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ICON park boy with camera on wheel

Bringing the spirit of the Great Florida Road Trip to ICON Park

New experience for The Wheel at ICON Park is a nostalgic, gamified adventure through Florida’s tourism heritage

On 26 April, The Wheel at ICON Park unveils a new interactive experience, The Great Florida Road Trip. This attraction sees riders joining a family of cartoon flamingos for a nostalgic, gamified holiday through mid-20th century Florida. The 50s retro-style experience includes a redesigned queue for The Wheel as well as a pre-show and themed merchandise.

During their ride on The Wheel, guests will learn about Florida’s colourful tourism history. They will also compete for the highest score by taking photos of the state’s vacation spots using special “cameras”. Housing gameplay devices, these use a traditional infrared system, enabling laser tag-style interactions for up to 1,000 feet.

Family at The Great Florida Road Trip, The Wheel at ICON Park

ICON Park is home to 50 attraction, restaurant, bar and retail tenants. These range from some of the biggest names in hospitality to small family-run businesses.

To find out more about the new attraction, as well as ICON Park’s growth over the last five years, blooloop speaks to Chris Jaskiewicz, ICON Park president and CEO. We also talk to Bob Allen, Charles Moore and Jared Wells of IDEAS, a leading brand and experience design company and the creative masterminds behind The Great Florida Road Trip.

Helping ICON Park to reach its potential

ICON Park chris-jaskiewicz
Chris Jaskiewicz

Jaskiewicz, who has a background in real estate, entertainment, and hospitality, was brought in by the original developers of ICON Park in late 2018. His task was to take the project to the next level.

“It was clear to me from the start that it had outstanding potential,” he says. “It just needed a real identity, and it needed to be presented in a way that was interesting to people to entice them enough to visit.

“The first objective was to build the brand and, if necessary, create a new brand. To do that, I wanted to figure out what people liked about the property and also figure out what we needed to do better. So, I turned to Bob Allen and his team at IDEAS, who have an excellent process to accomplish just that. Along the way, we came up with the name ICON Park. So, we renamed the property and then we built a clear brand identity and set the foundation for growth.

“We did this in about five months, creating a roadmap to elevate the park into what it is today, which is one of the best destinations in the state.”

A longstanding connection

Initially, Jaskiewicz called on the services of Integrated Insight, a business management consultancy, to do some market research. This firm then recommended IDEAS. However, the connection between IDEAS and ICON Park goes back a lot further. Bob Allen, owner and chief storytelling officer, explains:

Bob Allen IDEAS
Bob Allen

“My dad was a lifelong Disney executive. At one point he ran an operation that Walt had purchased from his partners in Denver, Colorado, in the early 60s, called Celebrity Sports Center. One of the people he hired at Celebrity was a guy named Dave Jaskiewicz, who later had an executive career with Disney – that was Chris’s dad.

“That’s a fun story, but it’s also kind of the way our industry works. There are a lot of multigenerational routes. Plus, it gave Chris and our team a common vocabulary because he was raised around that Disney culture too.”

Jaskiewicz adds:

“We were kids growing up watching people who actually designed, built, marketed, and who were the first operators of Walt Disney World.  It takes a special mindset and abilities to develop, lead, and create something that people will truly enjoy. We saw what it took to create Walt Disney World and that had a major influence on our respective careers.”

Redefining ICON Park: the IDEAS approach

Allen, who worked for the Walt Disney Company for 26 years before being given the opportunity to buy the division that he was running and make it a private firm, talks about what makes IDEAS unique, and how its approach was ideal for the task ahead of Jaskiewicz as he took over the helm at ICON Park.

“IDEAS is a small, independent brand and experience design firm, and our premise is pretty straightforward. We are storytellers, and we take that role very seriously. We have devoted our work to storytelling and built the firm around the practice of using narrative as a design system.”

The Wheel at ICON Park

“The ICON Park project is a great example of our approach. The first thing we did was what we call system mapping. This is where we spend a lot of time on the ground, interviewing people about the current state of the attraction. That collection of narratives becomes what we call the actuals. It doesn’t matter if they are empirically true, it matters that they are perceptually true.

“At the same time, we are working with our partners at Integrated Insight, looking at market analytics to find out what market we are sitting in and how the attraction is performing.

“Then we flip it around and we begin our primary iterative process, what we call the StoryJam. It’s very different from a typical design charrette, which tends to be competitive and very design oriented. This is a group of people telling stories together about a possible future. We spend a day or so doing that. It’s a nice mix of people, from ownership and executives to frontline staff and partners.

“We like that group to be as diverse as possible because the more ingredients, the better the soup.”

