It’s a great injustice that the Texas-based waterpark company Schlitterbahn chose to open the world’s largest waterslide not at its New Braunfels, Galveston, South Padre Island, or forthcoming Corpus Christi locations, but out in some town in the midwest called “Kansas City,” which—contrary to previous reports—apparently actually is in Kansas.
Texans who lament the lost opportunity to slide down 168 watery feet to a satisfying—and, indeed, perhaps terrifying—splash could briefly take some comfort in recent reports that the Verrückt (German for “crazy”) was reportedly sending test-riders airborne, as news blog Inquisitr.com claimed last week.
That’s a claim that Schlitterbahn vehemently denies, though it did delay the opening of the slide from its planned Memorial Day launch to June 5th. Officials from the park admit that the ride is “not behaving properly,” which makes it sound like it’s acting up in study hall:
Schlitterbahn officials admitted this week that Verruckt is “not behaving properly,” but deny online reports that test dummies went airborne.
“I can tell you no test riders have gone airborne on the Verruckt,” said park spokesman Layne Pitcher.
However, Pitcher said they are having to adjust the second hill on the slide after sending test sandbags down the nearly 168 feet.
Safety nets are being put over parts of the slide but Pitcher said that was always the plan.
The original plan had been for the 17-story-tall ride to open Friday, but the opening has been delayed until June 5. Pitcher said the park is on track to make the opening.
That’s good news for the brave non-Texans who will choose to be among the first who are verrückt enough to put the slide to the test. But we’re suddenly a little more comfortable with the idea that they built this thing in Kansas.
