Wildebeest at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana is an award-winning
water coaster from ProSlide.
This hydromagnetic water coaster has been named the best water slide in the world every
year for the past decade in Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket awards, which is quite the accomplishment.
So in this video, I will review Wildebeest and explain why it is worthy of the title
as the world’s best water slide.
Water coasters are arguably the most popular genre of water slides.
These attractions mimic roller coasters by not only featuring sizable drops relative
to other water slides, but they also include uphill sections powered by a variety of propulsion
methods.
The earliest water coasters were built in 1994 by Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, Texas.
The first would be Dragon Blaster.
The earliest water coasters propelled rafts uphill with powerful water jets.
This technology would be used on water coasters over the next decade, most notably on Schlitterbahn’s
Master Blaster.
This slide opened in 1996 and it truly showed what water coasters were capable of.
The ride was far longer and more reminiscent of a roller coaster than the earlier water
coasters.
Master Blaster would be named the best water slide in the world 11 times between 1998 and
2009.
In the mid-2000s, both White Water West and ProSlide would introduce a new method to propel
rafts uphill.
These companies would use high speed conveyor belts.
These were effective at taking rafts uphill, but they were noisy and not as exciting as
being blasted by water jets.
White Water West debuted the Zip Coaster at the Kalahari Resort while ProSlide would build
introduce Typhoon at Six Flags New England in Massachusetts and Black Anaconda at Noah’s
Ark in the Wisconsin Dells in 2005.
But ProSlide wouldn’t use conveyor belts for very long.
The following year, they added linear induction motors, or LIMs, to their water coasters.
This was the most exciting propulsion method yet.
This hydromagnetic technology allowed ProSlide to launch riders uphill faster than before.
Each raft would have a steel plate mounted on the underside that would interact with
an alternating magnetic field on the uphill sections.
This technology had been widely used on roller coasters since the 1990s, but this was the
first time it had been used on a water slide.
ProSlide’s first LIM water coaster would be Deluge at Kentucky Kingdom and just 4 years
later, ProSlide provided a water slide that would dethrone Master Blaster.
In 2010, Splashin’ Safari debuted Wildebeest for $5.5 million.
When it opened, it was the world’s longest water coaster.
The slide had 8 uphill launches and 1710 feet or 520 meters of track.
This record would later be broken by Mammoth in 2012, another slide at Splashin’ Safari,
that was added due to the immense popularity of Wildebeest.
Wildebeest is located in the very back of Splashin’ Safari and it’s arguably the
most popular attraction in both the water park and dry park.
It’s not uncommon to find this slide with an hour wait on a hot summer day.
My recommendation is to ride this slide shortly after the water park opens if you want to
avoid a sizable queue line.
Or you can utilize the single rider line if you’re alone or don’t mind splitting up
your party.
This has often got me on the slide in less than 5-10 minutes.
Each raft seats up to 4 riders and must weigh between 200 and 800 lbs.
Typically, Splashin’ Safari will try their best to fully load the rafts to keep this
queue line moving.
The station has a scale that gives a green or red light depending if you’re within
the specified weight range.
These rafts have absolutely no restraints, which is one of the reasons this slide is
so thrilling.
This water slide has bonafide airtime and there’s nothing stopping you from experiencing
it.
I don’t usually have a preference where I sit on water slides, but I do on Wildebeest.
If you have a lighter raft, I think you get a better ride experience up front.
You get better pops of airtime atop the hills.
Just know that the person up front will be constantly sprayed by mist, so this is a slide
I’d recommend wearing goggles if that would bother you.
If you have a heavier raft, I think you get a better ride experience in the back since
you are yanked over the drops.
One of the worst things about water slides is the grueling 5-6 story hike up a series
of stairs.
It often feels like you’re at the gym rather than an amusement park.
It’s especially frustrating on the ones where the rafts have an elevator atop the
tower while guests need to walk.
Wouldn’t it be nicer if you got to ride up on the conveyor belt as well?
