Park News
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Thunder Falls Everland ups flume thrills and capacity
Korea’s busiest theme park, Everland outside Seoul, has replaced its 30-year-old flume ride with a brand new Super Flume from WhiteWater Attractions. Named Thunder Falls, it presents a win-win situation for Everland and its guests as it provides a longer ride for more passengers, and so higher throughput – as high as 1,400 per hour. The new eight-person boats (replacing earlier four-person versions) travel through almost half a kilometre of water channel (485m/1,591ft), taking in features such as 180° turntables and backwards drops. The stacked turntables allow the boat to pivot
in place instead of requiring an extra flume to turn the boat around and send it down the big drop. The efficient design takes up less space than the alternative and the motion of rotation creates anticipation for the riders. Thunder Falls is WhiteWater Attractions’ largest ride ever built in terms of the number of unique features integrated into the ride experience. “We’ve packed a huge number of fun features into the ride," declares Mark Miller,
flume ride specialist at WhiteWater Attractions. "The full 180 direction changes combined with varying degrees of drops, from 5m (16ft) up to a whopping 20 meters (66ft), create an experience that is full of surprises. This Super Flume will have guests lining up again and again.” Everland has been entertaining guests since it opened in 1976 and today ranks sixteenth busiest in the world, entertaining over 7 million guests annually.
Merlin meets DreamWorks
After partnering with DreamWorks to open a new Shrek indoor attraction last year in London, Merlin Entertainments has announced a raft of new branded experiences featuring IP from the popular animation studio. Kung Fu Panda is coming to Italy’s no.1 amusement park this season.
Gardaland’s new Kung Fu Academy, which opens in May (see picture), will offer an up-close and unforgettable experience following the footsteps of the heroes of the fun film trilogy by DreamWorks Animation. Set inside a Kung Fu- style village, children will be able to meet and dive into the world of Po, the charismatic giant panda figure and great martial arts fan, together with his friend Tigress. A key attraction here will be Kung Fu Panda Master, a spinning coaster by Fabbri. Also featured will be a colourful pagoda acting as a stage, a gift shop and sushi restaurant. Kung Fu Panda 3 will be in Italian cinemas from March 17. To mark the American release of the film, Madame Tussauds Orlando (part of the same Merlin attraction “cluster” as the Orlando Eye) now features a 160 pounds (73kg) Po the Panda figure for guests to pose next to along with all the other celebrity waxworks. Over in Germany, Heide Park is
getting ready to introduce its guests to the world of How To Train Your Dragon. The new Drachenzähmen – Die Insel (The Island) opens mid- Many and promises a dragon- training arena alongside rides and attractions included a custom-theme Zamperla Magic Bikes and more. Drachenzähmen themed rooms will also be offered inside the onsite Heide Park Abenteur hotel.
Arizona zoo takes a
Chance with new coaster The Wildlife World Zoo in Litchfield, Arizona, has opened a new expansion called Adventure Land, anchored by a family coaster from Chance Rides, which opened on February 1.
The custom-designed ride, which takes passengers through a primate exhibit
before scaling the 35ft (11 m) lift hill, features over 800ft (244 m) of track. The elevated track allows riders to view the animals below as they twist and turn at speeds of up to 25 mph (40kmh). More mild than wild, the coaster is designed for the whole family to ride together in the mine train style coaster train that holds up to 20 passengers . “Our long history of incorporating ride attractions with animals on display has
been very popular with our guests since the first African Safari Train experience took visitors through pastures filled with African gazelles, antelope, and birds more than 20 years ago,” notes Wildlife World owner, Mickey Ollson. “It only made sense to continue that successful approach with Adventure Land.” The coaster is not the only ride introduced to the zoo as part of the Adventure
Land expansion. Also featured are an ARM Vertigo (Star Flyer), Larson Flying Scooters and Soaring Eagle zip line.
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