SKYNext - Orlando, FL - March 2015

The Northeast was battered with snow last week, but a handful of engineers and ride enthusiasts still managed to make it down to the SKYNext event, sponsored by Skyline Attractions of Orlando, FL.

The first day started off with lunch and mingling, getting to meet the Skyline team, as well as people from all over the country (believe the furthest traveled was Missouri). Presenters were Melissa Ruminot from the Nassal Company and John Arie Jr. of Fun Spot fame. Both brought great excitement to their presentations. What I found interesting about these two were there differing but successful philosophies on the park industry. Nassal focuses on immersive theming environments while Fun Spot is essentially an oldschool amusement... just give people rides and the rest will do itself. Also on the slate was Samanatha Dawson, lead ambassador for IAAPA.

Later that night, Skyline set us up with wristbands for Fun Spot, as well as free food. Of course this ended up in a night of continuous rides on White Lightning and Nexters go kart races. At 7, the team had a Q&A session at White Lightning, led by Jeff Pike. Lot of interesting info came out of that, notably the want to design for 'no negative g's.' Generally, that will be something the enthusiasts crave, but this doesn't stop White Lightning from being a great coaster at all.

The next morning, we were hit with even bigger name presenters. Marissa Blake from TEA talked about the TEA's NextGen program (which is something that everyone should look into). Rich Hill from Sally Corp came in from Jacksonville to talk about what his company does and then showed off some impressive videos. The Joker animatronics from IAAPA were a huge hit and expect Justice League to be a huge draw for Six Flags. Mechanicals in the audience drooled as Rich mentioned that Sally is, in fact, hiring (sucks for me, the civil guy). We broke for lunch and Bill Wydra hooked us up with some Honolulu Hot Dogs, which can be found at Fun Spot and hopefully coming to a park near you. I suggest the chef's special.

The next presenter was Bill Kitchen of US Thrill Rides. Bill is a legend in the industry, being the inventor behind the Skycoaster, as well as the Polercoaster coming to Orlando and other cities. Actually had a chance to talk structures with Bill, who went over several concepts of his Polercoaster with me. A great experience and a cool dude. Jeff introduced the final presenter as 'he's going to talk to you about workman's comp,' a necessary evil in the construction field. Turns out though, he was a magician brought in to entertain and make us laugh. 'After a day of presentations, sometimes you just have to unwind and have fun,' Jeff said afterward. Very true. And awesome. Think I'm going to hire a magician to follow every presentation I do.

The final leg of the weekend had us do a construction tour at the 400-foot tall Orlando Eye observation wheel. Incredible experience, as our construction guys (my team was led by a man known as Robo, who helped construct original Colossus) showed us the entrance building, 4D theater, base of the entrance ramp, operations room, and many other interesting facets of the giant structure. Opening in May and looking forward to heading back down for it. Afterward, the group headed over to Dave and Buster's, where Skyline had set up a dinner buffet and free games for us (which was a completely awesome surprise). Parking was a bummer, as Toby Keith traffic was in town, but everyone had an absolute blast. Was a great ending to a well-organized, enjoyable and informative weekend. Looking forward to keeping in contact with the Skyline team and getting down to Orlando more often than I already do.