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Sea Life Kansas Cantilevered Coaster
Merlin Entertainments is to open a Sea Life aquarium in Kansas City, its fifth such outlet in the USA, which will open next spring on the first floor of Halls department store at Crown Center.
The $15 million (€1m) attraction is being developed together with Crown Center Redevelopment Corp, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, and will and will be built without any tax incentives.
Initial plans call for a two-storey aquarium housing more than 30 displays of diverse marine life. A centrepiece of the attraction will be a huge tropical ocean tank with a walk-through underwater tunnel. Reflecting the local area, visitors will enjoy an enthralling 2-3 hour journey from the fresh waters of the Missouri River into the mighty Mississippi River then out into the warm blue coral strewn waters of the Caribbean Sea, ending in the deep dark abyss of the Atlantic Ocean.
“North America is a very important growth market for Merlin,” says the company’s managing director of “Midway” attractions, Glenn Earlam. “Our belief that the Kansas City metropolitan area, and particularly Crown Center, is a perfect location for a quality family-based leisure facility. We are therefore delighted to be able to move our plans forward.” Crown Center is already acknowledged as one of Kansas City’s most important retail and entertainment locations, combining big name retail stores with dining, hotels, office space and residential development. Sea Life is the world’s biggest aquarium brand with more than eight million visitors a year at 30 attractions in Europe, USA and Asia Pacific.
Tokyo DisneySea is 10
Japan’s Tokyo DisneySea Park will be celebrating its 10th anniversary with a two-month event starting next month.
The “Be Magical!” celebrations kick off with a new after dark spectacular called Fantasmic! where Mickey Mouse, aka the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, will create a world of fantasy and imagination on the waters of Mediterranean Harbor. Other entertainment includes A Table is Waiting, a musical revue at Dockside Stage in front of the SS Columbia. A new character greeting facility called Mickey & Friends’ Greeting Trails will open
at Lost River Delta, where guests will be able to meet Mickey Mouse, Minnie and Goofy in anniversary costumes (as pictured). Special merchandise, restaurant menus and decorations will also feature throughout the park. Be Magical! runs from April 23 to June 30.
New at Walt Disney World
A "soft adventure" and three new entertainment experiences will debut during 2011 at Walt Disney World in Florida. Wild Africa Trek at Disney's Animal Kingdom (pictured) will take a small group on guided personalised excursions across an animal-filled savannah, while new entertainment includes Disney Junior – Live on Stage! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which also gets a new parade in the shape of Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun.
MARCH 2011 13
Two American ride designers have joined forces to market a cantilevered rollercoaster system. Cantilevered Coaster Systems (CCS) and Setpoint Inc are offering a small to medium-size ride package at between $4-6 million. The two companies believe the novel coaster concept, which provides multi- axis accelerations via the cantilevered mechanism, will provide a family-oriented ride with an edge. Through the initial development of a more “restrained” ride, they predict larger and faster systems can more easily be evolved. The first of the two track layouts under consideration is a semi-flat, constant- drive configuration lending itself to themed dark-ride/coaster style attractions. The second layout is a “wild mouse” style configuration employing a single lift hill. Utilising this layout in conjunction with the CRC’s vertical and lateral ranges of motion, various thrilling and perilous head and side-knocker “close calls” would be created. An hourly capacity of around 1,000 is promised utilising either two or four-seater ride vehicles. In March 2010, the cantilvered coaster was declared “one of the best unbuilt thrill rides” by Wired magazine.
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