Volume 3, No. 10. May 23, 2003
New Arrivals
It’s
a dark ride!
Six Flags Belgium in Wavre, Belgium, announces the arrival of the Challenge
of Tutankhamon, May 22, 2003. Measurements: 1,597 square meters (17,185
square feet), 16 scenes, 54 animatronic figures, 130 interactive targets, 13
six-passenger cars. Delivered by Best Constructors, ETF Ride Systems, Bruce
Robinson and Sally Corporation.
Sometimes the most biased testimony and the most jaded observers provide the
best reaction. Here were Donna Gentry and Ray Dominey, the project manager and
technical director for the Challenge of Tutankhamon, the Sally Corporation
talent who have been designing the themed, interactive dark ride for four years
and building it for nine months. Standing outside Tutankhamon Thursday
evening after taking their first joy ride along with national celebrities, local
dignitaries, Six Flags officials and several hundred other invited guests at
a red carpet gala, Gentry and Dominey simply glowed. Successful delivery? Successful
ride? Simply glad the ride was open? “It was fun. We had fun riding this
ride,” Gentry said; she almost sounded surprised. “Every time you’re
with a different group of people, it’s a different experience” she
said of her two circuits through the cursed passageways of Tut’s tomb seeking
the pharaoh’s treasures.
“Sally put so much attention into detail I’m still discovering things,
and I’ve been watching it from the ground up,” said Six Flags Belgium
General Manager Viviane Paturel. And of her first joy ride Thursday night she
said, “I was surprised how much you get into the game. It’s a great,
great ride.” She scored 12,500 points, well below her high of 32,500.
Tutankhamon, meanwhile, scored well with the opening night crowd. Paturel
received a steady stream of congratulations, some guests lauding her new ride
as comparable to the best Disney has to offer. “People were telling me
how faithful the wall paintings are to Egyptian culture, and the game is catching
for you,” she said. Many people rode twice. “You really want to go
back, one to improve your score but also to look at the decor,” she said.
The ride opened with a ceremony that blended two hitherto distinct cultures:
ancient Egypt and Loony Tunes. Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Daffy Duck, Sylvester,
the Tazmanian Devil and Foghorn Leghorn, all dressed as Egyptian characters,
joined a bead-bedangled belly dancer in a choreographed line dance. Then came
the crush as guests and paparazzi stormed through the front doors to the loading
platform. Afterward, the chattering VIPs strolled back up the red carpet to
a high energy party and acrobatic show at one of the park’s theaters, which
became a disco for the festive crowd.
During her dedication remarks Paturel commended Sally Corporation, and at the
post ride party guests cheered when they spotted the Sally contingent. Successful
delivery? Successful ride? Glad to see it open? It was just fun.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
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