Park People
parkworld-online.com LEFT: A ProSlide designer at work
Your Tornado and Bowl slides (and various hybrid combinations) are among the industry's most striking big attractions yet until 10-15 years ago most waterparks were still installing traditional tube slides. What has spurred the innovation in new attractions in recent years, and why do you think it took so
long to get to where we are now? Innovation is ProSlide’s DNA. In the early 90s we introduced the first family rafting with the ProSlide MAMMOTH, the first u-shape of speed slides, the first multi-lane racing with ProSlide ProRACER, the first mini tubing rides for kids… the list goes on. We’ve been innovating since day one, driving the industry forward. If you look at our innovation timeline on our website you’ll see that the story doesn’t start with our Tornado.
What has been the response to your RocketBLAST water coasters? How are they better than your LIM coasters? I wouldn’t say they’re better, they’re both thrilling rides, but they’re certainly altogether different rides. The HydroMAGNETIC rides are absolutely the elite – the most powerful, fastest and technologically advanced water ride attractions of all time. And LIM technology is certainly no slouch, powerful enough to move even eight-person rafts with seemingly zero effort. Those are hourly capacities rivalling roller coasters! The difference? Quicker, bigger and steeper. RocketBLAST coasters are absolutely the most powerful water propulsion water rides in the world. It’s a similar ride experience to the HM technology, and so much more efficient than
the previous applications of the technology, but it is a different ride: quick turns, big drops and steep hills.
How easy is it to protect your designs? We’ve protected our investments and technologies with design patents worldwide. We’ve invested more capital into R&D than any other ride manufacturer; it’s important to us, and to our customers, that we protect our work (and their investment).
Is it possible to make big attractions such as Tornados/Bowls/ hybrid slides and water coasters pay at waterparks that are only open for a few months a year? As you know, park attendance records indicate healthy ROI in a seasonal environment. There is more leisure time with kids out of school and often parents taking time off work. Theme parks and waterparks thrive in these situations; the model has been proven to work. In those situations, our big attractions – such as the ProSlide TORNADO, BOWLs and Hybrid rides – are the biggest draw, the anchor attractions for the park, and often the reason the guests go in the first place.
Several waterparks in recent years have added flume rides/rollercoasters etc, and one of your biggest competitors now has a dedicated rides division. Will ProSlide remain exclusively a slide manufacturer? We know that the future of waterparks is great, innovative water rides. That’s where our focus will remain. We lead the industry with our arsenal of rides and our product roadmap is four years out. We’re not concerned – at all – with how others are focused.
proslide.com
RIGHT: ProSlide can masterplan entire waterparks as well as designing slides BELOW: This FlyingSaucer attraction at Siam Park in Tenerife is one of ProSlide’s recent showpiece installations
ProSlide projects
Rick Hunter founded ProSlide in 1986 and is responsible for designing many of its key products including the Tornado, HydroMagnetic, CannonBowl and Behemoth Bowl. In 2016, the company has been been involved with nearly 60 projects, five of which are entire waterparks of 10 or more rides.
RIGHT: Rick Hunter (in the foreground) rides one of his slides with long-serving colleague Jeff Janovich
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