WHITEWATER TAKES HOME MULTIPLE BRASS AWARDS AT IAAPA EXPO 2019

BY GABRIELLE

WhiteWater, specialists in developing award-winning water attractions, were the winners of multiple Brass Awards at IAAPA Expo 2019 in Orlando.

The Expo’s Brass Awards are awarded to organisations, individuals and parks for showing creativity in the creation of themes, facilities, products, concepts, services, programs and more.

One Brass Award WhiteWater received was for the Over/Under in the Best New Product: Waterpark Ride/Attraction category. The Over/Under is located at Guangzhou Sunac Waterpark and is the world’s first interactive multi-player gaming water slide.

The ride features WhiteWater’s first installation of Team Slideboarding and Double Exit Mantra. Teams are challenged to work together to score sufficient points to be awarded with an exciting lap of victory.

The innovative attraction design and manufacture company also picked up a Brass Ring Award for Spinning Rapids Ride in the Best New Product category.

Lava Drifting is installed in Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, China, and is the longest spinning rapids ride in the world. The attraction is also the world’s first spinning rapids ride with actual rapid rivers. The ride is themed as a volcano and fuses spins and twists to take guests on a thrilling, 1km-long journey.

WhiteWater’s Tailspin also won a Brass Ring Award for the Best New Product: Waterpark Ride/Attraction category.

The Tailspin creates a memorable ride experience by combining physical and visual sensations. The ride fuses a disc with a helix, combining the rapid descent of a flume with the high-banking rotations of a bowl. Pinned to the outside of a wall, riders are spiralled downwards at speeds reaching 25kmph.

Geoff Chutter, president and CEO of WhiteWater, commented: “We’re incredibly excited to have Tailspin recognised by IAAPA as a ground-breaking slide. Every park, from small municipal recreation centres to sprawling water parks aim to provide their guests with safe and fun attractions; on top of that, all parks look to have unique and iconic rides to differentiate themselves and to help drive their gate. Tailspin delivers all of this and more.”

PROSLIDE TECHNOLOGY WINS IMPACT AWARD FOR FOURTH TIME

BY GABRIELLE

ProSlide Technology, a leading designer and manufacturer of water rides and attractions, was awarded a winner of the Impact Awards at IAAPA Expo 2019 in Orlando.

The award was in recognition of the company’s Dueling PIPElineBLAST/FlyingSAUCER Water Coaster. It is the fourth time ProSlide have been given the accolade of Impact Award winners.

The esteemed Impact Award is presented to a Best New Products winner at the Brass Ring Awards, for a product or achievement that is likely to have the most significant impact on the attractions industry in the foreseeable future.

The Dueling PIPElineBLAST/FlyingSAUCER Water Coaster also won a Brass Ring Award at IAAPA Expo 2019 for Best New Water Ride.

With over 52 ride path variations, the Dueling PIPElineBLAST/FlyingSAUCER Water Coaster is designed to provide riders with a thrilling speed racing experience. The attraction starts in a bobsled racing style. Guests get to face off, side-by-side during the race’s RallyPOINTS. Highspeed inclines add to the excitement, which are powered by RocketBLAST jet propulsion.

Rick Hunter, chairman and CEO of ProSlide, commented on receiving the award: We are honoured to receive this year’s IAAPA Impact Award and our 4th since 2003. Passion for ride design and innovation is in our DNA and we’re committed to transforming waterparks with high-performance, authentic water rides.

“We’re proud to work with Splashway Water Park on this incredible new Water Coaster and we will continue to vision the next generation of great water rides in the Water Coaster category,” Hunter continued.

CAVU DESIGNWERKS LAUNCHES INTELLIGENT TRACKLESS DARK RIDE VEHICLE

BY GABRIELLE

Media-based attractions specialist, CAVU Designwerks, has unveiled its intelligent trackless dark ride vehicle, the first of its kind in the industry.

The trackless vehicle features intelligent self-driving units, which are used in warehouse facilities in the manufacturing sector. CAVU’s self-driving vehicles (SDV) are intelligent, autonomous and can adapt to different environments.

With proprietary software technology built into each vehicle, the need for power cables, tracks and wire systems of the floor is eliminated. There is also no requirement for external infrastructure for navigation, show equipment integration, sets and other attraction vehicles. The SDVs are also able to identify objects in their path and navigate around them.

