Crowds of chill seekers

We learn from teachers, and so it is appropriate that Anna Edson Taylor, a middle-aged Michigan schoolmarm, was the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and live to tell the tale. There was nothing especially logical in her 1901 splash ride, but sometimes, especially in the summer, things don’t have to make sense if they involve cold water, altitude, adrenaline and bragging rights.

Here in Southern California we are practically surrounded by amusement parks, and there’s nothing my 7-year-old daughter and I enjoy more than the splash rides that give you a thrill and a much-needed chill amid hot, crowded midways. Keep your roller coasters -- we prefer our excitement with a side of water.

Over the last few weekends, Addison and I have trekked to the local, log rides and white-water raft rides and, in memory of schoolteacher Taylor, decided to grade the wettest and wildest.

We decided we would skip water parks and experience only those rides that are in traditional amusement parks. We started at Roaring Rapids at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia on a baking Saturday afternoon. The park was wall-to-wall with people, and we were greeted at Rapids by a daunting line. “Two hours,” I predicted. I was wrong. It was closer to three.

We waited in a space that felt like a corral, with a screen roof and misting water to relieve the heat. We found ourselves watching that little old guy in the tuxedo dance in Six Flags commercials that aired on overhead screens. (Bet he was 14 when he got in line.)

When it was built in 1983, Roaring Rapids was the largest, most expensive ride in the park, and it’s still great fun. Just as it sounds, the ride sends you careening down an artificial white-water river. The sturdy rafts handle 12 riders (who must be 42 inches tall) who sit in tall-backed chairs that face the center of the craft. Water surges through gaps in the craft; by the end of the ride there were 5 chilly inches of it onboard. Addison got a good drenching, and everyone left soggy. (Helpful hint: Put your wallet in a front pocket to save it from complete immersion and use the free, convenient lockers for cameras, cellphones, etc.)

So how did the ride rate? Addison summed it up this way: “That was great! Can we do it again? It was so quick.” And there lies the problem with Roaring Rapids: time management. The ride lasted less than five minutes, and the line was anything but rapid. In addition, the rafts’ girth seemed to limit the potential recklessness. We gave Roaring Rapids a B+ for wetness but a C- for wildness (which also takes the long wait into account).

The park is home to another waterborne ride, the Log Jammer, which carries its passengers in plastic logs down a steep flue.

The next weekend, we traveled to the Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park. If you’re not steeped in amusement park lore, you might not know that during the Great Depression, Walter and Cordelia Knott of Buena Park created a sensation with their chicken-dinner restaurant and jarred jellies. The wait for a table got so bad that the Knotts decided to keep patrons amused with a faux ghost town. Somehow, all that eventually led to my daughter and I standing at the top of a frothing 2,100-foot artificial waterway.

One of the Timber Mountain attendants gently encouraged me to take the plunge: “Sir, please ... sir, your log is here ... “ Our formed-plastic log was marked No. 23, and it had room for five riders who sat in a row. We lucked out and got one all to ourselves. My daughter giggled. “I want to get wet!”

The wait here had been far more manageable. In line at 11:30, we were in old No. 23 before 12:10. What’s more, the line snaked through caves, so (unlike Magic Mountain) you weren’t faced by the strange fatigue that comes with making eye contact again and again with the same people caught in a serpentine queue. Waterfalls and shady spots helped too.

The first portion of the 35-year-old ride is a brisk run through a zigzag of logging-camp imagery and moving lumberjack mannequins who sound like the Pacific Northwest cousins of the Pirates of the Caribbean when they warn of rough waters ahead. That rough spot would be two drops; the first in the dark, the second a 42-foot chute that drops you back into sunlight and a spray of water at the bottom. All riders must be at least 46 inches tall or accompanied by an adult; small, lap-held children are not allowed.

I suggest you hold on to the rails, not the person in front of you: I was hugging my daughter, and at the bottom that sent both of us forward and she bumped her nose on the chair back in front of her. But Addison was more upset about something else. “We didn’t get wet! I can’t believe I’m still dry.” It was true. Despair. Betrayal. Dryness.

