Roller Coasters
www.parkworld-online.com
Let the good times roll
As times change and trends evolve, roller coasters will always be the ultimate form of escapism, says Zamperla’s roller coaster sales and marketing director Adam Sandy
T
here’s no denying the significance of roller coasters in theme parks; they’re very often the main attraction. There are a lot of factors
behind this. We believe two key ones are the break from everyday life they provide, and the fact that people grow up on them. First, for the past decade we have seen people’s days turn into screen time, for both work and play. The COVID-19 pandemic then accelerated this trend. However, riding a roller coaster is a real, shared experience. You are not watching it on a screen, you are experiencing a huge drop, often with a good friend or family member sitting just centimetres away. This shared outdoor experience of pumping adrenaline as riders are launched over 100 km/h in a matter of seconds cannot be replicated in virtual space. Second, roller coasters are the only attraction riders can benchmark as they get older or braver. As they grow up going to their local park, kids pass certain heights. For instance, at 90 cm kids are tall enough to start riding. Later they get brave enough to try new things, like going upside down. Riding roller coasters is a series of memories that people hold onto throughout their lives. Roller coasters might be a long-established theme park fixture - but there are new trends emerging for the format. Two major trends we’re seeing are detailed theming by regional parks, and Integrated Rides. At one
28
time, heavily themed attractions were exclusively found in the worlds of Disney and Universal, but the average park visitor profile has changed. Guests now expect more of a themed experience, and it does not need to include an IP. Our Junior Coaster at Adventureland has a detailed Viking theme, while the Junior Coaster at Walibi Holland has a great dune buggy vehicle. Both of these coasters are built into areas that offer a themed experience for guests of all ages. We are also seeing increased demand for a larger capacity on a smaller footprint, which is where Integrated Rides comes in. These are collections of rides that feature Zamperla coasters that fly over and around our other attractions in a small space. The entire package is what makes them engaging to guests. For example, at Walibi Holland we have a Junior Coaster 200 integrated with a Magic Bikes 6. At Luna Park and Adventureland, we are opening a Junior Coaster 400 and Super Flumez on the same plot of land. These ride packages create better guest engagement, higher per cap spending, and a high hourly capacity (900-2,300 pph). In addition, the kinetics of the rides interacting changes the dynamics of an entire area. Looking ahead, we believe there is a need for the broad appeal coaster (the 105-110 cm range) in the marketplace. So many parks have coasters that focus on kids enjoying their first coaster with a rider height
requirement of 90 cm, or thrill coasters with a height requirement of 120 cm (and up), to the extent that fun ‘in-between’ coasters are somewhat rare. Our Family Thrill Launch is the answer to this missing middle. It has a 105 cm minimum height requirement and appeals to a majority of park- goers. But, it also has marketable features like two launches and a dead-end spike that will make the coaster engaging on social media. It combines the classic Mine Train, which everyone loves, with elements that are unique to each local market. Operator demands are ever-evolving too. One Zamperla design focus change during the pandemic was cost of ownership. We saw that more operators examined how much a ride cost to own over its lifespan and cost of ownership has now become a key engineering criterium for our team. For the Lightning, our thrill coaster platform, we are utilising an aluminium milled chassis. This removes the welds from the chassis and significantly lowers annual non-destructive testing time and costs. Another big change has been a desire to increase the accessibility of roller coasters. We have designed hinged doors that ease the transfer from a zsome of our thrilling flat rides like the Discovery, on our roller coasters. This allows guests who may be missing limbs or do not have full upper body control to ride an attraction.
APRIL 2023
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
