Association Takes New Rides for a Spin

The industry’s leading professional and trade organization, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), is holding its annual Attractions Expo in the theme park capital of the world, Orlando, Florida, this week. With an exhibit floor that includes full-scale working amusement park rides, the expo has to be one of the world's grandest, if oddest, trade shows. Among the highlights of the show, IAAPA presented its New Product Awards on Tuesday. The awards honor ride manufacturers for their innovations; they also provide a glimpse of what could be coming to parks near you. Some of IAAPA's awards included:

• Best New Major Park Attraction: The ZacSpin Coaster from Intamin
  Also known as a 4th dimension or ball coaster, this unusual ride places riders on either sides of a coaster track in single cars that freely rotate a complete 360 degrees parallel to the track. The track layout is also odd in that it zig-zags back and forth and positions the cars both above and below the track. Confused? The concept is hard to explain, but you can get a much better sense by checking out the ZacSpin images and video at Intamin's Web site. There are no ball coasters in North America yet, but Terra Mitica in Spain and Linnanmaki in Finland introduced the first two versions of the wild ride in 2007.
• Best New Water Park Attraction: Hydromagnetics Water Ride Technology from ProSlide
  Using the same kind of linear induction technology that powers some launched coasters such as Revenge of the Mummy at the Universal Studios parks in Hollywood and Orlando, the ProSlide folks have designed a water coaster that soars uphill using magnetic force. Other uphill water coasters use water jets or zippy conveyor belts to propel rafts. The Discovery Channel has a great video clip showcasing the hydromagnetic technology that's used on Deluge, an uphill water coaster that debuted in 2007 at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.
• Best Technology Applied to Amusements: YourDay Video Capture from YourDay
  It may smack a bit of Big Brother, but the ends seem innocuous. Guests equipped with radio frequency chips are captured on video by a horde of cameras as they make their way through a theme park. At the end of the day, the park can issue them a custom 20-minute souvenir video chronicling their experience. Alton Towers in the UK is already outfitted with the YourDay system.