Ride Entertainment’s Installation Team continues to work on some of the attraction industry’s most notable projects. This season the company worked on projects across North America.
“It was another year where we logged a lot of miles, but the travel allows us to work with a myriad of parks and properties, which is great for us,” said Bill Wright, the Managing Director of the Installation Division. “We continue to do a lot of unique projects, which is fantastic because it means no two jobs are the same,” he noted.
One challenging installation was the magnetic brake retrofit on Phantom’s Revenge at Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Here we supplied a braking system from our partner Velocity Magnetics, Inc. and utilized the team of Irvine Ondrey Engineering for the control work. Obviously the coaster is an extremely custom layout and it took a lot of fine tuning to ensure that the system worked well in a wide range of temperatures,” said Wright.
Another large set of projects included the installation of two Funtime Slingshot attractions at Cedar Fair properties, Canada’s Wonderland and Carowinds. Here the team supplied manpower and know-how to install the 60 meter (197 foot) towers, both of which opened on time. “[The Slingshot] was a smooth installation and well-received by our guests,” said Norm Pirtovshek, Vice President and General Manager of Canada’s Wonderland.
The group will soon tackle a project they are looking forward to: the move and erection of a Ferris wheel from a Florida park to Morgan’s Wonderland, an amusement park in Texas that features rides designed to accommodate disabled guests. “Morgan’s Wonderland has a great mission and we are thrilled to play a small part in their growth,” said Mike Gutknecht, who handles Special Projects for Ride Entertainment.
2015 Projects
- Adventure City (CA): Gerstlauer Family Coaster Technical Supervision
- Canada’s Wonderland (ON): Slingshot Installation
- Carowinds (NC): Slingshot Installation
- Kennywood (PA): Magnetic Brake Retrofit and Control System Upgrade
- Killington (VT): SkyTrail® Ropes Course Installation
- Morey’s Piers (NJ): Skycoaster® Take Down
- Morgan’s Wonderland (TX): Ferris Wheel (take down in Florida and erection in Texas)
- Six Flags Mexico (MX): Skycoaster® (take down in Texas and erection in Mexico)
- Six Flags Fiesta Texas (TX): Screamin’ Eagle Zipline Installation
- Toronto Zoo (ON): Carousel Refurbishment