Volume 1, No. 14. August 10, 2001
Toward tomorrow
Parks on three continents have been unveiling their capital improvement plans
for next season, or, in the case of Adventure World in Perth, Australia, unveiling
the unveiling. In America, the announcements of the past week all point to a
continuing trend in family-friendly thrills, while extreme thrills were the
order for parks in Australia and Germany (next story).
Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, made the long-awaited announcement Wednesday
that it would be putting in Setpoint's second SwingThing coaster with SCS Interactive
water elements. Two years after Paramount's Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina,
opened the Nickelodeon Flying Super Saturator, Hersheypark is scheduled
to open its version with 1,300 feet (394 meters) of track, almost 300 feet longer
(91 meters) than the original, and a 70 foot high (21 meter) lift hill, almost
twice that of the Saturator. Hershey will theme the coaster with its
own characters and install it in a lot adjoining the Canyon River Rapids
ride. Not only does this place the soaking SwingThing in the park's wet zone
(the Tidal Force shoot-the-chute also stands nearby), but with the coaster
crossing over the rapid river ride four times, the placement provides an opportunity
for guests on the two rides to shoot water elements at each other, pushing yet
another envelope in the development of interactive amusement rides. Hersheypark
is conducting a contest to name the new SwingThing.
Carowinds and its sister park, Paramount's Kings Dominion in Richmond, Virginia,
plan to install wild mouse roller coasters by Mack GmbH. Carowinds' version
will be part of a new boardwalk-themed area of the park, while Dominion's ride
will go into The Grove area along with a Huss troika called Triple Spin.
"Everyone always says we need more flat rides," Kings Dominion Public Relations
Manager Mark Riddell said. Nevertheless, the media focus undoubtedly will be
on Ricochet, the mouse with a 50-foot drop (15 meters) and 14 turns replicating
Mack's The Fly at Paramount Canada's Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario.
Ricochet notches for Kings Dominion its 12th coaster, prompting a promotional
campaign called "The Daring Dozen." The mouse, though, may have the broadest
appeal of all. "Families are familiar with wild mouse coasters, but it also
satisfies the thrill seekers," Riddell said.
Thrill seekers are the market Western Australia's Adventure World will be after
this coming summer, but until the ride actually debuts for the season next month,
the park is not revealing what it is. "We're trying to keep it top secret to
build the anticipation," said Natalie Cameron of NRC Communications, the park's
public relations firm. What the park will reveal of the ride is that it will
cost $1.6 million Australian (US$819,000), is being built by Moser Rides and
is a technically advanced version of a ride in the company's existing catalog.
It will be the only ride of its type on the continents and will be "a thrilling,
twisting, turning, heart-pounding propulsion through the air that is an assault
on all the senses," the park's General Manager Andrew Sharry said in a statement.
The purpose of this the largest expenditure in the park's history is to expand
the park's demographics, Cameron said, as it will be the first major thrill
ride there since the opening of the Turbo Mountain steel roller coaster
in 1991. The new ride also will be themed, starting the park off on a path toward
becoming a full-fledged theme park. "We want to develop a lot more theming on
different rides rather than just have attractions all over the place," Cameron
said.