HOW DO YOU FIND THE EMOTION? Look for the universal themes. Te emotion will be there. Mine it.


Use fear (not the paralyzing sort, just a tingle); use desire; use humor. Time their placement. At Alpengeist, a runaway ski liſt at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, the scary part’s pretty serious, so there’s a lot of visual comedy thrown in along the way—like skis stuck in roofs—to break the tension.


“Humor is hugely effective in creating the highs and lows of the narrative,” says senior designer Jeff Havlik. “Something won’t be dramatic unless somewhere else you have given people a chance to breathe.”


Surprises help, too, because they spurt a little extra adrenaline into our brain, which helps a memory form and endure. At the Curse of DarKastle dark ride, the startle of the ending that seals mad Ludwig’s fate helps guests remember his story for years to come. “Te purpose of a surprise at the end,” says Paul Smith in Lead With a Story, “is to sear the entire story into your audience’s long-term memory.”


CHAPTER FOUR 55


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