Hopkins Rides


Hopkins Rides is an amusement ride manufacturer based in Palm City, Florida. The company has had experience in amusement rides for over 45 years and currently specializes in water rides.

History

In 1962 O.D. Hopkins incorporated Hopkins Engineering and started installing ski lifts for J.A. Roebling & Sons of Trenton, New Jersey. In 1965 Hopkins purchased the ski lift division and all the related assets from Roebling & Sons. Soon afterwards a competitor, Universal Design Ltd., discontinued manufacturing Sky Rides, and their customers turned to Hopkins Engineering for parts. Hopkins' first customer in the amusement business was Charles Wood of Storytown USA.
In 1971, the name of the company was changed to O.D. Hopkins Associates Inc. In 1979, Hopkins was approached by Paul Roads, owner of Wonderland Park, to build a reasonably-priced log flume for his park. The success of that project started Hopkins in the water ride manufacturing business.
In November, 2001, O.D. Hopkins and Associates Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection. The aerial ropeway/sky ride division was spun off to Skyfair, Inc. on January 1, 1986. The company reorganized and emerged as Hopkins Rides, LLC in May 2002, and was for a brief time in partnership with Reverchon Industries of France.
In August 2012 water slide manufacturer WhiteWater West acquired assets and intellectual property from Hopkins Rides, LLC. Although WhiteWater Attractions has adopted the Hopkins Rides technology, it is not a parent company to Hopkins Rides, LLC and the companies operate independently. WhiteWater sells its products under the Water Rides brand.

Manufacturing

The company originally manufactured Sky Rides, but in the 1980s, with the increase in popularity of their water-based attractions, those rides became the company's primary product. In addition to the water-based attractions, Hopkins built seven roller coasters from 1985 to 1996. They also dabbled in other amusement ride types such as a SkyGlider, tube slides and water jet ride known as an Aqua Drag. Santa's Village still operates its SkyGlider, and Wonderland Park still operates its Aqua Drag and SkyGlider in addition to its other Hopkins rides.
Hopkins also re-fabricated portions of track on two Arrow Dynamics-built coasters: Dahlonega Mine Train at Six Flags Over Georgia received 1,400 feet of new track and supports in 1986 and Canobie Corkscrew at Canobie Lake Park received new track and supports in 1990.
The company currently focuses only on water ride attractions:
As of 2019, Hopkins Rides has built 7 roller coasters around the world.
NameModelParkCountryOpenedStatusRef
Texas TornadoLooping CoasterWonderland Amusement Park United States1985
Polar CoasterJunior CoasterStory Land United States1987
Cliff Hanger
Formerly Red Devil		Looping CoasterGhost Town Village United States1988
DragonLooping CoasterAdventureland United States1990
Desert StormLooping CoasterCastles N' Coasters United States1992
PatriotJunior CoasterCastles N' Coasters United States1992
New Wild Mouse CoasterWild MouseMisaki Park Japan1996

List of other attractions

Flumes

Unless otherwise specified, all flumes feature at least one lift and a drop into a splash pool.
OpenedNameParkNotesStatus
1980Big Splash Log FlumeWonderland ParkElevated sectionOperating
1981Log FlumeHamel's Amusement ParkDefunct
1981Log FlumeCamden Park2 dropsOperating
1981Sawmill RiverCrystal Beach2 drops, elevated sectionDefunct
1982Big Splash log flumeWestern PlaylandElevated sectionDefunct
1982Policy PondCanobie Lake Park2 dropsOperating
1983Yule Log FlumeSanta's VillageOperating
1983Mystery River Log FlumeFrontier CityOperating
1984Log FlumeSeabreezeOperating
1984Log FlumeMyrtle Beach Pavilion2 drops, elevated sectionDefunct
1984Frightful FallsHoliday WorldOperating
1984Thunder Falls Log FlumeFuntownOperating
1985Rocky Mountain RapidsCliff's Amusement ParkElevated sectionOperating
1985Zoom PhloomMorey's Piers2 drops, elevated sectionOperating
1985Log JamJoyland ParkDefunct
1989Splash MountainDisneyland5 drops, elevated sectionsOperating
1989Log FlumeGreat Basin Adventure at Rancho San RafaelClosed
1989Log RideCastle Amusement Park2 drops, elevated sectionOperating
1990FlumeKnoebels Amusement Resort2 drops, elevated sectionOperating
1991SplashdownCastles N' Coasters2 drops, elevated sectionOperating
August 11, 1992Log ChuteNickelodeon Universe2 drops, elevated sectionOperating
1992Canyon Falls Log FlumeWonderland PierElevated sectionOperating
1992Log JammerKiddieland Amusement ParkElevated sectionMoved
1993SplashBosque MagicoOperating
1993Bamboo ChutesStory LandElevated sectionOperating
1993Log FlumePlayland2 dropsOperating
1994Timber Wolf Howling Log RideTimber Falls2 drops, elevated sectionOperating
1995Jungle Log JamEnchanted Kingdom2 drops, elevated sectionOperating
1995Menhir ExpressParc Astérix2 drops, elevated sectionOperating
1995Thunder RiverWaldameer Park2 drops, elevated sectionOperating
1995Log FlumeWonderland Family Fun Park Operating
1996Bali Festival Park2 dropsClosed
1998Flume RideQingdao International Beer City2 dropsDefunct
1998Monkey FallsRatanga Junction3 drops, elevated sectionDefunct
1999Twin MercurySpace World3 drops, elevated sectionDefunct
1999Log FlumeFamily Kingdom2 dropsOperating
2000Ozarka SplashJazzland/Six Flags New Orleans2 drops, elevated sectionClosed
2000Old No. 2 Logging CompanyMagic Springs2 dropsOperating
2001Legend of the LabyrinthLagunasia Park2 dropsOperating
2001FlumeTokyo Dome2 drops, elevated sectionOperating
2001Race for Your Life Charlie BrownKings IslandRebuild of 1968 Arrow flumeOperating

Shoot the Chute rides

River Raft rides

Super Flumes