Hopkins Rides

Hopkins Rides is an amusement ride manufacturer based in Palm City, Florida.^[1] The company has produced amusement rides for over 45 years and currently focuses on water rides.

Hopkins Rides

Industry	Manufacturing
Predecessor	O.D. Hopkins Associates, Inc.
Founded	1962
Founder	O.D. Hopkins
Successor	Hopkins Rides, Inc.
Headquarters	Palm City, Florida , United States[1]
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Amusement rides, roller coasters
Website	www.whitewaterwest.com

History

In 1962 O.D. Hopkins incorporated Hopkins Engineering and started installing ski lifts for J.A. Roebling & Sons of Trenton, New Jersey.^[2] In 1965 Hopkins purchased the ski lift division and all the related assets from Roebling & Sons. Soon afterwards a competitor, Universal Design Ltd., discontinued manufacturing Sky Rides, and their customers turned to Hopkins Engineering for parts.^[2] Hopkins' first customer in the amusement business was Charles Wood of Storytown USA.

In 1971, the name of the company was changed to O.D. Hopkins Associates Inc. In 1979, Hopkins was approached by Paul Roads, owner of Wonderland Park (Texas), to build a reasonably-priced log flume for his park. The success of that project started Hopkins in the water ride manufacturing business.^[2]

In November, 2001, O.D. Hopkins and Associates Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection. The aerial ropeway/sky ride division was spun off to Skyfair, Inc. on January 1, 1986. The company reorganized and emerged as Hopkins Rides, LLC in May 2002, and was for a brief time in partnership with Reverchon Industries of France.^[3]

In August 2012 water slide manufacturer WhiteWater West acquired assets and intellectual property from Hopkins Rides, LLC. Although WhiteWater Attractions has adopted the Hopkins Rides technology, it is not a parent company to Hopkins Rides, LLC and the companies operate independently. WhiteWater sells its products under the Water Rides brand.^[4][5]

Manufacturing

The company originally manufactured Sky Rides, but in the 1980s, with the increase in popularity of their water-based attractions, those rides became the company's primary product. In addition to the water-based attractions, Hopkins built seven roller coasters from 1985 to 1996. They also occasionally made other amusement ride types such as a SkyGlider, tube slides, and a water jet ride known as an Aqua Drag. Santa's Village still operates its SkyGlider, and Wonderland Park still operates its Aqua Drag and SkyGlider in addition to its other Hopkins rides.

Hopkins also re-fabricated portions of track on two Arrow Dynamics-built coasters: Dahlonega Mine Train at Six Flags Over Georgia received 1,400 feet of new track and supports in 1986 and Canobie Corkscrew at Canobie Lake Park received new track and supports in 1990.^[2]

The company currently focuses only on water ride attractions:

• Shoot the Chute rides
• Flumes and larger capacity Super Flumes
• River Raft ride
• Water Transportation Systems

List of roller coasters

As of 2019, Hopkins Rides has built 7 roller coasters around the world.^[6]

Name	Model	Park	Country	Opened	Status	Ref
Texas Tornado	Looping Coaster	Wonderland Amusement Park	United States	1985	Operating	[7]
Polar Coaster	Junior Coaster	Story Land	United States	1987	Operating	[8]
Cliff Hanger Formerly Red Devil	Looping Coaster	Ghost Town Village	United States	1988	Closed	[9]
Dragon	Looping Coaster	Adventureland	United States	1990	Removed	[10]
Desert Storm	Looping Coaster	Castles N' Coasters	United States	1992	Operating	[11]
Patriot	Junior Coaster	Castles N' Coasters	United States	1992	Operating	[12]
New Wild Mouse Coaster	Wild Mouse	Misaki Park	Japan	1996	Closed	[13]

List of other attractions

Flumes

Unless otherwise specified, all flumes feature at least one lift and a drop into a splash pool.

