KANSAS CITY — A thrill ride was supposed to open Friday in tandem with opening day for Schlitterbahn. Verrückt, certified by Guinness as the world’s tallest water slide, standing taller than Niagara Falls and the Statue of Liberty didn’t have riders on Friday.
“I heard it shut down for the week,” said Jonas Ashbaugh, a park goer. “What I heard is that people were getting air off of the second hill!”
“I’ve heard it’s dangerous! That they tested it and it didn’t go well,” added Becky Ayers, another park goer. “Something about a sand bag flying off of it!”
Ashbaugh and Ayers are just two of many who have heard the rumors about Verrückt:
“Verrückt is the tallest water-slide in the world, at 168 ft 7 inches, the previous record holder was Kilimanjaro in Brazil at 163 ft. 9 in,” said Layne Pitcher, the director of marketing for the water park.
The water slide at Schlitterbahn water park was supposed to open Friday with the rest of the rides, but it didn’t.
“We wanted to give ourselves a little more room to make the adjustments necessary,” added Pitcher, who said he is well aware of reports about people and dummies flying off the slide during test runs.
“No test riders have gone airborne off of Verrückt, namely because no test riders have gone down Verrückt yet. It’s all been sand bags and accelerometers,” said Pitcher. “With something where you’ve got millions of millions of views, people are going to say things.”
This ride isn’t the only one in town being delayed: a second amusement park ride – SteelHawk at Worlds of Fun — is also undergoing a commissioning process.
“It’s getting close, but the Worlds of Fun new 301ft tower SteelHawk will not open as planned on May 24, 2014. Our maintenance team has done a great job of keeping on schedule despite wind and rain. It’s particularly amazing considering the height of this ride. It’s unfortunate the weather did not cooperate every day which has delayed our extensive commissioning process. We expect the ride to open soon.” said Vice President and General Manager Frank Wilburn, .
As far as Verrückt goes, park goers have mixed feelings about the situation.
“I’ll definitely be back, it gives me a reason to experience the park and come back and experience it for itself,” said Ashbaugh.
“Neither of us would have gone on it regardless…we’re not into heights!” added Ayers talking about her son and herself.
Pitcher says they are hoping to open the slide on June 5th — there is still some testing to do, but he says it’s looking good at this point.
It’s American Heroes Week: Military, Police, Fire, and EMTs can get in for free and their families get in for half price.
The Travel Channel has been filming the whole building process of Verrückt from conception and you can see every step of the process when its Extreme Waterpark series airs this summer.
