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Theme Park Supplier's News of the Week #1
Update : 20/08/13 - 10h41Published by François Mayné the 2 July 2013, New.
Starting this week we are introducing a new kind of article on NewsParcs. Our Suppliers News of the Week will review the latest news and releases of companies supplying the theme park industry worldwide.
This weekly report will cover topics such as corporate announcements, financial news, contracts won, new products, projects completed or appointments. We will of course continue to issue in-depth articles for major announcements and news, depending of our publishing planning.
Our roundup of this week looks at Alterface's new Managing Director, Farmer Attractions Development's new haunted ride open in Finland, GHESA's new water fountains completed in The Netherlands, ProSlide Technology's first SkyBox installation in Europe, WhiteWater West Industries' new e-store for spare parts and Zamperla's maintenance training course.
We are curious to know your opinion on this new category of article. Feel free to send us your feedback, comments and suggestions for improvement.
ProSlide Technology
Swedish amusement park Skara Sommarland (a property of Parks and Resorts Scandinavia) has selected ProSlide to design a FreeFALL™ water slide equipped with the company's newest SkyBox launch system, the first of its kind in Europe. Named Big Drop, the 82-meter/269-feet water slide has a 21-meter/69-feet drop and a unique design where riders travel underground at a maximum speed of 60 kph/37 mph. Investment for the whole project was 6 million SEK (approx 700,000 EUR)
This is the second consecutive ProSlide installation at Skara Sommarland, after launching a 6-lane ProRACER™ in 2012. "ProSlide has helped us set a new standard for extreme-thrill speed slides in Europe", said Hans Ericsson, Skara's CEO. "And no one is happier than our guests!"
According to ProSlide, “SkyBox is the safest drop gate in the industry and adds a new level of excitement to speed slides. Features include a redundant water-monitoring system that's integrated with the pumps; automated doors with a safety interlock system; the highest safety-rated sensors, pneumatics, control systems and much more.”
Other major European installations this year for ProSlide include Europe's tallest FreeFALL™ at PortAventura Costa Caribe Aqua Park (Spain), and a five-ride indoor/outdoor MACH™ complex at Splash & Spa Tamaro (Switzerland).
Alterface reports that it has appointed Philippe Kaplan as Managing Director, a new position within the Belgian interactive company. Kaplan entered into a partnership with Benoit Cornet, Founder and CEO, to strengthen the organization and the operation of Alterface. Together, they clarified the long run strategic plan, the positioning and the organization of the company so as to support and accelerate its expansion.
Kaplan will be in particular responsible for the production and installation of Alterface's amusement themes. “I am delighted by the arrival of Philippe,” said Benoit Cornet, Founder & CEO of Alterface. “He is the ideal partner for the management of the business. On his arrival, he met a team which is united, qualified and always very receptive to change. After moving from pioneer to leader in less than a decade, Alterface was eager to structure itself efficiently in order to support its evolution, full of great promises! His presence enables me to devote myself even more to the development of our products and markets as well as to understanding the expectations of our future customers and their visitors!”
Italian rides manufacturer Antonio Zamperla spa now offers its customers maintenance training among its range of after-sales service. According to the company, the course – unique within the industry – intends to address and examine in depth topics regarding the best possible maintenance in amusement parks while endorsing the most advanced methods of preventive maintenance.
Notably, course content includes topics such as how to analyze and qualify troubles’ relevance and seriousness, analytical identification of the technical and economic priorities (Costs and Benefits Analysis), RCM approach (Reliability Centered Maintenance) and methods of computerized issuing of intervention requests. ”Zamperla’s long-standing knowledge in the design and manufacturing of amusement rides for amusement parks is the ideal background to all the theoretical topics addressed during the course, and it provides the necessary operational references which complete the education process.”
The first session will be held in Italy in October. The course duration is 2 weeks (a third week of training at Coney Island, USA, is optional). The individual registration fee are 1,200 euros including educational material in English. For more information, please contact: training@zamperla.com
In a continuous effort to improve service for its customers, WhiteWater has launched a new e-store allowing them to quickly and easily order factory authorised spare and replacement parts online.
Only available for orders in North America at the moment, the e-store (http://aftersales.whitewaterwest.com) offers spare and replacement parts for WhiteWater’s AquaPlayTM and SCS interactive play structures (nets, hose jets, platforms, hand wheels, water guns, etc.) as well as for the AquaLoopTM waterslide (shock absorber, springs, etc.) More WhiteWater's products will be available in the future.
Nick Farmer, owner of the UK-based consulting, design and production company Farmer Attractions Development, has completed the design and construction of a new haunted ride at Linnanmäki, Finland’s largest theme park.
Based on the story of a hotel operated and inhabited by witches, the ride is ‘gently frightening’ with touches of humour and replaces an old ghost train which has been a favourite at the park over many years, but had become uneconomic to maintain. Technical Director Anssi Tamminen said “I am very pleased with our new ride and our guests have received it well. We had to satisfy guests who wanted something new and exciting, and traditionalists who wanted us to keep the old ride they remembered from when they were children”.
The ride features a laser spell fight between the witches and an intruding wizard, video effects and plenty of traditional scares. The ride system (track and cars) has been supplied by Gosetto, and includes a back poke, vibration and wind effects. Nick Farmer commented “the ride’s name is inspired by Kyöpelinvuori, a place of legend in Finland where annoying elderly relatives are taken and pushed off a cliff. As a grandparent myself, I am hoping this doesn’t give young guests any ideas!”
The engineering company GHESA has recently delivered a new water fountains installation at Toverland in The Netherlands. The project was part of the newly open themed zone named Magische Vallei (Magic Valley), the first phase of a 19.7 acre expansion plan unveiled by the park's owners in 2012.
Implemented into an artificial lake, this musical fountain includes a 12 meters high geyser located in the centre, a dynamic 10 meters high water "palm tree" surrounding it, dynamic 8 meters high oscillating water jets and a 4 meters high water dome. Vertical, parabolic and misting jets have also been installed, all of them creating different water artistic effects. The lighting of the fountain is provided by submersible multicoloured LED lights.
Does your company works within the amusement park industry? If your are interested by sharing news with NewsParcs, please contact our editor François Mayné via contact@newsparcs.com
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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...