Among the newest attractions at Gardaland, the largest theme park in Italy, Jumanji: The Adventure uses a 96-channel audio system powered by 18 Powersoft Quattrocanali 2404 DSP+D amplifiers.
Now one of Europe’s most popular amusement parks, Gardaland opened eastern shore of Lake Garda in 1975 and now includes rollercoasters such as Oblivion, Shaman and Blue Tornado, water rides Fuga da Atlantide (Escape from Atlantis) and Jungle Rapids, and the child-friendly Peppa Pig Land. Perhaps its most ambitious attraction to date, Jumanji: The Adventure is a multi-sensory dark ride that transports guests through 12 environments, bringing them face-to-face with physical threats including a venomous spiders, falling ruins, a swamp full of hippos and an enormous, animatronic Stone Giant.
As riders travel through the jungle in multi-motion off-road vehicles (resembling those seen in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), their experience is elevated by A/V projection mapping, holography and immersive spatial audio.
‘Jumanji: The Adventure is one of a new kind of attraction here at Gardaland,’ says Technical Office Manager, Alberto Lorenzin. ‘In terms of the visitor experience it’s unique – and the state-of-the-art audio and video is at the core of that.’
To design and deliver the technical infrastructure for the €20m attraction – the first based on the Jumanji film franchise – Gardaland turned to integrator Bentin Projects to bring to life the vision of the ride’s creators.
‘With attractions like this you start with something called a theme book, which contains scene-by-scene information, like in a comic book, from the designer of the attraction,’ explain Bernhard Blank, a system designer with Germany-based Bentin. ‘You then need to look closely to figure out what materials and technology are needed to tell the story the designer had in mind.’
Audio, in particular, plays a crucial role in enveloping riders in the world created by Jumanji: The Adventure: ‘To get a fully immersive experience you need to be able to place the speakers in the right place in the scenery,’ Blank says. ‘Having those speakers hidden from guests and delivering audio from all angles is key to creating the atmosphere.’
Given the expected popularity of the attraction, reliability was also a key concern: ‘We have nearly 1,000 people an hour going through this attraction for more than 200 days a year, so reliability was essential,’ Lorenzin confirms.
To provide the power and flexibility needed for the 96 channels of audio, as well as the reliability required by Lorenzin, the Bentin team specified 18 Powersoft Quattrocanali 2404 DSP+D. Delivering 2.4kW of power (efficiently optimised using Powersoft’s Smart Rail Management technology) over four channels, the Quattrocanali 2404 was the prefferd option. ‘We have used them in many attractions in the past and I’ve been very, very happy with these kind of amplifiers,’ says Blank, who also praises the Dante (AES67) networking capabilities offered by the DSP+D version of the Quattrocanali 2404. ‘With AES67, when the network is properly you managed you won’t have any issues. It should last ten years without any problems.’
The amplifiers are paired with a Q-Sys Core processor, with the audio system complemented by a Alcorn McBride V4X show controller and Pharos lighting controller.
‘We chose Powersoft amplifiers because of the good experiences we’ve had in the past,’ says Bentin Projects founder and CEO, Benedikt Koch. ‘The size and power delivered by the amplifiers is perfect for the audio demands of Jumanji: The Adventure.’
More: www.bentinprojects.com
More: www.powersoft.com
