ghostbusters 5d asian expo special turbo track issue...

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06/201706/2017&

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€ 9,50 • £ 8,00 • $ 13,00VDZ No 77467

TOP ACT

GHOSTBUSTERS 5D

NEW COASTERS

TURBO TRACKGOLD RUSH

PORTRAIT

SUN WORLDHA LONG PARK

INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL

TOP ACT

GHOSTBUSTERS 5D

NEW COASTERS

TURBO TRACKGOLD RUSH

PORTRAIT

SUN WORLDHA LONG PARK

ASIANEXPO

SPECIALISSUE

U1_E_Titel_KPR_0617.1 22.05.2017 10:00 Uhr Seite 1

Throughout the 34 years that

International Theme Park Ser-

vices, Inc. (ITPS) has been de-

signing, planning, and operating

theme parks around the world,

like many other developments,

some happen and some don’t.

When a project doesn’t happen,

it is for a variety of reasons. The

funding never came through.

The economy shifted downward

in that market. A developer

changes their mind. Regardless

of the reason, when a project

does come to fruition, it is an ex-

citing time!

And when that happens, those of us at ITPS thatwere involved in the project’s planning are ex-

tremely proud to have been a part of the processthat led to the project’s opening. Such is the casewith a new major leisure project that recentlyopened in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. In July of 2014,ITPS was approached by Mr. Dang Minh Truong ofSun Group about a possible new leisure and

amusement project in Vietnam. After some initialcommunications and an on-site meeting, ITPS wasengaged by Sun Group to provide design andplanning services for this exciting new project.The Sun Group Corporation is based in Danang,Vietnam, and was founded in 2007. It currentlyoperates several large-scale projects in the North-ern, Central, and Southern parts of Vietnam, includ-

38

Text: Pam Westerman

Photos: ITPS, Sun Group

Sun World HaLong Park Projekt:

One of the highlights at

the new Dragon Park is the

1,140 metres long "Dragon's

Run" from B&M, the earlier "Led

Zeppelin: The Ride" at failed

Hard Rock Park (built in 2008)

E_38_47_HaLong_Park 18.05.2017 17:30 Uhr Seite 2

ing the popular Ba Na Hills tourism and resort com-plex in Danang. The company is very forward-think-ing and enterprising. They were a pleasure to workwith as we set about our task to help them designa world-class theme park, water park, and multi-useproject.The site for this multi-use leisure project was thepicturesque Ha Long Bay, located on the Gulf of

Tonkin in the Quang Ninh Province of Northern Viet-nam. It is a site that has been famously used inJames Bond movies. The entire area is a UNESCOWorld Heritage site, and it offers some 1,600 is-lands and islets. It is famous for its emerald watersand limestone. It truly is one of the more beautifullocations we have ever worked in, with its pristinewaters and beautiful weather.

39

From Dream to Reality The Vietnamese investor

company Sun Group operates

two theme parks, both of which

have received a used 105

metres high Ferris wheel from

Meisho, delivered and generally

overhauled by FAB (in this

picture: the location on

Ha Long Bay)


The goal of Sun Group was to create an entertain-ment park that would have a positive impact ontourism for the province. At that time, the millions ofpeople who visited Ha Long Bay only had optionsto go cruising on the bay onboard one of the hund-reds of small cruise ships, or to visit the manycaves on the small islands. New entertainmentoptions were needed. Sun Group engaged ITPS toprovide a variety of services for their new enter-tainment park, including concept design, master-planning, and schematic design. We also providedrides and attractions selection, all project program-matic parameters, project concept narratives, anda comprehensive art direction handbook.

To help bring this project to world-class stature, webrought in some highly talented creative teams, in-cluding Wyatt Design Group and Hetzel Design,both based in California. These teams contributedgreatly to this overall design, offering different dis-ciplines to the project based their specialties. Boththe Wyatt and Hetzel teams were a pleasure withwhich to work, plan, and design a world-classproject.Our immediate task was to visit the site location,which we did in August of 2014. When we arrivedin Ha Long Bay to see the site, we soon came torealize what an incredible location we had to workwithin.

