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A Lucky ‘Thirteen’ for Alton Towers
The number 13 may have a legendary reputation as being unlucky, but recently it has been anything but that for Alton Towers in Stafford, England. Ever since the resort’s announcement last December it had chosen “Thirteen” as the official name of its new £15 million ($24 million) roller coaster, it has been basking in the glow of intense interest and curiosity from the media and park enthusiasts.
The resort purposefully released almost no specific details on the new coaster, and the intrigue only heightened interest. “We launched the ride name just before Christmas, and the press picked up on it very well,” says Morenna Angove, sales and marketing director for Alton Towers, “and we got regional TV coverage, the BBC, independent TV stations, and a lot of online chatter about it. We’ve tried to keep as much privacy around the ride as possible, and I’m pleased we’ve gotten such a huge amount of coverage without having to release much in the way of details. As for the public, the fans are watching our every move!”
Picking “Thirteen” as the ride’s moniker was the culmination of an extensive naming process. Angove tells FUNWORLD: “The idea behind the name is to give the intrigue.”
The coaster’s backstory goes like this: While digging out the foundation of the “Corkscrew” ride that used to sit where “Thirteen” is now being built, an old crypt was uncovered. There’s some mysterious force at work throughout the ride area, and it’s unknown as to whether it’s human or supernatural life. Angove says there’s a sense the forest is trying to take over the ride, and to demonstrate this, there will be an enormous tree growing up through the ride building. The tree will be constructed partly of recycled steel from the old “Corkscrew” ride.
As if all this intrigue isn’t enough, the new Intamin coaster will contain a “world’s-first” ride element (which, at press time, was still under wraps). Because of this and the ride’s heightened scare factor, Alton Towers announced it is considering an age restriction on the ride. Though this is being widely received as marketing bluster, Angove explains the resort’s thinking: “The coaster’s height restriction is 1.2 meters (47.2 inches), and we’ve talked about an age restriction because that height limit means a 7-year-old might be able to ride. The coaster’s got some very scary elements to it, and you can’t see a lot of it—you can’t see what’s going on in the woods, and the special effects and world’s-first element take place in a ride building. So to be honest, we have discussed the age factor internally. It’s not just a marketing stunt, but obviously, it’s managed to achieve some PR coverage for us!”
“Thirteen” will open March 20. The ride’s official web site is www.altontowers.com/2010.
Polin Slides Across Russia
 Since the breakup of the Soviet Union nearly two decades ago, Russia has experienced a continuous expansion of its waterpark industry. One of the major players in this growth has been Polin Waterparks & Pool Systems (www.polin.com.tr) in Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey, which began working in Russia in 1994 and has completed 74 projects there.
Currently, Polin is working on expanding the 38-acre Golden Bay Waterpark in Gelindgik on the Black Sea, the largest waterpark in Russia. Golden Bay has undergone several expansions since it opened in 2002, and each time Polin was retained to add attractions. This time Polin will add four new waterslides to the 44 the company already installed at the park. Among these is one of Polin’s newest slides, the Uphill Multisurf, a multilaned water coaster-type ride designed for racing, with between two and six lanes that propel riders on jets of water. The other three slides are the Space Boat, a bowl slide; the Windigo, an enclosed racing slide; and the Dragero, a high-speed mat-racing slide.
 The high number of slides at Golden Bay Waterpark is no accident, according to Sohret Pakis, marketing manager for Polin. “Russian people really like action, and they always want more waterslides,” she says. “The first thing I noticed when I visited some of the waterparks in Russia is that the people aren’t in the restaurants and they don’t lie down and sunbathe— they just try to ride the slides again and again!”
Polin has been in business since 1976 and manufacturing waterslides since 1989. The company produces other waterpark attractions, like lazy rivers and wave pools, but slides are its hallmark. Pakis says Polin recently put considerable efforts and investment into converting its waterslide production to Resin Transfer Molding (RTM). “Since 2006, we’ve been producing our slides through the RTM process, and we brought an RTM ride component with us to last year’s IAAPA [Attractions Expo],” she says. “Right now, 80 percent of our slides are RTM. It is a closed-mold technology with many advantages. The RTM waterslides are perfectly smooth on both sides, and they are stronger and lighter than other slides. But also, they’re just beautiful— it’s like beautiful furniture for the parks!”
Polin is also promoting its Natural Light System, which employs a special manufacturing process of fiberglass coloring that uses the sun to create natural lighting effects inside its slides. When the slides are viewed from the outside, colorful stripes are visible on the surface. “These are colorful translucent slides,” explains Pakis. “There’s no maintenance work because it’s installed during the manufacturing process, and the system doesn’t require post-drilling and post-cutting. It creates beautiful views inside the slide.”
Polin’s latest project in Russia is the Ryazan indoor waterpark, located in the town of the same name, scheduled to open in September.
The Titanic Sails Again … in Pigeon Forge
 Titanic Branson, the museum in Missouri devoted to the famous ocean liner that sank on April 15, 1912, has been such a success since its opening in 2006 (hosting more than 2 million guests) that its owners are preparing to open another Titanic museum. Titanic Pigeon Forge will open in April on a 3.7-acre tract in Tennessee.
