Commissioning Rides
Neil Wilson
Theme park safety consultant for Universal Verification and author of Absolute Efficiency books.
The new season is approaching, which means I’m probably not the only one getting excited about all the new attractions opening this year. Here in the UK we have Hyperia at Thorpe Park, the UK’s tallest and fastest roller coaster. Alton Towers are re-building Nemesis, my favourite British roller coaster. Drayton Manor has a new area, a new custom coaster from Intamin, and a new train and theme for Shockwave.
Elsewhere in Europe we have Arendelle at Disneyland Paris. An expanded Egyptian area at Parc Astérix. The Croatian area with a new mega coaster at Europa Park. Over in the States they have a family launched coaster at Sea World Orlando, a new dark ride coaster at Silver Dollar City, a B&M dive machine at Dorney Park and the expansion of Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point.
When I talk to the public, enthusiasts, and sometimes people working in parks, particularly in the marketing department, there is the perception that once the track’s finished, the ride is almost ready to go.
In terms of construction, there can still be a lot of work to do, with installing motors, electrics, signage, infrastructure such as the queueline, workshops, stations (airgates etc), theming, lighting, CCTV, fire detection systems, fire suppression systems, public address systems...
Once the ride is built, the commissioning process begins. This includes a lot of testing. As well as giving the ride plenty of cycles, we are looking at accelerations, g forces, clearance envelopes, loading water dummies in different combinations, measuring stopping distances on brakes, testing all the block zones, function testing the control panel…
Remember, the whole point of testing is to look for problems, so you’re likely to come away with a snagging list. When IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) did a panel on commissioning attractions, people shared experiences of problems that came out of the testing process. For example, in a water park a piece of rockwork blocked a lifeguard’s line of sight, so it had to be removed.
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A lot of the testing process is to make sure a ride is safe, but there can be other elements, for example making sure a coaster complies with noise limits set by the local government.
Then the training begins. Training the engineers. Training the ride operators. Doing evacuations drills from all the places the ride might feasibly stop, such as block brakes and on the lift hill.
There’s often a lot of pressure to get a ride open by a certain date. Perhaps they’ve already announced an opening date to the public. Perhaps they’ve run a competition for the first rides. Perhaps they’ve got journalists, media personalities and influencers visiting on particular days. Perhaps they want to get it open for a school holiday. Perhaps they want to start getting a return on their investment.
But it’s really important to make sure that all the necessary safety systems are installed, and that you don’t try to rush the commissioning process.
It take a lot of work to open a roller coaster, or other ride, but there are some really good ones opening around the world this year. What an exciting time for the industry.
The rides I've mentioned in this article are just to give an overview of the industry, rather than ones we're specifically working on. But if you want help or advice on commissioning a ride, Universal Verification can help. We have a lot of expertise on theme park safety, and the potential pitfalls.