40

The other two coasters

at Dragon Park are the 395

metres long "Little Dragon's

Flight" and the 335 metres long

"Mysterious Journey" (below),

both new acquisitions are from

Vekoma – whilst many other top

attractions from the earlier Hard

Rock Park have found a new

home in the second theme park

of the Sun Group: the Asia Park

in Dà Nang in Vietnam


Sun Group had available to them some 140 hec-tares, or 345 acres, of both oceanfront and moun-taintop properties. The vistas from either of thesetwo properties were truly breathtaking. We weregiven a tour of the site and told about Sun Group’sgoals, as well as their dreams for Ha Long Bay. Atthat time, we also learned an important challengethat lay ahead – that was, for the project to be builton reclaimed land from the sea. Land reclamationis not typically an easy or quick process, especial-ly when the new land will soon be filled with rollercoasters and other rides. One piece of rollercoaster track alone can sometimes weigh 17,000pounds, or 7,711 kilograms, or even more. But, Sun

Group was not deterred; they were up to the chall-enge, and the reclamation process soon began!We also learned of another challenge. Sun Groupwanted to develop this leisure complex not only onthe reclaimed oceanside land; they also wantedpart of the development to be on the top of the near-by mountain. This mountain could be seen from theoceanside area; however, to reach it without cross-ing the bay required traveling over a commercialbridge by car and making one’s way up the moun-tainside, which was not cleared and was overgrownwith trees and foliage. The answer to this chal-lenge? Connect the oceanside and mountaintopproperties by cable car, so that guests could easi-

41

The Huss "Topple Tower"

originates from the French

Walygator Parc

Naturally there are also

sufficient kiddie ride attractions


ly traverse from point to point in a matter of minu-tes, all the while enjoying beautiful scenery. Again,Sun Group was up to this challenge. And so werewe. In September of 2014, we began our task tocreate a high-quality, multi-use leisure project onreclaimed land by the sea and on the nearby moun-taintop, and to do so in a way that assured the pro-ject components were fully integrated as one cohe-sive entertainment complex. Initial brainstormingmeetings, both state-side and in Vietnam, soon ledto several concept ideas. These included an out-door theme park, an outdoor water park, a hotel, anoutdoor retail / dining / entertainment zone (muchlike a world exposition), a waterfront village, and anindoor family entertainment center. With ITPS,Wyatt, and Hetzel on top of our game, the concept

ideas flowed like a raging stream.The first order of business was to determine thephysical planning and capacity requirements,based on expected attendance and demand. ITPSdeveloped a physical design and planning pro-gram for what we were initially calling the MysticMountain (mountain park) and the Dragon’s Empire(the oceanside development). Mystic Mountainwould contain the family entertainment centre andother attractions, while the Dragon’s Empire de-velopment would contain the Forbidden Gardenstheme park, the Typhoon Island water park, and theMaritime Plaza central square. The hotel and lodg-ing components would be situated on a manmadeisland jutting out from the oceanside components.We also addressed sizing for the waterfront villageThe theming design of the

entire park is impressive

The Dragon Park with its

32 rides opened at the end of

January: the Sun Group, the

leading investment firm in

Vietnam, with which Parques

Reunidos has signed a

strategic 10 year agreement for

the management of the park

42


and the world exposition areas. This planningrequired us to determine rides and attractionscapacities, seating capacities, area required perguest, back of house support areas, guest servicesrequirements, food and beverage serving demand,retail space summary, restroom space required,and much more. These parameters were our found-ation to developing the overall concept design andmasterplan.Next, our team came up with the proposed story-line. Our story for the project was based on thehistory and culture of the Gulf of Tonkin. This majortourist destination and its multitude of islandscreate a mystical seascape of limestone pillars.According to legend, the islands of Ha Long Baywere created long ago by the Mother Dragon, who

protected local citizens from invaders by descend-ing from the nearby mountain and spraying jewelsand jade into the sea. These gems transformed intothe vast islands that crushed invading fleets. Cen-turies later, as our story goes, a long-lost formationhad risen from the waters off these mystical shores,and was waiting to be discovered. The new HaLong Bay Ocean Park, in our concept, was beingdeveloped to provide a blend of thrilling adventure,culinary delights, mythic grandeur, and rejuvenat-ing luxury. This setting would entice visitors toreturn again and again so they could explore newworlds and discover new mysteries. All rides,shows, facades, and environments created withinthis new complex would be created to take on theessence and atmosphere of this storyline.

