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Wahooo! Water-park at Bahrain City Centre Mall has unveiled its latest crowd-puller - the Fishpipe Rotating Barrel Ride. The contraption allows you to slide further than the longest water-slide all within the safety of a plastic bubble. General manager Damien Latham was on hand to take GulfWeekly columnist Charlie Holding through his paces and let him know what it feels like to be a human hamster!
As I arrived at Wahooo! I was greeted enthusiastically by Damien, who took great delight in telling me all about this latest attraction, the fifth such ride in the world, although the other four are not in waterparks, making this one truly unique.
"It's a very basic concept, but it's also totally unique. We try to add new attractions as often as we can because you've got to lead on the front foot or else you'll fall behind." Damien said.
"You climb in through the door hole, which is then zipped closed to ensure you can't fall out, and there is an air hole at the other end, which remains open to allow fresh air to enter while you're inside.
"We add 75 litres of water to the plastic barrel and then spin it at up to 45 revolutions per minute, although we can slow it down for children and people with a nervous disposition. The water makes it so slippery inside that riders don't get spun around, they stay sliding in the water in the bottom," he added.
The fishpipe was designed by David Akers, who has spent more than 12 years in the adventure activity and amusement ride industry in the areas of design, research and development, operations, training, safety testing, site design and building.
The aim is to go with the flow, run with the waves or show off your super surfing techniques.
As I approached the ride, the operator, who watched intently throughout the ride's duration, gave me a quick safety brief about what to expect. Since the barrel itself is fairly thick, it is difficult to communicate vocally so the operator gave me a run-down of some hand signals to use to signify how I was doing inside.
When I climbed in the barrel, I instantly felt like a hamster in a bubble and although the water was only ankle deep, I still felt slightly out of my depth when the ride began.
As the ride started I quickly realised that this attraction was not invented with smokers in mind! Even though the ride only lasts for about a minute by the time I tumbled out, I was completely out of breath and exhausted.
Despite being physically drained, and having my pride slightly bruised after my abysmal attempt at staying upright, I quickly asked for another go because the ride is so much fun.
However, you have no idea how difficult it is to maintain your balance when the walls are spinning and more slippery that a politician during an election. I only managed to keep upright for all of about 23 seconds, and then proceeded to get a good idea of how my laundry feels on the rinse cycle!
After I caught my breath and the world stopped spinning, Damien told me that Akers himself holds the record (so far) for the being the only person to have stayed upright inside the Fishpipe for the full duration of its spin cycle.
However, even he freely admits he had to have 'a bit of a lie down' afterwards.
