Theme park stories

Dominic Wigley joined Merlin Entertainments in 2014 as Group Health, Safety and Security Director. Less than a year later Merlin suffered their worst accident in the company’s history. The Smiler accident in June 2015 rocked the second largest attractions company in the world, and brought Wigley’s department into the spotlight. Blooloop talked to Wigley about […]

The International Association of Amusement parks and Attractions European division, IAAPA EMEA, held its first Winter Forum in Dubai from January 31st to February 2nd. 150 attendees visited some of the the major new parks and attractions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These included Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Global Village, IMG Worlds of Adventure and the […]

This is the ninth annual study Blooloop has conducted regarding new theme park rides and attractions around the world. BY TRACY KAHANER (LEFT), PRESIDENT KAHANER RESEARCH AND NEWS EDITOR, BLOOLOOP While this listing provides an in-depth overview of the rides opening during 2017, it is not exhaustive. Except for a few instances those rides that […]

According to Thrill Engineer Brendan Walker, the most  thrilling moment of any theme park experience is just before it begins. That brief interlude between being strapped in and the launch of the ride. “Nothing matches that moment of giving yourself to the ride, that point of no reasonable return, ” he says. Walker specialises in […]

There’s more to Technifex than meets the eye, which isn’t that surprising given the company’s ability to deceive the imagination with state-of-the-art special effects. Alongside its thriving theme park activities, Technifex also builds training systems for government agencies including the fire service and the military. The two disciplines have more in common than one might […]

On the 7-8th Dec 2016, a select group of operators and attraction industry professionals met at the Vision XS Operators Conference held in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. Hosted by leisure industry specialists, Vision XS, the theme of the conference was “Why Should I Stay?”. It explored the positives and negatives of adding various forms of accommodation to a […]