Innovative leisure Announce Ireland’s new high ropes course - The Tayto Sky Walk

Specialist supplier Innovative Leisure adds major attraction to Tayto Park

UK based family attractions specialist Innovative Leisure has installed a major high ropes course at Tayto Park in Co. Meath, Ireland.

Tayto Park opened for its first full season in 2011 and among the attractions on offer is a Sky Trail Voyager high ropes course, custom designed to appeal to both younger and older children and their parents.

Unlike other courses installed to date in the UK by Innovative Leisure, this latest addition to the portfolio has been designed in a horseshoe shape and features four staircases at the right hand side where participants enter the course. Two of the staircases take guests to the first level while a further two take participants up to a higher, second level. Once through the course, guests descend via four more staircases at the left hand side of the horseshoe.

Participants move around the course in a linear sequence and if required are able to switch tracks on the level they are negotiating, from left to right and vice versa. People are released onto the course every few minutes and up to 50 guests at a time can enjoy the experience. It takes between eight and 12 minutes to complete thus providing an hourly capacity of approximately 250 depending on the number of staff involved in the harnessing process.

As with other high ropes courses supplied by Innovative Leisure, the first level of the Tayto Park attraction provides a relatively easy experience, while the second level is more challenging. Experience shows that around 70 per cent of visitors will try the first level the first time round and progress up to the second level, a factor built in to the course so participants ‘grow’ into the upper level.

This latest course is also the first one from the company designed to operate specifically in the familiar family park mould, with a queue line area and exit gate as one would find on a mechanical ride, while a timber building houses a ticket office and a shop. The course also fits in well with the natural elements surrounding it and is painted in a wood grant paint effect which Innovative Leisure has been developing for a year.

“This is a very different concept to the other high ropes courses we have installed to date, ” explained Innovative Leisure MD Phil Pickersgill. “There is a definite place to start and the efficiency of the route and the way people move around the course is very different to others. They have really geared up for high volume throughput on the course. The theming and finish are also excellent and I couldn’t be more pleased with it. It looks incredible.”

For Tayto Park, MD Ray Coyle commented: “We originally visited the IAAPA trade show in the US looking for an attraction for Tayto Park. We wanted something high level, exciting and interactive that would fit with our designs and the natural surroundings of Tayto Park. The Tayto Sky Walk was something we felt would be perfect as part of our Eagle Sky Adventure Zone and this has proved to be the case. It’s been a huge success since we opened at Easter and we have had very high numbers going through it.”

The Sky Trail Voyager is one of a range of major high ropes courses offered by Innovative Leisure, which distributes the attractions in the UK on behalf of US manufacturer Ropes Courses, Inc., who have completed over 600 courses in the US. Hourly capacities of up to 500 people and one, two, three or four levels are possible, while the many different elements incorporated into the attractions are interchangeable, so that the courses can be altered at regular intervals to refresh, update or further develop where required. Full theming options are also available, such as pirate, jungle and construction themes.

For further information please contact:

Phil Pickersgill, Managing Director, Innovative Leisure, Ltd.
Tel. + 44 (0)116 288 7263. Email: info@innovativeleisure.co.uk