UNCONFIRMED CANCELLATION: Six Flags Over Texas Unveils the El Rio Lento Log Flume Ride for 2024
October 5, 2023
Unconfirmed Ride Cancellation Update
Though Six Flags Over Texas has not made an official announcement (and may not), the new 2024 El Rio Lento project appears to be quietly cancelled. On August 30, 2023, Six Flags announced several new chain-wide attractions, including El Rio Lento. The reimagined log ride would be a combination of the two existing flumes. Intended to feature a new lift hill and two major drops, El Rio Lento was set to become one of the world’s longest log flume attractions. At the time of its announcement, no legitimate ride statistics, a manufacturer or any concept renderings were released.
Please note that El Rio Lento’s cancellation is unconfirmed as of October 5, 2023. The park has quietly removed any mention of El Rio Lento from their official website, including the ride’s dedicated page. However, posts regarding the attraction can still be found on the park’s social media outlets. News outlets also have their stories announcing El Rio Lento for 2024 still published.
We will update this thread as new details are confirmed.
August 30, 2023
El Rio Lento Announcement
Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation today announced one of the most substantial investments planned for its parks in more than a decade. These new investments span over a dozen of the company’s parks, which include new flat rides, fresh theming experiences and multiple new roller coasters.
New for 2024, Six Flags Over Texas is set to unveil El Rio Lento, one of the world’s longest log flumes. A makeover of the world’s first-ever log ride, El Aserradero, El Rio Lento will feature one new lift hill and two big drops, including a steep nosedive. The new attraction will provide family fun for thrill seekers of all ages.
“At Six Flags, our relentless drive for innovation is powered by our passion to create moments of pure joy and excitement for our guests,” said Selim Bassoul, President and CEO of Six Flags. “This investment is central to our strategy to create fun and memorable experiences for every member of the family and reinforces Six Flags’ position as the leader in thrills. This builds on our recent efforts to offer new events and dining experiences by also introducing new rides for thrill-seekers and families, all while making improvements to many existing popular rides.”
Learn More About the World’s First Log Ride Attraction
El Aserradero was quite the engineering feat at the time. Angus G. Wynne, Jr., the founder of Six Flags, led the way for the development of innovative attractions and the log ride was no exception. Teaming up with Arrow Dynamics, Six Flags spent around $300,000 on the new attraction. $52,000 of this money was spent on engineering and research alone. Once testing began, engineers discovered that the runout at the bottom of the final drop was not long enough to slow down the ride units. What did Arrow do? They deepened the splash pool and reconfigured the boat’s nose, pushing water away from the ride unit and therefore helping it slow down quicker. Once constructed, Six Flags management was reportedly unhappy with the large amount of water thrown onto guests. They did not want guests getting wet at all! Changes were made so that the logs would push water away from the guests instead of onto them. However, this decreased the overall popularity of the ride. Six Flags eventually reached back out to Arrow so that the attraction could be reconfigured to transition back to water splashing guests.
Image: Six Flags Archives
In 1968, Six Flags Over Texas installed a second log flume, right next to the first, to increase rider capacity. Sharing the same queue, riders could decide if they’d rather ride the first log flume or the newly-constructed second version. Though both rides share the same drop heights and speed, Six Flags added a few elements to create two different ride experiences. Sid and Marty Krofft, whom produced shows in the Krofft Puppet Theatre at the park, used their skills to create characters for the two flume attractions. Atop flume one’s first lift hill sat a villain animatronic named Snidely Whiplash. As logs went up the lift hill, Snidely would saw away at a log, creating the effect that it could fall onto riders at any moment. Flume two’s first lift hill had its own giant lumberjack animatronic character. This character would swing his ax towards riders, also creating a dramatic effect. What else made flume two different from the original? It featured a tunnel that spanned down the final drop. Unfortunately, the animatronics and tunnel were removed some time ago.