Wheelies and more: 10 fun experiences with the tilting seats of Spike Fun
Spike Fun Tilt was the first roller coaster to introduce seats that can be automatically or interactively tilted backwards by 45 degrees. This innovative feature creates a variety of completely new and exciting experiences, resulting in extraordinary ride designs. Here are 10 highlights:
1. Launch with a spectacular Wheelie
Spike Fun Tilt impresses right from the start. With seats tilted backwards, passengers experience a thrilling wheelie that gets the adrenaline pumping immediately. Leaning back during the rapid takeoff sets the perfect tone for the adventures ahead. Interactive tilting adds a personal touch, allowing passengers to create their own unique experience. This interactivity is also ideal for gamification: who can ride the best wheelie and finish in time when the acceleration ends?
2. Airtime Spiral: A breathtaking experience with lifting forces
The Airtime Spiral is one of the new ride elements perfected by the tilting seats. The Spike drive allows the spiral to be ridden at a constant speed. With the track tilted outwards, the lift-off forces are similar to an airtime Camelback but last longer and can be varied. Tilting the seat backwards compensates for the spiral's inclination, offering pure airtime from the seat. Whether a whole spiral or just a part of it, the tilting seat enables airtime even in ascending horizontal curves, an unparalleled experience.
3. Jumping ascent: Bouncing up the hill
The Jumping Ascent looks wonderfully different from the outside: hills or bunny hops arranged along an incline, creating a real hill climb. At the top of each hill, the seats tilt to compensate for the following incline, making it feel like a horizontal jump. Passengers hop up the hills, experiencing a thrilling ride. A Jumping Ascent reinterprets the classic roller coaster lift hill and is great fun from the start.
4. Jumping Fall: Breathtaking descents
The combination of bunny hops and tilting seats provides thrills both uphill and downhill. On the Jumping Fall, passengers jump down numerous hills while their seats tilt backwards. The resulting short flight phases offer a unique and incomparable ride experience.
5. Camelback Jump: The jump to infinity
The Camelback Jump is a spectacular ride element where passengers take a long, extended jump over the camelback. After the apex, riders are in a horizontal position with seats tilted backwards, seeing nothing but the horizon until they land. This experience, where the world seems to stop for a moment, is an unforgettable highlight of any ride.
6. Vertical Free Fall: An incredible vertigo experience
The Camelback Jump is a spectacular ride element where passengers take a long, extended jump over the camelback. After the apex, riders are in a horizontal position with seats tilted backwards, seeing nothing but the horizon until they land. This experience, where the world seems to stop for a moment, is an unforgettable highlight of any ride.
7. Hell's Drop: Looking into the abyss
The vehicle rides slowly over a crest that turns into a vertical drop. Up to a 45° inclination, the seats tilt backwards to offer a horizontal view of the horizon. Suddenly, the vehicle picks up speed and moves towards the vertical, with seats tilting forward to amplify the increasing inclination and intensify the sudden vertical view down into the abyss - an adrenaline rush of the highest order!
8. Rocket Ride: Toward the heavens
The Rocket Ride ascends on a 45° incline with seats tilted back another 45°, giving passengers a vertical view of the sky. The upward acceleration and seat tilting create forces that literally try to lift passengers out of their seats. From the outside, the Rocket Ride looks spectacular and provides an incredibly thrilling experience.
9. Backwards fun: A whole new coaster experience
The tilting seats are especially intense when riding backwards. During tilted backward acceleration, pressure on the seat bar is avoided, transferring comfortably to the seat surface. Braking backwards in a tilted position creates lift-off forces that are great fun. Turns and hills in reverse become a whole new experience, enhancing the surprise effect and making the overall ride extremely enjoyable.
10. New Dark Ride features: Overhead Projection and Vibration
Dark rides thrive on maximum immersion. With Spike Fun Tilt seats, overhead projections can be perfectly integrated into the experience, such as in a space theme. Thanks to the 45° seat tilt, passengers can see projections clearly, becoming immersed in another world. The seat's tilt mechanism can also generate vibrations, intensifying a dark engine rumble.
Spike Fun Tilt: Highest level of experience and fun
From the spectacular start with a wheelie, the breathtaking airtime spiral, the Jumping Ascent and Jumping Fall, the unforgettable Camelback Jump, the thrill of Hell's Drop, the heavenly Rocket Ride, to the enjoyable backwards fun - every moment is a unique experience. The up to 45° inclined seats make the ride an extraordinary adventure, redefining roller coaster thrills.
