Park People
www.parkworld-online.com
schild TEA
Are we still seeing the same old themes being exported from West to East? RR – In Japan, certainly if we look at Disney, the Japanese came to the West and wanted the West. The Chinese and other parts of Asia want our creativity and expertise, but they don’t simply want the same design. It’s a different desire, and a different market. However, depending on its location and relevance to its audience, I do not think there is any theme that cannot be repeated.
What role do social media, ‘apps’ and other personal technology have to play in attractions? RR – I would say there is a move towards using personal technology to encourage collective experiences. I think people both enjoy it, and it frees them away from just having themselves in the environment and actually engaging in an experience and enjoying that with friends and family. That to me is where the industry is using technology and providing experiences and venues that people can’t get at home. ML – You can use current technology to effect what people are experiencing. For example, at Technifex we are using apps with our Water Maze. Someone can sit on their iPhone and manipulate the maze as their kids are playing in there. So if you can give people more control over the environment and the experience they are getting that makes it more interesting for them.
Is there a danger of over reliance on interactivity in attractions? RR – Look at the old Disney A, B, C, D and E tickets; there were fewer E attractions and more As. This wasn’t just to make the operational aspects easier, it was to spread people around and encourage them to see the entire park. A meal that just gorges on just one food is a much less fulfilling than a meal that is an extraordinary mixture of flavours and textures, and it’s the same with attractions. So the answer to your question is that interactivity has become one more dot on the designer’s palette. It is not the panacea.
Which of the new Thea Award winners have most impressed you? ML – The Crane Show at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore is pretty amazing, and a lot of that is just sheer scale of it – industrial cranes that have been styled like birds, and they have this whole love affair. It’s just a very creative way of using hardware! RR – I have to pick Disney Cruise Lines’ Animation Magic. A kid draws a character on a place mat and hands that mat to the waiter at the beginning of
DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY 2012
dinner. Then, before dinner, everyone’s drawings have been animated and become art in the show. That’s just interactivity at a level you are not going to see in many other places.
How do you nuture the next generation of attraction designers? ML – Mentoring is the cornerstone of the TEA 20th anniversary. We really want to engage the next generation to come into our industry because we have all quietly aged. If you look the owners of most major companies, we have all done 25, 30-plus years in the industry, and we have all got pretty good at what we do. That means the bar to entry is pretty high, so you are not getting a lot of what I would call garage operations coming in. We really want to engage students and young professionals not just to be good at their craft, but hopefully to be in entrepreneurial mode and start their own companies like we did.
Rick Rothschild (left) and Monty Lunde
18th ANNUAL THEA AWARDS
Announced in November at IAAPA Attractions Expo in Orlando were the winners of the 18th Thea Awards from the TEA. Winners were selected by a range of over 20 TEA members and officers in recognition of their excellence in the creation of extraordinary visitor experiences, attractions, exhibits and places. Here’s who and what caught the TEA’s attention:
Buzz Price Thea Award (lifetime achievement) Joe Rohde, Walt Disney Imagineering. Joe Rohde is a 30-year veteran of The Walt Disney Company. Starting his career as a model designer on EPCOT, Joe led the team that conceptualised, designed and built Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Doing so involved years of research and negotiation with constituents from the scientific community, the world of zoos and representatives of indigenous communities involved in the stories created in the park. Joe continues to oversee new attractions for Animal Kingdom, in addition to the creative design and content of Disney’s Aulani resort in Hawaii.
Thea Classic Award Puy du Fou, France. This impressive venue includes two independent attractions including spectacular live arena shows such as The Secret of the Lance, set in front of the battlements of medieval castle that moves, turns, spits fire and disappears into the ground, and The Vikings, set in a reconstructed 1,000 year old fortress attacked by a Viking. Complementing this is Le Grand Parc, an assembly of picturesque villages based on the history of the region, each with a 30-40 minute live story. Lve entertainment at its best, on a scale rarely seen in a theme park (or anywhere else)!
Thea Awards For Outstanding Achievement Attractions – Space Fantasy The Ride at Universal Studios Japan; Barnas Brannstasjon at Kongeparken, Norway. Attraction on a limited budget – Arthur, L'Aventure 4D at Futuroscope, France; Attraction refresh – Star Tours The Adventures Continue at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, USA. Museum exhibits – NatureQuest at Fernbank Museum of Natural History, USA; YOU! The Experience at Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Science centre attraction on a limited budget – The Changing Climate Show at Science North, Canada. Cultural heritage attraction on a limited budget – Ghost of the Castle at Louisiana's Old State Capitol, USA. Show spectaculars – Crane Dance at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore; The Magic, The Memories, and You! at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Florida. Live show spectacular – The House of Dancing Water at City of Dreams, Macau. Live show event spectacular –Yo México, Celebration of the Century of the Mexican Revolution, Mexico City. Themed restaurant experience – FoodLoop at Europa-Park, Germany. Ingenious use of technology – Animation Magic in the Animator's Palate Restaurant aboard Disney Cruise Line's ship Disney Fantasy.
The awards, which will formally be presented at a gala ceremony on March 17 at Disneyland Resort in California, are widely recognised as the “Oscars” of the attractions industry. For more details of the winning projects, and why they were recognised, visit
teaconnect.org
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