Ride Profile
www.parkworld-online.com HIGH FIVE! MVR salutes OCT
The brief from OCT was a simple one according to Chuck Bingham, partner at Martin & Vleminckx Rides (MVR): “Design a racing coaster that is unusual and will be the number one wood coaster in China and Asia, if not the world”
F
aced with this challenge, Martin & Vleminckx Rides – the Canadian company that sold and built Dragon Wings – asked The Gravity Group to design something that had never been done before and Chad Miller of the American firm obliged with the “High Five.” This signature feature sees the two coaster tracks meeting one another at a 90º angle, allowing riders in opposing trains to salute one another as they pass. High five indeed!
Set to open any day now, the new ride is one of the headline attractions at the fifth park in the Happy Valley chain from leading Chinese park and recreation provider OCT. It follows the introduction in 2009 of Fireball, China’s first wooden coaster (also by MVR/Gravity Group), at Happy Valley Shanghai. Dragon Wings, meanwhile, is the country’s first duelling wooden coaster. As well as the High Five sequence, it also features many crossovers sections,
The signature High Five element
Building the Dragon
Due to be signed off by Martin & Vleminckx on March 29, Dragon Wings was constructed over a 10-month period, which ran relatively smoothly. “The labour and equipment supplied in China is surprisingly qualified,” notes MVR director Chuck Bingham. “The only issue is keeping people as the contractors have many projects and demands, so often workers get moved around.” Park World can’t wait to see this amazing ride open!
APRIL 2012 29
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