Volume 2, No. 7. April 12, 2002
New Arrivals
It’s
a dark thrill ride!
Paramount’s
Kings Island in Kings Island, Ohio, announces the arrival of Tomb Raider:
The Ride, April 3, 2002. Measurements: Four chambers, 77-seat platform rises
to a height of 70 feet (21 meters). Delivered by Technifex and Weber Group.
It turns out the shroud of secrecy Paramount Parks staunchly maintained leading
up to the opening of its highest-profile ride in years was all part of the ride’s
theme. Tomb Raider, whether its The Game, The Movie or The Ride, is all
about surprises: not knowing what will happen next.
For the first public audience, who earned the right to a sneak preview by winning
radio contests, theories on the ride abounded. As they streamed through the
queue themed as an archaeologists’ excavation tunnel toward the anteroom
of a long-lost Cambodian temple, people suspected they were ultimately heading
for an indoor roller coaster, a motion simulator, a 4-D theater or “just
a movie.” What it turned out to be was a ride platform that spins them
frightfully close to razor sharp ice stalactites then suspends them upside down
and ever closer to a boiling pit of hot, spewing lava. And what they said after
riding it was “awesome,” “cool,” “way too short”
and “best ride here.” Even the journalists and enthusiasts on hand
for the official unveiling earlier in the day—many of whom knew what the
ride would be—were surprised by the literal turn of events in that last
chamber.
Despite the ride’s brand, its multimillion dollar price tag and its extensive
theming and high-tech special effects, Kings Island officials didn’t position
Tomb Raiders’ installation as an attempt to place the park in any
elite status, said David Mandt, the park’s manager of marketing communications.
“That was not our motivation,” he said. “We wanted to create
a unique and outstanding attraction.” But his public relations team played
the theme to the hilt, choreographing the media event around the whole Tomb
Raider brand. Guests checking in at the front gate were transported through
the park in stretch limousines. Mandt and Jeffrey Siebert, his fellow PR representative,
wore classic tuxedos. A buffet lunch of crab claws and pork tenderloin was served
in an English garden tent. Before the opening ceremony at the tomb itself an
archaeological field team tried to open the sealed cave. The actors did their
best to pretend they were toiling in the jungle heat despite the day’s
near-freezing temperatures.
But, of course, only one person was equipped to open this tomb, and when the
wall blew out in a flash of light and smoke, Lara Croft emerged to beckon the
press to follow her into the chambers. That’s the real Lara Croft, by the
way, Jill de Jong, a model from the Netherlands and the new face of the computer
game making her first U.S. appearance. Of her own experience on the ride, she
only said, “If you want to really get into Lara’s adventures, you
have to check it out.”
And be ready for a few surprises.
Congratulations
for a successful opening!
For
more photos and information on Tomb Raider: The Ride,
Click Here
©2002, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved
