parkworld-online.com
Park People
that people want and relate to, but the stories that we tell within the framework of the park need to be new, and they need to be offering a new perspective to the franchise because you don’t want to go and see a retelling of the movie, you want to develop the storyline. SA – We also want to be able to tell stories that people will, if they are not familiar with they property, still enjoy. My daughter has never seen the first Aliens movie, she’s too young, but the ride will allow 13-year-olds on and they will have a great time. Even sometimes the misses are good. Look at Waterworld, it wasn’t a great movie, but it’s the number one rated attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood.
How much opportunity do you have to localise the content of each park? GL – I think this term “international destination” is kicked around quite a bit, but things have changed a lot in the last 30 years. The trend within the movie industry now is that the majority of Hollywood box office revenue is derived overseas. That is big factor in the decision-making process. We have ways to localise content though. If you look at Night at the Museum, it’s absolutely a no-brainer to bring in elements of local Emirati folklore and history into that attraction in Dubai, and that’s the approach we are going to take across the board. I think there is a lot of opportunity for unique branded F&B too. Each of these parks will share a DNA, but offer unique experiences. There are unique properties in Dubai that you won’t find in Malaysia, and vice versa. SA – In Dubai the Emirati population is actually relatively low. We have to cater to the European ex-pats, the Filipino ex-pats, and the subcontinent ex-pats that are all there. And that’s just the local population. Now that the UAE is such a major travel hub with Emirates, Etihad and also Qantas’ new second hub, everyone in the world is flying through there.
How is construction going in Malaysia? GL – The earthworks have been going on for a while, they have had to blast and move the rock which is at the top of the mountain at Genting Highlands. It’s still slated for 24 attractions, and we expect to have 20 of those open to begin with. It’s funny how reliant the industry has become on media-based attractions, it’s sort of what you expect from a studios park, but we want to go beyond that. SA – It’s nice to be able to take your children on something and watch their reactions. If you are on a media-based attraction or something which is VR-based, you cannot see all that wonderment on their face if they are wearing an Oculus Rift headset.
What will the mix of indoor/outdoor attractions be at each location? GL – Malaysia is a smaller footprint than we have in Dubai, and the carefully crafted circulation of guests will be key given the climate. SA – Certainly in Dubai the majority of the queue lines will be indoor, air-conditioned or at least covered. We are building in ways for people to not be in the sun and have long length of walks. We benchmarked other parks and attractions, we’ve been to a lot of other places that are incredibly hot, and we were literally just timing how long it takes to get from one attraction to the next without getting miserable! GL – It’s important to remember that if the guest doesn’t feel comfortable and enjoy themselves, everyone’s just wasted a whole lot of money! Everyone thinks Dubai has special considerations, but interestingly Malaysia is the inverse. The site is fantastic, up in the mountains, so when it’s 90ªF (32ªC) in Kuala Lumpur, it’s 75ªF (24°C) up there. The issue is you’ve got rain and fog on that site, so there will be quite a lot of indoor attractions too and we’re not going to be doing a lot of water rides. But we will have some attractions outside in Dubai because there is a certain period of the year when it actually nice to be outside. It’s easy to forget that!
20th Century Fox World Malaysia will open mid-2017
Worlds of IP
Slated to open in 2018 adjacent to the Dubai Outlet Mall, 20th Century Fox World Dubai will be the world’s second Fox theme park and include themed lands and attractions based on intellectual properties including Ice Age, Rio, Planet of the Apes, Aliens, Predator, Night at the Museum and Titanic, The Simpsons and Sons of Anarchy. A themed retail and dining street is also part of the plans. The deal with local partner Al Ahli Holding Group (AAHG) allows for a roll-out of up to three additional Fox-branded resorts in territories outside the United Arab Emirates. Rethink Leisure & Entertainment, based in Burbank, California is providing deign and production services. Located at Resorts World Genting (formerly Genting Highlands), about an hour outside Kuala Lumpur, 20th Century Fox World Malaysia is scheduled to open in mid-2017. The design effort of the 25-acre park is being lead by IMRS, part of Genting Group, which previously worked on Universal Studios Singapore at Resorts World Sentosa. In each case, Twentieth Century Fox will licence its brands but the respective developer will provide the capital.
JANUARY 2016
35
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56