HOLY CRAP, IS THIS ENTIRE EVENT IN VR AWARD!?!? 

To say that 2016 was the year of VR at IAAPA would be putting it mildly. It was EVERYWHERE and in lots of different forms. 

While we think VR certainly has it's place we are traditionalists when it comes to Roller Coasters and thrill rides, so we kind of like them to be left alone. 

That being said, some of the VR that we saw at IAAPA this week especially in the interactive video game type simulators was really cool. 

Biggest news that totally blew up our Twitter (in a good way) Award

The awesome people at Sally Corp have done it again and unveiled their concept for a Five Nights at Freddy's Dark Ride. While not a whole lot of details are readily available right now and no park has announced it, with all of the excitement around this one we're sure it's only a matter of time. 

Remember, IAAPA has a lot of concepts from companies that make rides, and there are deals going on throughout the entire convention with parks buying what the companies are selling. 

Hopefully we'll hear something about this one going to a park soon. ​

Most awesome coaster concept

This is an easy one, and it's this model from MACK Rides. First off, MACK rides are already awesome, but this concept appears to be perfect for some smaller parks looking to make a big impact. We can already think of 10-12 parks that this type of ride would be PERFECT for and would essentially put them on the map for the coaster community. 

Again, no park has announced that they are building this, but there are rumors flying around already. Stay Tuned!! 

Most amazing resurrection of technology the Mouse never uses anymore Award

There was some disagreement on the awesomeness of this concept among the members of Team Park Journey. Some of us thought it was just a rehash of technology used in Carousel of Progress. Others thought, well, if Disney isn't gonna use it then why shouldn't somebody else. 

Overall, we think the motion theater from Dynamic Attractions is one of the winners of this years show, the possibilities are endless from large and small parks and things in between like aquariums, observatory's and more. We can't wait to see this put into action. 

Tech we are SURE is gonna end up in a plethora of Haunts in 2017 Award

We became familiar with Technifex last week through their press release, we found it very intriguing and made sure to put them on our list for IAAPA. And we sure weren't disappointed. 

In addition, the people there are amazing and it looks like sometime in the VERY near future we'll be heading to their shop in Valencia to get a closer look at what they do. So stay tuned for that!! 

The "Stepping it up in a BIG way" Award

This was another easy one, and it goes to Triotech. They started off working exclusively with a couple of Cedar Fair parks with, frankly, some mixed results. We were VERY impressed with the Ninjago Ride at Legoland this year though. They definitely addressed some of the issues such as capacity and graphics. 

This year they announced so many new concepts it was hard to keep track. But we loved their demo's of the The Flyer (coming to San Francisco next year) and Werewolves. 

But later on Day One they announced a new Walking Dead walk-through attraction coming to Las Vegas next year but also a Ghostbusters 5D attraction coming next year to Heide Park in Germany. 

They are working with the production companies for these two attractions so they are definitely making a name for themselves and stepping it up. 

What we want the new Wild Rivers in Irvine to look like Award

We've never made any illusions about our extreme love for WhiteWater West. Great slides, great people and check out these models. They are simply amazing. 

So we totally volunteer as tribute for the new waterpark they are supposedly building in Irvine because we want to ride all of this. 

We can't wait to ride whatever you're building now, so will you just announce it already Award
​
RMC has taken the coaster world by storm. Sure, they had a couple of hiccups this year, but every time we ride Twisted Colossus it just keeps getting better and better. 

So of course we had to spend some time checking out RMC, and their amazing track designs. Oddly enough, nothing really announced for 2017 ... yet. But we're sure that's gonna change and change quick. 

Best looking trains Award

This isn't just going to one park, but really to an entire chain of parks, who is working with three different manufacturers to make their trains (how awesome is that). 

SeaWorld Parks totally stole the show with their trains for InvadR at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Wave Breaker at SeaWorld San Antonio and Ocean Explorer at SeaWorld San Diego. 

These are easily among our three most anticipated rides for 2017 and we can't wait to check them out. 

Most Badass IAAPA Coverage Team Award

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention our own Renée. Without whom, well, we wouldn't have had any coverage this year. One of these years we'll totally work it out to get other members of Team Park Journey out there but we can't argue with the results. 

So thanks once again for the amazing coverage, and thanks to all of you who enjoyed it. We are still getting a LOT more info from exhibitors so we'll be posting those up in the next week or two on our Industry News page. 

#IAAPAOut 

Be sure to take our poll below. Some of the choices here were featured in our Day One and Day Two IAAPA Coverage. 

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