Can you tame the Wildebeest? He’s a fast-moving rascal! Wildebeest is the World’s Longest Water Coaster, opening May 14, 2010, at Splashin' Safari. When we say Wildebeest is long, we really mean it. Wildebeest is one-third of a mile long and it will thrill riders for two-and-a-half splashing minutes of hills, drops, twists and turns.

Located to the north of Bahari wave pool, Wildebeest will begin with a conveyor ride up the water coaster’s lifthill. Following the four-story drop at a 45-degree angle, linear induction motors (LIMs) will propel the four-person rafts up seven additional hills, through three tunnels (two of them underground) and around a helix. Wildebeest will cover more than two acres; its top speed will hit 36 feet per second. Wildebeest’s tallest elevation is 64 feet higher than its lowest drop; the conveyor-style lifthill replaces any slide-tower stairs, making the water coaster accessible to riders who might have difficulty walking up stairs.

Geek Out with Will:
“The linear induction motor technology for shooting the rafts up the hills is fascinating,” says park president Will Koch, who earned an electrical engineering degree at Notre Dame. “An alternating magnetic field beneath the slide surface propels the rafts, pushing them rapidly and smoothly uphill. LIM technology is a popular feature in some steel roller coasters; it’s cool to see it applied to water coasters, too.”