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Get Away

Island has new adventure

By JAY CRIDLIN
Published May 11, 2006

	[Times photo: Melissa Lyttle]
	Water engulfs Dave Webb, 43, of London on his way down the Riptide slide.
	Variations on a theme Temperatures are rising. School is about to let out. You can practically feel the asphalt melting beneath your feet. Coaster reaches the top of the world All hail the mighty Yeti. Island has new adventure The prevailing wisdom on water slides is, when you've ridden one, you've ridden them all. Revisionist tinkering After falling into the role of the poor stepsister to Florida's more well-know theme parks, Cypress Gardens banks on a makeover to return it to a place of prominence. SeaWorld goes showbiz What you need to know about Believe, the lavish new killer whale show opening today at SeaWorld, is that Shamu is still the star. The best of the rest Most theme parks tout one or two new attractions each year. Here are a few other highlights from the Central Florida theme parks.

TAMPA

The prevailing wisdom on water slides is, when you've ridden one, you've ridden them all.

Not to suggest water slides don't require a lot of architectural ingenuity, but you could put Frank Gehry in charge of a flume slide and you'd get just as wet as you would on a Slip 'N Slide. The only difference is, Gehry's flume would look like a pile of melting hubcaps.

The point is, new water slides need a strong selling point to suck in riders. And Riptide, the newest slide at Adventure Island water park in Tampa, doesn't disappoint.

Riptide, which replaces the Tampa Typhoon, claims to be Florida's first four-lane mat race, making it the perfect vehicle for large park-going parties to determine, once and for all, who is lord and master of the flume tube.

The ride is simple, really. After picking up your sturdy blue, tobogganlike mat at the end of the track, you queue up for your turn at the top. Then up to four racers will dive in headfirst, make one big loop inside a darkened tunnel and emerge into a lengthy open-air slide. You descend 55 feet in less than half a minute.

It's not the biggest, longest or best ride at Adventure Island - those honors still go to the massive Wahoo Run - but Riptide is easily the sleekest of the park's solo rides.

It's not as rough-and-tumble as the blenderlike Caribbean Corkscrew, nor does it end with a violent splashdown, a la the Gulf Scream. It's all about a smooth, swift ride down the track.

Complaints? The entry process is a little inconvenient. One can see the logic in picking up a mat at the end, then carrying it the length of the track to the entry tower. But to the first-time rider, it's a bit confusing.

And contact-wearers, beware: Because you're sliding headfirst, you could get a face full of flume water on the way down. Goggles might come in handy.

As for the "race," each tube offers about the same odds of victory. So if you're planning a friendly wager on your race, here's how to turn the Riptide in your favor:

After lunging into the tube, lift your head up as you pull back on your mat's plastic handlebars. When I tried this, not only did my face stay relatively dry, but I skidded atop the water all the way to the end of the track, well ahead of the random 6-year-olds with whom I was paired. It was a proud moment.

One more thing: Experience, and the laws of physics, suggest this ride favors the zaftig racer. So when you're on the Riptide, don't be ashamed to let it all hang out. Have fun, and may the fat man win.

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Adventure Island, 10001 McKinley Drive (40th Street), Tampa. Toll-free 1-888-800-5447 or on the Web at www.adventureisland.com. Open daily through Sept. 4, then weekends through Oct. 29. Hours vary. Single-day admission: $34.95 plus tax adult, $32.95 plus tax ages 3 to 9. Ages 2 and younger admitted free. Florida residentdiscount available.

[Last modified May 10, 2006, 11:53:48]