Caripro

Caripro
	;
Statistics
Location	Gouverneurlaan 2, Weert, Limburg, Netherlands
Founded	1997
Closed	2001
Roller coasters build	9

Caripro was a Dutch company that originated in 1997 and was located in Limburg in the Netherlands. The comany mostly built the Batflyer model, which got a bit of a success worldwide. During its existence, the company built 9 roller coasters around the globe, 7 of them were Batflyers and only 5 of those coasters are operational in various diffrenet theme parks.

Origins[]

Hans Gubbels, a former employee of the Dutch manufacturer Vekoma, founded Caripro in 1997. It was a pretty modest company that at the time, was known for selling only one attraction type, the Batflyer.

Several of those coasters were build, the twin version, which started in Plopsaland De Panne, and a larger, single jobs and motorized version can that can also be found in some theme parks.

It is believed that Duinrell's Batflyer was the first Caripro roller coaster, there is still a doubt. A year earlier there was already a roller coaster in Lightwater Valley, which was also named "Batflyer". This coaster had a narrow track diameter and other containers, but also a lot of comparisons with the Batflyer from Caripro. This roller coaster operated from 1996 to 2002. This coaster might be a prototype design og a Batflyer built in collaboration with the park, but this information is not confirmed anywhere.

Bankruptcy[]

Caripro was sold to Vekoma in 2000, but Vekoma itself felt into bankruptcy a year later, and so did Caripro. Vekoma was able to restart due to restructuring, but Caripro had disappeared.

Hans Gubbels bought back the rights himself and founded the company "Cari-Co". Cari-Co became a supplier of parts and carried out maintenance on the existing roller coasters, but no more jobs were build.

Cari-Co was also closed down in 2004, just as Premier Rides started offering the same type of roller coaster. Presumably, Premier Rides therefore purchased the rights to the Caripro Design.

Built Roller Coasters[]

1997:Batflyer - Duinrell[]

The Batflyer at the Dutch park Duinrell was the first coaster to be officialy built by Caripro in 1997. This coaster was an unsuccesful prototype, as when the track was in the park all kinds of problems started to pop up. The trains did not reach the end of the track beacuse they had too little speed. The company came up with a system called the "Hot Rail" to give the carts an extra speed boost. However, the system was never installed and the track was demolished in 2002 and sold to a scra dealer.

1997:Ziggy's Blast Quest - The Milky Way Adventure Park[]

Formely known as "Clone Zone", this was the first Batflyer to open effectively at Devon's Milky Way Adventure park in the Uk. Unlike other Batflyers, this is a Powered Coaster and was build entirely indoors as a darkride mostly. In 2019, the coaster gor renamed and fitted with an interactive shooting elemant.

1998:Scooby's Ghoster Coaster - Kings Island[]

Scooby's Ghoster Coaster operated at Kings Island from 1998 to 2005. The coaster is a more modren version of the Batflyer, with a single rail and with the iconic elvator lift.

2000:Vleermuis - Plopsaland De Panne[]

In 2000, Plopsaland De Panne opened Vleermuis (Bat in English). In this coaster, riders can race against each other on the dueling track. The coaster was sold in 2018 and currently operating at Trans Studio Bali in Indonesia undet the name "Bat Glider".

2000:Spellbreaker - Legoland California[]

The same year as Vleermuis, a similar coaster named Spellbreaker opened in Legoland California. The coater operated here for three years before getting demolished.

2001:Batflyer - Hamanako Pal Pal[]

In 2001 two copies of a single rail Batflyer were opened. The first one was in the Japanese park, Hamanako Pal Pal. The roller coaster worked until 2015 and was removed from the park. The coaster sold to the park "Trans Studio Action Zone" at Indonesia under the name "Bat Glider" where it is still operating to this day.

2001:Batflyer - Nasu Highland Park[]

The Japanese park Nasu Highland also opened a single rail copy. Due to several problems, the coaster remains standing but not operating since 2018.

2001:Sky Rider - Skyline Park[]

Opened in 2001 at Skyline Park, Sky Rider is not a Batflyer, but rather a GyroFlyer. This model has a longer track than a Batflyer, but espcially containers can accommodate four people instead of the usual two people per car. The cars of the GyroFlyer are also capable of spinning on their own axis. Currently the Sky Rider is the only GyroFlyer to be ever build by Caripro.

2001:Hydra Fighter II - Wet 'n Wild Emerald Pointe[]

Soak'd at Hard Rock Park, an almost identical coaster to Hydra Fighter.

The last coaster to be build by Caripro was the Hydra Fighter II at North Carolina. The model was name the AquaFlyer and operated for only two years. Premier rides purchased the rights for the project and build Soak'd in 2008.