Board a boat to escape the pending tidal wave about to hit the devastated Amity Cove...
Board a boat to escape the pending tidal wave about to hit the devastated Amity Cove...
| Theme Park | Thorpe Park |
|---|---|
| Park Area | Amity |
| Type | Shoot the Chutes |
| Audience | Thrillseekers |
| Opened | 7 April 2000 |
| Manufacturer | Hopkins Rides |
| Model | Shoot the Chute |
| Height | 86 ft |
| Length | 869 ft |
| Duration | 2½ minutes |
| Extras | Fastrack On-Ride Photos |
Tidal Wave
If you're eager to cool off on a hot summer day at Thorpe Park, then Tidal Wave is the ride you need - you're guaranteed to come off drenched to the skin and a lot cooler!
The water ride is themed around Amity Cove, a 1960s New England fishing village which has been devasted by a tidal wave. The local radio station, WWTP Radio, is reporting a second tidal wave is approaching and emergency boats have been laid on to evacuate the town.
Riders board one of these rescue boats in the town's Cannery, which appears to be sinking into the flood waters. From the station, the boat climbs a 86ft lift hill before circling around and descending the drop into the slash pool below. The boat throws a giant wall of water into the air in front ... but with the boat still moving forwards, by the time the water falls back to earth the boat and its riders are directly underneath, meaning a soaking for the occupants.
Tidal Wave has one trick, but it pulls it off well. The ride is visually exciting, and the giant wave can be easily seen across the Amity Cove area. Signs outside the ride entrance let guests know they will get wet, which proves something of an understatement. Absolute soaking down to your pants is more like it!
A boat full of soaked riders floats back to the station
Guests unwilling to wait to get wet (in the summer months the queue often reaches well over an hour) can head for an observation bridge built over the ride's water channel. This is directly in the path of the boat's wave, which regularly crashes over the bridge and to the pathway beyond. With Tidal Wave, nobody stays dry!
The ride's themeing is very impressive, immersing guests into the 1960s devastated town. WWTP radio helps create the vibe playing pop music from the era, and there are some nice touches among the queue line with partially ruined buildings including a house with a boat in the roof and a permantently overflowing toilet to look at. Originally there was a giant gas tank which would explode with a huge flame effect, but sadly the gas tanks for this had to be removed to make way for Stealth and were never replaced.
Tidal Wave was Tussauds' first major ride opening after they took over Thorpe Park, and when it opened in 2000 was the tallest water ride in Europe. Initially, the ride concept was going to revolve around a pirate theme. However, the imaginative theme Thorpe ended up with seems much better, and a real icon for the park. On a warm day, Tidal Wave is a great fun packed ride!
Tidal Wave sign
The Tidal Wave bridge
The ride's drop and splash pool
A boat leaves the station
Tidal Wave lift hill
Boat on the lift
Top of the drop
Tidal Wave's drop
Arms up!
Zooming past the queueline
Bottom of the drop
About to hit the water
Splash down
The wave begins to form
Getting larger
Disappearing into the wave
The front of the boat is specially designed to push water into the air and create the huge wave
The iconic shape of the wave
Water covers the church spire
The wave reaches the exit bridge
Riders get soaked as the water from the wave falls back down
Gallons of water crashing down on the boat
The mist from the wave
Emerging from the mist
Every rider is guaranteed a drenching
Passing the Cannery themed station
Recovering from the drenching wave
Soaked riders
Everyone on the boat is covered in water
Soaking wet but smiling on a sunny day
Hair shake
Drenched from Tidal Wave
Boat full of riders
On the turn
Passing under the exit pathway
Returning to the station
Sometimes riders on a boat waiting to re-enter the station will get a second soaking
Exit from the Tidal Wave station
Riders and non-riders can stand on Tidal Wave's exit bridge to feel the power of the wave first hand
Standing on the bridge waiting for a drenching
Watching the wave from the bridge
The wave crashes over the bridge's roof
Swamping the bridge with water
Non-riders can also stand in the soak zone beneath the bridge
What's the worst that could happen?
A cloud of water incoming
Inside the soak zone wave
Watching the wave
Water dripping from the bridge
Give us a wave
Tidal Wave's exit
Even the exit isn't immune from the wetness
The people dryer is a popular post-Tidal Wave destination
For £3 you have the chance to get hot air blown at you, but not really do much to actually dry your clothes
Amity Heat Wave
An old truck is washed up next to the Tidal Wave entrance
Queueline theming
A boat through the window
The wave builds
Water obliterates the view from the queue
The mist starts to clear
Tidal Wave can attract long queues on hot sunny days
Amity Cove's gas tank gets hit by the tidal wave
Wet backs
Waiting for the wave
Mind your head ... and watch out for the water!
Tidal Wave in the mid-2000s
Tidal Wave's entrance sign used to be yellow
At one time the gas tank would explode with a giant flame, but the fuel tanks powering the effect were removed when Stealth was built
There used to be model boats that could be driven around a mini Tidal Wave pond
Tidal Wave sits in the fictional coastal town of Amity Cove
Food outlet inside Amity's newspaper offices
Amity's water tower
Tidal Wave's pool drained
The wave often makes large rainbows
Tidal Wave
