German ride company Maurer will be unveiling the latest version of their Spike Powered coasters at IAAPA this week: The Spike Waterfight.
With previous models on cruise ships and designed for racing, the new ride will combine a Spike Coaster with both a water gun fight and a water slide. As the press release says, “water pistols turn spectators into Water Warriors shooting from multi-platforms with the pilots shooting back from their high-speed rides.”
The track of the Waterfight rises up out of a pool, as riders twist upwards on their spike vehicles. As they climb higher up, platforms with water guns mounted – like you see along rapids rides – let spectators shoot water at riders. But, riders aren’t defenseless, as these new spike vehicles are mounted with water guns of their own, letting you shoot back at the people hitting you as you ride. The two guns on the vehicle each have their own water tank that refills as the vehicle is in the station. And as with all Spike models, you control the speed of the ride (within a range) on your way.
The model also combines water slides on the platforms, which parks can customize, choosing the number of platforms and types of slides. They could go anywhere from a freefall slide to gentler family slides. It makes the whole attraction a half-powered coaster, half-water park slide tower, half-water ride. The coaster tower is standard 30 meters hight (about 100 feet), but that can also be scaled by parks, going taller or shorter.
I love seeing Maurer continue to find new ways to innvoate on the Spike power coaster design, now throwing a whole new element into the ride. I also really like the way the control of the Spike vehicles could let you slow down the vehicle to get a really good shot in, and then accelerate to try to get away. It’s also reminiscent of a short lived ride model I wish I’d gotten to try, Flying Super Saturator at Carowinds and Roller Soaker at Hershey. I’ll be curious to see where the most interest in the concept comes from, as it could make sense in a water park with the slides or in a “dry” park without including the slides. Or maybe this also goes on a cruise ship?
We can’t wait to see more from Maurer, and every other ride company, at the upcoming IAAPA show, and for more information on Spike and Waterfight visit the Maurer website.
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