Scott And Carol Present - Continued Coverage From IAAPA 2012

Welcome to more coverage from IAAPA Expo 2012. It is overcast, but still warm, so we stayed indoors and roamed the floor some more since it looks like rain.

WhiteWater West received the Honorable Mention award for the AquaCourse, which combines a ropes course with water interactivity. The spectators can blast the people on the trail, and of course, the adventurers can exact their revenge. Guests can choose from either wet or dry trails, with varying degrees of difficulty.

Here is just one of the theming options available for the attraction. This was in the Waterpark Ride/Attraction category.

Something that should be required for a option all ropes course is a "pull over to the side of the trail," to let the speedy youngsters go by and then resume at your own speed, to better enjoy the attraction.

Lo-Q took first place in the Revenue/Wristbands/RFID Technology. A waterproof Q-Bot, with the ability to register as a group and keep everybody synchronized. They even have the ability to theme the units. 

Steve Drake, COO of Lo-Q, explained how the technology works and why they have seen such high demand. Coming soon to a park near you, it appears the wave of the future is now pounding on the beach.

Avius Insight took first place in the Services/Equipment/Supplies division with their Optimus system. Allowing real-time customer feedback, whether through kiosks or text messaging, this allows operators to measure and make adjustments attentive to customer's needs right away, without going through a data mining process and potentially allowing the guest experience to be less than optimal. What a great way to expedite an organization's customer service model.

Extreme Engineering won Honorable Mention for their new deacceleration technology for zip lines. They also offer portable zip lines for events.

The new Twist and Spray from Mack will be their first installation in North America. While the theming will be different, there will be 3 boats of each of the 3 platforms and when you combine that with spectators spraying the boats while the boats spray each other, the effect will be wet chaos.



Sally, our favorite dark ride company, is very modest. They keep their awards in the conference room. Good thing they don't need to have a bulletin board in there too, there isn't enough room.

We have already covered this award winning ride previously. Does anyone know a cheap way to fly to Australia? The News Plus Notes jet is just a dream at this point, but why doesn't someone stateside buy one of these?

Seasonal Designs has some wonderful light sculptures, the flamingos appear at Busch Gardens Africa during their ChristmasTown celebration. With several flocks along the path, they have their own section of the park. We only saw them during the day, but if they look this good under the bright lights of IAAPA, they must be amazing after dark.

Previously announced, Premier is already celebrating this ride. This is just another good reason to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain, the only place you can ride on both the inside and outside of the same loop.

And who is ready to ride this coaster. Currently being built inside the Great Mall of China, if they are building it indoors, do we have to wait for spring?

Where oh where is this installation going? Can we drive there? When will it be open? So many mysteries to be solved. We will leave you hanging for a while on that one, but we will be sure to let you know when the park releases the information.  That's all for today.