IAAPA Day 4: Majestic Coaster Set to Debut; Rides 4-U Wrap Up; Magic Money Introduces a Revolutionary Cashless Ticketing System
The 2017 edition of the IAAPA Attractions Expo came to a close Friday at 4pm. The 2017 expo proved to be a record setting show, with over 25,300 buyers in attendance, a 12 percent increase in attendance over 2016. Over the five day period, an estimated $51.3 million was injected into the Orlando-area economy.
Majestic Manufacturing
Majestic had an indoor booth and displayed a prototype ride vehicle of their new Back Spin portable roller coaster. Chris Kudler was excited to announce that the prototype of the ride is near completion and they estimate that by mid December, the ride will be 100% operational. The coaster was originally supposed to debut during the spring of 2017, however, additional design improvements and extensive testing set back the launch date of the new ride.
Majestic engineers most recently made the decision to switch from a lap bar restraint to an over the shoulder restraint, due to the g-forces that the ride creates.
The spinning coaster design racks on a single trailer with the station staying attached to the trailer and the cars racking in the station for easy transport. The rest of the track is maneuvered with the use of a crane mounted on the trailer. All of the rides motors stay attached to the track, making setup and teardown much easier.
The ride track and jack stands are constructed of galvanized steel to prevent corrosion from use outdoors. Weep holes to allow drainage of moisture in the jack stands were added to help prevent water from accumulating inside the rides tubular steel.
"We've had a lot of interest in the new ride," said Jeff Kudler. Swika's Amusements is scheduled to receive the first model.
Overall, Kudler said that there was a lot of observing during the trade show. Some resistance is apparent from carnival owners concerned about labor issues, but there is an equal amount of enthusiasm about the industry as there are reservations. "Even large amusement parks like Cedar Point are having labor problems. At one-point last season, they had to close several of the rides because they didn't have enough employees to operate," added Kudler.
Rides 4-U
The debut of SBF/Visa's Mini Break Dancer, dubbed Crazy Cabs, proved to be a hit among small amusement parks and family entertainment centers at the show. Rides 4-U President, Len Soled, was enthusiastic about the attention the new family ride received. "We sold a half dozen park models and sold the first portable model to Scott Inner's Majestic Midways. The prototype on display was sold to Jolly Rogers Amusement Park in Ocean City", explained Soled. Plans for the first trailer mounted version is being finalized and production is already underway. "We had interest from several other carnivals as well," said Soled. The park model will be on display at the IISF Trade Show in Gibtown this February as the trailer mounted model will not be available in time for the show.
"Overall, we had a fantastic show," said Soled. The majority of sales were made to park clients; however, several carnival sales were made including a Drop N Twist to Amusements Spectacular. Several Compact Spinning Coasters were sold to the FEC and park industry, and a LED light package for the coaster was sold to Fiesta Shows. Fiesta Shows purchased a trailer mounted version of the popular coaster two years ago. "Its going to be a big plus for the ride," Soled said about the lighting package. With some additional modifications to how the portable version racks, Soled believes there is more room for the ride in the carnival industry. "Our competition builds a good family coaster, but we believe this one has more action and a solid design," explained Soled.
Owen Trailers
Fun House builder Ross Owen was happy to report that his company has been busy building fun houses and their schedule is near full. As of IAAPA, the company had one delivery spot available for the 4th of July and another spot during the summer that was pending a sale. Several Glass House models are set to be delivered to Majestic Midways, Butler Amusements, and Big Rock Amusements, and a fun house will be delivered to Armstrong Shows.
Magic Money
One of the most talked about booths at the show was the elaborate Magic Money trailer positioned outside int he carnival ride area.
Magic Money's Brett Enright was enthusiastic about his product and believes his company is the first to come up with a truly comprehensive ticketless solution for fairs and outdoor events that works without incident.
Enright, a concessionaire at many of the country's largest events, has been looking at the ticketless systems in use and decided to come up with a solution to help solve the problems associated with a business he is very passionate about. "Magic Money is the most capital light, easy to work with digital ticketing system in the market.", Enright enthused.
The first test os the system cam at last year's Miami Dade County Fair and then the system was put into use at the Iowa State Fair. Enright says both events worked well, with very few hiccups.
The Magic Money system works using an RFID wristband system with easy to use scanners and Point of sales selling stations. The initial purchase by the customer includes a small charge for the wristband but refills of the wristband include bonus tickets to make up for the initial wristband charge to the guest.
The scanner work largely off a cellular system but have Wifi and Satellite backup. The scanners send what Enright terms "mission critical information" so the scanners get a quick response because only small packets of information are sent at a time.
Perhaps the most unique feature of the system is the app that goes along with Magic Money. When the guest downloads the App, their purchases are populated and they can track their spending, what rides were accessed, food purchased, games played etc. The app has many great features including an automatic reload for the card if the balance gets to a pre-set level. The App is a constant work in progress with a multitude of marketing opportunities for the fair and carnival to take advantage of int he future.
According to Mary Talley of Talley Amusements, one of the first carnivals to begin using the system, the reports and system itself are very easy to use and she has been thrilled with the performance of the system thus far. A second carnival, Crabtree Amusements has purchased the hardware to begin using the system this coming season.
With a couple of large events under its belt, a few carnivals coming to the table, a great looking App and an enthusiastic owner advocate for the system, Magic Money is positioned to be first truly comprehensive digital ticketing system in the business.
2017 IAAPA Trade Show Coverage
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