Published today in The Times, the Business of Themed Entertainment is a pull-out section looking at the continued development and impact of theming in the visitor attractions business.
The report covers storytelling, themed design and the economics of the business and features contributions from Blooloop, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) and the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA).
It also focuses on key industry developments with features on Warner Bros. Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter and the soon-to-open IMG Worlds of Adventure in Dubai, set to be the world’s largest indoor theme park.
Download your copy of the Business of Themed Entertainment here.
Highlights include:
- Disneyland at Christmas: an intriguing look behind the scenes at the logistics involved in bringing Christmas to the world’s most popular theme parks.
- Jonathan Ames, The Times legal affairs reporter, looks at how vital it is to protect intellectual property (IP) rights and how Dismaland, British graffiti artist Banksy’s art-installation cum amusement park created, “an IP nightmare for the straight-laced executives at Disney HQ”.
- “Feel the Emotion of a Story” sees Juliana Gilling examine the importance of storytelling in building successful attractions. She looks at the enormous effort that French amusement park Puy du Fou puts into creating their unique shows and at the team work involved in producing the Justice League: Battle for Metropolis dark ride.
- Christian Sylt provides a recap of the facts and figures of the theme park market from the TEA/AECOM Attendance Report.
- Charles Orton-Jones writes about the developing augmented and virtual reality trend in themed experiences and rides. He speaks to Holovis’ CEO Stuart Hetherington and mentions the VR rollercoaster “mash-up”, seen recently on the Mack Rides VR Coaster at Europa-Park.
- Blooloop’s Charles Read looks at how theming has moved, “out of the park” and why attractions such as zoos, museums and malls are adopting the techniques of the theme park designer. He points out the Islands project at Chester Zoo, the theming of waterparks (and waterslides) and the continued development of “retailtainment”.
Advertisors in the report include Lagotronics, Mack Rides, The Producers Group, The Heineken Experience, Polin Waterparks, Disneyland, dan pearlman, Ray Hole Architects and Simworx.