Premier Mounts

Weather-resistant outdoor mounting solutions entertain and inform guests during wait times in ride queues

FULLERTON, Calif., June 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier Mounts, an internationally recognized leader in the design and manufacture of innovative A/V mounting solutions, recently partnered with Reflect Systems, a national, full-service provider of out-of-home digital media solutions, to help Cedar Fair Amusement and Water Park Operations Company to make profitable use of its ride queue spaces in 11 of their nationwide parks. A preliminary consultation with Reflect revealed that Cedar Fair could monetize its queue areas by displaying a stream of advertising and park-related promotions to guests waiting for rides. In addition to generating revenue, a pervasive digital signage program would entertain guests during wait times and enable park managers to promote under-served venues in real time.

Cedar Fair's ride queue areas presented a number of display mounting challenges. Virtually all of the 300+ displays would be hung on 3.5" or 4" cylindrical steel poles. Viewing angles varied by site. Unlike the relatively controlled environment of a retail store, airport, or office building, amusement parks present a range of unusual vantage points, closer proximity to the displays themselves, and differing heights of the viewers. In some cases, there would be two displays back-to-back on a pole. Elsewhere, there would be one display per pole. The displays were all outdoors, which meant that the mounts would have wind load resistance, and also be corrosion-resistant with an outdoor rated, UV-resistant protective finish for outdoor durability.

"An outdoor mounting solution that develops rust is a big problem," said Rich Pierro, co-CEO, Premier Mounts, "A mount that isn't coated properly can oxidize when exposed to oxygen and moisture for long periods of time resulting in weakened bonds of the metal itself, which creates liability that you don't see until it's too late. We test our products to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standards, using four times the recommended weight capacity to ensure that they deliver the best quality, with only the strongest weather-resistant materials in outdoor environments where the elements attack metal."

Designing the Right Mount

Reflect asked Premier Mounts to review the Cedar Fair project plan and make recommendations for the most optimum mounting solution. Premier's engineering team met with Reflect and toured several of Cedar Fair's sites to determine the best approach for mounting the LCD screens. Through an iterative process that involved several generations of drawings and 3D renderings, Premier Mounts engineered and fabricated a prototype that can be put through testing in a variety of outdoor environments that suited each of the geographies of the nationwide amusement parks. Using a combination of pre-existing stock components and new, specially designed elements, Premier Mounts created a mount that was ideally suited to Cedar Fair's exterior spaces. It has a unique clamping mechanism to ensure that the mount will fit properly on the steel poles and present a low risk of becoming detached. The mount was designed with a unique ability to tilt and rotate to accommodate the myriad close up angles that exist in an amusement park. It also features an integrated shade hood that can be used in bright sun scenarios. The mount can be doubled up easily for poles where Cedar Fair wanted to mount two 110-pound displays back to back. Overall, from initial design meeting to delivery of 300+ finished mounts, the project took about 60 days.

Installation: Taking a Holistic View of the Business Case

As part of the Cedar Fair project, Premier Mounts went on-site with Reflect and offered recommendations throughout the process, from concept stage to installation. This extra effort had two objectives: On one level, it was important to make sure that the mounts were installed correctly. Perhaps even more importantly, Premier Mounts acted as a partner to Reflect and Cedar Fair by ensuring that they developed a mounting solution that reduced overall time to install. Installers were able to use the pre-designed rapid box-to-pole pre-assembly to significantly reduce the installation time, which led to reduced installation labor and equipment rentals (e.g. booms), resulting in minimizing the Total Cost of Ownership for the project.

"What we liked about Premier Mounts was their commitment to working with us across the total lifecycle of the project," said Rusty Wagner, Sr. VP of Sales, Reflect Systems, "We need that kind of partner, especially for the large-scale systems we put into place. The mount is a deceptively small part of the whole package, but it's actually essential for success in technical and business terms."