How similar is Dreamworld's Thunder River Rapids to Cedar Point's thunder canyon?

Terrible accident in Australia today at a theme park raft ride.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/news/2043356/dreamwor...ralia/amp/

Curious if something like this is possible on Thunder Canyon.

The rafts on Thunder Rapids look more top heavy and the ride appears much faster than Thunder Canyon.

operative_me's avatar

Well Thunder Canyon was built by Intamin, at least according to RCDB. Intamin has a statement on their website that they did not manufacture the Dreamworld ride. The one at Dreamworld was built by several different companies it seems. Here is the company who made the rafts, for example.

Similarities? Well they both involves rafts floating on water. One thing I noticed was that was that the lift for Thunder Canyon was right at the front of the ride, so if a raft flipped like that it would be apparent to the ops right away. On the Dreamworld ride the lift was at the end, possibly not in direct sight of the operator. I assume that they have cameras and such but maybe that caused a delay in whatever response they could have had.

Also it seems like the Dreamworld ride had wooden slats that were spaced pretty far apart, which could allow for someone to fall in to the lift system if they went overboard. (Look at about 3:00 in on this video). If I recall correctly TC does not have gaps like that (or at least that wide).

TL;DR

They are similar, but I don't see anything that blatantly stands out that this is likely to happen on Thunder Canyon. While it is a very sad event, I'll still go on TC on hot days.

Last edited by operative_me,

-Craig
Lifetime Laps on Woodstock Express: 0

Intamin river rides have had their share of accidents over the years including death. Looks like Thunder Canyon has a pretty solid safety record. I expect the same into the future.

O.D. Hopkins & Intamin also made river raft rides. Holiday World's is O.D. Hopkins and CP's is by Intamin. If I am correct, most of Intamin's older ones are the larger 12-person rafts. Their website shows they offer 6, 8, 9, and 12-person rafts. According to Wikipedia, Hopkins models were 6 or 8-person rafts.

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