IAAPA Expo Europe in Vienna was very successful for the Vekoma team, as many customers, friends and press visited the company’s booth. In a press event in cooperation with Jora Vision and Emerald Park, Vekoma revealed new details on the Suspended Thrill Coaster and Family Boomerang with intertwined design that will open in 2024.
Other projects to be opened in 2024 are an indoor Family Coaster at Bommelwereld in the Netherlands, a Kalypso Family Coaster and Mine Train at Energylandia in Poland, a Family Boomerang and fifth Top Gun Launch Coaster at Fantawild in China. Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia will open the world’s first Wizard of Oz precinct including a Family Boomerang Racer and Suspended Family Coaster.
At IAAPA Expo in Orlando, Vekoma will reveal more details on the new 2024 projects in the USA. Thrill coasters like the Tilt Coaster 2.0 will open at Cotaland and North-America’s first Super Boomerang will rise at Six Flags Great Adventure. Furthermore, a Horus Family Coaster will open at Santa’s Village in Jefferson, a Family Boomerang Rebound at Kings Island and a custom design Family Boomerang at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari.
Vekoma keeps innovating and recently introduced its new products like the Family Launch Coaster, Super Boomerang, Suspended Dark Ride and Beat It!
FAMILY LAUNCH COASTER
New in Vekoma’s product portfolio is the Family Launch Coaster. It’s the best of both worlds – with its low height requirement it accommodates younger riders while also providing a fun coaster experience for the more adventurous. In 2023 this type of coaster has been launched with the official opening of ‘Big Bear Mountain’ at Dollywood in the USA and ‘Lightning’ at Furuvik in Europe.
‘Lightning’ is built for speed. With a launch speed of 75 km/h in just 3 seconds, propelled by a magnetic launch, it’s the fastest Family Launch Coaster in the world for young kids and dare devils. The 430 meter ride is starting from a stand still launch in the station followed by lots of exciting twists, turns and airtime. The pacing of the ride is very high and due to lots of ride elements at close proximity to the ground, it feels even faster. After this exhilarating ride sequence the train is flying at 40 km/h through the station for yet another launch to 75 km/h
riding it all again. With a total of 860 meters ride experience and minimum height requirement of 100cm, ‘Lightning’ offers maximum fun for everyone! We feel proud that ‘Lightning’ has been awarded with the ParkWorld Excellence Award for ‘Best Rollercoaster of the Year – limited budget’.
VEKOMA CELEBRATES WORLD’S FIRST SUPER BOOMERANG!
World’s first Super Boomerang ‘Cloud Shuttle’ is a brand new multi launch coaster and has officially opened on July 18th, at the new theme park Xuzhou Fantawild Wonderland in China.
SUPER BLASTOFF FORWARDS AND BACKWARDS
The Super Boomerang is designed to offer a unique combination of modern-age thrill ride elements, all in a compact, narrow space. Multiple launch sections, vertical spike at 52,5m height, maximum speed of 95 km/h, forward backward ride, vertical drops, 4 inversions, and 10 airtime elements. The Super Boomerang brings Vekoma’s successful Boomerang concept to new levels of excitement and thrills to a wide demographics, with the rider height restriction of 1.20m.
The 52,5m tall tower will have an iconic appearance in the park. Using Vekoma’s proven design MK1101 train system and a 6-coach, 24-seater train, the Super Boomerang reaches a capacity of 800pph. To obtain an unobstructed ride experience, the vehicle has a lapbar-only restraint system with flexible vest. Furthermore, the ride uses the state-of-the-art LSM launch system, which is the most maintenance-friendly driving system available in the market.
Stay tuned for the opening of North America’s first Super Boomerang at Six Flags Great Adventure in 2024.
SUSPENDED DARK RIDE
Vekoma is officially entering the dark ride industry with the release of a new unique ride system for dark rides: the Suspended Dark Ride. Vekoma has worked for years on the development of the ride system and, with a first installation on its way, is now officially putting it on the market.
While many people focus on an individual VR experience, we believe that a VR experience cannot beat a live and real ride experience together with friends and family. With this unique vehicle the entire family -including children from 3 years and up- can ride together and look back to a memory of a lifetime.
The suspended vehicles of the newly presented ride system have the ability to swing underneath the track. The swing of the vehicle gives it a very natural feel and an extremely smooth ride experience. The gondolas also have the ability to rotate towards scenes or even to face backwards. According to the factsheet, the 4-person gondolas can be dispatched about every 18 seconds, creating a capacity of over 800 riders per hour. The system has the ability to rotate towards scenes for a most optimum immersive experience.
We’re excited about this new product – it’s the “next generation dark rides 2.0 for full immersive experience.” The first installation will rise in Asia, but we can’t confirm yet what is the exact location.
BEAT IT!
A new attraction in Vekoma’s product portfolio is the interactive boat ride Beat It! Two boats line up, side by side, each with 12 drums and a team of 12 riders. The virtual captain of each boat starts the race with an explosive drum solo.
The louder and faster the team drums, the faster their boat climbs to the top of the lift. The glorious winning team soars down the other side of the slide, splashing the losing team behind them. A vibrant experience for riders and undoubtedly an animated spectacle for viewers.
