World’s tallest water slide to open in Kansas, will be wedgie-free
A water park company that created the world’s first uphill water coaster is ready for its next big thing -- and we really mean “big.”
Schlitterbahn is building the world’s tallest and fastest water slide in its Kansas City, Kan., park. Verrückt -- which means “insane” in German, will be about 17 stories high, and riders will shoot down it at a minimum speed of 65 mph. It’s scheduled to open in May 2014.
Company officials aren’t releasing the exact height until they consult with the folks from Guinness World Records, Winter Prosapio, corporate director of communications at Schlitterbahn, told the Los Angeles Times. But the promise is that it will definitely be taller than the current height leader, a 164-foot-tall slide in Brazil.
To provide a little context, Prosapio said 17 stories is taller than Niagara Falls and taller than the Statue of Liberty “from her toes to her torch.”
It will take 264 steps to get to the top of Verrückt. Then riders will travel down on four-person rafts. That avoids the issue of unpleasant skin-on-slide contact or swimsuit bunching.
“There are no wedgies,” Prosapio said. “Seventeen stories with a wedgie would be really bad.”
Twitter: @lauraelizdavis
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