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SeaWorld San Antonio | Catapult Falls | Launched Flume Ride | 2024

Apparently the drop equals Chiapas’ for steepness? I’m in! And looking forward to a flume launch for sure. Just wish it were longer.
 
Don't know what SeaWorld seem to be thinking by adding coaster to it. By doing that they loose their own "world's steepest drop" record. Just call it a flume ride.

Anyways, I like the launched conveyer belt. Smart idea.
 
What part of this makes it a ”coaster”? Is it the airtime hill after the launch? Because the one after the big drop is the same as what can be found on Chiapas and the new one in Austria, and nobody calls them coasters.
 
cookie said:
What part of this makes it a ”coaster”? Is it the airtime hill after the launch? Because the one after the big drop is the same as what can be found on Chiapas and the new one in Austria, and nobody calls them coasters.
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I think the crux of it is - no part of it makes it a coaster cos... it's not one. :D
 
cookie said:
What part of this makes it a ”coaster”? Is it the airtime hill after the launch? Because the one after the big drop is the same as what can be found on Chiapas and the new one in Austria, and nobody calls them coasters.
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Strictly going by what he said constitutes a coaster in the past, the airtime hill after the launch should make this one a coaster as well.

And while I do agree with @Hixee, I also don't see a proper reason why this would be considered a coaster and this launched thingy wouldn't.
 
TilenB said:
And while I do agree with @Hixee, I also don't see a proper reason why this would be considered a coaster and this launched thingy wouldn't.
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Well that's easy - that one isn't a cred either. ;)
 
MOD NOTE: Groundwork has started (I think, based on the Tweets posted above), so going to move this to construction now.
 
You know, a launched airtime hill will mean upstop wheels or a full wheel assembly as well as track to secure the cars. Also, on the section after the launch, it will be fully coasting.

Which will make this a coaster. Won’t it? 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
That's no different to Chiapas or Dudley's - neither of which are creds.
 
Seems like an interesting move considering Intamin's past track record with water rides failing such as Pilgrim's Plunge and Shoot the Rapids however, i hope this one will turn out very well!
 
Just playing devils advocate but if it does have upstop wheels and does coast. What is the difference between this new ride and this ride?
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Both have hills, both have upstop wheels, both coast, both free float when not on the track.
Functionally they are surely identical?
Is it the corner? at the top of the lift because if that wasnt there then would people call this a coaster?
Ohhhhhh the interesting technicalities of being an enthusiast :)
 
The RCDB (arbitrary) rules say something about an uphill coast that isn't part of the main drop - https://rcdb.com/11876.htm

So this seems to have two uphill bits, but both are a result of the drop (or launch, which is the same thing really in terms of provider-of-momentum)

And also this is a flume not a coaster. ;)
 
Like many of you, I laid awake tossing and turning about what new rift into the Upside Down SeaWorld has opened by dubbing Catapult Falls a flume coaster, causing goons far and wide to go back and critically assess if their coaster count is acutally 11,500 from all of those ridden water slides in their lifetime.

Agreed the line between coaster and flume gets blurred evermore (which honestly means more fun flumes!), a few guideposts that I think still help with determining categorization:
  • As @davidm mentioned, RCDB rules roughly state uphill coasting to be required, not part of a main drop. (granted, by this definition, Dudley Do-Right's Falls and Fire In the Hole are verrrrrry similar, given Dudley's hidden track section)
  • While new, aggressive log flumes like Catapult Falls have upstop section; water coasters by comparison have tighter tolerance on the wheel assembly that allow for swooping turns, greater "coaster-y" movement than a simple up/down drop movement.
  • Maybe at the end of the day, it boils down to if track is a necessary component for one specific element, or features more than one element/movement beyond an airtime hill. Ideally you could simply qualify "what percent of the ride is tracked?", but that doesn't exactly apply as water coasters too have water troughs they float in for certain duration.

I guess the ultimate verdict is "log flume until proven coaster."

Also, interesting they're using a belt launch (at least in animation) on this - there are a few launched water slides out there with belt launches, including back in my hometown at Sandusky Kalahari:


While my favorite of the launch styles for water slides (compared to magnetic and focused-water jet); watch out for whiplash on this badboy - the acceleration can be quite a kick!
 
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