Dave Shaw didn’t know what to expect when the trade show opened for IAAPA 2002. He had not even heard of IAAPA until a few weeks before the convention and had signed up for a booth so late that his company didn’t even make the “late entries” section of the show guide.
But plenty of people apparently found Shaw, and his Makoto martial-arts trainer game, because by the end of the show he was a happy man: “We exceeded our expectations on the very first day. We’re going to sign up for twice as much space next year.”

Shaw’s experience summarizes IAAPA 2002, which ran from November 18-23. The convention was remarkable not only for its high attendance—29,427—but for the uniformly upbeat tone of the trade show. On the second day, Sandy Mendez of Bob’s Space Racers said, “We’re doing really well. People are looking at a lot of new games. I think we are going to be busy next year; I really think we will.”

And it only seemed to get better. On the third day, Rob Lothian of Delta Play excitedly said, “The show has been phenomenal. It’s been absolutely great. We sold the show unit on the first day and have already sold a second.”

And there was no shortage of new and innovative products across all
categories, from major rides manufacturers to redemption games. In fact, some of the more significant exhibits offered new twists on standard products that could have a big impact on the
bottom line.



Take a Ride
In contrast to some years past, during IAAPA 2002 there were plenty of screams echoing over the show floor, thanks to some of the new rides on display. One of the biggest scream makers was Sartori’s Techno-Jump, which spins riders around in four-seat gondolas mounted at the end of mechanical arms that fan out like spokes on a wheel. The ride can be programmed to go at varying speeds and heights, raising the gondolas in a serpentine sequence or rapidly alternating them up and down to the screaming delight of the riders.

Screams also could be heard coming from the riders choosing the “level 5” program on the Robocoaster, the industrial robot arm with two seats attached to the end. This year the booth was set up to give riders a sample of their choice, ranging in intensity from one (tame) to five (beyond wild).

There was a long line of show-goers who climbed up Montic’s 45-foot-high demonstrator of its Suspended Catch Air Device (or SCAD), which has a big net that catches thrill seekers as they free-fall from the tower. The real thing is 140 feet high and features a 100-foot drop.

Zamperla came to IAAPA with four new rides to sell, including the Rockin Tug, voted Best New Kiddie Ride: Riders sit in brightly colored tug-boat-shaped cars that swing from side to side in a
pendulum motion even as they spin 360 degrees. It had families lining up, waiting for a turn. Another new Zamperla ride that drew interest was Fire Brigade, a variation on water-squirting games. Players stand on ladders and spray water into targets set in a “flaming tower.”
The catch: The tower is spinning and the players are going up and down as they spray. Rounding out Zamperla’s new offerings were Hydrorace, which a company representative described as a “Kiddie Whip (ride) with water,” and Fiesta Express, a new kiddie coaster hybrid that combines a kiddie coaster train with a Wild Mouse-style coaster track.

For older folks who are kids at heart, HUSS showed computer simulations of its new Topple Tower, an addition to its Classic Rides line that essentially is a Frisbee in reverse: The 36-seat spinning disk is at the top of a vertical swinging arm that pivots at its base. The advantage to this arrangement, said Robert Dean, the company’s vice president of sales, is that the ride does not subject riders to such heavy G forces, making it suitable for all family members.

Among those who blatantly cater to the high-thrill crowd, Mauer Söehne and S&S Power were promoting modifications to existing rides that would give riders a new perspective on vertical acceleration. Mauer was displaying a new seat for its Xtended Power Tower that tilts forward to let riders face the ground as they ride. And S&S was doing the same thing with the Sky Sling, which representative Quin Checkitts described as “a toned-down version of Absolutely Insane.” S&S developed a new seating system for the ride, which holds passengers securely in a molded seat with an adjustable shoulder harness and lap bar. Right before they are launched skyward, the seats tilt down to face the ground.

Having developed the seat, S&S came up with two more rides to take advantage of it: The Sky Swatter looks like a pair of oversized fly swatters, each seating 24 riders, that spin like a propeller, end over end. And the Screaming Squirrel is a new approach to a tracked ride. Passengers sit in cars that travel along a series of vertical S-curves, giving riders the sensation of rotating forward and traveling upside down while they traverse the underside of the S.

S&S, which now owns Arrow Dynamics, was also trying to drum up interest in Arrow’s revamped 4th Dimension coaster. By eliminating conventional trains and seating passengers in eight-seat cars, the company says it can significantly reduce the cost of the ride, thanks to associated reductions in footings, the lift mechanism, and track supports.



Game Time
The FEC element seems poised for a comeback, and the vendors at IAAPA showed that they are ready with an array of new games for them, both in the redemption and the coin-operated categories.

Among the redemption games, several news concepts were on display, including Baytek’s new Popcorn game, in which players try to catch plastic “popcorn” as it falls out of a popcorn popper. Another new concept for a game, so new that the brochure for it wasn’t even printed at show time, was Rhythm Nation by Innovative Concepts in Entertainment. Players hit levers to bounce up electronic balls that drop in various combinations from the top of the screen.

