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P16


Park Word


MAY 2016


4 Park Hoppin’ Paul Ruben at Walt Disney World


5 Front Gate Industry facts, figures, questions and answers


6-22 Park News Your monthly round-up


24 Asian Attractions Expo Show preview


25 DEAL & RAAPA Expo Show reviews


26-27 TEA in Dubai Trip review


28-29 Dino Water Park Profile


30 Austin Heights Water & Adventure Park Profile


32-33 Walt Disney World 2016 Resort update


34-35 Wizarding World of Harry Potter Hollywood Attraction profile


36-37 Big One at The Big Sheep Ride profile


38-46 Media-Based Attractions Special feature


48-51 Latin America Lowdown Park updates


57 Show Guide Calendar


58 Web Guide Online resources


THIS MONTH’S COVER SHOT: Following a soft launch last spring, Thailand’s Dino Water Park is preparing for an official opening this summer after a major expansion by Polin Waterparks. Pictured here is the park’s Space Boat attraction, but many more are on the way including the Turkish manufacturer’s first MagiCone funnel slide. See page 28.


www.polin.com.tr P38 P34 P18


Appearing recenty in court, Merlin Entertainments admitted to breaches of the UK Health & Safety Act in relation to the infamous Smiler rollercoaster crash at its British park Alton Towers in June of last year. Sixteen people were hurt and two suffered leg amputations following the accident. Images subsequently released to the media by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) showed how the front part of the car in which the amputees were riding was crushed forward when it collided with a static car after an operative overrode the ride's control system. Merlin will face sentencing soon at Stafford Crown


Court. District Judge John McGarva has susggested that, “There is no limit to the extent of the harm a court could impose.” The company is also likely to pay out millions directly to the victims. This incident, which has attracted more media attention


than any amusement park accident I can remember (even fatal ones) inevitably had an effect on Merlin's share price and the peformance of the group's Resort Theme Parks division, which Alton Towers is part of. Yet interestingly, The Smiler was still the second most popular ride at Alton Towers in terms of queue times when I visited the park after Easter. The number one was Galactica, the park's relaunched B&M Flying Coaster formerly known as Air, and now equipped with VR headsets and a storyline involving space travel. This is the second virtual reality rollercoaster I've ridden, following Mack Rides' trials at Fun Spot in Orlando during IAAPA Attractions Expo in November. I think I preferred that version, but this may have been because I had just enjoyed a pre-ride ‘snifter’ courtesy of the free bar laid on by Mack and Great Coasters International. What both experiences reminded me, as do most media-based attractions or special effects-laden movies, is that I'm not a big fan of CGI (computer-generated imagery). However accompished the animation, however high the definition, my brain knows it's not real and so I can only ever be immsersed into the action to a limited degree. Nevertheless, media-based attractions are on the rise at parks of all size. As you can read in our special feature starting on page 38, we've come a long way from the Cinema 180, and even 3D/4D theatres seem quite primitive these days to some. Maybe we'll only really be able to truly become part of the story once the 3D glasss or VR headsets are no longer required.


Owen Ralph – editor


Editor: Owen Ralph (+44 161 438 2934) parkworld@btopenworld.com


North American Editor: Paul Ruben (+1 585 381 1012) parkw@rochester.rr.com


Contributors this issue: Dr Jack Samuels, Jonathan Bonner, Astrid Gonzalez


Sales Manager: Mark Burgess (+44 1622 699124) mburgess@datateam.co.uk


Publication Manager: Jacqui Hunter (+44 1622 699106) jhunter@datateam.co.uk


Publishing Director: Paul Ryder pryder@datateam.co.uk


Managing Director: Parvez Kayani p.kayani@datateam.co.uk


Publication Secretary: MAY 2016 • ISSN 1462-4796


© Copyright 2015. All materials in this publication remain the copyright of Datateam Business Media Ltd and no part of it may be reproduced without the written permission of the proprietors. A request to insert an advertisement is deemed to be an acceptance of Datateam Business Media Ltd’s conditions of trading, copies of which are available on request.


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