Infinity Falls is a
river raft ride
A river rapids ride (or river rafting ride) is an amusement ride that simulates whitewater rafting.
History
The river rapids ride concept was proposed by Bill Crandall (general manager of AstroWorld in Houston) and developed by Intamin. Astro ...
manufactured by
Intamin
Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement ins ...
located at
SeaWorld Orlando in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
. The ride opened on October 4, 2018, holding the record for tallest drop on a river raft ride.
History
The 2008 purchase of Anheuser-Busch by Belgian brewer InBev led to the sale of Busch's parks to a private equity firm in 2009. The sale also led to the closure of the park's Hospitality Center on February 1, 2009. In 2010, the park opened its Sea Gardens, an area that featured daily animal interactions.
On April 13, 2017,
SeaWorld Orlando announced "Infinity Falls" to open in 2018, with park officials comparing the ride to
class IV river rapids experience. On August 10, 2017, SeaWorld Orlando filed a notice of commencement and began ground breaking work. Permits that were found on October 12, 2017 in
Orange County, Florida
Orange County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,429,908, making it Florida's fifth most populous county. The county seat is Orlando. Orange County is the central county ...
showed details of construction, with
PCL Construction looking over the work site. The ride raft was unveiled at
International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) represents over 6,000 amusement-industry members in more than 100 countries worldwide and operates several global attractions-industry trade shows. Its annual IAAPA Expo in ...
(IAAPA) Attraction Exposition 2017.
Though the ride was installed by June 20, 2018, testing and finishing touches were still to be completed. In July 2018, a promotion was offered by the park to passholders for first access to the attraction. On July 18, 2018, the ride's tower was
topped-out
In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a Builders' rites, builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony ...
, and in the same month the park polled guests to naming some of the rafts. By August 2018, it was reported that the ride's delay in opening was attributed to testing and weather among several other circumstances. On September 19, 2018, the walls surrounding the area came down. Though the ride was still in testing, a media day was announced a few days later. Employee testing began on September 27, 2018, with the ride soft-opened on September 28, 2018 with an official opening set in October 2018. Infinity Falls officially opened on October 4, 2018.
The former Hospitality Center became a restaurant known as the ''Waterway Grill'' which opened in September 2018.
Ride experience
The area is themed to the
conservation of water
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...
, varying from other attractions at the park where they're themed in conjunction with an animal or the ocean. As guests go through the queue area, they're introduced to the story line through the ride's queue and interactive games.
The queue is of the idea that guests are explorers and scientists, part of the organization "S.E.A. Collective", settled in wetland camp along a river in the
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
.
A bridge connects the pathway to the area, with totems on either side depicting a parrot, a snake, a tree frog, and a sloth.
Moreover, the connected area has
pay to play
Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mus ...
water cannons
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining. ...
that individuals use to soak people on the ride through telescopes that line the course.
The course takes about 5 minutes to traverse.
Characteristics
Infinity Falls is contained within a space located within the Sea of Mystery area of the park. It takes five minutes to traverse through the layout trough of . Four pumps that contain each pump altogether of water throughout the courses layout.
Raft names
In addition to being numbered, each raft on Infinity Falls has its own name, most being play on words related to the ride experience.
# Winter Blue
# River Race
# Flying Colors
# Blue Paradise
# Aqua Falls
# Discovery
# River Falls
# Amazon Drop
# H2O
# Everfalls
# Marine Falls
# Expedition
# Rafty McRaftFace
# Sea Señora
# A Little Nauti
Records
Upon opening, Infinity Falls held the record for the tallest drop on a river raft ride,
which was previously held by
River Quest
River Quest is a river rapids ride in German theme park Phantasialand. The ride was built in 2002 by Hafema and notably has two lifts near the start of the ride to take the boats to their highest point. The ride previously held the record for th ...
in
Phantasialand
Phantasialand is a theme park in Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany that attracts approximately 2 million visitors annually. The park was opened in 1967 by Gottlieb Löffelhardt and Richard Schmidt. Although starting as a family-oriented p ...
with a drop of 36 feet. It beat the record by 4 feet, making it 40 feet tall at its highest point.
Reception
Infinity Falls was well received in the park. Prior to Infinity Falls' opening, the newest ride at SeaWorld Orlando was
Mako, which opened in June 2016.
References
External links
*
{{SeaWorld Orlando
Amusement rides introduced in 2018
2018 establishments in Florida
SeaWorld Orlando
River rapids rides