Volume 1, No. 18. October 5, 2001
New Arrivals
It's a gondola!
Adventure World in Perth, Australia,
announces the arrival of The Rampage, September 29, 2001. Measurements:
13.5 meters high (45 feet), 15.8 meters long (52 feet), 31 seats in a 10.5-meter-long
(35 feet) gondola. Delivered by Moser Rides.
Ironic that a ride shrouded in absolute secrecy up to the very moment it opened to the public should have the most unshrouded, shall we say, of media debuts. Tuesday night, four days after Rampage opened with Adventure World's season, the popular television talk show "Rove [live]" pulled together 31 riders to take a spin on The Rampage in the nude, a stunt broadcast live across the continent. "It was shot from a distance, so you couldn't see anything but a lot of white skin," said Natalie Cameron, the park's spokeswoman.
Stormy weather inadvertently continuing the shroud over the $1.8 million (US$904,000) ride on Saturday—hardly anybody showed up at the park until Monday—and the Royal Show's weeklong residency in town drew Adventure World's clientele. Consequently, the "Rove [live]" telecast gave The Rampage the exposure it deserved. "We were working against a pretty strict construction timeline, and the landscaping wasn't ready Saturday anyway, so we decided to use the 'Rove [live]' stunt as a launching," Cameron said. "And it was a good launching pad. Since Tuesday we've had a flood of radio interviews and a lot of newspaper coverage."
But still not a lot of crowds, thanks to competition from the Royal Show. What crowds do come to the park are giving The Rampage, Moser's most technically advanced version of its rotating/twisting gondola thrill ride, the longest queues, albeit only five minutes in duration, Cameron said. That is fine with the Adventure World. "It's always good for the park to have that soft opening week so the staff can get used to the operations."