Both ProSlide and Splashin’ Safari agreed with that notion, which is why Wildebeest
has a station more reminiscent of an actual roller coaster.
This not only saves guests a lot of energy, but it makes the ride more accessible too.
Wildebeest’s station has a constantly moving conveyor belt and is separated into load and
unload areas to expedite the process.
Once seated, a conveyor belt slowly brings you atop the 64 foot or 20 meter tall lift.
I wish this ride would launch you up the lift like the park did with their latest water
coaster in Cheetah Chase.
That way the action starts from the get-go.
But once you crest the lift, the ride is about as crazy as a water slide gets so it’s easily
forgiven.
After a slow turn in the dark, you drop down the ride’s initial plunge.
And this drop gives a pop of floater airtime if you’re towards the back of the raft.
You then rapidly ascend up a bunny hill.
This hill gives a small pop of airtime for everyone regardless of where you’re sitting.
You then rise up a sizable hill into a tunnel.
If you have a fully loaded raft, the front row riders will get a tiny pop of airtime.
If you have a light raft, the front row riders will get some very weak but somewhat sustained
airtime.
And that is a very freaky feeling on a water slide.
The rafts also create a small splash that hits front row riders anytime you enter a
tunnel.
After rounding a 180 degree bend, you plunge down one of the ride’s steepest drops.
The ride has a maximum angle of descent of 45 degrees, but this drop feels steeper, especially
since you’re on a water slide.
This drop occurs in a shed and it delivers weak sustained floater airtime for everyone,
but it’s a tad more powerful in the back of the raft.
It’s a really foreign sensation on a water slide and what makes Wildebeest special.
After levitating off the raft for a few seconds, you slam back down and are launched up another
bunny hill, again giving everyone a tiny pop of airtime.
You then rise up into another tunnel, which gives front row riders an itty bitty pop of
airtime.
You then round another corner, this one with more speed, and zip down a tiny drop.
This drop is one of the few that don’t give airtime due to its small size.
You then rise up into another tunnel, again giving front row riders an itty bitty pop
of airtime.
You then round another turn, drop down another diminutive drop that offers no airtime, and
then you rise up another large hill.
And then comes another drop in the shed.
This one was equally as intense as the prior.
It’s another steep plunge with some freaky sustained airtime.
You then rise up another large hill into a tunnel, giving riders up front another small
pop of airtime.
And then Wildebeest traverses a twisted section in the dark more reminiscent of your typical
tube slides.
When you re-emerge into the daylight, you rocket down one last drop, giving back row
riders one last pop of airtime, before shooting up into the station, ending the ride.
So what would I rate Wildebeest?
I would give this water slide a perfect 10 out of 10.
This is about as perfect as a water slide can be.
Most water slides are over in a flash, but Wildebeest gives a long and satisfying ride.
Not only that, but this ride delivers some crazy airtime.
When you get airtime on a roller coaster, it will be stronger in most cases, but to
get pops of airtime- and sometimes sustained airtime- when you have absolutely no restraint
makes it considerably more thrilling.
The two shed drops in particular are incredible and easily the strength of the ride.
This slide is also pretty well paced and it feels way faster than the posted 24.5 mph
or 39.5 kph top speed.
This is one of the top 3 water coasters I have personally ridden.
I go back and forth if I prefer this or Mammoth.
But I do slightly prefer Toothless’ Trickling Torpedo at the Dreamworks Water Park at the
American Dream Mall in New Jersey.
That water slide has less turns or filler in between the drops, and the drops pack just
as much of a punch as the ones on Wildebeest.
I do need to note that I haven’t yet been on Krakatau at Volcano Bay and that’s something
I hope to fix this year.
So those are my thoughts on Wildebeest, the acclaimed water coaster at Holiday World & Splashin’
Safari.
Have you been on this slide?
How do you think Wildebeest compares to Mammoth or the other water coasters out there?
I would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments.
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Thanks for watching!