Now I am an avid log flume enthusiast and I can appreciate a good log flume almost as much as a good coaster. They’re just timeless classics in my opinion, and as a kid they were my favorite attraction by far at amusement parks since I was too young to ride the bigger and wilder attractions like the coasters or inverting flats. Despite growing older, I still enjoy log flumes dearly, but unfortunately The Great Escape’s simply is a pretty poor one if you ask me.
Located in Ghost Town, Desperado Plunge travels on a neat little course around the area and while the attraction itself looks fine, I personally just don’t enjoy its placement too much since the trough is out in the open for most of the ride. I’m a huge fan of log flumes that travel through the woods, or at the very least travel on a course that hugs the ground. Unfortunately, this one accomplishes neither.
At least its wooden station looks nice, as it does fit it perfectly with Ghost Town’s western theme. Not only that, but while this is one of the park’s most popular attractions, lines move incredibly fast due to the utilization of many logs and quick loading. In fact, the entire queue was filled to the bottom of the stairs and my longest wait was about 20 minutes, which is very impressive!
Now onto the ride itself. As I’ve stated already, while it’s neat how the course circles around Ghost Town, I’m really against how the attraction doesn’t hug the ground or have a course through the woods, leading to the entire layout being in pretty much plain sight. Heck, even if the layout were placed in the woods it probably wouldn’t be all that good since it’s not all that fun in my opinion. Most of the layout consists of lift hills and high turns off the ground, and along with being a pretty dull layout lacking any real theming for the most part, it’s also an incredibly short log flume as well.
But I’m sure that the drop would be the attraction’s saving grace, right? Well, kind of. After passing through a neat little shed with some animatronics, there’s a very short and weak plunge that is arguably one of the weakest I’ve experienced on a flume. However, the splash that ensues really caught me off-guard and got me drenched from head to toe, a really nice surprise on a hot summer day. Granted, my log may have been an exception since my entire family was riding with me, but nonetheless I came off soaked and I applaud the attraction for it.
Desperado Plunge is a pretty mediocre log flume and clearly one of the worst I’ve been on. However, its potential to soak riders and its fast-moving line definitely make it one of the park’s stronger attractions despite its shortcomings. No visit to The Great Escape should be complete with this albeit weak, but moderately fun log flume.
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