Innovative Leisure and partners enjoy successful IAAPA Attractions Expo

Mon 11th May 2009

The recent IAAPA Attractions Expo in Orlando, Florida, proved to be a success once again for UK based interactive family attractions specialist Innovative Leisure and the companies it represents in the UK and the rest of Europe.

The Innovative Leisure team, which distributes products throughout Europe for US based Spectrum Sports International, Inc., and Water Wars, Inc., joined their counterparts at the show and received a strong response to the products on offer, which included two brand new attractions being launched to the US market.

"This year's IAAPA show was better than a lot of people expected," noted Innovative Leisure's Managing Director Phil Pickersgill, "and we were quite happy with the end result, despite visitor numbers from Europe being down. We had visits to both stands from a lot of UK park representatives who are all quite active despite the economic situation. No-one is sitting back or standing still and they are all quite bullish about family days out, as many feel the poor exchange rate between the Euro and Sterling will lead to more people staying at home next year (2009) and taking more days out to UK attractions. So we had a very positive reaction.

"We also had a lot of interest in the two new products we recently introduced to the European market and which we were making their US debut. Both DigiWall and the modular climbing panels are creating great interest in the UK and Europe and were well received at IAAPA by operators of a wide range of attraction venues. We are confident they'll be very successful."

Both new products bring yet further options to Innovative Leisure customers for the introduction of climbing attractions. DigiWall provides a completely new 'take' on the familiar climbing wall and is best described as a computer game played through a climbing wall interface. It is made up of several different sections, each 1m wide and 2.8m high, the standard version consisting of 6 sections. Customised walls are also available and it can be placed against a flat wall, in a corner or as a freestanding unit with a total width of 6.4m.

Each section of the DigiWall features 24 grips for hands and feet incorporating a sensor and light which in turn are linked to a computer. A surround sound system is also a feature of the attraction and a variety of games can be played as users climb over the wall, each using its own sound design. Unlike ordinary computer games, DigiWall provides physically challenging, computer based entertainment for a wide age range.

Also making its US debut was a new modular panel system that offers a flat climbing wall solution to suit almost any required dimensions. Ideally suited to creating straight forward climbing features, each climbing panel measures 1.2m x 1.2m and they can be used as either vertical climbing walls with auto belays to a height of 22m or low level traversing walls aimed at giving younger children their first climbing experience.

Each panel is made to look and feel like real rock and with uniform thickness at the edges they fit together perfectly to create a realistic and visually striking climbing feature. There are 10 handhold attachment points per panel allowing the creation of a range of difficulties for each climbing route.

Where suitable, the panels can be installed onto a number of pre-existing wall structures, both indoors and outdoors, using a steel frame and with the correct steel framework design, the system is suitable for a wide range of venues due to its great flexibility in both height and width.

Vertically orientated walls can be operated either using manual belays (operators require appropriate climbing qualifications) or Innovative Leisure's industry leading Hydraulic Auto Belay System. The Auto Belay System can be positioned either behind the climbing wall if it is not fixed to an existing wall or set off to the side to allow for an exciting yet extremely safe climbing experience.

 

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