest days, but not unfairly soaked from head to toe. As you approach the ride you’ll first pass through giant metal gates and under the ride’s sign. Tasmanian River Rapids is themed around a mining camp the ride is potentially the most highly themed experience at Wild Adventures. You’ll see a mining encampment to your right warning signs about the mine being closed due to river overflow. You then pass through a small tunnel which surprisingly takes you under part of the river of the ride!

As you approach the station you catch small glimpses of the ride course, but a good majority of it is hidden from you which will become important later. The ride features 9-person circular rafts that are a great size for both large and small parties. The rafts are lifted into and launched from the station by a large conveyor belt. HAFEMA uses a patented continuous chain-driven conveyor belt system for lifting boats to the loading/unloading station. This conveyor belt was a HAFEMA innovation in that it allowed for the rafts to return to the station without an “indexer”. What’s an “indexer”? With the Intamin “turntable” system an “indexer” was required to make sure the opening of the raft was properly orientated for loading and unloading. The conveyor system completely eliminated this and allows for faster 360 degree boarding.

When you board the boat and exit the station it only takes a few seconds before you reach one of the high points of the ride. Note, if you don’t like ride “spoilers”, take this as a warning like the sign above and stop reading now. HAFEMA’s signature wild raft ride element is a whirlpool. You’ll quickly find yourself exiting a more enclosed river space and seeing a wide open area with a swirling whirlpool at its center. I remember my shock and amazement when seeing this for the first time as there seemed like these was nowhere to go but down. This is indeed the case as you will be going down the center of the whirlpool in an exciting tunnel drop.

HAFEMA has some great diagrams about the whirlpool feature in their marketing material. It states that, “The main attraction of all our raft rides delivered since 2000 is our whirlpool, which gives the most thrill to the rides. This unique whirlpool system gives the passengers the feeling of being in the center of a large vortex where the boat disappears on a steep drop into a tunnel section. The boats then dives at a high speed of approx. 7 m/s into the downstream water channel between waterfalls on both sides of the exit areas.” With the introduction in the year 2000, it means Tasmanian River Rapids at Wild Adventures was one of the first to incorporate this feature. However, it is certainly not the last with the Minions themed coming to Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, Texas later this year with an obvious whirlpool from the concept art. In fact if you overlay the courses, the Minion ride appears near identical to Tasmanian River Rapids.

As mentioned before, Tasmansian River Rapids Tasmanian River Rapids uses the same ride system as Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure at Universal Studios Singapore. Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure is loosely based on the concept of the original Jurassic Park: The Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, Japan and Islands of Adventure, but utilizing rafts instead of boats. In some databases you don’t see Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure listed as the same type of ride as Tasmanian River Rapids because of its inclusion of several dark ride elements. However, both rides use the same board 9-person circular rafts on and  conveyor belt system by HAFEMA. Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure opened in 2010, a decade later than Tasmanian River Rapids, and offers a highly themed environment full of animatronics courtesy of Universal Creative. However, both rides are pretty similar mechanically as each last about 6 minutes. They diverge in a few places with Tasmanian River Rapids having its “drop” near the beginning of the ride after the amazing whirlpool effect while Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure adds a climatic drop at the end after an indoor dark ride sequence (video of ride).

It’s great to see two different parks take the same ride technology and adapt it to fit their needs. At Wild Adventures, Tasmanian River Rapids offers a fun outdoor way to cool off from the Georgia heat with a “hidden” whirlpool effect. Meanwhile Universal Studios Singapore uses the same platform with Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure to tell a story and augments the basic technology with animatronics, special effects an indoor dark ride sequence. Obviously Universal saw their previous work with HAFEMA as a success as they’re using the same platform for the new Minions ride in Frisco, Texas. This appears to be a case where Wild Adventures was ahead of its time as one of the first to pioneer a great ride system that is now also used in some of the biggest parks in the world.