Opened	Name	Park	Notes	Status
1980	Big Splash Log Flume	Wonderland Park	Elevated section	Operating	[14]
1981	Log Flume	Hamel's Amusement Park		Defunct	[14]
1981	Log Flume	Camden Park	2 drops	Operating	[14]
1981	Sawmill River	Crystal Beach	2 drops, elevated section	Defunct	[14]
1982	Big Splash log flume	Western Playland	Elevated section	Defunct	[14]
1982	Policy Pond	Canobie Lake Park	2 drops	Operating	[14]
1983	Yule Log Flume	Santa's Village		Operating	[14]
1983	Mystery River Log Flume	Frontier City		Operating	[14]
1984	Log Flume	Seabreeze		Operating	[14]
1984	Log Flume	Myrtle Beach Pavilion	2 drops, elevated section	Defunct	[14]
1984	Frightful Falls	Holiday World		Operating	[14]
1984	Thunder Falls Log Flume	Funtown		Operating	[14]
1985	Rocky Mountain Rapids	Cliff's Amusement Park	Elevated section	Operating	[14]
1985	Zoom Phloom	Morey's Piers	2 drops, elevated section	Operating	[14]
1985	Log Jam	Joyland Park		Defunct[note 1]	[14]
1989	Splash Mountain	Disneyland	5 drops, elevated sections	Defunct	[14]
1989	Log Flume	Great Basin Adventure at Rancho San Rafael		Closed[note 2]	[14]
1989	Log Ride	Castle Amusement Park	2 drops, elevated section	Operating	[14]
1990	Flume	Knoebels Amusement Resort	2 drops, elevated section	Operating	[14]
1991	Splashdown	Castles N' Coasters	2 drops, elevated section	Operating	[14]
August 11, 1992	Log Chute	Nickelodeon Universe	2 drops, elevated section	Operating	[14]
1992	Canyon Falls Log Flume	Wonderland Pier	Elevated section	Operating	[14]
1992	Log Jammer	Kiddieland Amusement Park	Elevated section	Moved[note 3]	[14]
1993	Splash	Bosque Magico		Operating	[14]
1993	Bamboo Chutes	Story Land	Elevated section	Operating	[14]
1993	Log Flume	Playland	2 drops	Operating	[14]
1994	Timber Wolf Howling Log Ride	Timber Falls	2 drops, elevated section	Operating	[14]
1995	Jungle Log Jam	Enchanted Kingdom	2 drops, elevated section	Operating	[14]
1995	Menhir Express	Parc Astérix	2 drops, elevated section	Operating	[14]
1995	Thunder River	Waldameer Park	2 drops, elevated section	Operating	[14]
1995	Log Flume	Wonderland Family Fun Park (Dubai)		Operating	[14]
1996		Bali Festival Park	2 drops	Closed[note 4]	[14]
1998	Flume Ride	Qingdao International Beer City	2 drops	Defunct	[14]
1998	Monkey Falls	Ratanga Junction	3 drops, elevated section	Defunct	[14]
1999	Twin Mercury	Space World	3 drops, elevated section	Defunct	[14]
1999	Log Flume	Family Kingdom	2 drops	Operating	[14]
2000	Ozarka Splash	Jazzland/Six Flags New Orleans	2 drops, elevated section	Closed[note 5]	[14]
2000	Old No. 2 Logging Company	Magic Springs	2 drops	Operating	[14]
2001	Legend of the Labyrinth	Lagunasia Park	2 drops	Operating	[14]
2001	Flume	Tokyo Dome	2 drops, elevated section	Operating	[14]
2001	Race for Your Life Charlie Brown	Kings Island	Rebuild of 1968 Arrow flume	Operating

Shoot the Chute rides

Opening Date	Name	Park	Height	Status
1986	Splashwater Falls	Six Flags Great America	50'	Defunct	[15]
1986	Splashwater Falls	Six Flags Over Georgia	50'	Defunct	[15]
1987	Aquaman	Six Flags Over Texas	50'	Defunct	[15]
1987	Splashwater Falls	Six Flags Great Adventure	50'	Defunct	[15]
March 1988	Whitewater Falls	Carowinds	50'	Defunct	[15]
1989	Timberwolf Falls	Canada's Wonderland	50'	Operating	[15]
May 1991	Tidal Wave	Six Flags St. Louis	50'	Defunct	[15]
1992	Water Rollercoaster – Splash	Duinrell	50'	Operating	[15]
1992	The Wave	Valleyfair	50'	Operating	[15]
1992	Tidal Wave	Misaki Park	50'	Operating	[15]
1993	Shipwreck Falls	Six Flags America	50'	Operating	[15]
1993	Pittsburg Plunge	Kennywood	50'	Operating	[15]
1993	Splash	Mitsui Greenland	50'	Operating	[15]
1993	Splash	Reino Aventura/Six Flags México	50'	Operating	[15]
1994	Tidal Force	Hersheypark	100'	Operating	[15]
1994	Mile High Falls	Kentucky Kingdom	82.5'	Operating	[15]
1994	Super Splash	Dream World	50'	Operating	[15]
1994	Adventure Falls	Michigan's Adventure	50'	Operating	[15]
1994	Splash Boat	Fuji-Q Highland	100'	Operating	[15]
1994	Shoot the Chute	Nagashima Spa Land	100'	Operating	[15]
1997	Shipwreck Falls	Elitch Gardens Theme Park	50'	Operating	[16]
1997	Skloosh!	Knoebels Amusement Resort	50'	Operating	[16]
1998	Boston Tea Party	Canobie Lake Park	50'	Operating	[16]
May 29, 1999	Flash Flood	Noah's Ark Water Park	50'	Operating	[16]
April 7, 2000	Tidal Wave	Thorpe Park	85.8'	Operating	[16]
2000	Tsunami	Western Playland	50'	Operating	[16]
2000	Shoot the Chute[note 6]	Wonderland Park (Texas)	50'	Operating	[16]
2000	Shipwreck Falls	Geauga Lake	50'	Relocated to Celebration City	[16]
2001	Airship Surfing	Guilin Merryland Theme Park	50'	Operating	[16]
2001	Playland Plunge[note 7]	Playland (New York)	50'	Operating	[16]
2005	Spillway Splashout	Jazzland	50'	Closed	[16]
2007	Niagara (2017 Eldorado falls)	Mirabilandia (Italy)	100'	Operating	[16]
2008	Roaring Falls	Celebration City	50'	Closed	[16]
May 24, 2012	Pirate Reef	Legoland California	25'	Operating	[17]
	Submarine Splash	Gyeongju World/Kyongju World		Operating

