Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Flying Dream Aerial Waterway

Feels just like a flying dream. But wet.
  (+5)
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This is a way to experience that floating, swooping feeling you get in a flying dream, while wide awake. It consists of a very long tube, similar to a water-chute, that is about six feet in diameter. Unlike a water-chute, the tube is filled with water up to the half-way mark. You lie face down, floating in the water as it moves along the tube. You wear a diving mask and snorkel, so you can breathe and see easily. The top of the tube is matt black, to prevent any light reflecting around inside and spoiling your experience. But the bottom half of the tube is transparent. Very transparent - like polished glass. So transparent you can't even see it, especially since there is no light coming from above to reflect off it. And the water is crystal clear, so you can't see that either. It is also warmed to just that temperature where you can barely feel it.

So, here you are, floating along in your tube, with no discernible means of support. At first you are floating about ten feet above a meadow, dotted with trees and flowers, that slopes down at the same gentle gradient as your tube. You pass through the foliage of several trees, and ahead of you, the meadow seems to come to an end. Suddenly, you soar out over the edge of a cliff, and you are eighty feet in the air, gliding on nothing but a warm current! The tube takes on a steeper gradient, and you accelerate, banking to left and right as the tube carves out a series of swooping turns, passing under the spindly concrete arches that support it. Below you is a tropical forest, with brightly coloured birds-of-paradise flying between the trees, and an animatronic dinosaur grazing at a vast bowl of custard. Your swoops take you closer and closer to the foliage, and then in one long glide you drop through the leaves, and you are flitting between the trunks of the trees. Ahead of you there is another pool. In a last dramatic swoosh, you are dumped into the warm water, and offered a towel by a flunkey dressed as a penguin.

Just like a flying dream, except that instead of waking up, you can now take the elevator back up to the beginning, and for just $30 take another flight.

spacemoggy, May 02 2004

Another ride with flying (but no floating) Throw_20me_20for_20...oop_20(or_20twenty)
I think I would rather stay dry. [Vernon, Oct 16 2011]

[link]






       I like it. Freudian, very Freudian, but I like it. Now the one downside is that no matter how clear and clean the water, and no matter how polished the glass, your view will be distorted because of the index of refraction of the water. Imagine being in a dive suit inside an aquarium looking OUT toward the viewer. But I think there is a work-around for this, so I'm croissant inclined
eyeguy, May 02 2004
  

       A curved tube will distort the veiw but if the bottom were flat I think the image should be fine.   

       + for a really long clear waterslide, that'd be cool, but maybe if the floor was flat, with curved sides would work better. What about birds flying into this "very transparent" glass??
swimr, May 02 2004
  

       Given that you're breathing by snorkel, you really don't want very rought water, so I think the gradient needs to be slight throughout. But very interesting concept. I think the tube should take at least one turn over a crowded room, say one of the theme park's restaurants.
DrCurry, May 03 2004
  

       [DrCurry]... I present you with the following mental image: You and your family are dining on a delicate cottage cheese apetizer, when suddenly above your head you see a fat man in a tight Speedo with a snorkel in his mouth and a glazed look in his eyes float past.
eyeguy, May 03 2004
  

       Or you're him, and he's naked, so everyone starts laughing and pointing. Wait, wrong dream.
Worldgineer, May 03 2004
  

       Falling, falling, falling, falling, panic, wake up in cold sweat. Okay, I'm ready for the next ride ...
Letsbuildafort, May 03 2004
  

       eyeguy: this is a waterpark we're talking about; "dining" is an overstatement for any kind of eating activity that occurs in such places. Or, pace Worldgineer, a rave.
DrCurry, May 03 2004
  

       Make the water 98.6 F or so and you'll barely notice it's there.   

       Cedar Point / Six Flags Over ____ are you paying attention?   

       Put this one, your other, and Hard Hat World together and you have the makings of a small fortune.
RayfordSteele, May 03 2004
  

       Have "naked night" for the naturists and you have a real winner. Wait, this is a winner the way it is too. Great idea! [+]
Klaatu, May 03 2004
  

       Do naturists have the naked dream? If so, do they get embarassed?
Worldgineer, May 03 2004
  

       Ok, I just realized I have a major issue with this idea. Imagine the fat guy with the snorkel and Speedos only he's fallen asleep during the ride. You know that thing at summer camp where they put a sleeping person's hand into some tepid water?...
eyeguy, May 04 2004
  

       Brilliant!
cowtamer, Oct 16 2011
  

       I'm not sure about the 6' dia, but half-transparent pipes (for flow inspection) already exist in industrial applications; look up, see what's in the pipe. Vini vidi brownwater. I've seen a couple in paper mills that might be big enough for a grown man to swim through.
Alterother, Oct 16 2011
  

       Think i've seen something similar in Trainspotting.
Ah Supp, Oct 17 2011
  

       They should have several different paths and blindfold you before you get into the tube, so you don't know which "dream" you're getting.
phundug, Oct 17 2011
  

       This is a lovely idea. I'm glad [phundug] anno'd it.
Voice, Oct 17 2011
  
      
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