Piraña (Efteling)
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Piraña is a river rapids ride in amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands. It was designed by Ton van de Ven, built by Intamin, and opened in 1983.
History and details
The ride is one of many attractions since the 80’s to diversify in more than just a fairy-tale park. House designer van de Ven took Intamin’s design, as implemented in Six Flags’s Roaring Rapids (Texas, amongst others) and expanded it into a
pre-Columbian
thematic ride. Original planned for 1982, the extensive architecture delayed the opening to 1983. As with earlier attractions, the entire landscape and service outlets in the area were remodeled to fit the unique design.
- Ride length: 520 meters
- Propulsion: four pumps rotating 10 million liters of water per hour
- Maximum Speed: 20 km/h
- Capacity: with 35 boats: 2000 visitors per hour
- Cost: €7,25 million
First river rapids ride in Europe.
The ride
The ride starts with a descent through a dark tunnel, which opens up into a broad section of
rope bridges
.
The ride is based on
pre-Columbian
cultures, whose styles can be found everywhere:
- The whole building is covered with chibchadecorations
- Square before the ride’s entrance: )
- Ride entrance: two giant Aztec). At the side of the entrance two typical Mayanheads are displayed.
- Boarding area: typical colorful Tahuantinsuyu banners, windows and oversized Tumisdecorate this area.
- The ride: Inca style walls can be seen at the beginning. Further on we see the Teotihuacan sungod Con-tici Viracocha, other Chavinanimal-like decorations and a ceremonial figure conclude the ride.