June 12, 1989

Hi-tech thrills and chills  

By Jefferson Graham
USA Today Staff Writer

Visitors to amusement parks aren't just along for the ride anymore.

An updated variation of the Tilt-A-Whirl now permits passengers a little target practice while being whisked around.

A new attraction in southern California gives riders the sensation they'd experience during an earthquake.

And most ballyhooed of all: an up-in-the-air spinner that allows would-be aviators to take hold of the flight controls.

Welcome to the summer of the participatory ride, where video game technology marries ride technology, and thrills are wilder and faster than ever.

"This is what parks have been demanding for years: They want the patron to be a participant in the experience,"' says Peter Schnabel of Intamin , the Swiss developer of a $2-million ride called "Flight Simulator."'

It's showing up this summer at three of the USA's most popular parks under different names: Sky Pilot at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va.; Skyhawk at Great America in Santa Clara, Calif., and XK-1 at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif.

What makes this newcomer so different is that patrons do more than just sit and enjoy the ride.

They make decisions. Like whether to ride rightside up, sideways or upside down - all at 70 feet above ground.

Other trendsetters:

Video Tele-Combat: Passengers sit in cars that twirl in the air. They shoot at the car in front or in back of them like a video game. It debuts this month at Playland Park in Rye, N.Y.

The new Tilt-A-Whirl: The old Tilt-A-Whirl concept of cars that whisk around has been updated for the video game generation. The new model, Astrobase, puts cars and guns on a platform and twirls them around. The 28 passengers are instructed to use their ``light guns'' to hit targets.

Earthquake - The Big One: A simulation of an earthquake, 8.3 on the Richter scale, at Universal Studios Hollywood, where the passengers enter a building on a tram and, within seconds, the ground begins to shake. The tram track drops three feet, twists and turns; two subway cars crash at 40 mph; a propane truck crashes and explodes within inches of the tram; 60,000 gallons of water flood the tunnel.

The amusement parks themselves also are racking some earth-shaking numbers: 250 million guests brought $4 billion worth of business last summer.

Getting all those people to come back for another summer is quite another matter.

"The people who come to the parks expect bigger and better thrills every year,"' says Dennis Spiegel, of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

What's next?

Intamin is currently working with Showscan, a Los Angeles-based company headed by special effects wizard Douglas Trumbull (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 2001: A Space Odyssey) to marry ride technology with big-screen movies.

Together, they've come up with a way to simulate the experience of riding roller coasters, being on a runaway train, and more.

Showscan provides the movie images; Intamin puts patrons in seats that move along with the film, going up and down and sideways, to simulate the feeling of actually being there.

"I can put you up in the air on the flight simulator,"' says Schnabel. "But I can't give you the feeling of flying an F-14. Or riding a Porsche down an icy road."

John Gerner of Economics Research Associates calls such simulation the next step in rides because it "reproduces the experience without the danger of the experience.

"Theme parks are becoming like Fantasy Island where people can act out their fantasies."

Copyright © 1989, USA Today.