Thursday, September 18, 2008 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
PROPERTY developer J. King and Sons Co. Inc. (JKSCI) will launch in November a mini amusement complex on top of a hotel tower on Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City.
The amusement facility—which will feature a roller coaster that will run around the edge of the building, an Insanity ride and a Sky Walk—will be situated on the top floors of the 40-story Crown Regency Hotel and Towers, one of the high-rise buildings at the Fuente Towers Complex.
The roller coaster, known as the Edge Coaster, is the first of its kind in the world to be mounted on top of a hotel tower, said Janos Lakatos, vice president for manufacturing of the US-based Interactive Rides Inc.
Interactive Rides manufactured and installed the Edge Coaster and a similar facility on a building tower in Las Vegas in the United States. The company will also install other amusement rides and equipment that is part of Crown Regency’s Sky Experience Adventure project.
“This is a very unique concept,” said Lakatos, adding that Crown Regency Hotel is the only hotel in the Philippines and in Asia, so far, which has an amusement facility at its top floors.
The Edge Coaster can carry up to eight people and allows its passengers to get a 36—degree view of the metropolis from Fuente Osmeña.
Lakatos said while the ride will move at low speed, on the track around the building, thrill-seekers would enjoy the option of being able to tilt the coaster car 55 degrees away from the building.
“You will have the feeling of floating in air because you won’t see the building or the (coaster) car,” he told news reporters in a press conference last Friday.
Hitesh Sampat, Crown Regency Hotel and Towers general manager, said the Insanity ride—which involves an equipment that will be mounted on the 40th floor of the hotel tower that will allow its passengers to sit suspended in the air—will become operational a year after the Edge Coaster’s completion.
He said the Sky Experience Adventure at Crown Regency will also include the Skywalk, which allows one to walk on a platform outside the tower, at level with the 37th floor.
Those who want to take a stroll around the building, almost 400 feet above ground will be attached to a harness for safety.
The Sky Experience Adventure will also feature a restobar, a gentleman’s club, observatory, Vivo game zone and a four-dimensional movie theater.
Sampat said a ride on the Edge Coaster would cost about P500 per person, excluding the entrance fee of P380.
“(The facilities are) meant to provide a place where the entire family can have fun,” he said.
Lakatos assured that the rides are safe. He said Interactive Rides Inc. had checked Crown Regency’s structural design and stability before designing the rides.
The safety aspect of the rides and their durability were also checked using a software that is used by industrial and space systems.
The roller coaster vehicles and track are made of aircraft steel and aircraft aluminum.
“We know and have taken all safety precautions,” Lakatos said.
Aside from Crown Regency, JKSCI owns other hotels, condominium development projects and sports facilities in Cebu (including Mactan) and Boracay, among others. (LAP)
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