We gave it a B for wildness, D for wetness.

Next we headed toward the park’s huge white-water ride, Bigfoot Rapids. Knott’s rates Timber Mountain a 5 for “aggressive thrill attraction,” and when I saw that Bigfoot Rapids was rated a 3 for “moderate thrill attraction,” I worried that meant even less dampness. But there was also a sign that read: “You will get wet! You may get drenched!”

Mercifully, the line for Bigfoot Rapids was a fun distraction; it took the crowd up along an airy path of stairs and planks that gave a good view of the riders already in their rafts. The riders sit in six high-backed chairs atop what is more or less a huge tire. Each raft has a handy, sealable plastic cone in the center for keep-dry items. (No riders shorter than 46 inches are allowed.)

The ride is billed as “California’s longest man-made white-water river,” and the park literature boasts of its authentic setting with indigenous wildflowers and huge boulders. The smooth channel we rode in looked like concrete river basins, but the ride was great. There was more jostling, spinning and dips than on Six Flags’ Roaring Rapids, but we didn’t get as wet. B- for wildness, C+ for wetness.

Our third outing found us at Splash Mountain at Disneyland, and it was my daughter’s first run on what many consider a marquee ride. We had Fastpasses (a program that allows you a shorter wait if you come at an appointed time), so we stood in line for only 11 minutes.

The winding ride took us past more sawmill props, but this time with the Disney music and characters from “Song of the South,” the famously mothballed film. The mood and sights got progressively ominous, and the all-dark portion of the ride completely wigged my daughter out. “I want to get out! It’s terrible!” She was shrieking.

The in-the-dark drops led to the big moment: a 50-foot flume that sent us off with a gasp and ended in a cross-spraying water wall that gave those in the front a good drenching. The second the nose of the log landed, Addison announced: “I want to do it again, Daddy! That’s the best ride of my life!” An A+ for wildness and a B for wetness.

The last stop was at Grizzly River Run in California Adventure, the park adjacent to Disneyland. The newest of the parks, it also has the thinnest crowds as well as the benefit of the Fastpass process and a separate single-rider line. If you are a teen and want to go again and again, this is the site. The imagery here is the most detailed and realistic. Not only is there the towering, authentic looking sawmill, but the eight-seat rafts also have net sacks stuffed with fake river gear to enhance the illusion. The ride itself consumed far more time than the other white-water rides we took, in part because of some traffic jams, where rafts were bouncing off each other.

The ride more than made up for those stalls with the drops and carom corners that gave us the most spins and slams of the white-water rides. There are spouting geysers -- especially one near the end of the ride-- that can soak a rider tossed in their path. The wind whipped through the ride in a most satisfying way, as well. My daughter lost her hat halfway through, and I caught it in the air. She tugged it back on and smiled through the spray. B for wet, B+ for wild.

We stopped to catch our breath. Addison wrung out her hat and asked: “Dad, why don’t we ever bring a towel?”

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Just add water

The parks offer a variety of ticket discounts, packages and special offers, but below are the walk-up prices for a one-day ticket as of Wednesday. Call or check online for other prices.

* Six Flags Magic Mountain: general admission, $47.99; children 47 inches and shorter, $24.99. 26101 Magic Mountain Parkway, Valencia, (661) 255-4100, www.sixflags.com/parks/magicmountain

* Knott’s Berry Farm: ages 12 and older, $35; ages 3 to 11, $14.95; 2 and younger, free. 8039 Beach Blvd., Buena Park, (714) 220-5200, www.knotts.com

* Disneyland: ages 10 and older, $53; ages 3 to 9, $43; ages 2 and younger, free. 1313 S. Harbor Blvd., Anaheim, (714) 781-4565, disneyland.disney.go.com

* California Adventure: ages 10 and older, $53; ages 3 to 9, $43; ages 2 and younger, free. 1313 S. Harbor Blvd., Anaheim, (714) 781-4565. disneyland.disney.go.com