Popeye's Barges.... without water?

Last week we had the rare opportunity of seeing most of Popeye and Bluto's "track"... waterless (because of some minor technical problems)!!

It's rare because the only times they drain the river is because of seasonal maintenance, and during that time you can't go all around the place, as Universal has to close the whole area in that case....

So, enjoy these "behind the scenes" look at one of the best (IF NOT THE BEST) water ride in the entire world, "Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-rat Barges"!

Let's begin with a look at the starting ramp:

The water is mostly drained in the lake (that is, by the way, the source for two water attractions of IOA... can you guess which is the second one?):

No water!:

This part of the ride needs to be painted. Last winter they had a refurb, but it was not repainted:

Bluto tricked us too much:

The usually extremely crazy river is now a calm and peaceful swamp:

Now, this is not something you get to see all the time:

There's actually a ramp in the slow section of the ride!:

You can even see the support for the signs near the track:

This has to be a Rip Tide:

The sharks are still alive!:

But, where are all the barges??:

Aaaaah, here they are:

You can see the signs of more barges on the floor!:

This needs to be cleaned too:

Once I finished to take pictures, I told the managers to start put water again. And they did (Just kidding, of course!):

Nice.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this out-of-the-ordinary update! See you next time, with more pictures and news about, well... any theme park! Please, comment! Thanks!