My name is Rodolphe Gélis,
I was born on November 7th, 1988, at Bar-sur-Aube
so I was born and raised here, in the Champagne region.
I'm the managing director of Nigloland
since January 3rd, 2017
The story of Alpina Blitz started in 2009,
while riding for the first time the Ferris Wheel, with family
And when at the top,
we overhung the park, its trees,
And we realized that between the Grande Roue & the Spatiale Experience
lied a huge empty space
where a major ride could be erected,
a coaster, a watercoaster maybe...
By the way, that's where the endless rumor of
us building a water coaster comes from,
The first thing we did with my uncle & father
was to visit parks in Deutschland.
We went to Tripsdrill and discovered Mammut, built by Gerstlauer
So we got in touch and asked them to design us a wooden coaster layout.
(I still have it in some folder on my computer, btw)
It somehow looked like Alpina Blitz
It had a huge horseshoe in place of the current first turn
in order to create that "Wow" effect.
Things evolved over time,
at some time we thought about a Maurer spinning coaster
Finally, in the early 2010s (I guess)
Piraten opened at Djurs Sommerland.
That's when we switched from the "small park
that cannot afford big rides" mentality
to the "small park that can finally invest in
medium-sized Megacoasters" one.
We didn't know about it before and to be fair,
before the Megalite, such a product didn't exist.
Either you bought a Big Apple / Pinfari, or a B&M.
but there was no serious alternative in between.
We went to discover Piraten,
We fell in love with the sensations it provided,
by its size,
But here's the most exciting thing of all :
we could actually afford it.
My name is Alexandre,
I'm ride operator here, at Nigloland
And I've been working on Alpina Blitz
since the beginning of season 2016.
I've just finished my daily check-up tour
to take a look at the track,
and look for loose bolts
checking that nothing could hinder the coaster
Everything has to be in place.
We had this TV report filming us on Piraten back in 2009
It wasn't a mockup
as we were truly interested in Piraten,
but we weren't one hundred percent sure.
This report was a way to put our decision to the test
by collecting the reactions of our guests.
We knew we were about to do it,
we just needed some kind of approbation.
As the wintry temperatures are coming,
we need to grease all the wheels daily.
During the summer, doing it once a week is enough.
Without this,
the trains would go too slowly
during the first no-load tests of the morning.
It could probably get stuck somewhere on the track.
43 seconds is the maximum authorized running time.
Otherwise, the ride will automatically shut down.
Without momentum, the train is bound
to get stuck in the last curve.
We asked our clients what they wanted to see in the park
Actually, people were craving for inversions.
Yet our "coasterfans" side gained the upperhand :
A great coaster has NO inversions.
That's something only coaster passionates will understand
A great airtime moment is much better than any inversion
I guess we can all agree on that !
In the future, maybe...
Let's take an example :
New-gen Vekoma coasters are great.
Yet 10 years ago,
no one would have thought about putting one in Nigloland.
We'll get to inversions, one day - that's for sure.
That's something we can keep in the back of our heads.
It's all about the "next step" idea :
had we done a coaster with inversions,
could we have hit harder after ?
Anyway, you should definitely try the new Vekoma coasters.
They're truly great.
Alpina Blitz is even better, though !
Before greasing the wheels & checking the track,
the very first thing we do is to start the ride
to warm up the compressors.
All right, let's go and get the train !
Comfort and capacity
have always been at the heart of our investment decisions.
We thought the classic Intamin seats,
those of Megalites or Megacoasters,
felt like camping chairs...
You've got a seatbelt,
a lapbar,
small space for your feet...
Anything but practical.
We asked Intamin :
are you working on new, enhanced seats ?
"Buy it the way it currently is or buy it not"
is the answer we were given...
In the meantime, looking at Taron at Phantasialand
or Tarone... Whatever,
They've re-worked on this.
When we tried Piraten, we dreamt of
Blue Fire-like trains
on Piraten's layout.
And boom ! Alpina Blitz was born.
Don't you worry -
we're still in touch with Intamin !
We're invited to their dinings at the IAAPA events
I just believe they wish they had
listened more to the
demands of the prospective buyer that we were.
They still hope to sell us some of their rides -
we will most certainly buy one, one day...
Each harness is composed of two jacks,
allowing a two-security system
I have to check both of them, one after the other
Only then will the ride be opening to the public.
Just a fun fact -
I have a pedometer on me at all time:
On days when there is one operator for the whole ride,
we walk on average some 15 to 16 kms !
Why a lift instead of a launch ?
Let me tell you :
There are two main reasons to this :
Firstly, we wanted a lifthill to stick to "traditional coasters"
as it was the first big coaster we opened at Nigloland.
We wanted it to check all the boxes
of the "traditional coaster experience"
The lifthill climb is a big part of it :
it builds up tension for the visitor
It is something evocative, memorable for them.
So our first coaster came logically (for us) with a lift.
Secondly,
a launch represented a 30% cost increase for us,
compared to lifthills.
Either we made a Launch Coaster,
and reduced by one third the length of the layout
or we could build a lifthill. Which we did.
Alpina Blitz led to an approximate increase of 10% in attendance
The year after, we remained at that same high level
As for 2016, with Le Donjon de l'Extrême, another 10 to 11% of increase of guests occurred.
Which means that over 3-4 years,
the number of visitors increased by 25%.
and the Revenue, even more...
It was a good operation, indeed.
Not that I advise other parks to do the same !
Some more space for future coasters ?
We have some, on the hill that's just behind,
above the parking lots,
I mean, coasters can be put pretty much anywhere,
as it doesn't take much floor space.
Space can be found, definitely.
It could also be around the Mississipi Lake,
or on the island on the middle of it...
Your favorite question, on CoastersWorld.fr, is most certainly :
"What's the next coaster ?"
The problem is : we do not know it for now. At all.
We keep on doing the same :
we try out a lot of attractions,
here and there, old and new ones,
and then only, when we fall in love with one in particular,
will we deepen the subject.
But as for today - none has our unanimous backing.
I knew you were going to ask me about it !
Which one did I ride, again ? Can't remember its name.
Twisted Colossus
That's it, the one at Six Flags Magic Mountain
Not bad, uh ?
I have to say - awfully efficient !
I went to Dollywood to ride Lightning Rod !
Well... When I showed up at the entrance...
It read "Out of order"
There's good and bad in
Rocky Mountain Construction creations, just as in any coaster
You don't know whether it's metal or wood structure,
how to deal with potential vibrations
it also requires a lot of maintenance...
We've not yet talked about it extensively.
I've never really been in contact with RMC, to be fair.
I only know their coasters from a guest point of view.
They're solid rides.
Very solid rides...
Subtitles : Mathis Gullon
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