From the Floor: News Straight from the Exhibit Halls

Electrosonic Gave Audio and Video Life to Henry VIII
On the IAAPA Attractions Expo show floor Tuesday, Ramzi Shakra of Electrosonic Inc, (Booth #5659) talked about the audio/visual system his company provided to the “Dressed To Kill” exhibition at the Tower of London in England. The exposition, which runs through January 2010, marks the 500th anniversary of King Henry VIII’s ascension to the throne and displays remarkable artifacts of his monarchy gathered from major collections around the world.

Shakra said Electrosonic provided multichannel ambient audio and two Adtec Edie video players that source two Projection Design F30 projectors. The players run in frame sync and are linked to the attraction’s lighting program.

Two Panasonic PT-3500E projectors fed by Blade High-Definition players display video sequences about Henry VIII’s life, and an HD plasma monitor plays a video about the invention of the game of tennis during the king ’s rule.

Velocity Magnetics, Ride Entertainment Systems Introduce Magna-Brake

Friction brakes—a longstanding fixture in amusement parks—require careful maintenance for air lines, springs, brake wear, etc.

Enter Velocity Magnetics and Ride Entertainment Systems (Booth #444) to address those issues with a new product, the Magna-Brake.

Instead of using air or springs to close the brake armatures, the Magna-Brake uses a strong magnetic attraction to return the brake to the closed position. “Not only is the brake not [susceptible] to air or spring failure, but we’ve designed the brake lining cartridges to be replaceable within 20 minutes,” said Domenic Marzano, CEO and president of Velocity Magnetics. Marzano couldn’t mention the material used in the lining itself because it’s proprietary.

Adam Sandy, senior sales associate for Ride Entertainment Systems, which is marketing the brake, said the materials used in traditional friction brake linings—usually brass—must be replaced often, sometimes daily. But the proprietary material in the Magna-Brake at least doubles the life of the brake lining.

Full Integration with Ideal Software
Imagine having your POS, redemption system, party planning system, and more all synched up in one seamless system. Well, Ideal Software (Booth# 8215) imagined and created it.

The N-Site suite of software is a fully integrated system where multiple customer service and management tools—everything from food and beverage to games operations to party planning—are all part of a complete system and can speak to one another.

“ In the old days there were all these different systems—point-of-sale systems, cash systems, redemption systems—but they don’t always talk together very well,” said David Goldman, president of Ideal Software Systems.

The N-Site system provides all those needed platforms in one package instead of requiring customers to take several disparate programs from multiple sources and integrate them.

Ideal Software works with clients to integrate the hardware, train staff, and provide support. “We bring in the hardware that we’ve tested, we set up the hardware, set up the menus. We work with [clients] weeks—sometimes months—in advance preparing all of that.”

As a sign of the times, Ideal Software also rolled out N-Site Mobile, a mobile application that allows managers to view their business activity on their PDAs or cell phones.

MagiQuest Announces New Location, Online Game
MagiQuest (Booth #6465) announced Wednesday it will open a new location in the Chicago area in February 2010. The site will be similar in size to the 12,000-square-foot attraction the company opened in Minneapolis’ Mall of America in October. Both mall attractions allow players to extend the game beyond the physical attraction space and interact with elements out in the mall.

In December, players will be able to take their MagiQuest wands home and play the game online in a version of the attraction developed by the creators of video game blockbuster “Myst.” The Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game will “remember” players’ wands from the live-action game.

SCS Makes Human Cannonballs
In something reminiscent of the old circus cannons that fire human cannonballs, SCS Interactive (Booth #1215) introduced the Cannonball water attraction to the U.S. market this year.

First installed in Germany in October, the Cannonball looks like something out of a kid’s daydream. Towering like a Howitzer, it propels riders up to 23 horizontal feet into a swimming pool. A rider gets into the attraction’s seat and waits for the attendant to press the launch button, at which time the swimmer is blasted into the air on a wave of water until entering the pool. The rider’s surprisingly smooth entry into the water is owed to the ergonomic factors taken into account during the ride’s design.
As for SCS Interactive’s inspiration for the ride, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing, Steve Wagner, said, “There are a lot of pools and diving [wells] out there just sitting around with nothing going on, and this can inject a new life and a new product into that existing market.”

Wagner said the Cannonball costs $165,000 unthemed or $250,000 when theming is provided.

Six Flags, 5D Announce Attraction Agreement
On Tuesday, 5D International (Booth #5503) announced an agreement with Six Flags Inc. to bring its first 5-D attraction to the United States.

Andreas Kornprobst, art and media producer for 5D, said he cannot discuss any particulars of the deal at this time—what type of attraction it will be, which park it will go into, when it will open, etc.—but confirmed it will be an anchor attraction as part of Six Flags’ 50th anniversary celebration in 2010.

“We’re very glad Six Flags joined us in a press release for IAAPA [Attractions Expo], as this is the event of the year—the most important show,” he said.

Hydroplane with Starflight’s AquaZoom
Guests can experience what it’s like to be an air hockey puck with the new AquaZoom product from Starflight Rides (Booth #2150). This bumper boat-style design glides on a thin sheet of water atop a patented valve system embedded in the ride’s floor. Think jumbo-sized air hockey replacing the air with a little bit of water, allowing the vehicle to hydroplane across the floor.
The vehicles are heavy, weighing in about 350 pounds, but operating them isn’t hard. In fact, said CEO Karl Small, “I love that they spin and turn on a dime. They’re a bit faster [than bumper cars/boats]; they’re easy to maneuver. They almost drive like a tank.”

The rides include water cannons and onboard squirt guns for added interactivity, and they can be custom themed to match a facility’s needs. The ride floor can be a basic rectangular shape or a themed layout such as the Jungle, Pinball Ride, or Pirate’s Siege design.

Small also pointed out the ride’s versatility for any type of attraction: “You’ve got family entertainment centers, amusement parks, any type of theme park. It can be wet or dry; it can be indoor or outdoor.”