Dark Rides
www.parkworld-online.com
like. If we tell someone that they will be hunting a little mouse with chocolate cream, it sounds crazy doesn’t it? However, when they see the film and the characters they will see that it’s funny and become interested.
The office scene that greets riders on screen one
easily in the marketing. It’s not like a rollercoaster where you can say that the first drop will be so big, there will be a camelback and some other elements, and everyone can imagine what it will be
Scene by scene
Riders on Maus au Chocolat begin the experience by passing through a set of double doors that part to reveal the first of seven screens with scenes projected in 3D. The action starts at dusk as passengers find themselves in the accounts office. A scared accountant is running after the mice and holds up a target for the riders, but the mice keep taunting the players and getting in the way.
In scene two, riders find themselves in the storage room where mice can be seen playing among bags of flour, nuts, cake tins, wooden boxes and other props. Scene three is the kneading room, complete with a tiled floor and art deco walls. A mouse is hiding in a ladle and guests must take aim at him and the other rodents causing havoc in among the bubbling chocolate, caramel and marshmallow. Valves, switches, wheels and pressure gauges create a frantic backdrop to scene four, the baking room. Mice are running around opening valves and pushing buttons, all you have to do is stop them with your trusty icing bag. A wedding cake ready for decoration awaits riders in scene five, the finishing room. Standing on the conveyor belt are some more of those pesky mice, with their mouths open ready to taste the taste the chocolate cream. As two more sliding doors open to reveal the cold room in scene six, passengers feel a blast of cold air in their face. This Christmas-style scene may look nice, but it’s also the winter playground of the mice. Additional targets here include ice sculptures. The final scene is set inside the pastry shop, where the finished cakes are on sale …if the mice don’t get them first. At the end of the ride, a Hall of Fame displays the best scores, together with pictures of the riders, which are available for purchase of course.
AUGUST 2011
Since we opened the ride in June, our guests love it. Even people that have ridden [Disney’s] Toy Story Mania say that from a technical point of view and also for the decoration and the ambience, Maus au Chocolat is better. I would agree! The story is original and it is so funny with Oskar Koslowski, he is a real character. We have done some ringtones with Mr Koslowski that our guests can download to their smart phones and they are all laughing because of his Berlin accent. On Facebook our guests are sharing their scores with their friends. All this is good marketing for us. The attraction also has high potential for merchandise because everybody loves Mr Koslowski and the mice and want to take them home. The ride has been open now for a few weeks. At first we got a few teething troubles, but this is normal when you have something new and very complex like this. We had a very good working relationship with Alterface and ETF, and when there were problems they always came up with ideas. Now we are into the summer holidays, it is a reliable ride. We are very happy that we have found another creative, special attraction for our guests!
Birgit Reckersdrees was talking to Owen Ralph. To see the Maus au Chocolat trailer read this article online at
www.parkworld-online.com Oskar Koslowski ringtones and downloads of the ride’s theme tune and are available as a free download via the Phantasialand website.
www.phantasialand.de
Gustav E Lehmann the baker
Oskar Koslowski the pest controller
Those pesky mice!
Sweet statistics
Maus au Chocolat was created as a turnkey concept by 3DBA (3D Branded Attractions), using ride vehicles and track by ETF Ride Systems and interactive technology by Alterface. The 3D ride film was produced by Riva Digital with direction from the creative team of
Phantasialand. Theming of the attraction was completed in- house by Phantasialand. Although the ride is heavily themed, the media content is easily changeable and updatable. Here are some other facts and figures associated with this exciting attraction:
•Ride time: 6 minutes+ (7 scenes of approx 30 seconds shooting plus 14/15 seconds to move from scene to scene)
•Ride length: 159 metres +20 metres maintenance track
•Ride vehicles: 27 •Passengers per vehicle: 4 •Vehicles per train: 3
The baking room (scene four)
•Theoretical hourly capacity: 970 passengers
www.3DBA.com
31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40