Dark Rides


www.parkworld-online.com


Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Triotech’s reimagining of a classic


Christian Martin, vice president of communications, alliances, talents and culture reveals how, against all the Covid-19 odds, it brought Knott’s Berry Tales: Return to the Fair to life.


A


s the oldest themed amusement park in America, it’s fair to say that Knott’s Berry Farm comes with a rich heritage that has


few rivals in the industry. Over time, it has solidified its stance as a true American classic that has brought untold amounts of happiness to people from all over the world. That’s why, the team at Knott’s knew they’d have to pull out all the stops to reimagine their crowning achievement, Knott’s Bear-y Tales, for the celebration of its 100th anniversary.


In their


eyes, this was an undertaking that would need to effectively honour the strong emotional ties that fans had to the past. After all, there were years of memories and nostalgia that couldn’t be compromised with. On the other hand, the ride would need to be pulled into the 21st century and be innovative enough to connect with a new generation of visitors who were brought up in the age of video games and interactive technology.


A clear goal


Given these seemingly opposing objectives, the folks at Knott’s Berry farms turned to the creative minds at Triotech. With a team of experts and a global track record, Triotech was enlisted to design the attraction, the scenic theming, and produce the animation and gaming system. From the start, they knew this would have to be an exciting, 4-D interactive dark ride that would maintain a healthy level of respect for


32


the legacy, and still be highly captivating for a new generation of visitors fresh to the franchise. Under normal circumstances, that would have been a challenge, but this was 2020. Given that the world was in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic, Triotech had some serious hurdles to get over. With borders closed, budgets tightened and uncertainty everywhere, this was not going to be business as usual. However, with some clever workarounds to normal operating procedures and a ton of their industry-renowned determination, the team found a way to overcome the unprecedented obstacles, plow ahead and make this attraction a reality that would endure for years to come. Triotech began working with Cedar Fair in 2012


on Wonder Mountain Guardian, an interactive dark ride rollercoaster at Canada’s Wonderland and, based on that success, Voyage to the Iron Reef for Knott’s. According to Ernest Yale, president, CEO and founder of Triotech, the relationship has developed over the years and is a good reason why this went so smoothly. “It was a really close collaboration with the original creator of the ride and the Knott’s, Cedar Fair and Triotech teams. We worked together to create this attraction.”


A fun-fi lled mission


The fun-filled, highly entertaining story follows Boysen Bear and Girlsen Bear as they travel to the Country Fair to earn the blue-ribbon prize for their


famous boysenberry pies. As fate would have it, Crafty Coyote and his mischievous pups are out to steal all the pies for themselves. To play, guests sit in vehicles equipped with jelly blasters and ride through beautifully designed environments to recover the stolen pies and get the highest score. The slow-moving dark ride experience reimagines show scenes from the original dark ride but injects new life into the experience with awesome 4-D effects and highly engaging interactivity.


An immersive experience Using various technologies such as interactive media, special effects, aromas, and immersive theming, Triotech has given the age-old story a breath of fresh air. For instance, there’s a shadow scene projected on the tents that is completely interactive. And an abandoned truck, which combines interactivity and projection mapping, gives guests the opportunity to score extra points by collecting additional pies. These are just two examples of how interactive gaming is seamlessly woven into the fabric of the ride, all at the service of engaging guests to the highest degree possible. At the end of the day, Knott’s Berry Tales:


Return to the Fair is a one-of-a-kind, multi-sensory interactive dark ride that utilises exciting new technologies to create an unforgettable experience and pays tribute to yesterday while carving an innovative path into tomorrow.


SUMMER PART 4 2021


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