Orlando, Sunday, 28 September 2025.
At the IAAPA Expo in Orlando, manufacturers used the trade floor to steer 2025 capital plans by unveiling a mix of hardware, media and systems: Vekoma teased a ‘surprising’ coaster with 2025 openings, Reverchon launched next‑generation flume and rider‑specific restraints aimed at boosting throughput and safety, WhiteWater showcased compact, capacity‑focused waterpark concepts, and Triotech announced a large IP‑driven multi‑location project with Saudi partner Seven. Dronisos reiterated its choreographed drone partnership with Disneyland Paris, while Accesso and other ticketing vendors outlined guest‑management updates that signal tighter vendor‑park integration. The standout takeaway for operators and investors: suppliers are aligning engineering innovation, IP media and integrated guest systems to shorten procurement cycles and shift capital allocation toward bundled, partnership‑based projects for the 2025 build season. Expect procurement decisions to tilt toward solutions that deliver measurable capacity gains, safety advancements and content-driven guest value, and clearer ROI timelines for phased deployment across seasons annually.
A technical focus: Reverchon’s next‑generation Flume and new rider restraints
Reverchon used its IAAPA Expo presence to position a next‑generation Flume ride as both an attraction and an engineering platform: the company framed the product as a contemporary re‑thinking of classic log‑flume dynamics while pairing it with a new individual restraint system designed to be retrofittable to earlier cars and to better accommodate a wider range of rider body sizes to improve throughput and safety [4]. The public material specifies two linked engineering aims — a ride architecture refreshed for modern guest expectations, and restraint hardware that provides per‑rider clamping/containment rather than relying solely on vehicle geometry — which operators can use to reduce dispatch dwell at stations and simplify compliance checks during loading cycles [4]. Reverchon’s announcement also emphasised that the new restraints are adaptable to existing installations, signalling a product strategy that targets both new capital projects and upgrade‑led procurement where parks seek incremental capacity and safety improvements without full replacements [4].
What the engineering changes mean for throughput and operations
Reverchon’s case for rider‑specific restraints is operational: by moving containment control from a one‑size vehicle fit to individually adjustable bars, parks can legitimately expect narrower variance in loading times across rider groups and fewer ride pauses for insecure fittings — both measurable contributors to theoretical throughput increases [4]. The company explicitly links the restraint redesign to throughput and safety improvements and offers retrofitability to earlier car generations so that parks can phase in hardware upgrades rather than scheduling a single, disruptive offline window for a full attraction replacement [4]. This approach aligns with the industry shift away from capex‑heavy single buys toward staged, lower‑risk upgrades that preserve existing asset value while delivering incremental operational gains [3][4].
How the flume’s design choices reflect theming and guest experience priorities
Reverchon describes the new Flume concept as a platform for creative re‑theming and car re‑skins, signalling that its mechanical changes were deliberately decoupled from aesthetic packages so parks can apply IP, seasonal overlays or bespoke narratives without re‑engineering ride mechanics [4]. The company highlighted availability of car re‑themes and creative collaboration at its booth, indicating a supplier strategy where engineering modularity enables faster content refresh cycles and lowers the non‑mechanical cost of keeping an attraction ‘new’ in guest perception [4]. This modular separation of hardware and theming supports procurement models that buy base mechanics upfront and contract media or IP overlays later — a pattern also visible in media‑driven suppliers exhibiting at IAAPA [2][1].
Industry context: why parks may prefer retrofit‑friendly mechanical upgrades for 2025
Within the IAAPA reveal cycle, several suppliers emphasised compact, capacity‑focused or media‑modular products: WhiteWater promoted additions intended to maximise space and extend sessions with slide‑and‑play fusion concepts, Triotech unveiled IP‑driven, multi‑location immersive projects, and Brogent presented a budget‑friendly flying‑theatre model that prioritises a lower footprint and cost of entry for operators [3][2][1]. Against that backdrop, Reverchon’s retrofit‑capable restraint technology and re‑themed Flume platform fit a procurement logic that favours lower‑risk staged investments combining mechanical upgrades with third‑party media or thematic overlays — a model attractive to operators planning capital phasing for the 2025 build season [4][3][2].
Limits of the public record and open questions for operators
Public disclosures from Reverchon and peer exhibitors provide clear product positioning but stop short of quantifying specific throughput gains, measured safety performance improvements or retrofit lead times — data operators need for procurement sizing and ROI modelling [4][3][2][1]. The absence of hard metrics in exhibitor releases means parks must treat supplier claims as specification‑level signals and pursue measured proof points (cycle‑time studies, instrumented load tests, or staged pilots) during vendor negotiations [alert! ‘Exhibitor materials cited do not provide numeric throughput or safety test results; independent test data or manufacturer test reports were not included in the supplied sources’] [4][3][2][1].
Bronnen