Tiger Rock facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tiger Rock |
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Dragon Falls in 2009
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| General statistics | |||||||||||||
| Type | Log flume | ||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Mack Rides | ||||||||||||
| Designer | John Wardley | ||||||||||||
| Height | 15 m (49 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Length | 21 m (69 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Speed | 26 mph (42 km/h) | ||||||||||||
| Capacity | 1,500 riders per hour | ||||||||||||
| Boats | 32 boats. Riders are arranged 5 across in a single row for a total of 5 riders per boat. | ||||||||||||
| Height restriction | 120 cm (3 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||
 Fastrack available |
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Tiger Rock is a super fun flume ride at Chessington World of Adventures theme park. It's located in Chessington, southwest London, England. This exciting water ride was first designed by John Wardley and opened way back in 1987.
You can find Tiger Rock in the Land of the Tiger area of the park. This area used to be called Mystic East. The ride has changed a lot over the years. It was once known as Dragon Falls and Dragon River. In 2018, after a big makeover, it became the Tiger Rock we know today!
History of Tiger Rock
When the ride first opened in 1987, it was called Dragon River. Later, from 1999 onwards, it was known as Dragon Falls. The ride was built by a company called Mack Rides. John Wardley worked with the Tussauds Group to create it.
In 2017, Chessington decided to give the Mystic East area a huge update. This plan included changing Dragon Falls into Tiger Rock. The ride closed on September 10, 2017, for this big transformation. Another nearby ride, Peeking Heights (a ferris wheel), also closed permanently that same day to make space.
On May 5, 2018, Tiger Rock officially opened to the public. Its new theme is all about tigers! You'll even see a giant tiger's head on the second drop, which replaced the old Angkor Wat-style heads.
How the Ride Works
Tiger Rock is a classic water flume ride. It has two drops, with the first one being smaller than the second. When it was Dragon Falls, the building where you got on the ride looked like a pagoda. The first drop even had a cool sculpted dragon tunnel!
Your journey starts as your boat leaves the station. You float along a pretty stream, surrounded by plants and trees. Bridges are built over the ride, so other park guests can watch the boats go by.
Next, your boat goes up the first lift hill. Then, you splash down into a tunnel. This tunnel used to have a fun trick waterfall effect! After the tunnel, your boat floats through trees and under a bridge. You then go around a lagoon until you reach the second, much taller lift.
This second lift takes you high up the side of a rocky mountain. You reach the highest point of the ride here. Then, get ready for the big splash! You drop down into the main splash pool. Before the Tiger Rock makeover, boats used to pass between two huge stone faces that looked like Angkor Wat. Right before returning to the station, there was even an animatronic elephant that sprayed water at riders!
The Tiger Theme
The area around Tiger Rock is now themed like a jungle, perfect for tigers. It has many bridges and spots where you can watch the flume ride. There's even a large fibreglass Buddha statue, inspired by the Great Buddha of Kōtoku-in in Japan. The boats themselves look like wooden canoes with seats in a line.
The original dragon sculpture for the tunnel and the two stone Angkor Wat faces were made by Aden Hynes Sculpture Studios. They were installed in 1987 and were hand-carved from polystyrene, then covered with glass fibre to make them last a long time outside. These sculptures were repainted many times and made the ride look amazing.
However, the Buddha heads and some rock scenery were taken down in 2013, before the big re-theme. Part of the dragon tunnel was also removed. This meant boats would travel through areas that weren't decorated anymore. Many decorations in the station area were also removed over time.
The ride closed for its tiger re-theme on September 10, 2017. In October 2017, it was announced that the ride would be renamed Tiger Rock. Like the Runaway Train, the ride itself didn't change how it worked, but all the scenery was redesigned.
New homes for Amur tigers were built in the area. The 'Mystic East' part of the park was renamed 'Land of the Tiger'. The park's Ferris Wheel, 'Peeking Heights', was taken down to make room for these new tiger homes. The tiger enclosures are designed so you can see the tigers really well from the paths and bridges, and even from the 'Tiger Rock' flume ride! There are also special trails called 'Tiger Crossings' where the tigers can walk right over your head – a first in Europe!
Many buildings in the area were repainted to match the new tiger theme. The 'Angkor Wat' structure on the main drop was replaced with a large rock structure that looks like a tiger's head. The 'Dragon tunnel' was repainted to look like a rocky cave, but you can still see the rough shape of the old dragon underneath the new grey rock texture. The large Buddha statue, like the one in Kamakura, Japan, was kept and is still there today.
Gallery
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Shot of the ride from above
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Second lift hill
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Dragon head
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2011
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2011
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The main waterfall
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2011
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The main waterfall
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