River Raft rides

Opened	Name	Park	Notes	Status
1988	Rattlesnake River Raft Ride	Wonderland Park	6-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1989	Dr. Geyser's Remarkable Raft Ride	Story Land	6-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1990	Grand Canyon	Dream World	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1990	Raging Rapids	Holiday World	8-passenger rafts	Closed	[19]
1990	Renegade Rapids	Frontier City	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1993	Arung Jeram	Dunia Fantasi	6-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1993	Hydro Surge	Myrtle Beach Pavilion	6-passenger rafts	Defunct	[18]
1994	Renegade Rapids	Six Flags America	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1995	Disaster Canyon	Elitch Gardens	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1995	Río Rápido	Bosque Magico	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1996	Rio Grande Rapids	Enchanted Kingdom	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1996	Thunder River	Lake Compounce	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1997	Airship Surfing	Guilin Merryland Resort	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1998	River Rafting Ride	Wonderland (Dubai)	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1998	Rapids Raft Ride	Happy Valley, Shenzhen	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1998		Qingdao International Beer City	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1999	Blizzard River	Six Flags New England	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
1998	Wild River Canyon	Lihpao Land	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
		Haikou Tropical Ocean World	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]
	Grand Canyon Adventure	Gyeongju World/Kyongju World	8-passenger rafts	Operating	[18]

Super Flumes

Opened	Name	Park	Notes	Status
1998	Log Flume	Hamanako Pal Pal, Japan		Operating	[20]
April 1998	Daredevil Falls	Dollywood		Operating	[21]
1998	Bugs' White Water Rapids	Six Flags Fiesta Texas		Operating	[15]
December 26, 1998	Wild West Falls Adventure Ride	Warner Bros. Movie World		Operating	[22]
1999	Wild-Crazy Flume	Lihpao Land, Taiwan		Operating	[20]
2016	Thunder Falls	Everland, South Korea		Operating	[23]

Notes

1. Park closed in 2006, site is currently abandoned.
2. Park is open to the public but the rides do not operate due to lack of funds.
3. Flume was purchased by Little Amerricka, currently in storage.
4. Park closed in 2000, site is currently abandoned.
5. Park closed in 2005, site is currently abandoned.
6. Smaller ride with 12-passenger boats and narrower boat channel
7. Smaller ride with 12-passenger boats and narrower boat channel

References

1. "Contact Hopkins Rides". Hopkins Rides. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
2. Slade, Gary (November 1989), "O.D. Hopkins Enjoys Past, Anticipates Bright Future", Inside Track: 2–3
3. "O. D. Hopkins Building on the Block". Retrieved February 9, 2012.
4. "WhiteWater Acquires Hopkins Rides". WhiteWater West. August 23, 2012. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
5. "WhiteWater acquires Hopkins". Park World Magazine: 6. September 2012.
6. Hopkins Rides - rcdb.com
7. Marden, Duane. "Texas Tornado  (Wonderland Amusement Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
8. Marden, Duane. "Polar Coaster  (Story Land)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
9. Marden, Duane. "Cliff Hanger  (Ghost Town Village)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
10. Marden, Duane. "Dragon  (Adventureland)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
11. Marden, Duane. "Desert Storm  (Castles N' Coasters)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
12. Marden, Duane. "Patriot  (Castles N' Coasters)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
13. Marden, Duane. "New Wild Mouse Coaster  (Misaki Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
14. Hopkins Rides, customer ride list-flumes
15. O.D. Hopkins 1994 Ride Catalog
16. Hopkins Rides, customer ride list-Shoot the Chute
17. MacDonald, Brady (May 27, 2012). "Review: Pirate Reef ride guaranteed to get you wet at Legoland". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
18. Hopkins Rides, customer ride list-River Raft Rides
19. @holidayworld (June 14, 2023). "Tweet from Holiday World announcing closure" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
20. Hopkins Rides, customer ride list – Super Flumes
21. "Interesting Facts About Dollywood's Daredevil Falls" (PDF). Dollywood. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 26, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
22. "Wild West Falls (Warner Bros. Movie World)". Parkz. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
23. "Thunder Falls Now Open at Everland Resort". PGAV Destinations. Retrieved February 24, 2016.

External links

• Official website