info on the zip-line that is opening at the Rio
www.lasvegasadvisor.com
Although it was back on April 1 last year that we first reported on plans from MGM Mirage to construct a zipline experience, featuring four lines, between Luxor and Excalibur, it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke. Still, due to the proximity of McCarran International Airport, and the proposed routes including from Excalibur entrance 500 feet to the Tropicana pedestrian walkway, from the Excalibur roof 340 feet to the Luxor, from the top of the Luxor pyramid 950 feet to the Excalibur roof, with the biggest one from a corner of Luxor 1,440 feet to the Excalibur tram, Federal Aviation Administration approval is necessary. We assume that this has been granted, or the project would have stalled at the first stage, but when we checked in for an update last month, we were informed that it was now stuck in the It’s still in the county approvals process and was not yet coming up on any calendar, so your guess is as good as ours as to when/if this one will get off the ground.
Still, thrill-ride enthusiasts have more to look forward to, following an announcement in mid-May from the Rio that a "zip line-style" ride is in the works, spanning the resort’s two towers. Originally billed as the VooDoo Zip Ride, the name was subsequently changed to Voodoo Skyline, with the experience starting from the 50-story Masquerade Tower and running 845 feet to the 20-story Ipanema Tower, where riders will be transported (backwards) to the starting spot, via a motorized pulley (shades of "Speed: The Ride", the former Sahara roller coaster). The entire experience, which will begin three hundred and fifty seven feet up in the air and will let you fly at up to 33 mph, will take 1:10, with ticket-prices estimated in the $25-$40 range.
As we learned from the ever ear-to-the-ground (or, in this case, up-in-the-air) Vegas Chatter blog, the name has now been changed again, the latest incarnation being VooDoo Zip Line, and according to a July 9 Tweet, it’s "coming this August," although we haven’t seen any construction activity to back this up. Time will tell, but the off-Strip location lends itself to an easier approval process, we would assume.
As if two weren’t enough, in June news of yet another thrill ride materialized, in the form of 650-foot-tall, $100 million "Polercoaster" — a fusion combining elements of an observation wheel with a roller coaster, from what we can gather, which appears to be destined for the grounds of the Tropicana (henceforward to be known as the "Zipicana"?!). Again, the proximity to the airport is necessitating FAA approval, and we’re wondering how many observation wheels and ziplines one city can handle, or indeed needs, but with traffic congestion and pollution issues being what they are in Las Vegas, perhaps airborne transportation is the way of the future. It would certainly beat sweating in Strip snarl-ups.
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