Bob’s Space Racers came to IAAPA with its new Toddler Games line for little ones, featuring smaller cabinets for such easy-to-play games as Whac-a-Mole and Sneaky Snake. It also had a new game suitable for redemption or group play: Runnin’ Water, in which contestants race to fill up their water pitcher from a moving spigot. And DSM Sales & Manufacturing was showing its new Mini Midway line of skill games. Each game is in a five-by-six-foot automated booth to simulate the look of a carnival midway game.

New coin-op games on the floor included Sega’s The House of the Dead, a two-player shoot-em-up, and Namco’s Mazan, in which players pick up a sword and physically duel a video opponent.

Sports and fitness continued to be a popular theme for games. Emiliana Luna Park USA showed a new midway racing game in which the 10 contestants sit on exercise bikes and pedal to advance their racer. Skee Ball displayed Soccer ShootOut, in which players try to strike a soccer ball through five windows. Out on the Magical Midway, GoalStriker Group Ltd. set up a full-size soccer goal where players test their ability to kick an unstoppable penalty kick, and Gaelco has a new two-player video soccer game on the floor that brings a new level of realism to the screen.

Other sport games included Shoot ’n’ Shower, in which two players shoot free throws, and the loser gets showered with water. Jam Up Games debuted at IAAPA with Jam Up Pool, a video billiards game that lets players use a real pool cue to advance the action. And The BankShot Organization came to IAAPA with a new game called BankShot Tennis. Players try to bank a tennis ball off a series of panels that are angled to lead the ball into a net.



Interactive Fun and More
Soft play companies arrived at the show with new ways to allow kids to play together. Delta Play brought a unit called Dragon Quest, a large three-level castle in which players participate in an electronic scavenger hunt and must electronically “collect” various items to rescue the damsel from a dragon. To make it more fun, the unit includes a themed “ballocity” system in which the guns are baby dragons that players use to shoot balls at each other.

Soft Play also offered its own collecting game, called Treasure Quest. Both are made possible through Creative Kingdoms, a separate company that came up with the scavenger system. For FEC operators, the Creative Kingdoms system allows soft play to be turned into a redemption game. It also can be adapted so that players can collect points by playing certain games, and it allows players to accumulate points over successive visits.

Another promising hybrid on the floor was Veqtor’s “KidErgy” system, which puts laser guns in a soft-play structure. The laser guns are mounted at shooting stations, and players have to pump a lever, spin a wheel, or turn a crank to arm them.

Kids love to climb, and soft play companies are ready to help them. Little Tikes had its “Tikes Peak” climbing mountain on the floor, and Soft Play was promoting its Rock Course climbing walls that can be integrated into its play units or mounted on a wall.

Food, Glorious Food
IAAPA would not be IAAPA without giving park operators new things to let their guests eat. This year Batter Baked Foods came with yet another pizza product—Papa Presto french bread pizza, available in five flavors. And Island Sorbet was promoting an eye-catching alternative to ice cream: fruit sorbets delivered in a frozen shell. Coconut sorbet, for example, comes in half of a coconut shell. There’re also pineapple, lemon, orange, and apple.

Two noteworthy exhibitors offered alternative entertainment including 2nd Nature Productions’ Living Garden, which uses live actors elaborately costumed as rocks, vines, orchids, and even a living fountain that manipulates water to come out her fingertips or the top of her head at will. In a different vein, guests provide the entertainment at Music City Recording Studio, a karaoke recording booth that allows guests to sing along to their favorite songs while their performance is recorded onto a CD. Interest was high, said owner Jim Masiella. “If I get only 10 percent of the people who have expressed a real interest, my wife will think I’m a genius.”



Perhaps two of the most significant exhibits on the floor had nothing to with attractions and everything to do with simplifying park operations. OptiLed displayed a new line of light bulbs illuminated by light-emitting diodes, which use far less energy and last many times longer than conventional lightbulbs. The maintenance people for any park that uses significant lighting in trees or on buildings will wonder how they ever got along without them, and electric bills will go down, too.

Operations personnel will be interested in SFC Engineering’s iMAP system, which stands for Intelligent Information Management Analysis & Planning Tool. The system is basically a computerized filing cabinet that provides parks with a computerized map of their facility. Click on a ride in the park and the system pulls up a menu offering the ride’s maintenance and operations manuals, usage statistics, engineering drawings, maintenance records, photos of the ride, correspondence between the park and the ride manufacturer, and anything else the operators want to put in the system.

IAAPA 2002 was a marked contrast with the previous convention, which was held on the heels of the terrorist attacks of September 11. The upbeat tone of the convention bore out the hopes of Lucy Murphy of Zamperla, who succinctly worded a sentiment that was shared by many on the floor. Speaking in her empty booth just minutes before the show floor opened on Wednesday, she said, “Last year we were all a little shell-shocked from the events of 9/1l. Now, there’s sorrow to look back, but there’s anticipation and joy, too. Life continues.”