A futuristic attraction which combines virtual reality with a real-life rollercoaster experience is being tested at Europa-Park by Mack Rides.

The ride takes place at the theme park’s ‘Enzian Alpine Coaster’, with visitors putting on virtual reality glasses – with the animation they are seeing in the virtual world synchronised with the actual experience of riding the rollercoaster.

Germany’s Mack Rides, which like Europa-Park is owned by the Mack family, has also opened a number of new rides across the globe for the summer 2015 season.

The ‘Columbus Dinghy’ at Europa-Park has been fitted with new passenger cars, with visitors now able to interactively influence the direction of the ride using a steering wheel.

At Freizeitpark Plohn theme park, also in Germany, a new western-themed ‘Powered Coaster’ has opened in a former riding arena, while Mack Rides’ fifth ‘Blue Fire Megacoaster’ has opened at the Divo Ostrov theme park in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Elsewhere, a ‘Turbulence’ spinning coaster has opened at the Adventureland theme park in Long Island, US, on what Mack Rides described as a very compact surface area due to the park’s limited space.

The manufacturer is also constructing China’s tallest roller coaster at Lewa Happyworld, which is scheduled to open in 2016. ‘Lightning’ will also feature the biggest loop in the world, according to Mack Rides.