During a year Cedar Point has been celebrating their newest coaster Gatekeeper, a rather unfortunate event occurred on July 19th at the opposite side of the park. Shoot the Rapids, the park's newest flume ride, had a bizarre incident involving a boat on the first lift. While the boat seemingly started to go up higher and higher, it suddenly slid backwards down the lift. As it hit the water, it tipped to its side submerging 7 riders on the boat at the time. Within a minute, bystanders and nearby park workers got out to flip the boat back upright. One person was taken to a nearby hospital and released shortly thereafter. The other 6 only received minor injuries and were treated by Cedar Point's medical staff.
The ride remains closed as investigators try and piece together what happened. The ride is a flume ride built by Intamin, makers of 4 of the park's biggest coasters, the 310 ft Millennium Force, the 420 ft Top Thrill Dragster, the inverted impulse coaster Wicked Twister, and the steel launched coaster Maverick. The ride opened in 2010 at a cost of $10.5 million, featuring two drops of 85 ft and 49 ft. The ride's boats seat 10 with overhead lap bars, whereas the lap bar is brought down over rider's heads.
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