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Reviews of Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare

Ripsaw Falls at Universal Catches Fire

Guest TombraiderTy

By Guest TombraiderTy
in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News

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Guest TombraiderTy

Guest TombraiderTy

Posted
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-fire-universal-ripsaw-falls-20110101,0,1864887.story

Flames and heavy black smoke erupted at Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls, a water ride at Islands of Adventure, about 5:30 p.m., a Universal spokesman said. Toon Lagoon, where the ride is, was evacuated, park spokesman Tom Schroder said.

"We do have a fire," Schroder. "We evacuated the entire island where the ride is."

http://www.wesh.com/r/26340546/detail.html

Universal spokesman Tom Schroder said the Ripsaw Falls ride was evacuated as a result of the fire and that guests and park employees were safe.

The fire is already out, Schroder said.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/26340515/detail.html

No injuries were reported. There was significant damage down to the ride.
bkroz KIC Superstar

bkroz

Posted
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CNN says the ride is closed indefinitely...which is what I would suspect:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/01/universal.ride.fire/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

No way would NBC Universal reopen the ride until they can be sure of what happened and that the ride is safe...plus the true extent of the damage may not even yet be known.

Not to mention that that particular ride is desperately in need of renovation, second perhaps only to the nearby Incredible Hulk roller coaster. The exterior is faded, and many of the external effects that once made the ride so charming haven't worked in years.

(Another unfortunate example of how the "world's most technologically-advanced theme park" is forfeiting its title. It was very advanced when it opened, but has been skating on the same technology for the last decade. If it weren't for Harry Potter, the park would admittedly be only slightly above average; that's thanks to things like Dudley Do-Right, Jurassic Park, Incredible Hulk, and Poseidon's Fury being neglected more and more as the repair list becomes longer and longer).

Basically, it's awful that this happened, but maybe it will lead to good things in the future. No question that the park needs to begin the much-rumored park-wide rehab that was supposed to accompany the arrival of Mr. Potter. Maybe, like with the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, this will be a good excuse to get some of that work started in Toon Lagoon.

bkroz KIC Superstar

bkroz

Posted
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A water ride catches on fire? I've seen everything.

No kidding! Who'd have thunk it?

GYK, who thinks it's absolutely fantasmic when these crazy amusement park people bury those pesky rules of nature in an outdoor crypt where they belong!

IndyGuy4KI KIC Immortal

IndyGuy4KI

Posted
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I'm glad that no one was injured considering how massive the fire appeared to be. I'm heading to there in a month and was looking forward to riding this...guess I will have to go back.

Might have it back up by then, who knows!

  • 2 months later...
Delirium13 KIC Platinum Member

Delirium13

Posted
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For some reason I was just thinking about this ride and wondered whether there was any new news about its status, so I did some searching and... Well I'm sure many here, especially GoodYellowKorn, will be happy to hear that the ride has reopened and has been completely refurbished - new paint, effects repaired, everything.

According to Orlando Theme Park News the ride opended on March 3rd. Glad something good came out of this!

Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls Returns to its Original Splendor after a Lengthy Refurbishment

  • Like 1
Delirium_Guy KIC Expert

Delirium_Guy

Posted
Posted

For some reason I was just thinking about this ride and wondered whether there was any new news about its status, so I did some searching and... Well I'm sure many here, especially GoodYellowKorn, will be happy to hear that the ride has reopened and has been completely refurbished - new paint, effects repaired, everything.

According to Orlando Theme Park News the ride opended on March 3rd. Glad something good came out of this!

Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls Returns to its Original Splendor after a Lengthy Refurbishment

Haven't ridden yet since it re-opened last week, but I am beyond excited that they fixed the exploding shack that the ride's main drop goes under. That was always one of my favorite parts of the entire thing. I happened to be there on opening day last Thursday and was shocked to see it working. Ride looks fabulous on the outside though! With this, the re-painting of Hulk that is taking place, plus Potter....Islands just feels like a different park now. Its refreshing to walk through the park and see some personality come out of the place now. Kudos to Universal for finally giving IOA the attention that it has deserved for many years.

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