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Leisure Management - Need for Speed
Rides
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| Need for Speed
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We look at five multi-million-dollar rollercoasters
that have recently embarked on their maiden rides
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INTAMIN
Yukon Quad
Parc Le Pal
France
At the beginning of April, Parc Le Pal in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Besbre, France, launched its biggest ever attraction, Yukon Quad. Themed like a string of all-terrain vehicles, Intamin’s Family Launch Coaster covers a whole kilometre of track.
With ride theming creating a journey through a wild Canadian landscape, the quads launch at speeds of 65kph, with riders experiencing a G-force of up to 3G.
The rollercoaster travels up, drops down, and winds its way along close to the ground, intensifying the feeling of speed. The coaster’s second launch reaches almost 90kph, following a series of tight bends and hills and an S-hump before the ride comes to an end.
“We’ve invested 10 million euros in this new attraction, that is to say 50 per cent of our turnover from 2017,” Parc Le Pal CEO Arnaud Bennet told local press. “That’s 5 million euros more than Twist, our most expensive attraction, built in 2011. So, we hope for a nice return on investment. Thanks to Yukon, we are expecting 50,000 additional visitors this year.”
The ride uses Intamin’s cutting-edge friction wheel drive system and features an upright seating position. It’s one of only three coasters of its kind in the world.
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North Canada’s wilderness inspired
the ride theming |
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| North Canada’s wilderness inspired
the ride theming |
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MACK RIDES
TIME TRAVELLER
Silver Dollar City
Branson, Missouri
Time Traveller, billed as the world’s fastest, steepest and tallest spinning coaster, delivers 360-degree controlled spins as the vehicle moves, meaning every ride experience is different from the last.
The Herschend-owned and run theme park invested of $26m in the new double launch ride, and in return is able to boast an attraction with top speeds of 80kph, a 10-storey, 90-degree vertical drop, a top height of 30 metres; and a dive loop, vertical loop and a zero-G roll making up its three inversions. The 920-metre track crosses over itself 14 times in total.
“This coaster’s state-of-the-art controlled spin provides riders a unique thrill experience while still appealing to families,” says Brad Thomas, president of Silver Dollar City Attractions. “Time Traveller is a revolutionary coaster ahead of its time.”
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Time Traveller starts with an immediate, out-of-the-station,
gravity-driven 90-degree drop |
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| Time Traveller starts with an immediate, out-of-the-station,
gravity-driven 90-degree drop |
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| Time Traveller starts with an immediate, out-of-the-station,
gravity-driven 90-degree drop |
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GREAT COASTERS INT.
Wicker Man
Alton Towers
Alton, UK
Alton Towers’ highly anticipated Wicker Man ride opened in March, the theme park’s first wooden coaster, which boasts a six-storey flaming centrepiece and is the first such ride to combine wood and fire effects.
Operator Merlin Entertainments used Great Coasters International to build and install the £16m ride. Holovis created the pre-show and queue line, which feature extensive theming and elaborate projection mapping, while Picsolve supplied the photo-capture solution.
“We started to come up with themes that made the most of wood as a material,” says Bradley Wynne, creative lead at Merlin Magic Making. “We thought it was interesting that people really love that combination of wood and fire and so we began to think about how we could recreate that somehow in a safe way. That was the challenge – how to set a wooden coaster on fire and for it to be safe.”
The 618-metre wooden coaster features a blazing 20-metre-tall wicker man that bursts into flames on three occasions during the course of the ride. Featuring a lift hill and 22-metre drop, the ride lasts about three and a half minutes.
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Wicker Man also has a themed area around the attraction, with a shop, games unit and kiosk |
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| Wicker Man also has a themed area around the attraction, with a shop, games unit and kiosk |
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| Wicker Man also has a themed area around the attraction, with a shop, games unit and kiosk |
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MACK
RIDES
ICON
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Blackpool, UK
Mack Rides’ ICON – the UK’s first ever double launch rollercoaster – opened in May, marking a £16m investment for Blackpool Pleasure Beach in north England.
Riders board copper gold carriages, crafted from German steel, and are fired out of a tunnel, with the layout of the rollercoaster navigating in and out of the theme park’s other rides multiple times. The 1.14km grey steel track boasts a high point of 27 metres, with drops of up to 25 metres.
“We have been on an incredible journey building this rollercoaster, seeing its towering presence on the park and entwining with some of our most popular rides. It really has been epic,” says Amanda Thompson, the attraction’s managing director. “It’s a smooth but exhilarating ride like no other rollercoaster in the world.”
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German steel is manufactured using cutting-edge engineering processes for a smoother ride |
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ZAMPERLA
Thunderchariot
Discovery Kingdom
Dalian, China
Italian ride maker Zamperla recently opened its third Thunderbolt coaster, at Haichang’s Dalian Discovery Kingdom in Liaoning province, China. The rollercoaster follows a fairytale theme inkeeping with the design of the area in park.
Named Thunderchariot by Dalian Discovery Kingdom, riders traverse the 675-metre track in one of four, nine-seater vehicles, reaching speeds of up to 85kph.
Zamperla has installed its Thunderbolt ride at Luna Park, New York, and OWA theme park in Foley, Alabama. A fourth is to open at Mason Robotland in South Korea.
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Thunderchariot is the third of Zamperla’s Thunderbolt installations |
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| Thunderchariot is the third of Zamperla’s Thunderbolt installations |
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| Originally published in Attractions Management 2018 issue 2
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