Some of the thrill rides

and family rides were

purchased as used attractions

Lovely landscape design

is also included

43


As we moved through the planning process, weassisted the Sun Group team in determining andpursuing the rides that would work best in this newpark. Besides the 1.1 kilometer (1,100 meters) longB&M steel coaster that Sun Group had purchasedfrom the former Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beachand had shipped to Ha Long Bay, other rides in-cluded a drop ride, a dark ride, a children’s coaster,a train, tea cups, flume, a river rapids ride, andseveral children’s rides. An adventure play areaand a live performance stage were also included in

the mix. The water park mix included traditionalwaterslides, tube slides, multi-passenger raft rides,a lazy river, a wave pool, and activity pools. TheMaritime Plaza area included an aquarium, a dol-phin show, and a unique Ha Long Bay experienceattraction. The unique mountaintop entertainmentexperience included the Mystic Mountain familyentertainment center, an alpine coaster, trails andgardens, an adventure park, and a 115-meterGiant Wheel that would stand atop the FEC build-ing. An amazing project in every sense!At the foot of the wheel:

a Wiegand "Alpine Coaster"

The ambitious HaLong

Bay project of the Sun Group

comprises a number of com-

ponents: the Dragon Park and

the Typhoon Water Park as well

as the Mystic Mountain area

with Ferris wheel on the other

side of the bay – all connected

by a cableway installation

44


To ensure these components were integrated, weplanned for what we called the Mystic Skywaycable car system. Sun Group wanted to include adouble-deck cable car, which when installed,would be the world’s longest freespan double-deckcable car system. We designed two loading andunloading stations; one was just outside the frontentry area of the theme park / water park oceansidedevelopment, and the other was at the mountain-top FEC building. This cable car system wouldtransport a large number of passengers over thebay (Cua Luc Bay), and would seamlessly link thebeachside (Bai Chay Beach) to the mountainside(Ba Deo Mountain). Doppelmayr double-deckcable cars were utilized to achieve this masterfuldesign feat. The next 8 months were in many waysa blur! Sun Group’s internal team took our designsat each milestone, and worked swiftly to progressthe plans on site. Our team dug in and worked at

breakneck speeds. We completed 7 trips to Viet-nam in 8 months to present our designs to the SunGroup team, and to brainstorm and discuss theintricacies of the designs and programmatic plans.We consistently worked through challenges andissues that arose for this unique project.Besides normal issues that come about during aproject’s design process, we faced rarities such ashow to handle bunkers on the mountaintop left overfrom days of war, and historic relics that the Viet-namese government did not want to be touched.During each trip and considering the progressmade, we came away with the assured feeling thatthis project was happening … and happening fast.Our pencil sketches turned into color sketches. Ourteam quickly turned these into masterful 3D render-ings. We creatively wrote the narratives for theentire facility and for each individual ride andattraction.

45

Master plan of the resort

with parks, marina, and hotels

From left: Pam Westerman

(ITPS), Brani Hetzel (Hetzel De-

sign), Larry Wyatt (Wyatt Design)

ABOUT ITPS

Pam Westerman is VicePresident of Operations

Planning & Analysis for Inter-national Theme Park Ser-vices, Inc. (ITPS), where“FUN IS A SERIOUS BUSI-NESS.” ITPS is globally theleisure industry’s leadingindependent, full-serviceconsulting firm. Located inCincinnati, Ohio, USA, ITPSis uniquely qualified to assistin all aspects of entertain-ment project development,and has worked on over 500projects and in 50 countriessince its inception in 1983.The corporate website ishttp://www.interthemepark.comand they can be reached byemail [email protected]


