MAGAZINE2012 #43

volume 8, issue 4

A WhiteWater OriginalThe expanding company opens its first AquaCourse

at Alabama’s Splash Adventure and acquires Hopkins

Rides. Find out what makes the company a success.

INSIDE:

waterpark

attendance

figures

The King Cobra slide allows guests to race side by side before splashing down towards the giant snake’s fangs. Courtesy of Polin

The snake known as the King Cobra may not be native to the United States. But the king-

sized serpent-themed waterslide from Polin Waterparks and Pool Systems (Istanbul, Turkey) slithered into a new home in Jackson, N.J this summer. Six Flags Hurricane Harbor opened the first US version of this slide, enticing guests with stomach-churning speeds and adrenaline-pumping drops.

Together, Six Flags Great Adventure, Wild Safari and Hurricane Harbor create America’s largest regional theme park. Hurricane Harbor waterpark, located on 45 acres, features more than 20 high-speed thrill slides, a family water playground, a million-gallon wave pool and a half-mile-long leisure river.

Polin’s supersized cobra version is no less threatening than the real one. Bold red, black and white scales provide an imposing veneer over the exterior and interior of the slide’s massive 50-foot (15.24-meter) height and 260-foot (790-meter) length.

The core feature of King Cobra is its unique configuration that enables two riders to race along a circular path filled with twists, turns and surprises. Water pressure of 3,875 gallons (14,668 liters) per minute catapults riders through open and closed tubes before they brave a heart-pounding plunge nearly 25 feet (8 meters) down a 50-degree slope. Along the way, riders accelerate to a maximum speed of 32 mph (51 km/h).

Six Flags Great Adventure Park President John Fitzgerald said, “We are confident that King Cobra’s intense ride experience and unparalleled design will make it our most popular and entertaining water attraction.”

Alper Cetiner, Polin Project Manager, echoed Fitzgerald’s comments. “With so many special features, we expect the ride to be more successful than even anticipated.”

Polin installed the first King Cobra waterslide in Europe before exporting the massive attraction to Turkey and Russia. This year, in addition to the New Jersey installation, the company-which has designed, manufactured and installed waterparks in 80 countries around the globe-will create new habitats for King Cobra in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. • • •

snake charmersPolin brings their King Cobra waterslide to the USby Sohret Pakis

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to be incorporated, there are miles of piping hidden under the ground that needs to be accounted for. In addition, the health codes for water parks demand extra safety and more stringent design. You are designing for wet, barefoot people. Walking surfaces can become slippery. Separating water from electricity becomes a big challenge.

What else have you learned from your experience?As architects and creative designers, we are always looking for innovative opportunities for our clients to better serve their guests.

The idea of exit through retail is a time-tested method for generating increased product sales. But, it seems that many park operators are missing an opportunity to really engage their guests while they have them captive in the queue. We recognize that guests spend on average, 30 minutes walking to and waiting in line for a 3-minute attraction. It also seems that it would be much easier to hold the guests’ attention while they stand in line, rather than

enticing them into a shop or restaurant as they walk by on their way to the next ride.

In recent discussions, we analyzed ways in which the guests could increase their enjoyment while waiting in line in addition to capturing additional revenue for the park. With the amount of time that guests spend in queue lines, it seems like a natural place to provide additional sales opportunities, whether it is products or food and beverage. As an example, the park could offer kid’s dress up photo opportunities with a character or adventurous setting, an interactive challenge based on the ride narrative with prize rewards at the end, and even a consideration of retail or food/drink vendors available in the queue line. In the new queue for the Dumbo ride in the Fantasyland expansion, Disney introduced the idea of no line and a place for children to be engaged while they wait. The next logical step should be to ask how we can capture additional revenues while they play. • • •

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Insider OpinionInPark spoke to Holiday World’s Dan Koch to find out where the inspiration for Mammoth came in the first place.

What made you guys decide to build Mammoth in the first place? (as opposed to a coaster, flat ride, new show, etc...) How important was the “newness” factor of the product? Wildebeest, our first water coaster, was such a hit when it opened in 2010, we knew right away we needed to bring another ProSlide Hydromagnetic Rocket to Splashin’ Safari. When we learned about ProSlide’s new water coaster design – with six-passenger round boats – we knew we’d found our Mammoth.

How did you pick ProSlide as the slide supplier?We have a long, successful relationship with Rick Hunter and the folks at ProSlide. We joke that we’re the showroom for their rides.

Do you find that the waterpark is a bigger draw than the theme park? Is it about equal? Do your guests spend all day in one or the other or do they split their time?With the hot, humid weather we’ve experienced increasingly over the past decade, we’ve seen Splashin’ Safari’s appeal

grow exponentially. That’s where the lines are, so that’s where we’ve been adding capacity most years. We find some Guests divide their days between the two parks while others take a day for each park. Most, though, spend the first hour or so in Holiday World, midday in Splashin’ Safari, and evening back in Holiday World.

Who supplied the rafts?Mammoth boats are produced by Z-Pro.

Were there any operational challenges that you successfully overcame? Any new ride design is going to have some issues, and Mammoth was no exception. We worked closely with ProSlide and Z-Pro to get the boats running smoothly so that we had very few faults after those first weeks of testing and operation.

What do you think is Mammoth’s biggest selling point to guests?It’s just so FUN. They come off Mammoth laughing and hugging. Riding in a round, six-passenger boat provides that wonderful interaction as riders get to watch their family and friends ride – all the great reactions as they get splashed, shoot downhill backwards and then fly up the next hill. Plus, it’s the world’s longest water coaster, so our Guests love that it’s a good, long thrill ride.