Students name new water coaster at Quassy Amusement & Waterpark

By | January 14, 2022

MIDDLEBURY, Conn. — And the winner is: Rocket Rapids!

That is the official name given to the new water coaster coming this season to Quassy Amusement & Waterpark here, Quassy officials announced today.

The state-of-the-art attraction’s name was coined by Mrs. Jessica Papp’s fourth grade homeroom class at Canton Intermediate School, Canton, Conn., in a contest among local and area elementary and middle schools.

Quassy’s management team selected Rocket Rapids from the submissions, which were received before schools went on recess for the holidays.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” George Frantzis II, a park owner, said the process to choose the ride’s name. “We had an incredible list to select from before it boiled down to the winner in a second round of voting.”

“Our fourth graders are so honored and thrilled to have been chosen to name the new Rocket Rapids water ride at Quassy,” Mrs. Papp said in a statement to the park. “This contest was something that one child found out about and felt passionate about in the fall, and he got our whole group of students really excited! After narrowing down our many ideas, the name Rocket Rapids was chosen due to the speed and exciting twists and turns people will experience when they ride.”

She added, “To have a contest like this where community members can contribute to naming a huge new ride is really amazing! It was something that brought our homeroom class closer together. We could not be more excited! Thank you!”

Students Will Be Honored
The students in the winning class will receive commemorative T-shirts from Quassy as well as individual passes to visit the park this summer.

Rocket Rapids is currently under construction as Quassy’s Splash Away Bay Waterpark and is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend with the other wet attractions. Quassy Amusement Park’s rides open April 23. 

The largest single investment in the park’s 114-year history, the raft ride will propel two-person rafts uphill by using water jets along its twisting, diving course. Riders will accelerate on high-banked turns known as FlyingSAUCERS.  ProSlide Technology Inc. of Canada is providing the attraction, which is the first of its genre in the state.

Having youngsters chime in on naming a major ride at Quassy is nothing new to the family-owned business. In 2011 dozens of entries poured in when the landmark property was constructing its first wooden roller coaster. Of the of entries received, two schools were selected as winners for submitting Wooden Warrior.

“As with Wooden Warrior, we plan on having a plaque at Rocket Rapids honoring the students who named it,” Frantzis said. “It will be exciting for us to present the T-shirts and passes and to have those students visit us this summer.”

For more information about Quassy Amusement & Waterpark, visit www.quassy.com.