CAVU’s intelligent dark ride vehicles enable theme park operators to provide visitors with a dark ride experience that relies on significantly less infrastructure and space than other dark ride vehicles.

The vehicles are available to two models – standard and plus. With the standard model, a total of eight passengers can fit into the car, which can rotate 360 degrees, and move forwards and backwards. The plus model seats six passengers and is equipped with three DOF motion, with roll, heave and pitch. The plus vehicle also comes with up to ten onboard special effects.

Mark Stepanian, VP innovation and engineering for CAVU, spoke about the new intelligent vehicles for dark rides: “As an integrator, CAVU’s method of developing a new ride system is to take an existing proven technology and integrate that into our rides.

“CAVU is partnering with a leader in industrial robotics technology to use their proven autonomous self-driving platform as the base of our trackless dark ride vehicle,” Stepanian added.

CAVU’s self-driving vehicles were launched at the IAAPA Expo 2019 in Orlando.

SERVICE AND YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR AWARDS RECOGNISE INDUSTRY TALENT AT IAAPA EXPO 2019

BY GABRIELLE

Recognising talent within the global amusement industry, the Service Award winners and the Young Professional of the Year Award winners were announced during the annual GM and Owners’ Breakfast at IAAPA Expo 2019 in Orlando.

The Service Awards honours individuals for their outstanding contributions to the worldwide attractions industry. Winners of this year’s IAAPA Service Award recipients were Greg O’Neill of Leisure and Amusement Services, Queensland, Australia, Geoff Chutter of WhiteWater in British Columbia, Canada and Ash Smart, ICAE, of Harbour Park in Littlehampton, UK.

Also honoured at this year’s IAAP Expo Orlando, during the Kickoff Event, was Hank Salemi, park president of Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, who picked up a special Service Award.

The IAAPA Young Professional of the Year Award awards young members under the age of 35 who show a commitment to the global attractions industry through strong leadership, teamwork, and integrity.

Michael Browning, CEO and founder of Urban Air Adventure Park, in Dallas, Texas, was the recipient of the Young Professional of the Year Award 2019.

TWO GLOBAL ATTRACTION INDUSTRY PIONEERS INDUCTED INTO IAAPA HALL OF FAME

BY GABRIELLE

Two global attractions industry legends have been inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame at the 2019 IAAPA Expo Orlando. Frederick “Fred” Langford and Alberto Zamperla were given the honour for the contributions they have made and what they have accomplished in the worldwide attractions industry.

Fred Langford is a designer and architect and is widely considered to be the creator of the modern-day waterslide. Throughout the industry, Fred’s work is recognised as being the ‘gold standard’ for waterslide design.

Langford was the first to use fibreglass in the construction of waterslides, which replaced concrete, an innovation which has become the foundation of elevated waterslides in waterparks across the globe. Another of Langford’s landmark innovations, was the creation of self-supporting beams, which allow waterslides to be longer, providing guests with an experience that resembles a rollercoaster ride.

Alberto Zamperla took over the Zamperla Company in 1994 and helped the family business grow from manufacturing around 50 rides a year, to more than 200. Alberto has also worked to bring international safety manufacturing standards to the company’s facility in China, while simultaneously significantly improving rider accessibility.

In 2014, Zamperla donated “Lori’s Magical Ride” to Give Kids The World Village in Kissimmee, Florida. The ride enables children with disabilities to experience a thrilling attraction. Alberto Zamperla has also worked to support the global attractions industry, serving as the founder and first chairman of the European Suppliers Association (EAASI), which later became the organisation that created the Euro Attractions Show, known today as IAAPA Expo Europe.

The IAAPA Hall of Fame was founded in 1990 as a means of honouring icons and innovators for their significant and lasting contributions to the growth and development of the global attractions industry.

SACOA TO SHOWCASE LATEST PRODUCTS AT IAAPA EXPO 2019

 BY GABRIELLE

Sacoa Debit Card System, a global pioneer in providing cashless payment systems to the entertainment industry, will be showcasing its latest products at IAAPA Expo 2019 in Orlando.

Among the new products on display at Sacoa’s booth at the upcoming Expo will be the Spark reader, the M-POS – Mobile POS -, and the Zodiac – the Administrative Console.

