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Land Ahoy! Merlin goes pirate crazy
Pirates are an enduring theme for parks and attractions across the globe and this season Merlin Entertainments is introducing them to even more of its properties. Pirate’s Landing at Legoland Windsor near London is the latest Pirate-
themed area at a Lego park, following installations in Denmark, Germany and California. Situated between Knights’ Kingdom and Land of the Vikings, the new look area has been created by re-themig several existing attractions and adding Jolly Rocker, an 18-metre-high Pirate Ship by Huss. Jolly Rocker, which previously operated at sister park Chessington World of Adventures, has been equipped with a set of themed pneumatic control gates courtesy of Garmendale Engineering Ltd (GEL). Built to meet Merlin’s rigorous safety standards, they are tough and reliable, capable or working continuously in all locations and conditions. Pirate Falls Dynamite Drench, the park’s 19-boat Log Flume, now features added effects, while Pirates Training Camp is a multi-level wood and rope play
area. Spread throughout Pirate’s Landing are almost 50 new Lego models, featuring nearly 80,000 toy bricks. Special events planned for the remainder of the season include a Legoland Live! show on July 17 and 18, Amazing Machines featuring Thomas the Tank engine on September 11 and 12, plus the annual end-of-season firework finale for three weekends starting October 23. Big things are planned at Legoland Windsor in the coming years, including the park’s first on-site hotel due to open in 2012. Pirate-themed areas already exist at two other Merlin’s parks in the UK, Mutiny Bay at Alton Towers and Pirates Cove at Chessington World of Adventure. At Heide Park in Northern Germany, Bucht der Totenkopfpiraten (Skull
Stunt show theming by TAA at Heide Park
Pirates’ Bay) features theming by TAA (Theming & Animatronic Industries), plus a new interactive boat ride by Mack. TAA landed the contract after retheming the park’s Maya Valley area in 2009. ToPiLauLa-Schlacht (the water ride) invites guests to fire water cannons at other passengers and spectators and features a 20-metre-long shipwreck, which guests pass through in the queue line and on the ride. Heavy cannons, real wooden planks and an impressive figurehead on the bow create a convincing effect. Heide Park’s old stunt show arena now has also been rethemed in keeping
with the new pirate area. Based around the backdrop of a boat, TAA has added authentic looking windows and doors, decorated many of the props used by the show’s performers and added new effects. The boat’s 11-metre-tall mast is visible throughout many areas of the park. Bucht der Totenkopfpiraten will be expanded further in 2011, as Heide Park
ToPiLauLa-Schlacht by Mack (theming by TAA) at Heide Park Kiah comes to Sea Life
Animalive, the British developer of live interactive theatres, is to roll out its Chatterbox Mini product to three more Sea Life centres in the UK following a successful trial in Brighton. Sea Life guests in Birmingham, Weymouth and Scarborough will be able to
have live conversations with Kiah, an animated turtle developed especially for operator Merlin Entertainments. The system works using motion capture, real time animation rendering
software and video recoding/mixing hardware. The original trial in Brighton was carried out last year under the direction general manager Max Levsiton, with the goal of entertaining guests while increasing awareness of Sea Life’s environmental efforts. “Not everyone will read a leaflet or poster, and certainly not children,”
notes Leviston. “When their favourite cartoon character tells them the difference they can make by recycling rubbish or being more efficient with energy they listen and take it all on board.”
Animalive worked
together with the Sea Life team to produce a variety of custom characters together with their back- stories and an interactive quiz. Sea Life currently has no mascot. If successful at the UK locations, the system could be rolled out to a further nine Sea Life outlets overseas.
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spends €10 million on an attraction new to the German market. Details to follow.
Garmendale enters new era
After expanding into new premises, Garmendale Engineering Ltd (GEL) is ready take on more work for its clients in the amusement industry. The British company, which has spend years working behind the scenes engineering, fabricating and refurbishing attractions for park operators, often as a subcontractor, now intends to more work under its own name. The move, to new offices just 40-metres away from GEL’s old premises in the
town of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, was overseen by Zoe Shelmerdine, partner of company managing director David Shelmerdine. Readers may also be interested to know that Shaun O’Brien is now on board as sales director. The additional space has allowed GEL to split the original workshop into a
separate fabrication area and electrical department, while keeping on the old offices as an expanded canteen and office for workers on the shop floor, whose workload has increased in recent years. A dedicate paint shop is now also available. Work this season already
has included control gates for TH13TEEN at Alton Towers and Jolly Rocker at Legoland Windsor. GEL is Merlin Entertainments’ preferred supplier of ride access gates and also helped the group install and relocate several attractions at Chessington World of Adventures as part of the rethemed Wild Asia area of the park.
Intsallation on the new Disk ‘O’ Coaster at Chessington World of Adventures
JUNE 2010
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