Almost 2 months ago we were the first to tell you of the trademarked name “Ray Rush”

Though we weren’t sure what the ride would be at the time, today the park announced Ray Rush. Ray Rush will be a family style raft ride.

At nearly 60 feet tall, Ray Rush is where family and friends can take on three exciting thrills as they slide, splash and soar like never before. First, riders will be launched at 33 feet per second with water jets designed to propel rafts into the first of several enclosed tube sections.

Next, riders will swirl into a colossal translucent sphere which spins the raft around the slide walls before entering another enclosed tube section.

Check out the details on the tube here!

Finally, riders will drop into an open-air halfpipe that resembles the shape of a manta ray. Rafts will soar back and forth on the wings of the manta before entering the final enclosed tube section that ends with a splash.

Put it all together and you have a pretty complex and fun family raft ride!

In order to make way for the new attraction, HooRoo Run will close permanently on October 31, 2017. To accommodate construction, Walhalla Wave will temporarily close on this date and re-open in spring 2018 alongside Ray Rush. For a limited-time, Aquatica Pass Members will receive a one-time Quick Queue to ride both HooRoo Run and Walhalla Wave on select days in October before construction begins in November.

This is the first time we’ve seen elements like these in a slide in Florida, but not the first time we’ve seen the half-pipe element. Honu at nearby Volcano Bay features 2 of those elements:

For a bigger look around Aquatica Orlando be sure to check out our video tour below:

Busch Gardens Tampa’s waterpark Adventure Island also announced Vanish Point slide complex earlier this week as well:

Be sure to follow us on our social pages as we bring you more info and progress on the project as it develops: