Ride Profile
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Double the fun
Vekoma has had a lot of success with its Boomerang concept. What exactly is it and why do guests love it so much? Benjamin Bloemendaal: By traversing their physical track twice, these rides provide double the ride experiences compared to a full-circuit equivalent of the same scope. The backwards lift and return run also provide additional marketable features
and the footprint of our Boomerangs, both the family version as well as the classic thrill ride, is typically of either a compact or of an easily customisable out-and-back nature, which allows us to fit them in virtually any park plan.
What makes Cloud Shuttle a 'Super' Boomerang? BB: It’s size in general. The iconic centre tower, standing at over 50 metres tall, and the stature of the gravity elements along its course make for a much more imposing thrill ride than the original Vekoma Boomerang.
What were Vekoma's aims for this ride? How do you want to make riders feel? BB: The design goal for the Super Boomerang was not just to up the stats of the original Boomerang, but also provide a modern palette of track elements that are typically well appreciated on recent full-circuit coasters. Where the original Boomerang design was fully focused on inversions and downforce, the new Super Boomerang offers airtime hills, hangtime inversions and zero-G rolls. Another goal was to pace the experience in such a way that the backwards run, which for some is a driver for nausea, would be enjoyed by a larger demographic.
Did Xuzhou Fantawild Wonderland have any specific requirements or requests? BB: None with respect to the ride layout, the creative theming elements added to the tower were, however, designed and implemented by Fantawild.
How does the theming add to the overall ride experience? BB: The theming elements implemented around the LSM boost sections make for a great near-miss effect when the train picks up speed. This truly enhances the sense of speed in these mid-course launches.
Does Cloud Shuttle feature any first-time design elements from Vekoma? BB: The ride’s first inversion combines a traditional Immelmann Loop with an Inverted Stall element, suspending riders for multiple seconds upside down before flipping them right-side-up again in a high-speed roll. Of course, this spectacular element is also traversed backwards on Super Boomerang.
Did you encounter any design challenges or set-backs with Cloud Shuttle? BB: One element that required special attention was the storage track switch. Unlike our standardised storage switches, this one had to be integrated into a high-speed launch section of the track and support a vertically curved track.
What can Xuzhou Fantawild Wonderland expect in terms of future maintenance for this ride? BB: Maintenance on this design will be very similar to that on our full-circuit launch coasters. Unlike the traditional Vekoma Boomerang types, both sit down and inverted, for Super Boomerang we chose a frictionless LSM propulsion, which also acts as the main brake system.
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SEPTEMBER 2023 IAAPA EUROPE EDITION
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