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(11/16/07) Continued
A visit to IAAPA isn’t complete without spending some time at S&S to see Stan’s latest creations and this year was no exception. First off is a new little creation they are calling El Loco, which looks like they merged the old S&S Screamin’ Squirrel coaster concept with a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter. S&S did confirm that we will see the first one at a US park in 2008.
S&S also had a new car from the X2 revamp at Six Flags Magic Mountain. What I was surprised to learn is that the three new trains they are building are not just copies of the second generation trains that were used at Fuji Q in Japan. The new X2 trains are even more improved and even lighter than the Japanese trains.
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S&S also had some other news ideas on display as well, including a video of their Pirate Plunge concept in action, as the prototype was built and installed into Stan’s own FEC park in Utah. The family drop ride can be configured to be more dry or wet depending on if it will be installed into a dry park or as a water park attraction. A fun fact about this ride is that the big air cannon looking water splash effect at the bottom is pretty much a freebie, as it is actually caused by the air being released from the ride as it drops and bounces. With a family focus in mind, S&S have also created a family friendly version of the Screamin’ Swing that is shorter, moves much slower, and only swings out about 35 degrees in either direction.
Last up on the S&S design plate was something that I really need to get a photo or video of that they were calling the Eagle concept. It’s hard to fully describe without a visual aid, but it’s their take on the whole spinning coaster concept. Instead of spinning around in a circle, they decided to spin you in a new direction by seating the rides into one of two canoe looking cars mounted and hanging off of either side of the car. The best way to describe it in terms of other rides out there would be to take a car from X, but replace the seating units off to the sides with a couple of Arrow Suspended cars instead able to swing freely. As the coaster moves down the track, the central point will perform barrel rolls and the two suspended cars on the rides will roll around from one side to the other, but always stay upright. Oh… at the two side cars are also mounted to a large bouncy looking suspension so that they have some vertical bounce and play to the movement as well. Apparently they would like to be able to allow them to really splash-down into water. Keep your eyes out for more details on this ride, because I think we’ll see one of these before too long.
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