Park People
www.parkworld-online.com
Who are your clients – the parks or coaster manufacturers?
For 70% of the time we work directly with the manufacturers, but in a growing number of cases we work with the parks. For example, in 2007/8 we did the mine train (Mammut) at Gardaland and the Vekoma coaster at Tibidabo directly for the park. We always work in close co- operation with manufacturer, but often it can work out more affordable this way for the park.
Do you only install rollercoasters?
Mostly, because coasters have the most jobs to do. However, when a park already has a good relationship with us, we get asked to do other things. At Terra Mitica, for example, we assembled a spinning coaster, but then they gave us the order to assemble a panoramic tower they had bought from Heide Park because we were already there. Then we relocated a Suspended Looping Coaster from one side of the park to the other. We often do things for the park that they did not consider at first. When they are selling a ride, often the deal includes relocation and installation, so we do that as well as they usually do not have the necessary staff or huge scope of equipment that we have.
What could parks do to make your job easier?
Get us into the project as early as possible and to keep the promises when it comes to construction work. We are dependent on the groundwork and foundations.
What is the biggest challenge – the ride or the site?
Every time is different, but very often the site is the challenge. As we work with some of the premier manufacturers, usually we are very well supported. The launch coaster we did at Tusenfryd in 2006 was the third attraction of its kind that RCS had done for Intamin, but it was a very challenging installation because of the rocky terrain and Norwegian winter!
What have been some of the most challenging installations?
In Lebanon some years ago we installed all of the rides at Habtoorland – on a very big hill. That was a very challenging site and after that we thought anything was acceptable! In Abu Dhabi, at Ferrari World, the site was easy, very flat, but due to local regulations and the climate it was hard work. In the summer we had over 50ºC heat and 80% humidity! I was really proud of my guys for doing a good job in such conditions. At Power Park in Finland we installed a Vekoma coaster in minus 30ºC. It was so cold my foreman’s coffee froze to the crane! I gave the staff special clothes for working and my Polish guys asked, “Are we going to war?”
What are you working on at the moment?
We recently finished the new coaster at Alton Towers. As for upcoming projects, let’s just say that we will be spending a lot of time in Rome over the next year, assembling a number of coasters and other attractions.
Now that we have the second container village we can also do more in the Middle East, and even Asia and the United States. In the current economic climate I imagine we will be doing a lot more relocation and servicing of attractions.
www.rcsgmbh.eu
28
APRIL 2010
LEGOLAND D
Merlin comes to Manchester
The latest Legoland Discovery Centre opened last month in the English city of Manchester, marking Merlin Entertainments’ first new attraction in the UK for almost a decade. Owen Ralph reports
T
his, the fourth Legoland Discovery Centre (LDC) worldwide, was built at a cost of around £7.5 million ($11.2m/€8.3m) at the Trafford Centre, a shopping mall and leisure destination that already attracts over 35 million annual visits. Merlin deal with mall’s owners, The Peel Group, was signed in early 2009, and construction began in September, in anticipation of a March 22 opening. The 3,500 square metre facility boasts capacity for 600 visitors at a time and the target is for up to 300,000 annual guests, in line with other Legoland Discovery Centres. Early indications are good. An intense inauguration period witnessed full bookings for the first week, with strong demand anticipated over the Easter holidays that followed. After debuting the LDC concept at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin during 2007, followed by subsequent openings in Duisburg, Germany, and Schaumburg near Chicago (both in 2008), Merlin has refined the model with its arrival in Manchester. “When we did Berlin, we were targeting a mix of tourists and local residents,” explains Glenn Earlam, Merlin Entertainments’ managing director of “Midway” attractions – those intended as a two to three hour visit. “What we have since realised is that the audience is more local, a one to two-hour drive time.”
Earlam adds, “it is no accident that LDC three and four – Chicago and Manchester – are both in big shopping malls. They benefit from things like great access and free parking, very important if your market is mostly young kids. Other new openings are likely to be in similar developments within reasonably affluent and highly populous suburbs.” Located in the north west of England, Manchester is one of the country’s largest cities after London and Birmingham. It boasts a
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