We developed style guides. Circulation plans, ele-vations, sections, and grading plans were de-veloped to encompass the defined landscapes,hardscapes, and waterscapes on the project’sproperty. Rides were in final stages, with our teamhelping coordinate the vendor selection and com-munications, and with Sun Group proceeding onpurchases. All of this was happening while SunGroup continued to rapidly reclaim land from theocean. In just 8 short months, our team had de-veloped and presented design packages for thesemajor milestones: 50% master plan, 100% masterplan, 100% concept master plan, 50% schematicdesign, and 100% schematic design. Once ourwork was done, the Sun Group team continued withtheir task of internally developing and constructingthis highly distinctive project at Ha Long Bay, usingour plans as their guide. Today, their dreams andour visions are becoming a reality. Just short of twoyears after we began the project’s design and justone year after we completed the designs, SunGroup officially opened the first phase of this com-plex in June 2016. This first phase included the

cable car system that they named “The Queen”, theSun Wheel, and the Zen Gardens.At the opening ceremony, the Queen cable car wasawarded two Guinness World Records. These werefor the tallest cable car tower in the world (188.88meters), and the highest passenger capacity in acable car cabin (230 passengers). Up on the BaDeo Mountain, the Sun Wheel sits atop the familyentertainment center building and provides viewfrom 215 meters in the air. This magnificent rideoffers 64 cabins that can accommodate 384passengers at once, and a capacity of 1,200passengers per hour. Covered with thousands ofcolorful LED flights, the Wheel makes quite the im-pression for miles around, both day and night. Themountaintop area also contains the Zen Garden,home to many fir trees brought from Japan and thatare more than 100 years old. Inside the building,visitors can find the wax museum, and a widevariety of games and attractions for children andteenagers. This garden is a true jewel on top of themountain complex.When this phase of the project opened, the Chair-man of the People’s Committee of Quang Ninh-Nguyen Duc Long said, “We believe this project willbring Quang Ninh a new breakthrough in the tour-ism development, and also bring economic andcultural values to the benefits of locals.” Sinceopening, this phase of the project has welcomedthousands of visitors per month. The next phasesof the Ha Long Bay project are being rolled out aswell. In January of 2017, right before the traditionalLunar New Year Holiday of Vietnam, Sun Grouplaunched the theme park, calling it the DragonTheme Park. This park, covering an area of 40 hec-tares (about 100 acres), offers more than 30 ridesthat provide thrills and excitement to people of allages, including the longest steel roller coasterin Asia. It is steeped in beautiful Asian designattributes.

The initial theme design of

the 23 hectares sized Typhoon

Water Park with 12 water slides

46


The opening of this second phase has helpedchange the face of tourism, when for the first timein the history of the province, Quang Ninh wel-comed 80,000 visitors during the 7 days of the TET(Vietnamese New year) Holiday 2017 (from January26 to February 1).This was an increase of 45% in comparison to thesame period the prior year. During this 7-day holi-day, the Ha Long Bay entertainment complexattracted more than 25,000 visitors. As this articleis being written, the next phase of the complex isready to open – the Typhoon water park, scheduledto open at the end of April 2017. This water park ishome to 12 popular attractions, and encompassessome 23 hectares (56 acres). In under 3 years, the

Ha Long Bay project has changed the face ofNorthern Vietnam with its entertainment options, itstheme park, and its water park. As the complexgears up for the 2017 summer season, it will nodoubt welcome thousands of visitors from not onlyVietnam, but globally as well. And, Sun Group nodoubt has more entertainment offerings on the hori-zon, as the Ha Long Bay complex continues todevelop from the concept and design plans we pro-vided. The project now operates in the capablehands of Parques Reunidos, who have entered intoa long-term operating agreement with Sun Group.As mentioned at the outset, it was a pleasure towork alongside Sun Group in developing this high-ly unique concept in such a beautiful setting. We

were pleased to have been thechoice for the planning, develop-ment, and design team. If youhave not been to Vietnam, plannow to make a trip to Ha LongBay. You won’t regret it. From allof us at ITPS, as well as the WyattGroup and the Hetzel organ-ization that worked with us on thisgreat project, we wish nothingbut the best to our friends at SunGroup and to the Ha Long Bayentertainment complex in itscontinued growth. ■

PORTRAIT

47

The Typhoon Water

Park has been open since the

29th April 2017

Photos of the water park

during construction


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