Alcorn McBride, the leading manufacturer of show control, audio and video equipment for the themed entertainment industry, has provided AV equipment for the new horror-themed thrill ride, “X-Press: Platform 13”, at Walibi Holland.
“X-Press: Platform 13” is a new attraction created by re-branding Walibi Holland’s steel roller coaster. The ride is themed around the story of a mysterious subway crash and the theming extends right from the queue through to ride’ thrilling finish.
Guests are immersed in an eerie atmosphere with PA announcements, cars rumbling overhead, blaring horns, slivers of lights through manhole covers, the lights and screeching brakes of an out-of-control subway train. Once on board, the runaway subway train accelerates to 94.3 km/h in just 2.9 seconds, passing blinking red safety lights before appearing to slide with a final pyro effect concluding the exciting ride.
Nightlife Productions provided creative design, programmed the lighting, installed the attraction and hired Frank Ruisch from AV Syncworks, who designed the sound effects. Alcorn McBride equipment provides the elaborate video, audio and lighting synchronization throughout the attraction.
Ruisch says, “Alcorn McBride products are the only ones I work with. They are reliable, reliable, reliable.”
Alcorn McBride’s products used in the attraction were:
- A V4 Pro frame-accurate controller manages the entire show.
- A ShowTouch interface running on an Apple iPad monitors the status of projectors and other show elements.
- A DMX Machine and a LightCue create synchronous lighting effects and control 30 LED fixtures for the phantom subway train approach.
- An A/V Binloop HD drives projectors for spooky visual displays and creates the out of control train.
- An AM4 Digital Audio Machine provides audio effects for the finale.
- A ProTraXX is the main audio source for the queue.
Ruisch is particularly impressed with ProTraXX: “ProTraXX is by far the best multi-channel MP3 player there is. It’s lightning fast and has professional balanced outputs. It even announces the correct time every five minutes. An amazing machine from an amazing company. I couldn’t do my job without it!”
