German ride manufacturer HUSS Park Attractions has announced the sale of a King Kong ride to Le Pal, in France, for the 2009 season.
King Kong is the latest addition to the wide range of family rides available from HUSS and was originally developed in conjunction with animation and theming specialist Heimo animated attractions Mordelt GmbH and Co. KG. It features a host of newly engineered movements, numerous special effects and highly detailed theming both on and around the attraction to create a unique experience.
Inspired by the world famous King Kong movie, the attraction features a single, 24-seat gondola which passengers enter at ground level. As the ride sequence begins, the huge figure of King Kong, positioned behind the vehicle, appears to grab the gondola and stand up straight, before slowly “shaking” it, creating swinging and tipping motions. As the experience continues, the gondola is lifted to its maximum height adjacent to King Kong’s head, at which time a series of special effects including sound, mist and vibrating seats are triggered, as the gorilla’s eyes shine in a show of crazed anger.
The gondola in which passengers are seated features bench style seats with a single safety restraint for each one. The attraction has a height of 12.7m, a width of 11.5m and a depth of 10m. Hourly capacity is approximately 500 and rider height is from 0.9m to 1.95m. Three ride programs are featured on the attraction.
“We are very happy to announce the sale of one of our King Kong rides to Le Pal, ” commented HUSS Park Attractions vice-president/director of sales, Michael Hesse. “This is a great family park and I am sure the King Kong ride will complement the wide range of attractions on offer very well. It is a really fun ride, suitable for most age groups, and with excellent theming which helps to create a complete experience. I’m confident it will be very popular with visitors to Le Pal.”
Also delighted with the prospect of opening the new ride is Le Pal President and Director General Arnaud Bennet, who commented: “The park opened in 1973 with a zoo and in 1981 we added the amusement park element. Our first attraction at that time was a King Kong themed ride, 6m. high with a truck which carried four passengers and was lifted into the air by King Kong. It had a big impact on the children at that time and worked very nicely.
“We took this off the park about 10 years ago and since then have received a lot of letters, and more recently emails, from people who used to visit us when they were children and didn’t like the fact that we had taken the King Kong ride away. This attraction had a very strong draw for our visitors and now there is still a call for King Kong to come back.
“So when we heard about HUSS doing this new ride, which is obviously very different to the one we used to have, we thought it could be a very good addition to the park which we could promote as ‘the return of King Kong’ to Le Pal. Also, it is a very family orientated ride so most ages can ride it, which was another reason we chose it.
“We think it will be very popular with visitors, particularly those who have known the park for many years. It is a good attraction in itself, but because of the story and the history of Le Pal relating to a King Kong ride, it will be very popular.”
King Kong was chosen as the original theme for the ride by HUSS and is the standard version available to customers. Alternative theming concepts can be created to incorporate the ride into existing themed areas, while pre-show areas can also be developed on request, with custom-built design according to client requirements.
About HUSS Park Attractions Headquartered in Bremen, Germany, HUSS Park Attractions is a market leader in the development, manufacture and sale of amusement rides throughout the world. HUSS was founded in 1919 and is a limited partnership.
For more information visit www.hussrides.com or call + (49) 421 499 0079.
