Water slides are best when they take you on a long meandering ride through curves and hills, but not every amusement park has room for a big installation. That’s why a German company has combined water slides with Ferris wheels to create this dizzying attraction that will have riders wondering which way is up.
GIF: YouTube
The Slidewheel, as Germany’s wiegand.maelzer GmbH calls its creation, looks like a giant twisted knot of colourful plastic tubes, but if you were to unravel it, you would find it’s actually one long water slide. The Slidewheel slowly rotates at roughly three revolutions per minute. For up to three thrillseekers inside, that results in a two-minute ride with raft speeds topping out at 40km/h. If you’re having trouble wrapping your head around exactly how the ride works, this animated video provides an X-ray view of what’s going on inside the Slidewheel.
There’s no word on where or when you’ll be able to try the Slidewheel yourself, but wiegand.maelzer GmbH says it has already received a handful of orders from amusement parks around the world, and it’s currently working on a dry version that could be installed in shopping centres and other indoor venues.