The 2024 International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) expo has kicked off in Orlando, FL ushering in exciting new announcements for the theme park industry.
The Future of Fun:
- IAAPA is here! On Tuesday morning, the annual 4 day showcase began.
- Every year, companies from around the world come together at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL to share and sell their innovations in themed entertainment.
- The iconic showfloor features booths from hundreds of different vendors, with companies selling products from standard theme park food all the way to ride system and animatronic manufacturers.
- Laughing Place had the opportunity to attend the first day of the industry event, which included several announcements from some of the amusement park world’s leading companies.
- Earlier today, we reported that MACK Rides and SeaWorld had shared new details about their flying theatre attraction coming this spring. Let’s check out everything else that happened today!
Vekoma
- Vekoma has been a leading roller coaster manufacturer for decades. For fans of the Disney Parks, you can thank the company for attractions such as Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Expedition Everest, TRON Lightcycle / Run, and more.
- Vekoma has had somewhat of a renaissance over the past decade, producing some of the most innovative and impressive coaster layouts in the industry.
- During an announcement made at IAAPA, Vekoma and VidantaWorld revealed the lead car for their upcoming theme park’s 2026 Vekoma LSM Launch Coaster Tecuami. The exciting thrill coaster will headline the new park.
- During the announcement, Vekoma and VidantaWorld shared a partial point of view (POV) video of the coaster, which looks to be incredibly thrilling and intense. Tecuami will feature over 16 seconds of airtime, multiple launches, and several inversions.
Zamperla
- Zamperla is an Italian ride manufacturer known for their flat rides, many of which can be found throughout Disney Parks.
- These include the New Fantasyland Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Emotional Whirlwind at Disney California Adventure, and Cars Quatre Roues Rallye at Walt Disney Studios Park.
- They also manufactured the former Primeval Whirl roller coasters at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
- At Zamperla’s booth at the IAAPA showcase, the manufacturer shared their new Family Launch Coaster concept that will be built at Le Parc Spirou in France.
- The new coaster, which will be themed to Naruto, features a switch track and spike to elevate the family coaster experience.
- During the announcement, a full POV of the new coaster concept was showcased.
S&S Worldwide
- Today, S&S Worldwide and Hershey Park paired up to unveil one of the Gondolas for Twizzler Twisted Gravity.
- The attraction, which will be the largest Screamin’ Swing in the world, is set to open next summer.
- Disney and Universal Fans will be familiar with a few of S&S’ projects, as they manufactured the drop tower ride systems for Maliboomer and Doctor Doom’s Fearfall.
- The Screamin’ Swing ride system is a compressed air powered giant swing that provides riders with plenty of airtime. Serengeti Flyer at Busch Gardens Tampa is also an S&S Screamin’ Swing.
- Another fun fact, S&S purchased Arrow Dynamics, known for helping Walt Disney create the first tubular steel coaster in the world, when they filed for bankruptcy in the early 2000s. Walt’s relationship to Arrow Dynamics, which was known as Arrow Development at the time, predates Matterhorn with many of Disneyland’s earlier attractions being manufactured by the company.
Triotech
- Triotech is a unique company when it comes to themed entertainment.
- Known for creating interactive media-based experience, Triotech is a hardware, software, and content company, referring to themselves as a “one-stop shop.”
- Triotech has worked with major Cedar Fair parks, Universal Studios Hollywood, and more.
- Their work will be familiar to those who have taken a ride on Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair at Knott’s Berry Farm, which features media and a ride system by the company.
- During the first day of the expo, Triotech and SEVEN (Saudi Entertainment Ventures) announced a brand new compact “dark ride” system that will allow parks with small footprints to bring immersive attractions to life.
- Utilizing as little as 100 square meters, the new ride system uses back to back seating and dynamic screens to immerse riders into giant worlds in a very small footprint.
- While the attraction features screens, Triotech set out to immerse riders further with smoke, motion, wind and light effects.
Falcon’s Creative Group
- Falcon’s Creative Group hosted a unique and fun presentation that saw a live taping of the Experience Imagination podcast.
- The company has brought over $100 billion worth of themed entertainment projects to life, including MOTIONGATE Dubai’s Lionsgate Zone and Kennedy Space Center’s Heroes and Legends experience.
- During the showcase, it was announced that Infinite Acquisitions Partners had entered into a nonbinding Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire Oceaneering Entertainment Systems, known for their ride and show systems. Falcon’s Creative Group’s Falcon’s Beyond Global has signed a LOI to operate the new venture.
- The new Oceaneering Entertainment Systems by Falcon’s Beyond is set to bring immersive experiences throughout the world.
Sky Elements
- Closing out the night, Sky Elements put on an impressive drone show, showcasing how exciting the future of nighttime spectaculars can be.
- The 11-minute long show featured IAAPA-themed displays.
- One of Sky Elements’ impressive displays was seen last summer at San Diego Comic Con. Breaking the Guiness World Record for the”Largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by multirotors/drones,” the Deadpool & Wolverine’s Deadpool display broke the record with 1,599 drones before being one-up in the same show with a giant Wolverine using 1,607 drones.
- IAAPA’s show floor will be open until November 22nd.
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