Roller-coaster aficionados and thrill-seekers alike soon will have a s destination — the southern coast of China, in Macau, the world’s leading gambling jurisdiction.
Melco Crown Entertainment, which operates casinos in Macau and the Philippines, has recently announced that it will be opening Asia’s tallest Ferris wheel: the 427-foot-tall, figure-eight shaped Golden Eye, when the company’s $3.2 billion Studio City casino opens in mid-July, according to Bloomberg News.
The Golden Eye, soon to become the world’s fourth tallest roller coaster, will be the centerpiece of Melco Crown’s Studio City Entertainment Center, which is currently being developed in a partnership with Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. and DC Comics subsidiaries. It will straddle the two-tower Studio City hotel that plans to offer approximately 1,600 rooms, each designed in Art Deco style.
Along with nightclubs, a television broadcast studio and a 5,000-seat center for concerts, sports and theatrical events, Studio City Entertainment Center also will feature DC Comics’ Batman Dark Flight. The world’s first Batman film franchise digital ride, DC Comics’ Batman Dark Flight, will deliver an exhilarating adventure in an action-packed motion ride, providing thrill-seekers with a virtual reality Batman experience. Riders will fly through Gotham City, following Batman around the city as he brings some of the most notable super-villains to justice. The Entertainment Center will include other rides and features with DC Comics characters such as Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash.
The 30,000-square-foot Studio City Entertainment Center represents Melco Crown’s latest effort to shift its marketing resources from high rollers, who have fueled Macau’s rise as the most profitable gambling jurisdiction in the world, to the mass-market, according to Lawrence Ho, Melco Crown’s co-chairman and chief executive officer.
“Studio City will represent Asia’s ‘next generation’ of immersive, world-leading, entertainment-driven gaming and leisure destination experiences, as we work to support Macau’s tourism development and diversification.”
“”It will take the entertainment-inspired leisure destination concept to new levels, in a cinematic setting developed in partnership with the world’s leading entertainment brands, supported and endorsed by many of the legends of Hollywood…”, Ho said.
While placing an emphasis on leisure and recreation, Studio City still is going to be driven by its casino, which will open with 400 gaming tables and 1,600 slot machines.
