It's the season again when exciting new attractions debut at amusement parks. With summer just weeks away, parks have begun to unveil their latest attractions that are designed with one basic thing in mind - to thrill park guests.
One popular amusement ride recently has been the "Screamin' Swing" ride from S&S Power. Powered by compressed air, this swing ride is already thrilling guests in 15 parks worldwide and will be appearing in three more parks starting this summer.
Mats Wedin, President and CEO of Liseberg joins other park officials for a ride on their new Screamin' Swing. Enlarge
The Screamin' Swing is very similiar to the familiar backyard swing, but on much larger scale.
Passengers seated in cars with back-to-back seats are taken higher and higher as the cars are accelerated into the sky with compressed-air. With each successive arc, passengers experience the thrill of "air-time" created by negative G-forces each time the arm reverses directions pulling the seats back towards the ground.
Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri and Liseberg in Gothenburg, Sweden each selected a 32-seat model and in the Wisconsin Dells the first ever 100-foot tall, four-seat model is nearly ready to swing into action at Mount Olympus Water & Theme Park.
With the ride now in operation, the Screamin' Swing is drawing a lot of attention as park guests scream with delight as they soar high above Liseberg's midway.
Silver Dollar City also selected the Screamin' Swing for their newest attraction and gave the attraction a unique theme. The park's design team placed the new ride within a large red barn that serves as the theme (barn swing) and also doubles as a queue.
The result is a swing that flies through the barn structure and over the park's white water rapids ride. Silver Dollar City's Giant Swing launches park guests more than seven stories in the air, eventually reaching a point where they're nearly upside down.
"You can put a ride anywhere, but the real key is giving it its own personality, which brings about an emotional connection," said Brad Thomas, General Manager of Silver Dollar City.
The largest Screamin' Swing to date is about ready to swing into action at Mount Olympus Water & Theme Park in the Wisconsin Dells. This 100-foot tall model is the largest in the world and promises to offer an experience that is far more extreme than the traditional model. Guests riding the 100-foot model will experience speeds reaching over 75 mph.
According to S&S, the Mount Olympus ride will push the level of thrills for a Screamin' Swing to an entirely new level.
Mount Olympus plans to operate its four-seat model as an up-charge attraction.
You can try out the new Screamin' Swing rides this summer at Liseberg, Mount Olympus Water & Theme Park and Silver Dollar City.
For more information on the Screamin' Swing ride, visit Ride Entertainment or S&S Power.
Type of Ride:
Swinging Thrill Ride
Ride Manufacturer:
S&S Power
Height Requirement:
Must be at least 48 inches tall
32-seat Model:
Height: 62-feet
Top Speed: 45 mph
G-Force: 3.5 G's
4-seat Model:
Height: 100-feet
Top Speed: 75 mph
G-Force: 3.5 G's
Locations:
Liseberg
Gothenburg, Sweden
Mount Olympus
Wisconsin Dells
Silver Dollar City
Branson, Missouri
Screamin' Swing photos courtesy of Ride Entertainment. All rights reserved.