Next best thing to theme-park thrills?
COMMENTARY Andretti arcade. The seats sway around curves and tilt up and down on hills. Blowers are built in to coincide with the rushing winds. Music and coaster noise are piped in, although you also can hear the clamor coming from real life, too.
What I didn’t feel was queasy, not even on the inversion-heavy Thunderbolt, which I tried first. That ride has a 90-degree drop and a 100-foot vertical loop, which ordinarily would have my stomach in my throat.
Next up was the Mine Train, which presents a view not seen on Orlando coasters. The ride is built into the side of a mountain and overlooks the Aberdeen Channel.
Honestly, the brilliant vista distracted me from the ride, which was filmed on an empty train — a private viewing, if you will. I wouldn’t recommend it as the sole Gear Coaster experience, but it was a nice contrast to the other two choices.
I did the Cyclone last because it’s a wooden coaster and I’m usually more than ready to get off those attractions. At Andretti, I got all the bumps and jostling I needed to represent the actual ride, built in 1927. And my virtual ride partner had his virtual elbow in my face for a lot of the time, just like real life. I was, indeed, ready to disembark, but I didn’t feel woozy.
Andretti purchased the simulator after seeing an early version of it at the IAAPA Expo at the nearby Orange County Convention Center last year, said Eddie Hamann, a partner in the business. The virtual ride is the first and only one operating in the country, he said.
“It’s a pretty impressive piece of equipment. Orlando is probably the right place to launch it,” he said.
Central Florida has had a couple of forays into VR onto real coasters, including the Freedom Flyer at Fun Spot and the Great Lego Race ride at Legoland Florida. SeaWorld Orlando added a VR option to its existing Kraken coaster, but it has been removed.
“VR is the future. People can do things, they can live in worlds they normally couldn’t,” he said. Zamperla Plus is a division of Italian ride manufacturer Zamperla. Two of the Gear Coaster experiences were made – in real life — by the company.
Andretti Karting, which this week is marking its one-year anniversary in Orlando, has other VR activities in its arsenal, including Hologate, where four people can battle creatures on Mars. Hamann likes the flexibility of the genre.
“They’ll be changing coasters every so often, and we can buy them, so it’s like creating a whole new experience with the same hardware,” he said. “That’s the beauty of virtual reality. You can get within the same structure, within the same space, new experiences every so often.”
The experience for one coaster at Andretti costs $6.95; it’s $9.95 for two. And just like in real life, there are restrictions: You must be at least 48 inches tall and weigh no more than 280 pounds.
In addition to ailments such as heart problems and high blood pressure, Andretti notes that Gear Coaster is not recommended for “those who have experienced muscle convulsions or loss of consciousness when playing video games.”
For more information, go to andrettikarting.com.