Patent ID: 8375864

Claim:
A boat ride with high capacity and enhanced spacing control of floating passenger boats, comprising: a structure with spaced apart sidewalls defining an elongated guide channel; a volume of liquid contained in the guide channel, wherein the guide channel defines a loop-shaped ride path; and a chain of passenger boats floating in the liquid of the guide channel, wherein each of the boats is linked with a connecting link at a first side to a leading one of the boats and with a connecting link at an opposite second side to a trailing one of the boats such that the chain of boats is continuous, and further wherein the chain of boats has a length that is approximately equal to a length of the loop-shaped ride path and all of the boats in the chain move along the loop-shaped ride path at a predefined rate, wherein the sidewalls of the structure further define a free-floating portion in which the sidewalls are spaced apart a distance selected such that the vehicles travel through the free-floating portion free of abutting contact with the sidewalls and wherein the liquid in the free-floating portion moves at a rate less than a rate at which the liquid moves in the guide channel.