BY GABRIELLE
The owners of Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles are giving their steel roller coaster a million dollar Route 66 makeover. Construction on the new ride should take about six months, with the completed redesign ready for the summer.
The makeover will cost a little over $1 million, with much of the re-conceptualisation focused on the loading station. The rebooted West Coaster will feature a new guest experience at the beginning of the ride, with the likes of special Route 66 memorabilia decorating the area, along with maps, old-time gas pumps and license plates.
There will also be vintage-themed billboards throughout the track to enhance the guest experience during the ride. These will highlight certain roadside attractions, landmarks and landscapes, as well as towns and other places associated with Route 66. The coaster’s cars will also receive a themed makeover.
Pacific Park’s design and operations team have designed the new look, with the construction undertaken by Chance Rides from Wichita, Kansas.
Pacific Park’s Director of Marketing and Business Development, Nathan Smithson, said: “The Route 66 enthusiast can get hip to this timely tip to celebrate its namesake roller coaster at the western end of Route 66. Guests are sure to revel in the authenticity of the reconcepted roller coaster.
“Route 66 presented travellers with an open road from Chicago to Los Angeles that offered unique mom and pop dining spots, first-of-its-kind motor lodging and one-of-a-kind roadside attractions; all facets represented in the new Route 66 West Coaster roller coaster.”
