Entertainment
www.parkworld-online.com
Below: The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas
Right: The Galaxy Resort, Macau
surprise. Get the pulses pounding with your visitors and audiences. Put a sense of wonder in everything you do. Don’t be afraid of being epic in your thinking. Think big. But also remember, sometimes its necessary to think smaller, and to be more intimate with a particular area or element. Learn to think not just out of the box, but assume there is no box. Excitement comes in many forms and a proper theme park should bring many different levels of excitement to bear in a variety of ways, and ideally, in a variety of “worlds” as well.
4
Entertainment: With the stage set, with the audience caught up in the “world” we are creating, we must now be sure to bring life to everything
we are doing. The best way to captivate people is with a dynamic experience. Apply the art of story appropriately to all forms of entertainment, which does not always mean there is a beginning, middle, and end, or that they necessarily come together in that order. Nor does it mean that traditional forms or story-telling are the only way to satisfy the audience. We can tell stories through sound, through smell, through touch, through taste and through visuals, and through any combination of these senses. In fact, we are the only entertainment medium that can make use of all the senses when creating our entertainment. How you bring these elements together, through a sequence of scenes or events, is key to creating a satisfying journey. And ultimately, the missing ingredient in so many of the most recent attractions around the world is pacing. Pacing is the difference between exciting adventures and boring rides. Between exhilarating live shows and passively boring ones. Remember that in theme parks “the medium is the message” and in many if not most cases, entertainment can - and should be - visceral. It is “felt” as much as it is seen or heard. Always look to stage in a manner that will read immediately with people, because we don’t have the time that film and theater do to make an impression. Surprise people as often as possible. Fill them with wonder. Make them laugh, shout, cry, or cheer, but affect them. And do it in as many different ways as you can.
5
Exceeding Expectations: I always like to play on the expectations of the audience. They know what a queue is now, and what a pre-show is – they have
certain expectations and in most cases they expect to be underwhelmed in these areas. They usually think the same things about the attractions as well. And in most cases they are right. We try to challenge these expectations every time we can. We like to shatter their sense of complacency as much as possible. We like to under promise and over deliver. We want to take the guests beyond what they expect and then take them beyond that again. Follow the rules where needed, but know when and where to break them. Forsake the traditional and replace it with the unexpected. Question everything along the way. Don’t repeat yourself. Design in a way that puts the money where it will make the largest impact to the audience. Compelling ideas first, technology second (to help bring the attraction to life.) And as much as you possibly can – strive to blow the audience away. And of course in this area, the operations staff must also be part of the total experience, exceeding expectations as well.
The proof of this simple checklist is this Think back on any experience you have had that is memorable and that you recall with fond memories. Family trips, vacations, surprising places that you happened upon and enjoyed… Whether alone, with friends or family, or as part of a larger group, I am certain that the places you visited and have positive recollections of will have met all five of the E’s outlined above. And likewise, when you think about experiences you do not remember as particularly positive or fun, you will find that at least one or more of these “E’s” were lacking. Sterile theming, theatres designed with no show in mind, buildings created with no ride in mind, and retail shops and restaurants that are “typical” to the theme parks are your enemy. Don’t be designing a theme park today by the rules that worked 30 years ago. Disney is changing the way the design parks and attractions. Universal is too. Follow the leaders, or invent your own path, but don’t rely on the rules of yesterday. If you want to be successful you must create a concept, master plan and design that will engage your audience through emotion, excitement, entertainment, environment and by exceeding expectations.
46 OCTOBER 2017
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