The Spark is a 2.8” HD colour reader, equipped with RFiD and NFC reading capability. This low-cost, small-footprint card reader is designed to enhance the consumer experience with its backlight colouring, which can be adjusted to show age-restrictions, promotions, tickets awarded, and more.

The M-POS is compact and portable, providing all the features that the desktop POS can manage, including Playcard analysis, sale and recharge, retail merchandise, and more. The M-POS supports RFID and magnetic Playcard swipes, printing and game emulation.

Zodiac is Sacoa Playcard responsive, user-friendly and boasts a multilingual system configuration tool. As it is internet-operated, the Zodiac allows the configuring of any system detail, whether it’s from a desktop computer, a tablet or smartphone.

Configurable items include POS, game pricing and M-POS products and buttons, product stock and security.

Sacoa has more than 1800 installations in 70 countries globally. The forward-thinking company is constantly working on developments to assist operators of the entertainment industry and their customers.

Sacoa will be showcasing its latest products at booth #603 at IAAPA Expo 2019 in Orlando on November 19 to 22.

SACOA TO ATTEND IAAPA ROOKIES AND NEWCOMERS PROGRAM

BY GABRIELLE

Sacoa, world leaders in providing pioneering debit card systems for the entertainment industry, will be a Silver Sponsor at the IAAPA Rookies and Newcomers Program in Orlando.

Sebastian Mochkovsky, CEO of Sacoa Debit Card System USA, will be part of the educational sessions at the special event held during IAAPA Expo 2019.

Mochkovsky will be sharing his insight and experience within the industry, to help attendees at the event learn how to develop, plan and operate an FEC.

Following the educational sessions, Adibra (Associação das Empresas de Parques de Diversões do Brasil / Brazilian Amusement Park Business Association), will hold an Adibra International Networking event, with Sacoa as its sponsor.

The networking event will take place on November 19 at the Hard Rock Café in Orlando.

The IAAPA Rookies and Newcomers Program will be held on November 16 to 19.

Sacoa’s innovative debit card systems have more than 1,800 installations in almost 70 countries. The company has offices around the world, including Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.

RCI TO UNVEIL NEW PRODUCTS AND BRANDING AT IAAPA EXPO ORLANDO

BY GABRIELLE

RCI Adventure Products, formerly known as Ropes Courses Incorporated (RCI), are to debut their new brand and products at this year’s IAAPA Expo in Orlando.

The recently revamped adventure attractions leader will display their new products at the expo, alongside a crew of sales professionals and authorised distributors to talk to attendees.

RCI will also be showcasing a Sky Trail aerial attraction, featuring new features, including a pioneering multi-activity Clip ‘n Climb configuration.

The company will be unveiling two new innovative products, the Adventure Trail and the Destination series, a product line with three different models.

Without participant weight or height requirement prior to entrance, the Adventure Play is open to all ages and abilities. The adventure attraction involves participants climbing up the net ‘elevator’ and then proceeding through towers, bridges and exit slides that are interconnected.

The Destination series comprises of three large-scale individual entertainment hubs, each containing five core attractions for participant interaction – a Sky Trail with multiple Sky Rails, Clip n’ Climb climbing activities, Adventure Trail netplay and a Sky Tykes.

RCI, as it has been known for years, decided to officially change its name to RCI Adventure Products to reflect the expansion of the company’s products more fittingly, as the adventure attraction manufacturer offers a lot more than just ‘rope courses.’

As, noting the reason behind the name change, Jim Liggett, president and founder of RCI, commented: “This company was founded 30 years ago with the name ‘Ropes Courses Incorporated’ but since then, we have grown tremendously and it felt like the right time to transition into a new era of ourselves.

“The new name makes it clear that we offer more than just one product and it gives us the space we need to grow even more,” Liggett added.

Jon Weston, chief sales officer for RCI, said: “We are so proud to welcome both Adventure Trail and the Destination series to our product family as they each offer aspects not previously available through us.

“These new additions further illustrate our evolvement as a company, and we’re thrilled to be able to offer clients more expansive entertainment options.”

RCI Adventure Products is to exhibit at booth 5730 at this year’s IAAPA Expo in Orlando, which is taking place on November 19 to 22.

This will be the 16th consecutive year that RCI will have been in attendance at the IAPPA Expo held in Orlando.