16 months’ work produces Aquatica’s Ray Rush
Theme park bloggers and reporters arrived in their bathing suits on a hot Friday morning to ride the latest water slide at Aquatica Orlando.
Behind the scenes, Ray Rush’s grand opening had been about 16 months in the making.
“It’s really a huge undertaking,” said David Heaton, Aquatica Orlando’s vice president.
Ray Rush is the latest attraction at SeaWorld Entertainment’s Orlando parks. The theme park is aggressively adding new rides in hopes the busier crowds reported in the first quarter of 2018 will remain.
The 508-foot-long raft water slide was a “significant investment” and cost millions of dollars, although Heaton declined to give a specific number.
For this particular ride, Ray Rush did not have an expansive footprint. Crews built it in the existing space where HooRoo Run water slide had been, and Ray Rush shares a climbing tower with the Walhalla Wave ride.
The longest part of the process was the design — about half of the 16 months — as the company’s creative team worked alongside engineers, architects and ride manufacturers, said Brian Andrelczyk, director of design and engineering for the company’s three Orlando parks.
“There’s a lot of people. There’s a lot of opinions,” Andrelczyk said. “It’s a really big collaborative effort right from the get-go.”
His job duties include obtaining permits, paying attention to the budget, hiring contractors and overseeing construction that began in November.
Ride manufacturers tested the attraction before turning it over to the theme park to make sure it was safe, he said.
After that, Aquatica Orlando employees got the perk of being among the first to ride Ray Rush, which features an open-air halfpipe that resembles a manta ray to serve as inspiration for the slide’s name.
As of Friday, Andrelczyk figured about 100 or 200 people had ridden it already.
Since completion, the construction challenges and months of work fade away, he said.
Now comes the best part, Andrelczyk said: “Being able to see it open and see the guests ride and see their reactions and their excitement — to see it all come together.”