Over the last years, Vietnamese theme park chain VinWonders has invested heavily in adding immersive experiences to their parks. The latest of such experiences is currently under construction at their property in Nha Trang. This new attraction will be a dark boat ride named Tata World River Adventure. The ride is designed by Dutch design company Jora Vision, in collaboration with a series of partners. Tata World River Adventure is planned to open by the end of December 2022.
In Tata World River Adventure, riders will be taken into a fairytale environment. The experience starts at the Fairytale Library, where fairytales from around the world are treasured. The library functions as queue line, leading guests through rooms themed after Europe, South America and Asia. Eventually, they arrive at the Tata Treasury, which functions as treasury. Here, guests meet with the Fairytale Librarian, an animatronic, who recounts the tale of Princess Tata and the Pearl of Happiness.
This tale is conceived by VinWonders, who already used the story as plot of a show in the same park. Now, the tale functions as main story of the park’s new dark ride. It takes place in Van Hoa, a peaceful place which is home to exotic plants and adorable creatures. Apart from that, the place is also home to Princess Tata, a woman renowned for her brilliant beauty. The Pearl of Happiness is the keeper of tranquility in Van Hoa, but one day it is taken by the Dark Princess. This leaves riders with the task of retrieving the pearl, a quest which they will fulfill together with the Princess and her close pals Monta Monkey and Tuka Parrot.
After the pre-show, guests move on to the ride’s boarding station, themed after Princess Tata’s palace. Here, they board one of seven boats to fulfill their quest. Tata World River Adventure is 315 meters long, leading guests along 11 unique scenes and past two drops. “It’s very brave for a park to enter the world of dark rides with such a large and richly themed ride,” says Jora Vision creative lead Victor Schade. “As a visitor, you will experience fully immersive decors with integrated projection screens, uniquely designed animatronics, special and visual effects and a custom music score.”
In order to immerse riders in the world of Van Hoa, Jora Vision used a variety of special effects. A mechanical and pepper’s ghost effect is combined in one of the scenarios to allow the Pearl of Happiness to vanish in plain sight. In order to make the space appear bigger then it is, techniques like depth projection and forced perspective are used. But the major eye-catcher, according to Jora Vision, is one of the biggest animatronics ever created which will be located within the ride.
In order to create Tata World River Adventure, Jora Vision co-operated with a series of manufacturers delivering specific parts of the ride. The ride system was engineered an manufacturered by British company Interlink. For the production of theming, Jora Vision partnered with Chinese company United Art, while animatronics are delivered by LifeFormations from the U.S.A. The ride also contains didgital media, which was developed by Italian studio RedRaion. Last but not least, a custom music score for the ride was composed by German IMAscore.
This ride is not the first co-operation between Jora Vision and VinWonders: earlier this year, they already opened the highly themed suspended family coaster Eagle Warriors. June Ren, Jora Vision’s managing director for Asia, says: “We are very happy with the successful creative collaboration with the team of VinWonders. We are certain that this partnership will result in many exciting new one-of-a-kind experiences.” Nevertheless, Tata World River Adventure is so far the first dark ride Jora Vision designed in Vietnam. Installation of the ride is almost finished, and the team hopes to open it around Christmas 2022.
