Hopkins Rides was an amusement ride manufacturer located in Palm City, Florida, United States. Founded in 1962, the company was primarily involved in producing water rides, although for a brief time, it also built and designed seven roller coasters. They also helped reprofile and retrack two Arrow Dynamics coasters. Hopkins Rides was acquired by Canadian company WhiteWater West Industries in 2012.
History In 1962 O.D. Hopkins incorporated Hopkins Engineering of Contoocook, New Hampshire and started installing ski lifts for J.A. Roebling & Sons of Trenton, New Jersey. In 1965, Hopkins purchased the ski lift division and all the related assets from Roebling & Sons. Soon afterwards a competitor, Universal Design Ltd., discontinued manufacturing Sky Rides, and their customers turned to Hopkins Engineering for parts. Hopkins' first customer in the amusement business was Charles Wood of Storytown USA.
In 1971, the name of the company was changed to O.D. Hopkins Associates Inc. In 1979, Hopkins was approached by Paul Roads, owner of Wonderland Park (Texas), to build a reasonably-priced log flume for his park. The success of that project started Hopkins in the water ride manufacturing business. The aerial ropeway/sky ride division was spun off to Skyfair, Inc. on January 1, 1986.
In November, 2001, O.D. Hopkins and Associates Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection. The company reorganized and emerged as Hopkins Rides, LLC in May 2002, and was for a brief time in partnership with Reverchon Industries of France.
In August 2012 water slide manufacturer WhiteWater West acquired assets and intellectual property from Hopkins Rides, LLC. Although WhiteWater Attractions has adopted the Hopkins Rides technology, it is not a parent company to Hopkins Rides, LLC and the companies operate independently. WhiteWater sells its products under the Water Rides brand.
Manufacturing
The company originally manufactured Sky Rides, but in the 1980s, with the increase in popularity of their water-based attractions, those rides became the company's primary product. In addition to the water-based attractions, Hopkins built seven roller coasters from 1985 to 1996. They also occasionally made other amusement ride types such as a SkyGlider, tube slides, and a water jet ride known as an Aqua Drag. Santa's Village still operates its SkyGlider, and Wonderland Park still operates its Aqua Drag and SkyGlider in addition to its other Hopkins rides.
Hopkins also re-fabricated portions of track on two Arrow Dynamics-built coasters: Dahlonega Mine Train at Six Flags Over Georgia received 1,400 feet of new track and supports in 1986 and Canobie Corkscrew at Canobie Lake Park received new track and supports in 1990.
The company currently focuses only on water ride attractions: Shoot the Chute rides Flumes and larger capacity Super Flumes River Raft ride Water Transportation Systems
List of roller coasters
As of 2019, Hopkins Rides has built 7 roller coasters around the world.Hopkins Rides - rcdb.com
Name Model Park Country Opened Status Ref Texas Tornado Looping Coaster Wonderland Amusement Park United States 1985 Polar Coaster Junior Coaster Story Land United States 1987 Cliff HangerFormerly Red Devil Looping Coaster Ghost Town Village United States 1988 Dragon Looping Coaster Adventureland United States 1990 Desert Storm Looping Coaster Castles N' Coasters United States 1992 Patriot Junior Coaster Castles N' Coasters United States 1992 New Wild Mouse Coaster Wild Mouse Misaki Park Japan 1996
List of other attractions
Flumes Unless otherwise specified, all flumes feature at least one lift and a drop into a splash pool. Opened Name Park Notes Status 1980 Big Splash Log Flume Wonderland Park Elevated section Operating Hopkins Rides, customer ride list-flumes 1981 Log Flume Hamel's Amusement Park Defunct 1981 Log Flume Camden Park 2 drops Operating 1981 Sawmill River Crystal Beach 2 drops, elevated section Defunct 1982 Big Splash log flume Western Playland Elevated section Defunct 1982 Policy Pond Canobie Lake Park 2 drops Operating 1983 Yule Log Flume Santa's Village Operating 1983 Mystery River Log Flume Frontier City Operating 1984 Log Flume Seabreeze Operating 1984 Log Flume Myrtle Beach Pavilion 2 drops, elevated section Defunct 1984 Frightful Falls Holiday World Operating 1984 Thunder Falls Log Flume Funtown Operating 1985 Rocky Mountain Rapids Cliff's Amusement Park Elevated section Operating 1985 Zoom Phloom Morey's Piers 2 drops, elevated section Operating 1985 Log Jam Joyland Park DefunctPark closed in 2006, site is currently abandoned. 1989 Splash Mountain Disneyland 5 drops, elevated sections Defunct 1989 Log Flume Great Basin Adventure at Rancho San Rafael ClosedPark is open to the public but the rides do not operate due to lack of funds. 1989 Log Ride Castle Amusement Park 2 drops, elevated section Operating 1990 Flume Knoebels Amusement Resort 2 drops, elevated section Operating 1991 Splashdown Castles N' Coasters 2 drops, elevated section Operating August 11, 1992 Log Chute Nickelodeon Universe 2 drops, elevated section Operating 1992 Canyon Falls Log Flume Wonderland Pier Elevated section Defunct 1992 Log Jammer Kiddieland Amusement Park Elevated section MovedFlume was purchased by Little Amerricka, currently in storage. 