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Technology has transformed the theme park thrill ride, fuelling a
global arms race to create the fastest, tallest, scariest roller coasters the world has ever known.
Alton Towers in Staffordshire has just opened the world's first 14-loop roller coaster, called The Smiler, while in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari World claims to have the world's fastest coaster.
The BBC's Richard Taylor goes in search of the ultimate roller coaster thrill
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Projekt Helix at Liseberg, Sweden, promises to be Europe's first multi-launch coaster when it opens in
2014
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'Diminishing returns'
But insiders believe the thrill ride arms race is coming to an end because the costs are spiralling out of control.
Rides can cost from ￡2.5m to ￡25m, depending on their size and
sophistication, with the likes of Disney spending even more on themed rides involving elaborate sets and animatronics.
Alton Towers' The Smiler cost ￡18m to build, while Projekt Helix will cost 23m euros (￡19.5m).
"People were spending stupid money and had to take a step back," said Mr Garvanovic.
Steve Boney, spokesman for Maurer Soehne, a German thrill ride
manufacturer, said: "There is a law of diminishing returns. As the magnets get bigger, they get heavier and much more expensive, and this pushes up the construction costs. Achieving an extra 50km/h [31mph] costs an extra three to four million euros [￡2.5m-￡3.5m].
"And greater speeds mean you have to increase the allowed rider heights, so fewer kids can go on the ride, reducing revenue," he added.
'Immersive' thrills
As a result there is move towards dark - or indoor - rides where the experience of whizzing round a track is enhanced by audiovisual technologies, like much larger versions of current simulator rides.
"The ride of the future will be an entertainment machine, as much about surprise, fun and enchantment as physical thrills," said Mr Wardley.
Takabisha, at Fuji-Q Highland amusement park in Japan, boasts the steepest descent at 121 degrees
3D projections, like those used in Universal's Spider-Man rides, will be combined with the latest thrill ride launch technologies to create a more intense multi-sensory experience
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Mr Boney agrees, saying: "Audiovisual technology is where most of the
technological innovation is happening."
For example, Dynamic Structures, the Canadian company behind the
Harry Potter theme rides for Universal Studios, is currently developing a
"coal mine-themed" ride for a client in Dubai that will incorporate thrill ride
speeds and G-forces with 3D projection effects and robotics.
"It will be the most technically advanced
ride in the world," Craig Breckenridge,
senior designer at Dynamic Structures told
the BBC.
"We're doing things with coasters that have
never been done before, such as switching
tracks, and using video and projections
that will trick your brain into thinking you're
really falling."
At certain sections of the ride the cars will
drop vertically, laterally, and backwards on
a tilting piece of track that takes them
underneath where they've just been, said Mr Breckenridge.
So as the traditional thrill ride arms race comes to an end, it seems a new
era of intense, multi-sensory, immersive dark rides is only just beginning.
The Smiler, the world's first 14-loop roller coaster, opened
at Alton Towers in October
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