Belgian theme park Bobbejaanland is currently working on their newest experience: Terra Magma. The ride is a retheme of the beloved Indiana River indoor log flume, which closed last November. The park already announced that the ride is to receive a volcano theme, along with the zone surrounding the ride. Today, press was invited at Bobbejaanland to attend a preview for their 2023 season, revealing more detailed plans for the Terra Magma ride.
The presentation took place in the ride’s station, which is currently still devoid of theming, but this is about to change soon. All parties involved are hard at work on getting the novelty finished before the deadline. Terra Magma will be a brand new experience, set within the same building and reusing the 1991 log flume system which has been completely revised technically. Bobbejaanland invests over €3 million in the renewal.
Terra Magma (Spanish for ‘Land of Magma’) will be located in the newly formed themed area Mystery Bay and tells the story of an island on which a volcano is about to erupt. Guests will follow in the footsteps of brave adventurers and ultimately escape the eruption of the volcano.
The storyline for Terra Magma and its concept drawings were created by the Belgian KCC Entertainment Design. Creative Director Matthias Paillot explains: ”Adventurers once came to the island of Terra Magma. They were curious, because they had heard that all kinds of magical powers were present here. The station is their last base-camp, the place from which they went to explore.”
”In the queue-line, visitors are going to see the story come to life piece by piece through cave drawings, a kind of warning, what you are going to encounter. We are going to make it clear with effects and audio that nature is in charge here and that we have to live in harmony with nature,” continues Matthias. ”The moment we ascend the first lift we enter a kind of paradise, but very soon it becomes apparent that the island has many more secrets.”
During the ride which counts 3 drops, guests will be encountering all sorts of dangerous situations, from a tsunami ravaging a village and a jungle filled with monsters. The total of 14 scenes (including the queue) will be brought to live via a combination of physical theming, projections and audio. A custom soundtrack is being composed in-house by KCC Entertainment Design.
After the final obstacle, the erupting volcano, a stream of lava (for which the water on the drop will be lit up bright led) brings us back to safety. Here, at the foot of the volcano, the adventurers that came before us have settled and made themselves at home. These homes were crafted from various materials that washed up on the beach, emphasising their new way of living in harmony with nature.
The outside of the building, where the outdoor part of the queue-line is located, will be decorated in much the same way. A row of houses made from washed up wood marks the entrance of the ride where the indoor queue starts. The rest of the building will be hidden behind a canvas with the island of Terra Magma printed onto it.
KCC Entertainment Design acts as turnkey supplier and has enlisted the help of 7 studios in making the project a reality, most notably Kabuki Brandmakers as theming manufacturer. Kabuki has been working with Bobbejaanland since 2020 on the designing and producing of the temporary theming for haunted houses and other decorations during the Halloween seasons.
Bobbejaanland is making sure Indiana River will not be forgotten, as some of its decorations are going to be reused either inside Terra Magma or elsewhere in the park. Also Dark Ride Database will be remembering Indiana River by doing a deep dive into its history, so be sure to keep an eye on our socials in the upcoming weeks.