Like Titanic Branson, the $25 million Pigeon Forge museum (www.titanicpigeonforge.com) will be a half-scale model of the historic 883- foot-long ship. But there will also be some significant differences: The 30,000-square-foot Pigeon Forge museum will have 32 percent more interior space, two additional galleries (23 total), and a third-floor reception area that will seat 300 to accommodate an unexpected phenomenon that occurred at the Branson museum, according to Rick Laney, spokesperson for Titanic Pigeon Forge.
 “Because of the success of the ‘Titanic’ movie, there’s this real romanticism tied to the Titanic,” he says, “and after the opening in Branson, people started calling saying they wanted to have weddings on the Grand Staircase, and that became an offshoot business, so they started renting out the museum in the evenings. In Pigeon Forge, they’ve built this third-floor reception area to accommodate weddings and people renewing their vows.” Upon entering the museum, each guest will receive a boarding pass bearing the name of an actual Titanic passenger or crewmember and a number. While touring any of the galleries, the guests can enter the number on a handset and learn what relationship their passenger/crew member had to artifacts displayed in a gallery. There is also a gallery called “Totanic” where kids can “steer” a ship, work on puzzles, and learn the history of the Titanic.
 Like Titanic Branson, Titanic Pigeon Forge is owned by Cedar Bay Entertainment, which is operated by John Joslyn and Mary Kellogg-Joslyn. John Joslyn has television production experience and organized a three-month expedition to the Titanic in 1986 that brought back more than a thousand artifacts. He has also secured numerous relics from family members of Titanic passengers and now has a collection of more than 1,800 items, 350 to 400 of which will be displayed at Titanic Pigeon Forge. Mary Kellogg-Joslyn worked as an executive for 18 years at The Walt Disney Company and helped launch the “Regis and Kathy Lee Show” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” Laney says John Joslyn is quick to point out that none of his artifacts were taken from inside the ship: “He’s taken nothing out of the ship itself, which is a controversial thing to do. He’s gotten them from people, from the debris field around the ship, and from family members.”
Idletime Network of Windemere, Florida, which designed Titanic Branson, designed Titanic Pigeon Forge, as well. Museum officials expect 750,000 visitors its first year in operation. Laney says the museum will not accept buses the first year because the Joslyns are very particular about the value of the guest experience and want to make certain the 75 staffers have time to acclimate themselves to the normal traffic flow.
Getting a Global View
 One day back in 1995, Eric Morris read how astronauts viewing the Earth from outer space for the first time underwent a phenomenon termed the “overview effect,” whereby they experienced a profound change of perspective of their home planet. They saw no borders, no differentiation between countries, no “us” and “them.” Rather, they could see Earth the way it really was— a beautiful blue “marble” floating in a sea of darkness.
Of course, only a few hundred astronauts had the opportunity to experience this change of perspective. So, Morris was inspired to create that overview effect for the rest of us, which eventually gave rise to his current company, Orbis World Globes, located in Eastsound, Washington.
“We create the most visually authentic globes on the planet,” asserts Kyle Hall, who handles sales and marketing for Orbis. “We take actual NASA satellite imagery and make globes that look just like the planet.”
 The globes, called “earthballs,” are made to any size up to 30 feet in diameter, and all of them are inflatable. “It’s rare to find museum-quality globes that are inflatable,” says Hall, “which makes them lightweight and easy to transport, and allows them to be hung from a ceiling without concern for weight.”
Orbis sells and rents these giant globes to trade shows, museums, amusement parks, festivals, and so forth. The company has more than 40 on permanent display around the world, including the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum in Times Square in New York City, the Guinness World Records Museum in San Antonio, Texas, and the MIRA Public Observatory in Grimbergen, Belgium.
Hall says Orbis makes the globes using a proprietary software that creates a rectangular picture from NASA imagery. That image is imprinted on a sturdy vinyl material by a 10-foot-wide printer in Orbis’ factory; the vinyl is similar to that used in an awning. The company can print a variety of graphics on the globes and can also provide interior illumination and rotating mounts.
For outdoor applications, Orbis uses a variety of techniques to deal with changes in wind, temperature, and humidity, including weighting the globe stands and making use of nonsealed cold air globes that utilize a blower.
Though Earth globes have been the company’s specialty, Hall hopes to branch out: “We have built the Earth and a moon, and we’ve done a Saturn, all using NASA imagery. We’d love to do other planets, and we’d like to do a few more nonglobes—find people who have a need for a sphere that’s not a globe.”
He says Orbis is currently working on a globe for an unnamed amusement park attraction and has had discussions with an amusement park that wants a globe for use with an international festival it hosts. Hall suggests parks can also use the globes in parades and attractions/venues with a space, earth science, or “green” message.
The globes range in cost from $1,800 up to $170,000 for a 30-footer with internal illumination. More information is available at www.earthball.com.
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