TR: Philip Island (Space Roller debut) Video & Photo's
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 5:52 pm
By coincidence, I ended up spending New Year's at a friend's holiday house on Philip Island. Needless to say, I was itching to get down to Cowes to check out what was set up, and try out Australia's latest (and perhaps largest) attraction. Russell Watkin's Mondial Space Roller, fresh off the ship from Europe. Other rides there included a Cha Cha, Tilt-a-whirl (under refurbishment, with newly added backdrop), Kamikaze, Dodgems and various smaller attractions.
Space Roller stood out like a sore thumb - it is a huge ride, in terms of ground space complete with a generously sized control booth, and an amazing light show (every bulb and strobe effect was working flawlessly despite some initial problems adapting to Australian power requirements)
The ride itself was quite intense, unpredictable and disorienting. I was sitting on an outside seat (of course) and was very impressed, as were the row of friends riding next to me (after some lengthy persuasion) - it is one hell of a ride, and will certainly hold a place of its own for many years to come. Unlike the Zipper which many have compared it to, the harnesses are very tight and firm, allowing for no movement within the seat, and perhaps for this reason, I would not rate it quite as intense (however, you are rotating on more than 1 axis!) – a matter of opinion.
As well as the below photo's, I've uploaded a quick video of it, but it is about 17 meg and you will need Quicktime to view it. (click bottom right free icon, and wait for download queue time before download starts)
http://rapidshare.de/files/10229032/AUS ... r.MOV.html
Happy New Year all.
Space Roller stood out like a sore thumb - it is a huge ride, in terms of ground space complete with a generously sized control booth, and an amazing light show (every bulb and strobe effect was working flawlessly despite some initial problems adapting to Australian power requirements)
The ride itself was quite intense, unpredictable and disorienting. I was sitting on an outside seat (of course) and was very impressed, as were the row of friends riding next to me (after some lengthy persuasion) - it is one hell of a ride, and will certainly hold a place of its own for many years to come. Unlike the Zipper which many have compared it to, the harnesses are very tight and firm, allowing for no movement within the seat, and perhaps for this reason, I would not rate it quite as intense (however, you are rotating on more than 1 axis!) – a matter of opinion.
As well as the below photo's, I've uploaded a quick video of it, but it is about 17 meg and you will need Quicktime to view it. (click bottom right free icon, and wait for download queue time before download starts)
http://rapidshare.de/files/10229032/AUS ... r.MOV.html
Happy New Year all.