1993 Splash Bosque Magico Operating 1993 Bamboo Chutes Story Land Elevated section Operating 1993 Log Flume Playland 2 drops Operating 1994 Timber Wolf Howling Log Ride Timber Falls 2 drops, elevated section Operating 1995 Jungle Log Jam Enchanted Kingdom 2 drops, elevated section Operating 1995 Menhir Express Parc Astérix 2 drops, elevated section Operating 1996 Thunder River Waldameer & Water World 2 drops, elevated section Operating 1995 Log Flume Wonderland Family Fun Park (Dubai) Operating 1996 Bali Festival Park 2 drops ClosedPark closed in 2000, site is currently abandoned. 1998 Flume Ride Qingdao International Beer City 2 drops Defunct 1998 Monkey Falls Ratanga Junction 3 drops, elevated section Defunct 1999 Twin Mercury Space World 3 drops, elevated section Defunct 1999 Log Flume Family Kingdom 2 drops Operating 2000 Ozarka Splash Jazzland/Six Flags New Orleans 2 drops, elevated section ClosedPark closed in 2005, site is currently abandoned. 2000 Old No. 2 Logging Company Magic Springs 2 drops Operating 2001 Legend of the Labyrinth Lagunasia Park 2 drops Operating 2001 Flume Tokyo Dome 2 drops, elevated section Operating 2001 Race for Your Life Charlie Brown Kings Island Rebuild of 1968 Arrow flume Operating
Shoot the Chute rides Opening Date Name Park Country Height Status 1986 Splashwater Falls Six Flags Great America United States Defunct O.D. Hopkins 1994 Ride Catalog 1986 Splashwater Falls Six Flags Over Georgia United States Defunct 1987 Aquaman Six Flags Over Texas United States Defunct 1987 Splashwater Falls Six Flags Great Adventure United States Defunct Whitewater Falls Carowinds United States Defunct 1989 Timberwolf Falls Canada's Wonderland Canada Operating May 1991 Tidal Wave Six Flags St. Louis United States Defunct 1992 Duinrell Netherlands Operating 1992 The Wave Valleyfair United States Operating 1992 Tidal Wave Misaki Park Japan Operating 1993 Shipwreck Falls Six Flags America United States Defunct 1993 Pittsburg Plunge Kennywood United States Operating 1993 Splash Mitsui Greenland Japan Operating 1993 Splash Mexico Operating 1994 Tidal Force Hersheypark United States Defunct 1994 Mile High Falls Kentucky Kingdom United States Operating 1994 Super Splash Dream World Thailand Operating 1994 Adventure Falls Michigan's Adventure United States Operating 1994 Splash Boat Fuji-Q Highland Japan Defunct 1994 Shoot the Chute Nagashima Spa Land Japan Operating 1997 Shipwreck Falls Elitch Gardens Theme Park United States Operating Hopkins Rides, customer ride list-Shoot the Chute 1997 Skloosh! Knoebels Amusement Resort United States Operating 1998 Boston Tea Party Canobie Lake Park United States Operating May 29, 1999 Flash Flood Noah's Ark Water Park United States Operating 1999 Niagara2017 - Eldorado Falls Mirabilandia Italy Operating April 7, 2000 Tidal Wave Thorpe Park United Kingdom Operating 2000 Tsunami Western Playland United States Operating 2000 Shoot the ChuteSmaller ride with 12-passenger boats and narrower boat channel Wonderland Park (Texas) United States Operating 2000 Shipwreck Falls Geauga Lake United States 2001 Airship Surfing Guilin Merryland Theme Park China Operating 2001 Playland PlungeSmaller ride with 12-passenger boats and narrower boat channel Playland (New York) United States Operating 2005 Spillway Splashout Jazzland United States Closed 2008 Roaring Falls Celebration City United States Closed Pirate Reef Legoland California United States Operating 2012 Submarine Splash Gyeongju World/Kyongju World South Korea Operating Unknown Poseidon 30 Kijima Kogen Japan Operating
River Raft rides Opened Name Park Notes Status 1988 Rattlesnake River Raft Ride Wonderland Park 6-passenger rafts Operating Hopkins Rides, customer ride list-River Raft Rides 1989 Dr. Geyser's Remarkable Raft Ride Story Land 6-passenger rafts Operating 1990 Grand Canyon Dream World 8-passenger rafts Operating 1990 Raging Rapids Holiday World 8-passenger rafts Closed 1990 Renegade Rapids Frontier City 8-passenger rafts Operating 1993 Arung Jeram Dunia Fantasi 6-passenger rafts Operating 1993 Hydro Surge Myrtle Beach Pavilion 6-passenger rafts Defunct 1994 Renegade Rapids Six Flags America 8-passenger rafts Closed 1995 Disaster Canyon Elitch Gardens 8-passenger rafts Operating 1995 Río Rápido Bosque Magico 8-passenger rafts Operating 1996 Rio Grande Rapids Enchanted Kingdom 8-passenger rafts Operating 1996 Thunder River Lake Compounce 8-passenger rafts Operating 1997 Airship Surfing Guilin Merryland Resort 8-passenger rafts Operating 1998 River Rafting Ride Wonderland (Dubai) 8-passenger rafts Operating 1998 Rapids Raft Ride Happy Valley, Shenzhen 8-passenger rafts Operating 1998 Qingdao International Beer City 8-passenger rafts Operating 1999 Blizzard River Six Flags New England 8-passenger rafts Operating 1998 Wild River Canyon Lihpao Land 8-passenger rafts Operating Haikou Tropical Ocean World 8-passenger rafts Operating Grand Canyon Adventure Gyeongju World/Kyongju World 8-passenger rafts Operating
Super Flumes Opened Name Park Notes Status 1998 Log Flume Hamanako Pal Pal, Japan Operating Hopkins Rides, customer ride list – Super Flumes April 1998 Daredevil Falls Dollywood Operating 1998 Bugs' White Water Rapids Six Flags Fiesta Texas Operating December 26, 1998 Wild West Falls Adventure Ride Warner Bros. Movie World Operating 1999 Wild-Crazy Flume Lihpao Land, Taiwan Operating 2016 Thunder Falls Everland, South Korea Operating
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