Dark Rides
www.parkworld-online.com
XD Dark Ride: five years on
Triotech has been creating immersive and interactive media-based attractions for the entertainment market for the past decade. Five years ago, the XD Dark Ride was launched – winning the IAAPA Brass Ring Award for Best New Product, and changing the face of location-based attractions by opening high quality media-based rides to a wider market of FECs, amusement parks and leisure outlets. Park World spoke to Christian Martin
How have you ensured the XD Dark Ride has remained a success? Firstly it is the availability of several different content options, meaning operators can offer different experiences to their guests. Secondly there is interactivity. Guests actively participate in the experience. Another key factor is the group experience factor: FEC and amusement park visitors want to participate in out-of-home group activities. Every one of these factors ultimately drives repeat visits from guests, which in turn ensure a quick and solid return on investment for the operator.
How do you keep it affordable for operators? The XD Dark Ride is probably the single most successful media-based interactive simulator ever launched on the market. We have close to 200 installed around the world, and the fact that the attraction ‘renews itself’ with new adventures becoming available means the operator can always offer something new without investing in a completely new attraction. What’s more, the durability is exemplary: to this date we have no systems that have been ‘retired’ from the market.
What are the challenges of operation and maintenance? The crux of the attraction is in software, which is supported via the web so that updates can be
managed remotely by Triotech’s customer service team. Other maintenance is done by the operator. It is simple mechanical preventive maintenance that requires no specialized training or tools. For operation, it is even simpler. The operation is desktop based - you just seat the people and then select the movie through an icon menu.
Do you find that it translates well between countries? We adapt the experience to different audiences through the content, which is developed in our own 3D animation studio. We have complete control over it, which is key as interactive attractions are different to non-interactive ‘ride-only’ simulators. Engaging the audience requires specialized know-how, which we have developed over the years. The desire to have fun in group experiences is universal across cultures. This attraction delivers that.
How can it be adapted for different locations, for example different sized or shaped venues? Room size and shape often dictate some customization of the installation. This is where our engineers, technical team and installation specialists get involved. The most common difference is the self- supporting structure, which in effect creates a complete attraction that can be ‘dropped-in’ in any interior location. If the room is too small or features a
challenging shape, then we install all the components without the structure and complete the set-up so that the operator has an optimum installation.
What has been your most challenging installation of the XD Dark Ride and why? We have seen many over the years. One of the most memorable one was at Lotte World in South Korea. The room available had extremely low ceilings for such an attraction - in fact it was previously a restaurant. On top of that, this installation was for 40 seats! We had to create a custom screen and reconfigure the projection and layout. In the end it has been a very successful installation that runs at high capacity within this world-class park. We have also had some very successful installations on cruise ships. The cruise ship industry is booming and the various players are looking at ways to entertain their guests on board. Media-based attractions provide a renewable offering in a small footprint. Furthermore, they do not require a lot of human resources to operate, especially when compared to a live show for instance.
Do you have plans to update the specifications of the ride for the future? As a matter of fact we do and we will be presenting something at IAAPA in November 2018. We cannot discuss the specifics at this time but stay tuned…
AUGUST 2018
35
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