First AGV Tractor Ride Goes to a Park in Germany

(eap) Based on AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) technology, the Swiss manufacturer of family rides and attractions abc Rides had recently presented their AGV tractors as a new product (c.f. EAP trade show report in issue 6/2024), which has now been sold for the first time. The first installation of the AGV Tractor Ride takes place at Germany’s Schloss Dankern holiday and amusement park. The destination will present the autonomously driving tractors as an attraction novelty in the 2026 season. Schloss Dankern owner Friedhelm Freiherr von Landsberg-Velen and Tomas Havlik, Sales Manager at abc Rides, signed the contract at the VDFU ConnEX industry event taking place today in Munich.

Schloss Dankern will receive a total of six AGV tractors in a customized tractor design, for which around 200 metres of track are being planned. The route will include junctions to enable different driving experiences and will be designed with obstacles such as stones, tree trunks, water and inclines. Thanks to GPS-based autonomous control technology, the attraction does not require a track, so passengers can steer, accelerate and brake their tractor themselves, just like on a “real” farmer’s tractor. The system ensures that the tractors neither collide nor leave the established routes. The target group for this attraction novelty is the whole family.

With the AGV tractor ride, Schloss Dankern aims at further strengthening its market position as one of the most visited holiday parks in Germany by repeatedly presenting a new type of experience. With “Burg Arkan”, the destination had already opened a Tube Coaster (also from abc Rides) in 2018 and marketed itself as the “first holiday park with a roller coaster” (c.f. EAP 3/2018). While holidaymakers and park guests will have to wait until next year for the tractor ride to open, Schloss Dankern will also be launching a number of novelties in this upcoming season, including a new maritime adventure area with a “play shipyard”, a play area for toddlers called the “crawling cutter” and imaginative play opportunities in the new “fairy forest” (c.f. EAP issue 2/2025). ■