3 Things That Will Disrupt The Theme Park Industry

Within the past decade the theme park industry has exploded. Hundreds of theme parks are being developed or expanded upon around the world. But, in the race for people’s attention and the crown for the best ride or experience, the theme park industry might want to take a look at some of the rising technology that will disrupt the way we think about theme park design. Because, in the 21st century, disruption and innovation reign supreme. And, if you are not disrupting, then you are most likely being disrupted. So, here are “3 Things that will Disrupt the Theme Park Industry” to help you stay ahead of the curve.

Parallel Experiences and Augmented Reality

In case you been only focused on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s place making and monetary success, you might have missed the technology push around Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technology taking place in Silicon Valley. The world has come a a long ways since the initial Kickstarter days of Oculus Rift. Today, Digital Capital estimates the VR/AR industry to be worth 150 billion dollars by 2020. And, the idea of a VR theme park or rollercoaster maybe be the rage today, but AR will be the rising star when it comes to the future of storytelling in theme parks. Technology like Microsoft’s HoloLens and Magic Leap’s Mixed Reality Light Field promise to blend real life physical elements with computer generated images.

Millions of interchangeable maps, characters, elements, and stories await to be created.

How will AR affect how we build theme parks? Imagine a a world where digital elements overlap with real-physical elements and settings. Welcome to the age of “parallel experiences”. This idea will usher in a new genre of storytelling experiences, that involve new challenges and experiences. And, unlike most video game or film companies competing in this field, theme park designers can control and leverage the physical world’s relationship to digital content in unparalleled ways making for a unique and tactile story. Millions of interchangeable maps, characters, elements, and stories await to be created.

The biggest draw back with this technology is the price. Development kits for Microsofts Hololens are being advertised at 3,000. But like with all technology, the price will eventually go down with time for the consumer. And, this will usher in a new era of brand experiences in the future. Exclusively branded consumer products will become commonplace. I’m just patiently waiting for Assassin’s Creed Eagle Vision goggles to become a reality. So, if AR is not on your radar, make sure it is now and keep a lookout on current and future developments.

Role Playing Experiences

Ah, the old dungeon and dragons memories of rolling 12 sided die is all coming back to me now. I should have never gotten rid of that High Elf Wizard costume. But,in all seriousness, who knew that it would be so cool to be a geek?

With the explosion of cosplay (otherwise known as costume play) in the past years -propelled by the growing popularity of comic conventions — the role playing culture is gaining serious momentum and can no longer be ignored within theme park development.

Universal Studios’s successful recreation of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is testament to the cross over of the theme parks and role-playing culture. When the land first opened, you could be a wizard by buying those items all wizards need — a robe, a wand, a tie, and a owl. But, the magic of being a wizard was still missing. And, although the place making of the land was impressive, the role playing experience resulted in being somewhat passive and static. Universal Creative took notice and offered a solution with the opening of Diagon Alley in Orlando, Fl. They learned what it meant to be a wizard and implemented interactive wand stations around Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade that allow you to test your wizard skills. Or, if you were like me, you learned you should have paid more attention in Professor Flitwick’s Charms class.

In either case, the brilliant part about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter experience is whether you realize it or not, you are playing a role in the story as a wizard or a muggle. How far you chose to participate in either direction is up to you and usually depends on how much money you have in the bank. I didn’t say being a wizard was cheap, but perhaps you know some magic spells to change your financial situation.

Moving forward into the future, theme parks designs should be more dynamic and flexible to allow for role playing experiences to happen.

Not to be outdone, Walt Disney Imagineering have been investing a lot of resources into understanding role playing experiences, too. The latest experiment to role out was “Legends of a Frontierland: Gold Rush”. In this experience Disney guests have the opportunity to create a character and join the Frontierland citizens or the opportunistic Rainbow Ridge townsfolk in a fight for control of Frontierland. In the story, your actions became an integral part to this lands story. If you play your cards right you could end up running the town . Or, if you press your luck, you could end up in the local country jail (temporarily). And, to the surprise of many, what was supposed to be no more than a mature play test morphed into a wildly successful role playing experience. And, many guest were left wanting more at it’s conclusion.

But, really what all of these experiences showcased is there has is a change in consumer behavior. Many theme park visitors are no longer interested in being a passive participant in lands of adventure and fantasy. They want to be active participants which shape the outcomes and narratives of the land. They want to be integral characters.

Moving forward into the future, theme parks designs should be more dynamic and flexible to allow for role playing experiences to happen. And, you can expect more of these experiences to be available from theme parks around the world, including the recently opened “Knott’s Berry Farm Ghost Town Alive!”.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) being part of our everyday world is beginning to sound less and less like science fiction with each passing year. There has a been a large push by technology companies to develop “fully-functioning” autonomous robots and technology for military, medical, and even social companionship. But, AI technology also has a big place in theme parks.

As technology becomes faster, smarter, cheaper and smaller it begins to open up a new pallete of possibilities for theme parks to explore.

As theme park designers, our number one goal is tell a story that creates a authentic experience which immerses our guests in tales of fantasy, science fiction and adventure. If we are designing a land based on dinosaurs, we initially imagine having a triceratops walking along side you in a Jurassic jungle. Unfortunately, more often than not that story is massaged and transposed in order to meet technology considerations. And, that roaming triceratops becomes a set element stuck in the corner with a few landscaping elements. But, as we move towards the future the gap between imagination and technology will become smaller.

As technology becomes faster, smarter, cheaper and smaller it begins to open up a new pallete of possibilities for theme parks to explore. Fully functional characters that can navigate varying terrains and respond to other people or autonomous systems will become possible in the coming years. Companies like Boston Dynamics are have, already, been exploring the possibilities of such technology.

In addition, AI technology offers more unique avenues for experiences than ever before when paired with Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud technology platforms. Together autonomous systems can be programmed to recall interactions with other autonomous systems and people. This means that theme parks can build upon previous user experiences and narratives similar to a role-playing game video game. This will create greater character-to-customer bonds, thus strengthening a particular brand connection and capturing untapped market capitalization opportunities.

Not to mention, this technology offers new horizons within future attraction development. Ride vehicles will be able to respond to behavior-driven decisions in fundamentally unique ways that makes every ride a little bit different than the last. And, again theme parks will have the option to build upon previous customer experiences to have people coming back to an attraction over and over again.

Overall, these 3 technologies offer new creative, experiential and branding opportunities for many theme parks and should not ignored. Although much of the technology and experiences are still in their infant development stages, we can expect the level of sophistication in these topics to increase significantly with time. And, many of the ideas in this article will become a reality. Therefore, keep an eye on them. They may end up in a theme park near you soon.

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Kevin Boutte is the founder of BrickBots, a eLearning and innovation consulting service for the AEC industry and the co-founder of OpenBloo, a moonshot ideas company for entertainment and environment design. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/kboutte. You can follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kevin_boutte