113-Year-Old Theme Park Building Enormous Water Coaster

A legendary amusement and water park beloved by Hudson Valley thrillseekers is getting its biggest and most expensive upgrade ever.

Hudson Valley residents have lots of options when it comes to visiting theme parks. The Mid-Hudson Region is just a short road trip away from some of the best rides in the country. But with LEGOLAND now open and Splashdown Beach back up and running, some may wonder whether they really need to pack up the family and travel to Six Flags, Hershey Park or other regional parks.

One long-running theme park in Connecticut is hoping to keep families from New York coming through their gates by investing in a thrilling new water roller coaster that's slated to open up next summer.

Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury, Connecticut is 113 years old. As one of just 20 trolley parks left in the country, it's a living piece of history that has delighted generations of east coasters. Trolley parks were originally developed by streetcar companies as a way to encourage people to use their trolleys. The amusement parks were set up outside of major cities, creating a place for people to visit using their service.

I've brought my son to Quassy numerous times and the park is just full of charm. It has a bunch of cute rides for smaller kids, and some serious fun for thrill-seekers too. Their Wooden Warrior coaster was built in 2011 and has been rated among the top 25 wooden roller coasters in the world.

Now, Quassy is making their biggest investment ever in an ambitious water raft ride. The park's president, Eric Anderson, unveiled the new ride this week.

This new attraction will actually be what is recognized in our industry as a water coaster. It will incorporate some of the latest technology in waterslides with features we’ve never presented at the park. And when I said water coaster, it will be just that as water jets will actually push the rafts up a number of inclines.

The massive water coaster will be located in Quassy’s Splash Away Bay waterpark, with construction to start this fall. Plans for the ride were shared on the theme park's Facebook page this week.

The ride has been designed by a Canadian company that uses a water jet propulsion system. High-pressure jets are positioned to push two-person rafts up three separate inclines on the 600-foot-long ride. Four high-speed banked turns will also be incorporated into the water coaster.

The new ride does not have a name yet. That's because Anderson says the park will be conducting a contest allowing visitors to name the new water coaster.

Quassy's amusement and water parks are currently open at full capacity.