The Fly Over water slide was both innovative and terrifying, with the tunnel completely submerged in water, leaving brave riders without any air for between 15 and 20 seconds
Waterslides are always the most popular attractions at waterparks – but one proved too much for even the bravest of thrillseekers.
There is one ride that continues to hold the title of the ‘scariest slide of all time’, and caused so much fear amongst swimmers it was eventually shut down altogether.
The tropical Tiki Pool at Duinrell holiday park is one of the Netherlands’ most famous waterparks, and boasts 21 thrilling and unique water rides. It first opened in 1984, with a wave pool, two water slides, and a whirlpool, and since then it has continued to attract hundreds of thousands of people every year.
And in 1994, it was also home to a slide that proved an utter nightmare for many visitors, with many suffering panic attacks and collisions with the walls.
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The Fly Over was designed to be the world’s first fully underwater slide, with riders completely submerged for about 15 to 20 seconds as they were propelled through the tube using water pressure.
To access the ride, swimmers would have to dive underwater and let gravity suck them upwards through the airless slide.
“Imagine a water slide with no air and only water inside, one that sucks you through it, like Augustus Gloop in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” explains YouTuber Theme Park Crazy via LadBible. “It sounds terrifying, but it actually existed.
“Riders would enter a pool and dive underwater towards the slide’s entrance. They would then be sucked up into the slide and taken through it before ending up in another pool. Like me when I first found out about it, you may be wondering, ‘How such a slide is even possible?'”
The YouTuber continued: “The answer is science, specifically, this phenomenon is known as the Communicating Vessels Principle. This principle dictates that water can easily be transferred between containers through a tube, thanks to the forces of gravity and air pressure.
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“This will work just as long as the second container’s water level is lower than the first. So since the second pool’s water line was lower than the first, guests would naturally be sucked right through the slide.
“As a safety measure, the slide was capable of draining at around five seconds if riders got stuck.”
And while the slide was undoubtedly innovative, it ultimately proved unpopular and stopped being used in 2003 before it was eventually removed in 2010.
“Eventually, this slide became far too expensive for the park to operate,” the YouTuber said. “Most riders were terrified of the very idea of the slide, so it didn’t receive a high ridership, plus concerns over panicking and inhaling water before the slide could drain, was reportedly a deciding factor as well.”
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Taking to Reddit, one rider shared: “I went through it once when I was around 12 years old. I did not know what was going to happen in that slide, no signs or anything that warned you about it. At least not that I saw. Those were the longest 10 seconds of my life.”
“Same here, tried it once at about that age. No warning, no escape. The water didn’t flow fast enough, so I had to swim to get through. That was a near death experience. And a big nope, not ever again,” a second replied.
A third commented: “Nope. Nope. Nope. Anxiety attack just picturing that.” And a fourth wrote: “I’d die twice before I reach halfway!”