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Theme Park Supplier's News of the Week #7
Update : 06/10/13 - 17h35Published by François Mayné the 25 August 2013, New.
NewsParcs' Theme Park Supplier's News of the Week is a review of the latest news and releases of companies supplying the theme park industry worldwide.
This weekly report covers topics such as corporate announcements, financial news, contracts won, new products, projects completed or appointments. Check out our previous issues (along with our Theme Park Industry News Roundup)
Our round-up of this week looks at Gateway Ticketing Systems' new contract won in the United Kingdom, Gerstlauer Amusement Rides' custom-built trains for the Iron Rattler project at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and projectiondesign's next-generation projection innovation to be showcased at the upcoming EAS 13 trade show in Paris.
Gerstlauer Amusement Rides
EAS booth #215
Six Flags has entrusted once again the German amusement ride manufacturer Gerstlauer with the task of designing and building new trains for its latest wooden rollercoaster retracking project at Six Flags Fiesta Texas at San Antonio, USA.
Led by Rocky Mountain Contruction, the old wooden track of Iron Rattler (originally opened in 1992) has indeed been replaced by a new prefabricated steel track, resulting in a whole more thrilling new ride experience that includes several over-banked turns and even a zero-G-roll inversion. Gerstlauer has delivered two 13-meter/43-feet long custom-themed trains with 24 seats and monitored lap bars.
Iron Rattler is the second successful collaboration between Rocky Mountain Construction, Gerstlauer and Six Flags on a retracking project after the hybrid transformation last year of another wood coaster (New Texas Giant) at Six Flags Over Texas. “Six Flags certainly presented us with a challenge,” said Siegfried Gerstlauer, the company’s Managing Director. “The classic Cadillac we designed for the 'Texas Giant' was great, but the 'Iron Rattler' train design was even more complex. Six Flags wanted a menacing snake theme that was intricate and complicated to design, but turned out to be fantastic. In addition, to improve the guest experience we removed as many fiberglass side panels as possible.”
Les Hudson, Vice President of Design at Six Flags said about the design concept: “To go along with the rebirth of the ride, we created a 'That was then….This is now' backstory, weaving its way through the existing railway through the quarry cursed by a cavernous pit of rattlesnakes and a giant snake. The trains were designed to look like a symbolic rail car, constructed of steel plates and rivets, with a sculptural bronze rattler head and tail paying homage to the legend. It was an enjoyable collaborative effort working with the artist at Gerstlauer and they did a masterful job of sculpting and finishes. I love it when a devious plan comes together.”
“Working with Six Flags continues to be a great partnership for Gerstlauer,” said Adam Sandy, the Sales Director for the Ride Entertainment Group, Gerstlauer’s North American representative. “They have been a great customer because they continue to challenge Gerstlauer and ask us to keep coming up with new and innovative ideas. On the ‘Texas Giant’ project we designed trains from scratch. For ‘Iron Rattler’ we improved upon the design and created some of the best-looking roller coaster trains I have ever seen. The sight of a snake head and tail speeding around the bright orange track that undulates through a rock quarry is what makes this coaster different from anything else on the planet.”
“We look forward to our next projects with Six Flags,” said Gerstlauer. “We appreciate the fact they continue to come back to us for new and exciting projects. We can’t wait to see what we will do together next.”
The Norwegian specialist of projection technologies projectiondesign will showcase some of its latest innovation along with its partners Barco and Holovis at the upcoming Euro Attractions Show 2013 in Paris.
“Supplying some of the most prestigious and innovative theme park and visitor attractions operating today, the combined Barco and projectiondesign product lines are designed for high-performance imaging, outstanding colour reproduction, long-term use, reliability and rapid return on investment for the operator as well as an engaging experience for the guest,“ said Maria Dahl Aagaard, product marketing manager at projectiondesign. “Working at EAS 2013 and highlighting some of our best in class ecosystem of trusted technology partners, such as Holovis and Reactable, our products will demonstrate how they are part of transformational experiences in a range of demanding and cost effective applications.”
Holovis will launch its new MotionDome™, an immersive and interactive platform developed especially for creating gaming or dark ride transformative experiences in 2D or 3D. Stuart Hetherington, CEO at Holovis commented: “We are delighted to be bringing our extensive innovation-led expertise in high-end immersive and interactive experience design to EAS with our MotionDome™ technology. We are already working with a range of first to market clients including FECs, Property Asset Developers and major Theme Park operators on deploying these high impact, cost effective visitor attractions."
“Complementing our MotionDome™ technology will be our use of the stunning Barco OL-521 full-resolution stereoscopic 3D display wall. A range of Barco and projectiondesign products will be displayed in formations that demonstrate how we have integrated these into our extensive range of turn-key solutions that transform the sensory experience, including videowall technology for visual system storyboarding.” he added.
