The world's longest 'water coaster'

The video: Holiday World, an Indiana theme park that is already home to the world's largest water coaster, has announced plans to build an even larger water coaster. The Mammoth, a $9-million ride that's scheduled to open in 2012, will take thrill-seeking passengers on six-person rafts through a 1,763-foot course that includes an initial drop of 53 feet and spreads out over three acres. (Watch a video of the planned ride below.) For those uninitiated in the finer points of water-park rides, a water coaster differs from a water slide by offering uphill climbs as well as downhill drops. Motors that create magnetic fields beneath the coaster's track will propel Mammoth's passenger rafts uphill. The new attraction will take up residence right next to Holiday World's popular Wildebeest ride, which currently holds the record for world's longest water coaster, at 1,710 feet.

The reaction: The Mammoth "is guaranteed to make a big splash," says The Huffington Post. Indeed, says Andy Guinigundo at Attractions Magazine. And while it's true that lots of details about this ride still have to be sorted out — speed and run time, for instance, won't be determined until 2012 — "this looks like loads of wet fun!" You've got that right, says Holiday World president Dan Koch, as quoted by the Evansville, Ind., Courier Press. Once constructed, there won't be "another ride like this on the planet." See for yourself:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up