Vekoma Rides, the Dutch roller coaster specialist, will be attending the trade show at this year’s IAAPA Expo Europe, which takes place at the ExCeL in London from 13 – 15 September. The team will be at booth #3128, where they will be talking about the company’s newest products and services.
The firm has enjoyed a strong year, with its award-winning WildCat looping coaster ‘Fønix’ opening at Fårup Sommerland in April. This is now Denmark’s tallest, fastest roller coaster. Elsewhere in Europe, it has provided a Mine Train and Kalypso Family Coaster to Energylandia’s Sweet Valley area.
Meanwhile, in Asia, Vekoma is looking forward to the opening of two more Top Gun launch coasters, a Family Boomerang Rebound, a Suspended Family Coaster, a Hyper Space Warp and the newly designed Renegade looping coaster.
Presenting the Renegade looping coaster
The Renegade is a new addition to the company’s portfolio. The first of these high-speed, high-thrill looping coasters recently opened at Fantawild FT Wild Land in Taizhou. The variable layout with high pacing and unique and surprising elements includes three inversions.
One of the ride’s most unique features is the double station fly-through, where the train crosses the station building twice at high speed. The first pass shoots through the roof, while the second turns the train upside down through a corkscrew. At the Fantawild park, the ride also includes China’s first Cutback Stall inversion, following the first drop. This element rolls riders upside-down and then pauses for a second while they float out of their seat, before rolling them back the right way up.
The coaster provides 13 airtime elements, reaches a height of 28.2 metres and has a maximum speed of 82 kilometres per hour.
Looking ahead to 2023 & 2024
Vekoma also has several record-breaking projects lined up for the coming years. For example, the Luna Family Boomerang coaster at Liseberg, which will be the tallest and fastest of its kind in the world, and the custom-designed Lightning Family Launch Coaster at Furuvik in Sweden (pictured, top).
In 2024, two new Vekoma coasters will open at Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia, where they will form part of the world’s first Wizard of Oz land.
One of the most notable new projects from the company is the Tilt Coaster 2.0, which offers a high-thrill and visually impactful coaster experience. The company has upgraded and adapted the Tilt Element for its new generation of sit-down thrill coasters, in order to develop the Tilt Coaster 2.0. This takes the cutting-edge MK1101 ride system and adds the Tilt Coaster for an extra adrenaline kick.
Earlier this year, Vekoma won a Golden Crown award for the Top Gun Launch Coaster ‘Fighter Jet’ which covers a footprint of 132 x 98 meters with a track length of 912 meters.
