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As guests wind their way through Donkey Kong Country within the Jungle of Pixels, they will come across the queue for Donkey Kong Barrel Blast at the base of DK Mountain. The mountain is a life size replica of the volcanic mountain from Mario Kart fame. Named after the Wii racing game of the same name, this fun filled coaster will provide riders a Kong’s eye view of the jungle and mountain that dominates the view.
Using a newer design from S&S, the attraction will be an inverted family coaster in the mold of Dutch Wonderland’s Merlin’s Mayhem that opened in 2018, though a much more detailed presentation in keeping with the Disney parks. The design includes numerous directional changes, helixes and near misses among the treetops to generate plenty of excitement. With a max speed of 41mph and height of 70 feet with no inversions, it still allows for a modest height requirement of 40” allowing most members of the family to enjoy and a solid "D" Ticket attraction for the park.
Upon entering the queue, guests will notice things slightly overgrown as the path is seemingly one with the surroundings. A few banana trees just out of reach give a hint just who is nearby. As with the attraction itself, a number of video game style prop trees are dispersed throughout mixing in with the natural elements to help provide good foliage and a jungle feel year-round. Strewn about the path in various spots, stacks of barrels of all sizes and colors can be seen. Barrels with arrows, red ones with targets, and exploded barrels are arranged in no apparent organized plan. Small handmade signs: DK BARREL TOURS THIS WAY dot the queue path.
Halfway through the queue, a large, wooden boarded structure begins to come into greater focus. A large makeshift sign shows you have arrived at the business, DK Barrel Tours, and the boarding station for the coaster
After many a day in the Jungle Grand Prix and untold number of races, Donkey Kong, and several of the other Kongs have set up shop at DK Mountain. Using what they know best, Barrel Blasters, they have turned their racing passion into an unforgettable tour of their world, if albeit a little bit slower.
The coaster station itself is certainly unique. Made from the Kong’s bare hands and feet, it utilizes all manner of trees and vines to create a habitable structure. Inside the station is a testament to their racing prowess. Racing posters from Mammoth Glacier, Salty Sea and others dot the walls while spare bongo blasters, pineapple launchers and wild elixir bottles fill out the space from which they operate their tours. In the corner, the static figure of Cranky Kong rests not so quietly.
As indicated, this will be an inverted family coaster, so the track will be overhead with riders riding in banana yellow bucket seats. Completing the rocket powered bongo look, bongos will be built into the casing helping to hide some of the coaster piece itself and pull off the similar appearance from the game.
The coaster track itself totals 570 feet with 85 seconds in duration. Utilizing the DK Mountain as a base, the track is laid out to take advantage of the mountain but also not block much of the view of it from across Jungle of Pixels and other areas of Digital Kingdom. With its coaster station and lift hill positioned behind the mountain towards the back of the park, guests get a Kong's eye view of Kongo River Run as the ride reaches the peak of the initial lift hill. As the coaster makes it is first turn and decent, the views shifts back towards the center of the park and Sugar Rush castle making for a great sight before dropping into the ride.
For an early sneak peek at the attraction footprint and rider POV, enjoy this exclusive first look at Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast!
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