Park News
parkworld-online.com
Wildfire
Merlin’s Kolmården's statement-making coaster
12 airtime hills (four with negative G). With a layout devised by famed coaster engineer Alan Schilke, Wildfire will be built by Rocky Mountain using the same patented technology as Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City in the United States. Custom-designed 24-seater trains will be supplied, providing hourly capacity for up to 960 passengers, who must be at least 1.2m to ride. Swedish lumber will be used in the construction of the ride. Rocky Mountain’s European
When they added a family coaster just a few years ago, Kolmården’s owners highlighted that the Swedish attraction is more than just an animal park. Now, however, Parks & Resorts Scandinavia (PRS) is likely to win the venue international recognition thanks to the addition of a mammoth new wooden coaster. Get ready for Wildfire. Enjoying the distinction of becoming Europe's fastest woodie, as well as the tallest and fastest in Scandinavia, the SEK110 million ($16.5m/$12m) ride will be the first outside America to be built by Texas-based Rocky Mountain Construction. Work will begin on site this summer ahead of a planned spring 2016 opening.
At the top of the first climb, passengers will be a whopping 132 metres (435m) above the blue waters of Bråviken bay (the lift hill itself is 57m/187ft), with a fantastic view over Kolmården’s beautiful woodland scenery. At the crest, the view suddenly gives way as the train plunge 49m (161ft) down towards the bottom of the ravine at an 83° angle in freefall. The speed will pass 110 km/h (71mph) as riders approach the start of the next ascent and enter an ‘inverted zero G stall’ – weightlessness! The train will then speed onwards through the woods on its 1.3km (4,266ft) journey, featuring three inversions and
agent is Vekoma, which supplied Kolmården’s Delfinexpressen family coaster in 2009. “We have taken elements of some of the world’s best rollercoasters and added new ideas to create a unique ride, says PRS ride manager, Peter Osbeck. “The result is Wildfire, a ride with so much air time, action and intensity that it has no equal. The two-minute ride through Kolmården’s dramatic terrain high above the waters of Bråviken bay, will make it the world’s best wooden coaster." The name Wildfire, as well as having a nice ring to it, has a link to the local area as wildfires helped shaped its landscape and have been critical to the unique biodiversity that has been preserved in the area until this day. Along with other new investments, including the Bamses Värld children’s land planned for 2015, Parks & Resorts Scandinavia aims to position Kolmården as one of Sweden’s top destination resorts. Located about 90 minutes south west of Stockholm, the venue features animal exhibits including the award-winning Kolmården Safari cable car, Marine World, Tiger World and its own hotel.
kolmarden.com
Orlando plans
“The success of Legoland Florida has underlined to us the potential for Merlin’s high quality global attractions in Central Florida, and particularly in Orlando,“ notes Merlin Entertainments chief executive Nick Varney.
In spring 2015, the world’s second largest visitor attraction operator will open three new outlets off International Drive as part of the Orlando Eye development (previously referred to as I-Drive Live). As the name hints, an observation wheel will be one of them, together with a Madame Tussauds attraction and Sea Life aquarium. The wheel, under construction by Unicorp, will be of a cantilevered design, standing 425ft (130m) tall at the heart of the complex. A smaller sister to Merlin’s famous London Eye, it will offer views of Central Florida in all directions within 30 fully enclosed, air-conditioned glass capsules, each accommodating up to 16 passengers. Based upon a 22-minute ride time, the maximum hourly capacity will be just over 1,300 – not bad when one considers the 1,120 capacity of the larger Las Vegas High Roller (see page 22). The attraction is reported to cost $90 million to build. Madame Tussauds, the celebrity wax attraction, will provides visitors with the “ultimate fame experience and signature red carpet treatment” by showcasing lifelike wax figures of the great and the good. Meanwhile Sea Life Orlando will offer displays of colourful fish, sharks, jellyfish, sea horses and more, combining winding tunnels, floor- to-ceiling tanks and bubble aquariums with unique educational components. “We believe that this is an exceptional group of attractions which will not only provide three quite different new experiences for visitors; but also together add an exciting new dimension to what is already available in the region,” says Varney. The Merlin boss describes Orlando as: “undoubtedly the best and most exciting location for family entertainment anywhere in the world.” Located midway along International Drive, on the former Mercado site between Charley’s Steak House and Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf, the Orlando Eye complex will also feature numerous shopping and dining opportunities. It will also give Merlin an opportunity to cross-sell Legoland Florida, which opened in 2011, less than an hour away in Winter Haven.
Wildfire, as it will appear alongside Delfinexpressen (in blue) and the surrounding woodland 8 MAY 2014
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