Outlaw Run charges into Silver Dollar City - Amusement Today

April 2013 AMUSEMENT TODAY 9Major new developments for PortAventura waterparkSTORY: Andrew Melloramellor@amusementtoday.comVILASECA, Spain —PortAventura in Spain willcomplete the renovation andextension of its Costa CaribeAquatic Park, the second parkwithin the resort, for the main2013 season.Following the recent additionof the hugely successfulSesamoAventura familyarea and the Shambhala rollercoaster, the highest in Europe,the investment will continuewith the much anticipatedCosta Caribe project whichwill see the park extended by14,000 square meters (150,694square feet), resulting in theAquatic Park covering a totalof 50,000 square meters(538,195 square feet). The budgetfor the new area is €10 million(U.S. $13.4 million) and itis scheduled to open in May.The project is part of the€75 million (U.S. $101 million)investment plan approved bythe resort’s owner, Investindustrial,in November lastyear with the goal of expandingand adapting the venueincreasingly to an internationalaudience. The waterpark,which originally opened in2002, is a key part of this strategy,something that is provedby the fact that foreign visitorsaccount for over 50 percent ofthe visitors to the water playground,most of these beingEnglish and Russian.Among the new attractionswill be the highest freeAbove, This artist’s impressionof how the new area inPort Aventura’s Costa Caribewaterpark will look.Below:The proven Sesame Streettheming will be brought intothe waterpark with the additionof a Sesame Streetthemed pirate ship foryounger guests.COURTESY PORTAVENTURAdrop waterslide in Europe,The Toboggan, a FreeFall suppliedby ProSlide, which willtop out at 31 meters (102 feet).With a 55 degree pitch and adrop speed of 6 meters (20feet) per second it will providea thrilling and fun experience.Alongside will be a Multibumpwaterslide, also fromProSlide, standing at almost20 meters (66 feet) high andtaking guests on a 100 meters(328 feet) journey.In another area of the parka six lane, ProSlide ProRacerwaterslide attraction will beadded, on which both childrenand adults will be ableto compete against each otherfor the fastest descent, whilethe success of PortAventura’sSesame Street themed areawill also be reflected in the introductioninto the waterparkof a Sesame Street themed pirateship in the children’s poolarea. Youngsters will be ableto wonder around the decksof the ship and slide down anyof the four slides into shallowsurrounding pool areas. Nextto the children’s pool will be aSplash Pad play area offeringa variety of interactive waterjets for young visitors to playin.Connected to the children’spool will be an adultTropical pool, placed at a differentlevel to the former tocreate a waterfall in the children’sarea. A waterfall willalso be a feature of the adultpool to enhance the Caribbeantheme of the whole park, whilewater beds and invigoratingwater effects will be incorporatedtoo. A new snack barwill be another new additionand with the exception of theattractions from ProSlide, allother new additions have beencreated by PortAventura’s DevelopmentDepartment.Huss introduces unique film-based family ride conceptBREMEN, Germany —German ride manufacturerHuss Park Attractions GmbHhas announced the developmentof a new ride concept(patent pending) that willprovide a unique experiencefor visitors to parks and otherattraction destinations.The Explorer makes use ofHuss’ many years of experiencein the design and manufactureof observation towers,combining this with an audiovisual system and sensory elementsthat together providean immersive experience in atotally enclosed environment.Utilizing a circular gondolasimilar to those used on thecompany’s Sky Tower rides,the Explorer will accommodateup to 70 guests, includingwheelchair users. The experiencebegins with a themedpre-show in the queuing areaas waiting guests watch thegondola descend dramaticallyinto the ‘earth’ and out of sightbeneath a closed iris. The sceneryand theming in the preshowsection will depend onthe subject chosen for the corecontent of the ride.Guests are seated in theenclosed cabin facing outwards,looking through the fullheight glass sides of the gondolathat allow for unrestrictedviews of the surroundingscreen. A seamless 360-degreemulti-projector film formatdelivers immersive, high definitioncontent which is uniqueto each installation.Once below the surface,guests can enjoy a wide rangeof environments, such as thosebeneath the sea, in space, inthe eye of a storm or some ofthe world’s most spectacularscenery. The content can alsobe created as CGI, live actionor a composition of both,the flexibility of the systembeing one of its key benefits.As a film based attraction,the experience can be almostanything an operator chooses,from a calm, scenic journeyto a white knuckle thrill ride,while refreshing the ride issimple and cost effective withonly the media needing to bereplaced.Huss has taken a num-Huss Park Attractions GmbH has announced the development of the Explorer, a new rideconcept that will will take guests into a variety of exciting environments viewed throughthe full height gondola windows and delivered via a seamless, 360-degree, multi-projectorfilm format, creating a totally immersive experience.COURTESY HUSSber of key considerations intoaccount in the design of theExplorer, as Mirko J. Schulze,CEO of Huss Park AttractionsGmbH, explains: “We are genuinelyexcited by the Explorerconcept and believe it ticks allthe right boxes for operators. Itis brand new, is based on ourproven observation tower technology,has a high capacity,offers a smooth guest flow forloading and unloading, is easyto maintain, can be enjoyedby all ages and is extremelyflexible as far as changing theexperience is concerned. Italso covers a relatively smallfootprint in combination withminor requirements on buildingconstruction; even theutilisation of existing buildingstructures is possible.