HONG KONG, MUNICH – Last October, Dream Cruises and Maurer Rides announced the world's longest roller coaster at sea on board the new Global Class cruise ship, Global Dream. The "Spike-Coaster" type roller coaster - called Space Cruiser by Dream Cruises - will be the highlight of the "Dream Park at the Pier”, the very first theme park at sea. What was previously only possible with animations and graphics is now becoming reality as one of the most exciting cruise ship attractions to date is already being set up on land in advance for testing purposes.
In order to keep the assembly and commissioning time for the 2500-cabin cruise ship as short as possible, the roller coaster is currently being built for testing in the immediate vicinity of the MV Werften shipyards in Germany.
Marco Hartwig, Project Manager Maurer Rides explains why the construction on land is so important: "Among other things, the test setup will be used to test the installation methodology especially designed for ship assembly. Furthermore, the conductor rail and gear rack along the roller coaster track, which is necessary for the generation and transmission in the electric motor, can be installed on land in advance. This saves valuable time during the ship assembly. The aim is also to collect all the 93 support base points coordinates after the roller coaster has been completed and then forward them to the shipyard for preparation and positioning for the deck foundations. With the help of this elaborate procedure, we can ensure that the support base points on the deck of the ship are in the correct positions later.”
After the installation, three Spike® vehicles will be put into operation step by step and the system control will be thoroughly tested. Before the roller coaster leaves the test site in Gustrow, Germany, the system will be dismantled and transported to the shipyard for final assembly.
The first photos of the construction process show the scope and scale of the world's longest offshore roller coaster.
After leaving the station, the ride starts with an acceleration section followed by two closely spaced inclined 90-degree curves. The following two "camelbacks" provide a spectacular and breathtaking launch above the railing and the heads of the passengers, with a maximum speed of up to 60km/h (37 mph.) A 360-degree downward and upward helix form the end of the 303m (994 foot) long track before the vehicles reach the station again.
“Dream Cruises is extremely excited to be working with Maurer Rides to create this spectacular new attraction at sea on board Global Dream. We are thrilled with the progress of the construction of the roller coaster and are excited to unveil this ride to our guests when our ship launches,” said Mr. Michael Goh, President of Dream Cruises.
