Park Profile
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Always on point
Having worked with the Mack family for over 30 years in a range of high profile positions, Michael Kreft von Byern has been appointed director for Rulantica, a brand new waterpark opening on the doorstep of Europa-Park later this year. In an exclusive interview with Park World magazine, he shares his thoughts on the industry and gives readers a sneak peek of what is to come….
Has what the customer wants from their theme park and/or water park experience changed much over the years? Why? On the one hand, a number of basic customer needs and expectations have remained the same over decades, for example the desire for quality and highly themed park experiences. Mack Rides did a great job in providing us with fantastic newly developed attractions, which were always right on point to the customer expectations. On the other hand, some things have changed quite a lot. For example, the
trend for digitalisation and the use of state-of-the-art technology for us has resulted in the development of Coastiality – Mack Media s innovative concept. The co- operation with strong partners has resulted in fantastic new improvements in rides and storytelling. A great example is our inverted coaster Arthur, which has been themed in close collaboration with celebrated French film maker Luc Besson.
What are the biggest trends at the moment and what do you anticipate them to be over the next 5 years? Definitely, one of the biggest trends is the development from regional theme park to resort destination. Apart from that also individualisation, digitalisation, the use of strong brands, IP and last but not least, sustainable operation and innovation are trends which we will see more and more in the coming years.
What are the most popular rides at Europa-Park and why? As you know, we are in the very fortunate position that we work very closely with Mack Rides which is also owned by the Mack family. State-of-the-art attractions and the most modern technology are basically produced in-house by our colleagues at Mack Rides. Some of the most popular rides are surely our ‘blue fire Megacoaster’ with the catapult start from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, ‘Arthur’ with its beautiful theming and its award winning ride system and our newly reimagined ‘Eurosat CanCan Coaster’, which combines two attractions in one, because our visitors can choose between the rollercoaster ride or the Coastiality VR version which brings yet another world novelty – the ‘free roaming’ VR queue line experience.
Will the industry be affected by Brexit? In a global world only a united Europe can play an important role. I personally think that Brexit is not supporting a strong European economy. It s hard to predict how this development will influence our industry. Nevertheless, our industry should stay together and overcome any challenges being caused by this.
You were recently appointed director for Rulantica. How did this come about? I have been working on this project for many years. In 1996 we started with the first studies and research for the development. Then I was part of the planning team and the team who was responsible for the permit process. The whole
FEBRUARY 2019
process also included the goal to build up a strong relationship with the citizens of the neighbouring communities and involve them in our decisions process. For several years I have been working closely with our senior consultant from
New York, Chip Cleary, who is very experienced in the water resort industry. The main tasks during the past years included the development of a masterplan, support of the architects and the organisation of our pre-opening team. Along with this I continued to do a lot of research and benchmarking and I have visited many water parks in Europe and the USA. Taking all of this into account, the Mack family appointed me to the job as director of Rulantica due to my long- term experience on the project.
What can people expect to see and experience at the park when it opens? A lot! Rulantica will be absolutely unique for a number of reasons. The theming
for example will be very elaborate and the visitors will experience nine beautifully designed Nordic areas. We have created a story around the whole project and all areas from the hotel to attractions and restaurants will be highly themed according to the storyline. In total we will start off with 25 attractions, among them 17 water slides from the Canadian slide manufacturer ProSlide and from the German-based manufacturer Aquarena. Apart from that, we are working with experts from all over the world in order to realise the project. For example, the masterplan was developed by PGAV together with our in-house design department Mack Solutions Design and the giant wave pool is realised together with Murphy s Waves.
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