Snidely Whiplash Snickers, Nell Struggles, but Here Comes Dudley Do-Right to Save the Day!
Written: Mar 30 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: perfectly themed, visual treat, drops tied into story, lots of perfect little details
Cons: the final drop feels a bit anticlimactic
The Bottom Line: Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls is perfectly themed and a true delight to walk around, look at, and ride through.
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| quasar's Full Review: Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls, Universal Islands ... |
I'm a sucker for a good water ride. Put me on a track with water underneath me and you can do almost anything. I'll be happy. Put me on that same track with nothing but air separating me and the ground, I'll have a massive panic attack or worse. Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls, located in the Toon Lagoon section of Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure amusement park, is a good water ride.
A heavily themed traditional log flume, Ripsaw Falls features very bright colors, very sharp angles, and odd geometric shapes both inside the ride and in its impossibly unreal external view laden with buildings that should have, by all rights, collapsed years ago. The centerpiece of the ride exterior is a fake Mount Rushmore with Dudley, Nell, Horse, and Inspector Fenwick. The whole thing matches the Dudley Do-Right cartoons well both in style and atmosphere.
The ride tells the story of Snidely Whiplash kidnapping Nell and Dudley's hapless but heroic rescue of her. It's just a typical day in the life of our favorite Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman and those around him.
As this all rolls out before our eyes, we see Nell tied to train tracks, Horse tied to train tracks, and Dudley riding backward on Horse. There are lots of cool signs leading the way full of puns and rhymes and limericks revealed one line at a time in contiguous signs. I just loved the signs; they were my favorite part of the ride. There are lots of other little thematic details everywhere, just small throwaway bits that tie in brilliantly with the show and ride. There's stuff on all sides and sometimes even above you so it's very easy to miss things.
There's some appropriate music and some basic dialogue but it's very difficult to hear over the rushing water and, sometimes, the screams of other riders. Ripsaw Falls features two smaller drops before the final steep drop and they're all tied to the chase theme very well. The first drop comes as we try to get away from an oncoming train, for example. This added to the excitement and the atmosphere, but also to the anticipation. Many riders jumped the gun and thought the smaller drops were going to be the big one and started screaming their heads off in anticipation.
The final drop is maybe a 75 foot drop and very steep. It's certainly a major drop, but it felt a bit anticlimactic to me and very, very short. It wasn't worthy of the hype or the massive setup. I'm not really sure why, except that although still a quite respectable drop, they recently lessened its severity because of complaints and some safety issues and they perhaps (understandably) erred a bit too much on the conservative side.
There's still a short journey back to the ride exit after the final drop, but for all practical purposes, the ride is over. The only event of note is that just after we straighten out from that last drop, folks with water guns shoot at the boats. These guns pack quite a punch and seem to come from out of nowhere. This is the stage where you get really, really soaked. It's particularly nasty on the part of the ride designers because this section is a slow flat that's obviously the beginning of the end of the ride.
Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls really is just a heavily themed traditional flume ride, complete with the traditional four seater, one person per row log flumes. There's limited leg room and no bag storage here (if you're in the very front you can probably place a small bag on top of your feet). If there's someone tall behind you, you may feel their feet on your sides. Like all such rides, the closer you sit to the front, the wetter you'll get. This even holds true during the water gun phase since folks have better aim at the front rider.
Ripsaw Falls is perfectly themed and a true delight to walk around, look at, and ride through. The ride tells a visual story and tells it well, tying drops and other ride features into elements of the storyline. The true delights here, though, are the little throwaway details scattered about, especially the delightful signs that plaster the edges of portions of the ride. The final drop is perhaps a bit disappointing despite being fairly steep, but the extra attention to the theming more than makes up for it unless you're solely in it for the thrills. Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls put a gigantic smile on my face before I even stepped foot in a flume, and the smile just got bigger as the ride progressed. Any ride that can do that is a success in my book.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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