Finally, Reactable will present its interactive table technology, an electronic musical instrument with a simple and intuitive design. “Visitors to EAS will be able to experiment and create sound, change its structure and control its parameters in a direct and unique way,” said Gunter Geiger, CEO at Reactable. “Through using projection as its visual interface, the musician is able to connect with his music creating a richer experience for himself and his audience by hearing, seeing and touching the sound.”
Admission control and ticketing software supplier Gateway Ticketing Systems has announced the installation of a new ticketing system at Sundown Adventureland in Nottinghamshire, UK.
Sundown is a theme park specifically designed for families with children aged under 10. It offers a wide range of rides and attractions and over the Christmas period presents a huge winter wonderland event which continues to grow every year and is a major draw for visitors.
The new system was installed just six weeks after the contract signing. According to the company, the park very quickly noted a significant increase in online bookings. “Transactions are fast and simple to complete and online sales are live in the onsite database with print at home tickets and there is no possibility of double bookings, which did occur with the previous system,” they said.
Commenting on the installation, Paul Tomlinson, Park Manager at Sundown Adventureland, said: “Primarily we were looking for a proven ticketing system that could manage our online web bookings for the Christmas Spectacular. This is a massive event for us. I knew Gateway’s Galaxy system was used worldwide in a lot of big theme parks so felt sure it could help us too. When the system was demonstrated to us I instantly liked the POS terminals’ ease of use and the flexibility of the system in regards to tailoring it to our individual needs. I think the pedigree of the Gateway system outshone a lot of its competitors and this is why we chose this booking system. The support, training and back-up seemed very good and has proven to be exceptional further down the line.”
On behalf of Gateway, UK operations director Andy Povey said: “We are very happy with the installation at Sundown Adventureland and the fact that it is achieving exactly what the park requires. The previous system that was in place suffered from very slow transaction times, a complicated online booking process and was incapable of handling timed bookings for the park’s Christmas ride, among other things, so we have been able to overcome all these issues with our system."
As a partnering publication of the Euro Attractions Show 2013 to be held September 18 to 20 in Paris, France, NewsParcs will do a full coverage of the event. Does your company or organization works within the amusement park industry? If your are interested by sharing news with NewsParcs or meeting us in Paris, please contact our editor François Mayné via contact@newsparcs.com
These past three years have been intense for NewsParcs. Our magazine, which has been dedicated to the global theme parks industry since 1998, underwent major changes to become one of the most appreciated magazines among many...
CORPORATE | NewsParcs - Published on January 28, 2014
Our Theme Park Supplier's News of the Week is a round-up of the latest news relative to companies supplying the theme park industry around the world. This weekly report covers topics such as corporate announcements, financial ...
The NewsParcs' Theme Park Supplier's News of the Week is a round-up of the latest news relative to companies supplying the theme park industry around the world. This weekly report covers topics such as corporate announcements, ...
Our Industry Roundup is a summary of the latest major news related to the theme park industry worldwide. We report news specifically on operators, owners, trade associations and related organizations, including trends, attendance...
NewsParcs will do a full coverage of the IAAPA Attractions Expo 2013 in Orlando to have a look at the latest trends and developments of the global theme park industry.
Led by Rocky Mountain Contruction, the old wooden track of Iron Rattler (originally opened in 1992) has indeed been replaced by a new prefabricated steel track, resulting in a whole more thrilling new ride experience that includes several over-banked turns and even a zero-G-roll inversion. Gerstlauer has delivered two 13-meter/43-feet long custom-themed trains with 24 seats and monitored lap bars.
“Supplying some of the most prestigious and innovative theme park and visitor attractions operating today, the combined Barco and projectiondesign product lines are designed for high-performance imaging, outstanding colour reproduction, long-term use, reliability and rapid return on investment for the operator as well as an engaging experience for the guest,“ said Maria Dahl Aagaard, product marketing manager at projectiondesign. “Working at EAS 2013 and highlighting some of our best in class ecosystem of trusted technology partners, such as Holovis and Reactable, our products will demonstrate how they are part of transformational experiences in a range of demanding and cost effective applications.”
Commenting on the installation, Paul Tomlinson, Park Manager at Sundown Adventureland, said: “Primarily we were looking for a proven ticketing system that could manage our online web bookings for the Christmas Spectacular. This is a massive event for us. I knew Gateway’s Galaxy system was used worldwide in a lot of big theme parks so felt sure it could help us too. When the system was demonstrated to us I instantly liked the POS terminals’ ease of use and the flexibility of the system in regards to tailoring it to our individual needs. I think the pedigree of the Gateway system outshone a lot of its competitors and this is why we chose this booking system. The support, training and back-up seemed very good and has proven to be exceptional further down the line.”
