2 December 2005
Tivoli Builds World’s Tallest Carousel
A comfortable majority in the City Council has approved Tivoli’s request for a new amusement: the tallest chairoplane (swing carousel) in the world, which Tivoli will call the Star Flyer. This amusement will stand 80 m tall and combines the gut-wrenching thrill of a classic chairoplane with the added sensation of airborne sightseeing. The Star Flyer will be ready when Tivoli opens for the summer season on 12 April 2006.
The Star Flyer will bear the theme of Tycho Brahe’s universe, with planets, quadrants, a zodiacal armillery sphere, telescopes and astronomical symbols. In the evening, the amusement will be illuminated and will thus be a visual attraction, harmonising with the rest of the illuminations in the Gardens. The ambition is to construct Tivoli’s most striking amusement, thus creating an icon on a par with many of the other classic amusements.
The Star Flyer will be located – with no need to dismantle any other amusements – in The Merry Corner, between the Concert Hall and the Spinning Top amusement. With the Star Flyer, Tivoli will be able, as of the summer season 2006, to offer visitors 25 amusements.
The ride
Visitors board the Star Flyer on a platform at a height of about 6 m. A star-shaped car, with 12 chain mounted twin passenger seats, ascends to the top of the 80-metre mast, while the car revolves on its own axis, making the seats fly through the air at up to 70 km/h. Depending on the programming, the star-shaped car can spin rapidly or slowly – and it can climb to the top of the mast one or more times in the course of a ride. The ride is basically silent, with a hoist and a rotary mechanism driven by electric motors on rubber wheels.
Technical specifications of the StarFlyer
Tower height: 80 metres
Platform diameter: 16 metres
No. of chairs: 12 (with 2 passenger seats each)
Capacity: approx. 960 visitors per hour
Max. rotary speed: 70 km/h
Max. up–down speed: 3 m/second
Significance of the amusements for Tivoli
Tivoli is an amusement park with the key business areas of culture, restaurants and last but by no means least, amusements, connected by the garden area and evening illuminations. In order to continue as a dynamic part of the city, Tivoli must constantly develop, innovate and reinvent itself to remain relevant to the people of today.
The amusements are an important part of any visitor’s experience of Tivoli, whether or not they actually ride the amusements. Accordingly, the role of the amusements as scenographic elements is often every bit as important as their practical function – even to the extent that the amusements become icons of Tivoli and of the City of Copenhagen. This is true of Tivoli’s classic Ferris Wheel, for example, and also of more recent amusements such as the Golden Tower, which has become a landmark of the Gardens.
Furthermore, the amusements are also a significant business area – accounting for more than 50% of Tivoli's turnover – so they help fund the free delights of the Gardens – the flowers, the music and the illuminations.
Supplier and safety
The Star Flyer is being developed in conjunction with the Austrian firm Funtime, known the world over for building unique, fascinating amusements. With references from countries including the US, China, New Zealand, Spain, Greece, Italy and Austria, since the year 2000 Funtime has been one of the world’s best-selling suppliers of amusements. One notable project in 2004 was Funtime’s version of the Star Flyer for the Prater amusement park in the heart of Vienna; this has become a popular sight-seeing attraction with tourists.
Like the rest of Funtime’s products, the Star Flyer will be TÜV-certified, thus offering visitors the greatest possible safety. This certification means the Star Flyer complies with some of the most stringent safety regulations with regard to production and operation. Visitors will sit belted into an open chair with a safety strap that can only be opened by the operator on the ground. The lock mechanism is unaffected by a power failure and visitors can be safely lowered to the ground manually with the assistance of the staff.
Best regards
TivoliA/S
Stine Lolk
Director of Communications, Tivoli
Tel.: +45 3375 0338
E-mail: sl@tivoli.dk
