Thursday, August 23, 2012

WhiteWater West Acquires Hopkins Rides



WhiteWater West Industries, based out of Richmond, British Columbia Canada, has announced that they have acquired Hopkins Rides.  Formerly known as O.D. Hopkins, the new acquisition will continue to operate under the same name and provide the same amusement park attractions.

Hopkins Rides is known for creating a plethora of water based amusement rides, with their catalog including the Log Flume, Super Flume, Shoot the Chute, and River Raft Ride.  The company started in 1979 and is based out of Palm City, Florida.

The new Pirate Reef shoot the chute at Legoland California, a Hopkins ride.
Teri Ruffley, Managing Director of WhiteWater's amusement ride section says, "Having Hopkins Rides on board advances our mission to bring to market the most exciting and diverse aquatic amusement park attractions portfolio in the world. We are positioned for and looking forward to a strong year ahead in this segment of the industry."

"Our vision is to bring in originals like Hopkins Rides to reinforce what WhiteWater does best - top-notch attractions", says Geoff Chutter, WhiteWater President & CEO. "And stay tuned... because we have many more originals coming down the line."

The acquisition of Hopkins gives WhiteWater an even greater ability to offer both amusement and water parks an exciting new attraction.  As a personal fan of log flumes, this is very encouraging news!  Perhaps we can see the dawn of a second golden age for flumes, since many parks have had to remove their older versions in recent years.

Congratulations to both companies!


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