| Press Release: | After the successful product launch in Europe, the first SkyWheel is now going overseas. In September, the amusement park Magic Springs and Crystal Falls in Hot Springs, Arkansas, ordered a SkyWheel.
The customers tested their future attraction personally and on location. Daniel P. Aylward, President of Magic Springs and Crystal Falls, inspected not only the first SkyWheel in the world in Bad Wörishofen, he also personally took a seat in the X-Car and experienced Humpty Bump Lift, inverted ride, 360° corkscrew, and the 105 kph (65.6 mph) close up. After three rides he knew that his customers had to experience this, too!
In Hot Springs, a SkyWheel will be built nearly identical in construction as the first SkyWheel in Bad Wörishofen. Opening has been scheduled for May 2006. Magic Springs and Crystal Falls has about 400,000 visitors per year. The SkyWheel is intended to bring in an additional target group for the park: it will be the highest ride and at the same time the one with the greatest thrill factor. The color choice of blue for the cars, yellow for the track, and red for the tower already signals this effect.
For the park management, the affordable investment costs was one of the decisive reasons for signing the contract: "This confirms our product strategy," explains Jörg Beutler, Managing Director of MAURER SÖHNE. "SkyWheel offers maximum attractiveness, both visually and in terms of ride experience for the passengers, while being economical with regard to space and investment." Furthermore, the SkyWheel can be expanded—an option the customers from Arkansas are also leaving open for themselves.
The SkyWheel for Hot Springs is the first ride with an X-Car in the US, and at the same time the tenth coaster Munich's roller coaster manufacturer is building for America. It does so with the hope of also developing the world's unique X-Car for the American market, the world's largest roller coaster market.
Technical Data
- Track length: approx. 150 m (490 ft)
- Floor space: 55 m x 4 m (180 ft x 12 ft) (without station)
- Max. height (middle of track): 46.2 m (152 ft) (world's highest inversion)
- Overall height: 52 m (170 ft)
- Cars: 1 tandem X-Car (2 x 6 persons)
- Duration of ride (without getting on and off): approx. 1 min.
- Capacity: approx. 550 pph
- Max. speed: approx. 105 kph (65 mph)
- Min./max. vertical acceleration: –1 g / 5 g
- Number of inversions: 2
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