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Small News From The Theme Park Industry

davidm

Strata Poster
Today in Japan (August 31) was the final day for the Daikanransha (Giant Sky Wheel in English) in Odaiba. The surrounding Palette Town tourism facilities have been shuttered in recent years due to travel restrictions and a weakened yen. When it first opened in 1999, it was briefly the world's tallest at 377' in height (115 m); https://www.nipponnews.net/news/vis...ferris-wheel-at-palette-town-in-odaiba-tokyo/

Oh wow did not realise that the whole complex there has been closed.

that nipponnews link said:
Ever since the announcement of Palette Town’s closure in July 2021, the surrounding facilities such as Zepp Tokyo, Toyota Mega Web, and Venus Fort have already been shut down.

I went there in 2002 and rode the coaster (https://rcdb.com/2382.htm - my "rarest" cred) that was inside those circular buildings next to the ferris wheel in the image on that page, but it had been removed not long after. I think that there used to be another little indoor coaster in the amusement park place next door to it too but that was just full of amusement-machine-things when I went looking for evidence of coaster track a few years later.

Pic from 2002;
255784907_ed3871a9aa_o.jpg
 

Nicky Borrill

Strata Poster
The Icon Tower still looks ridiculously massive.
View attachment 20029

Holy s**t, that 'Icon Tower' looks insane. Do all of those slides make it back down to ground level, or do some of them have splash pools further up the tower?

I don't remember construction photos of anything related to the attractions industry blowing me away like this, not even Galaxy's Edge or Velocicoaster... If I'd seen renders / artists impressions of this beforehand I would have laughed it off as nonsense!!! (This is the first I've read of this project, I know, so out of touch 🙈 😂 )
 

roomraider

Best Topic Starter
Holy s**t, that 'Icon Tower' looks insane. Do all of those slides make it back down to ground level, or do some of them have splash pools further up the tower?

I don't remember construction photos of anything related to the attractions industry blowing me away like this, not even Galaxy's Edge or Velocicoaster... If I'd seen renders / artists impressions of this beforehand I would have laughed it off as nonsense!!! (This is the first I've read of this project, I know, so out of touch 🙈 😂 )
I believe there are multiple starting levels and ending levels within the structure so no not all slides reach all the way down. However which slides start and end where I have no idea. It's almost impossible to figure it out 😂
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
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How tall is that tower? Has to be more than fifty meters or so. That's 15 storeys.

Now there's the question: who would want to climb 15 storeys of stairs in the heat of Qatar and the 100% humidity of a waterpark? It's gotta be like doing the step test in a sauna. You'd be half-dead of heat exhaustion by the time you made it two thirds of the way up.

Alternately, will there be elevators? And how well does that blend with the climate of a waterpark? Water and chlorine don't play nice with such mechanisms.
 

Nicky Borrill

Strata Poster
How tall is that tower? Has to be more than fifty meters or so. That's 15 storeys.

Now there's the question: who would want to climb 15 storeys of stairs in the heat of Qatar and the 100% humidity of a waterpark? It's gotta be like doing the step test in a sauna. You'd be half-dead of heat exhaustion by the time you made it two thirds of the way up.

Alternately, will there be elevators? And how well does that blend with the climate of a waterpark? Water and chlorine don't play nice with such mechanisms.
I wonder if there's an air conditioned core... There will still need to be a way to transport people up though, nobody is running up there more than once, if at all.
I wonder if they'll use escalators. Would make long queues interesting... 🙈 😂
 
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Lori Marie Loud

Giga Poster
How tall is that tower? Has to be more than fifty meters or so. That's 15 storeys.

Now there's the question: who would want to climb 15 storeys of stairs in the heat of Qatar and the 100% humidity of a waterpark? It's gotta be like doing the step test in a sauna. You'd be half-dead of heat exhaustion by the time you made it two thirds of the way up.

Alternately, will there be elevators? And how well does that blend with the climate of a waterpark? Water and chlorine don't play nice with such mechanisms.
The tower is 279 feet tall. There will be elevators.
 

CrashCoaster

CF Legend
How tall is that tower? Has to be more than fifty meters or so. That's 15 storeys.

Now there's the question: who would want to climb 15 storeys of stairs in the heat of Qatar and the 100% humidity of a waterpark? It's gotta be like doing the step test in a sauna. You'd be half-dead of heat exhaustion by the time you made it two thirds of the way up.

Alternately, will there be elevators? And how well does that blend with the climate of a waterpark? Water and chlorine don't play nice with such mechanisms.
It looks to me like an elevator shaft runs through the middle of the structure, especially if you look towards the top.
 

Hixee

Flojector
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Bear in mind that there would need to be elevators for staff and maintenance, evacuation stairs, and intermediate water pumping and treatment stations. Plus whatever structural stability the tower needs including wind and earthquake loading. I reckon by the time you've bothered to sort all of that out, a few guest elevators wouldn't be so hard to add.

My guess is guest elevators with three or four landings where people can walk up or down a level or two from there.
 

cookie

Giga Poster
Anyone heading to PortAventura in the next two weeks may be aware that Ferrari Land will have a different operating schedule from Tuesday, September 6th to Sunday, September 18th. Instead of opening with the resort in the morning, the park will open at 4:30 P.M and stay open until 10:30 P.M, even as the main park closes at 6. If you're looking for a rare night ride on Red Force, now's your chance.

 

TPoseOnTantrum

Giga Poster

oriolat2

Giga Poster
So, today a tower ride in India has crashed, ala Mach Tower, but with people on it.

Mod edit: I have marked the below video as a "spoiler" as a stand in for a NSFW tag. Whilst the video is not graphic, it's intense and does show people being injured. Viewer discretion is advised.


It seems like the ride was a knock-off observation tower/drop tower.
 
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Hixee

Flojector
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Spoiler tags added to the video due to it's nature. Apologies for not catching this sooner.

Terrible situation - suspect this'll be one of these ones that we never hear much more about, but hopefully things were better than they looked.
 

cookie

Giga Poster
If anyone has €2.7 million to spare, the site of the former Miragica park — which shut in late 2018, was liquidated in early 2021, and partially burned down earlier this summer — is up for auction again, with (close to) €2.7m being set as the base price. The court had previously tried to auction off the park at €4 million, but there were no takers. Interested bidders has until October 20th to sumbit an offer.

Note that AFAIK most of the rides including the coasters are long gone from the site.

Source (in Italian)
 
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