‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.’ – this famous quote by Oscar Wilde rings especially true this year. 2020 wreaked havoc not only on our health, businesses, institutions and personal lives but more importantly – it shook our beliefs in the fabric of our own society.
Establishing new concepts is hard in general, but in times like this – it is almost impossible. And yet, this year Area 15 managed to open the first Experiential Entertainment complex in the world. And while before the COVID crisis the idea of immersive entertainment which is, on top of everything else, extremely Instagramable, seemed like an easier concept to pull off, the pandemic with its restrictions made it exceedingly difficult.
Despite this, since its opening in September Area 15 has proven to be extremely popular – partially due to the fact that it has something for everybody, including an Electric Rollglider.
Our Rollglider in Area 15 (called Haley’s Comet for a well-deserved dramatic emphasis) is the first indoor, electric dual-track zipline coaster ride in the United States.
“The concept behind the ride is to have a friendly race while exploring the art in the Area 15 Spine. This being said – speed wasn’t our biggest challenge with this ride. The biggest challenge was actually the design as we wanted to make sure that the Rollglider allows one to enjoy as many pieces of art as possible from a bird’s view” – shared Martin Tapankov, one of the project’s main engineers.
The type of Rollglider we have created for Area 15 has gained quite a lot of popularity in the recent years especially as an indoor anchor attraction for malls and FECs. Unlike the other zipline coasters on the market, this type of Rollglider is battery-powered and needs no inclination to run. However, because of its specific track design it provides the same excitement as a gravity ride – just without the extra space and construction.
Area 15 was a great project to work on not only because of its scale or significance, but also because it pushed us. It wasn’t easy to pull something like this off during the pandemic but we are very happy and very proud that we did. And the biggest reward of all is seeing that people simply love the ride!
