Theme park industry leaders gathered again in Orlando last week for the annual IAAPA Expo. IAAPA is the biggest industry gathering of the year — the place where vendors introduce and sell ride systems to theme and amusement parks. Let’s talk about some of the new rides that attracted the most attention among fans this year.
Leading the way was a new ride system from Intamin — the Multi Dimension Mover. This product gave me strong Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance vibes. It’s a trackless dark ride system that has the ability to move vertically, like at the end of Disney’s Star Wars ride. (I hope that didn’t require a spoiler alert. The ride has been open for over five years now.)
As with all ride systems offered at IAAPA, it’s just a tool with which designers can create something special for theme park fans. In the wrong hands or without adequate support, even the best ride systems fail to become great theme park attractions. But there is enticing potential with Intamin’s new system, especially since it includes the capability of a high-speed launch, which is not something that we’ve seen on trackless dark rides before.
As for attractions that definitely will be opening next year, Dollywood continues to earn buzz for its upcoming NightFlight Expedition ride. Dollywood and manufacturer Mack Rides introduced the hybrid ride vehicle for that attraction at the IAAPA Expo. This will be the first US installation of Mack Rides’ award-winning rocking boat system, which combines a dark ride with a roller coaster and river rapids ride.
Dollywood’s ride vehicle included the handsome decoration that one has come to expect from the Tennessee theme park. Next to Universal Studios Hollywood’s Fast and Furious: Hollywood Drift, NightFlight Expedition is the new ride at a US theme park that I am most excited to experience next year.
Six Flags Over Texas also unveiled its new Tormenta Rampaging Run coaster train. But the park didn’t just host a reveal on the IAAPA show floor. It also hosted a simultaneous reveal back at the Dallas-area park for fans and local media. Tormenta will be the first Giga dive coaster, setting records for the tallest, fastest and longest dive coaster from Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard.
SeaWorld Orlando also introduced its new SEAQuest: Legends of the Deep ride vehicle, from Vekoma. This will be the first US installation of Vekoma’s suspended dark ride. It’s a neat-looking vehicle that can spin 360 degrees and features on-ride audio capability, but many fans remain skeptical of SeaWorld’s ability to deliver a top-quality dark ride after failures with its Antarctica dark ride in Orlando and its Submarine Quest ride in San Diego. Theming an elevated track ride to a submarine remains one of the most puzzling creative choices in theme park history.
But theme park fans can be very forgiving. A world-class new ride can make people forget about past failures. Here’s hoping that SeaWorld can deliver an engaging theme park attraction that lives up to the potential of the ride vehicle we saw last week.