Park News Extra
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Flying Fury
Until 2004, Euro Park Idroscalo was more like a “Luna Park” than a theme park – a carnival-style presentation with travelling rides, but then came a change of ownership and the introduction of unusual attractions like Flying Fury. Now, to mark 10 years under its present owners, the park near Milan has just re-launched a tower ride with a unique history. Matteo Crepaldi was one of the first to climb on board ‘Condor 2.0’.
Condor flies again O
A Star is born
riginally opened in 1965, Euro Park Idroscalo takes its name from its adjacent artificial lake which was created in the 1920s as a landing place for seaplanes and it is now a summer getaway location for people living in Milan, or those escaping the city entirely at the nearby Linate airport. Against this backdrop, it seemed only fitting when the park launched Flying Fury by Technical Park in 2007, an interactive looping plane ride that now one of only two in the world (the other at Tivoli in Copenhagen). Now, for 2014, the star of the show is a ride which has a quite long history, starting in 1986 when it opened as a Condor at Phantasialand, Germany. Manufactured by Huss, it featured 28 gondolas carrying two passenger each, offering them a spinning experience up to 32 metres in the sky. But now it has been reborn. The ride arrived in Italy in 2009, having been removed from Phantasialand three years earlier to make way for a Huss Top Spin. Soon after the opening at Euro Park Idroscalo, a new idea started to take shape: transform the towering construction into a Star Flyer, a type of attraction that has become more and more popular in recent years. With this goal in mind, a number of Italian ride manufacturers were approached and work began last November.
The ride still bears the name of its previous owner on the tower
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The four arms and gondolas were replaced by Nuova Elektron and Safety Attraction with a circular steel structurr. With new seats by Metalpark. At the moment there are 12 double seats offering total capacity for 24 passengers but, if successful, the number of seats can be doubled to 48. The restraints are a three point car- style seat belt, and a horizontal steel bar fixed by a rubber covered safety chain to the seat. When all the riders are secured, the circular structure is raised to a height of approximately 10m, where it stops for a few seconds before starting to spin slowly
and climb again towards the top of the tower. When the highest point is reached, the rotation speed is increased to its maximum level. From the top, the view is quite amazing and on a good day it is possible to see the skyline of Milan with all its new skyscrapers and even the snow covered peaks of the Alps. After one minute at the top, the ride slows down again and begins its descent, with another 10m pause on the way down. Overall the cycle lasts three-and-a-half minutes but it can be manually overridden to offer a longer (or shorter) ride depending on the number of guests in the park, who pay for rides using tickets.
An interesting fact it that the ride’s modification is completely reversible so, if required by future owners, it can easily be transformed back to its original configuration as a Condor. But, for now, it enjoys the distinction of being Italy’s first Star Flyer style attraction – a fun ride which can be enjoyed by the whole family, as well as an inspiration for other parks that might be looking for a cheap way to improve their current attraction line-up.
lunaeuropark.it
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