Vekoma Pandora's Box

[Mechanic]

I came across this ride system while browsing Vekoma's website: Pandora's Box Their description of the ride experience possibilities sound like something that would be right up Disney's alley. Low capacity would likely be the first objection, but I believe that issue could be overcome by having multiple towers running simultaneously on the same track with the show scenes' length corresponding to the loading time.

 

Thoughts?

 

Note: Edited to include the latest page of the Vekoma site showing the ride system. This was due to the fact that the old site link was dead.

Edited June 24, 2012 by Mechanic

[Ccron10]

Looks like an updated version of the typical dark ride. I do remember hearing somewhere that these kind of rides needed to redone.

 

The concept seems pretty interesting and from what it sounds like, the ride can circle up a tower in a circluar motion. So if there were a few block sections, I don't think that capacity would be a problem.

[coastered]

This Pandora's Box ride thing, will be a combination of a darkride, a shot-n-drop tower and a robocoaster.

So this will be the most freaky looking thing when ever there will be one of these build in the future.

[Mozart67]

How bizarre. Any thoughts on what the projection side of the show might be? I've had anything from a version of "Days of Thunder" to a ride version of "The Miracle of Life" running through my head. (the latter being a li ttle scary)

[DBru]

^I can definitely see a Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones theme to one of these rides...

 

But I have to wonder how expensive something like this would be. Seems like one of the most technologically advanced ride systems we've seen.

[sam06pr]

Hmm..well the concept is awesome, but Vekoma always seems to screw up a lot of prototypes and give parks hell with their maintenance issues (cough, Rhino, cough Rally)

I dunno about their other prototypes. But I would like to see something like this soon, maybe at a Disney or Universal Park. I think the rides could be good

[Mechanic]

The theming and ride story line would be limited only by the imagination and budget of the park installing the ride. That's why I immediately thought of Disney when I saw it. Disney already having a seemingly good relationship with Vekoma is another plus.

 

Since having made the original post I have thought about a potential problem, and that would be carry on items. Disney parks have always seemed to be the most accommodating when it comes to allowing riders to carry their items with them on a ride. This ride system would not lend itself to that policy very well at all, so that would be a hurdle to overcome. However, with Disney's history of having well-staffed rides, I'm sure that items left aside during the ride could be securely managed.

[Electerik]

Blue Thunder: The Ride!

 

/Come on, you know it would be awesome.

[Mechanic]

I came across the following post in the Universal Orlando Resort thread and it reminded of this old thread from way back when.

 

Along with the transformers talk... if they would go with a different ride system. Why not the Vekoma Pandora's Box system. I always felt like this would go great with the transformers theme.

 

This really looks like an awesome concept. Does anyone happen to know if there's been an installation of this ride system yet? Are any planned? Or, has the design been rendered obsolete before it was ever built due to the Kuka arm?

[ernierocker]

Pretty much anytime there is a new dark ride announce it is rumored to be a Pandora Box, but as far as I know one hasn't been installed yet.

[spinning man]

That thing looks like it needs to be quite tall. But I do wonder what the first ride installation would be themed to. A lot of 'scenes' in there. I have a feeling the first would be a sci-fi themed one.

[SoCalCoasters]

^If I recall correctly, isn't Efteling's new darkride confirmed as being a Pandora's box? I recall seeing a thread a while back where someone snapped a picture of a Pandora's Box Vehicle Model on display in the park....

[cfc]

That's the scuttlebutt in the Efteling thread, but I don't think it's been confirmed.

[Hilltopper39]

I've never really been that impressed with the Pandora's box concept. Looks like it would be a very blah ride experience for the complexity of it (and I'm sure the cost) technically. Seems like it does a little bit of everything (dark ride, motion simulator, drop tower) but nothing really really well. I might be completely wrong about it, and it might kick ass if used properly, but there is probably a reason this thing has been on the market for 5 or 10 years without a single installation.

[disneyfan1313]

^ Agreed. The cost and reliability would be a HUGE issue. I can't see more than one or two installations of this... if they ever even get that.

[Hilltopper39]

I wonder what the cost of one of these systems is? it would appear to be more expensive than the budget of a park like Six Flags or Cedar Fair handle, and not quite up to the capacity and quality standards of a place like Universal or Disney (who tend to manufacture their own dark ride systems anyways). So even if it's amazing, and reliable, and really works well I still don't know who would buy one on the price alone.

 

Actually now that I think about there will probably be about 14 of these built in China over the next decade.

[Jeroen_twee]

This is the version of Pandora's Box, rumored to be for Efteling's Hartenhof ride.

 

 

 

 

Full document

 

Thanks to Rick Markestein on Themepark.nl.

 

 

EDIT: The whole ride is going to cost 42 million Euro.

[Moose]

That looks more like a kuka robocoaster than the original Pandora's box. That is a lot of dough for a ride.

[ernierocker]

^Agreed. It only appears to be attached to the track from below the ride vehicle. It could still be designed by Vekoma, but that is definitely not the Pandora Box conceptual design.

[Hilltopper39]

^Yeah, that doesn't look anything like the Pandora's Box ride system that I've seen, and this looks like a much better system all together. That is a steep budget, but Efteling hasn't been afraid of investing some major dough on new attractions here lately.

[spinning man]

If that ride system is created by Vekoma, I feel that Vekoma are closer to creating there robo rollercoaster concept. Should be interesting to see how that ride system performs.