Helping the attraction to tell its story

From that process, the team works to develop a brand experience design plan.

“This says: ‘Here’s your narrative. This is a day in the life of your guest as it should be. Here are the components of your brand.’ As part of that process, we go back to our colleagues at Integrated Insight, who take the concepts we develop and do primary appeal research. Primary research is critical because it’s testing the goods with the actual people that look like who the guests are probably going to be.

Charles Moore IDEAS
Charles Moore

“We did this process with ICON Park in early 2019 to establish a new look and feel for the park. We gave them an entire portfolio which was ordered in terms of we think you should do these first, these second, these third. That entire catalogue of material went back to ICON Park. And, in the ensuing years, they have been incrementally implementing those ideas.”

Charles Moore, senior producer and experience designer at IDEAS, adds:

“When we did the initial StoryJam work, we generated a lengthy list of attractions and experiences that could be done on The Wheel. Many of those have since been put into place. For instance, there is now a bar at the entrance. That came out of our recommendation, and through a series of testing proved to be very successful. We also proposed individual experiences such as parties, events and wedding proposals.

“On that list of items were gamification activities in the cabins, including gamification using a laser tag-type of system.”

Bringing a gamified experience to The Wheel at ICON Park

The ICON Park team had been keen to develop a gamified experience as part of its offer for visitors.

“Visitors, especially children, like games and they like competition,” says Jaskiewicz. “It makes an experience more interesting to them. It’s also really on-trend – gamification is huge right now. We knew that we have a terrific venue for a gamified experience in the capsules of The Wheel.

“We like to innovate; we need to innovate. We’re in probably the most competitive entertainment marketplace in the world, and we’re the new kid, we first opened in 2015. So, innovation is important for us. For instance, we were the first wheel to provide the ability for guests to play their music playlist in the capsule, two years ago. The Great Florida Road Trip is just another example of our innovative culture.”

Jared Wells IDEAS
Jared Wells

Initially, the enhancement was a laser tag-type system using infrared technology for The Wheel, similar to other target games in theme parks.  It tested well with guests, but because it involved aiming toy devices at targets it invited some controversy.   “I knew that we were close to having a great feature and wanted everyone to be able to enjoy it. So, I again turned to IDEAS and challenged them to repurpose this technology.”  

Jared Wells, a senior writer and experience designer at IDEAS, says: “We pitched them about eight different concepts. It was interesting because usually when you’re designing an attraction, the story is the first thing you work on. But in this case, we had a pre-existing technology system that we had to design a story around.

“We went through a whole bevvy of different concepts. One of them was a camera, which fortuitously aligned with some development that the laser tag developer had already started doing.”

Orlando’s hometown amusement park

The IDEAS team focused on ICON Park’s brand and its positioning as Orlando’s hometown amusement park.  The history and passion for Florida’s tourism history shared by the ICON Park and IDEAS teams helped provide the spark for a new theme.

“ICON Park is a place where you can get a sense of the vibe of what it’s like to be in Orlando,” says Wells. “We started thinking about Orlando and Florida’s history in tourism and attractions. Our story of a great Florida road trip grew out of that idea of ICON Park being the representative of Florida’s rich attractions history.”

ICON Park Great Florida Road Trip mural

The Great Florida Road Trip is the first immersive gaming experience inside an observation wheel.

“It is a camera game with a bird’s eye view,” says Jaskiewicz. “Riders will have a special camera that engages, by infrared light, markers on the rooftop. These are only visible from the air inside a capsule, and you take a picture of the markers with the camera to score points.”

Wells adds:

“It’s a historical and nostalgic journey through Florida tourism in the 1950s and 1960s. When guests arrive, they step inside the living room of the Flamingo family and meet these fun new characters who look forward to their Florida vacation, when every year they pile into their old station wagon and hit the road and hit all the hotspots up in Florida.”

The Great Florida Road Trip

The experience begins with a fun cartoon pre-show where riders meet these characters, the loveable Flamingo family.  

“Then, guests get their Photomatic cameras and learn exactly how to use them,” says Wells. “There are two different types of things that they are going to be looking for as they roll down the road aboard The Wheel.

“The big things they’re going to be looking for are what we call photo spots. These look like oversized postcards that represent 16 seminal destinations of Florida in the 1950s and 1960s. We have these fun giant postcards or billboards that feature Cape Canaveral and the early rocket ships that were taking off there, or Daytona, back in the days when there wasn’t a track and the cars all raced down the beach. Then, for bonus points, guests also need to keep their eyes open for souvenir Florida oranges.”

ICON park game marker with sensor

“Along the way, there is a radio show playing funny period advertisements and news updates and stories about all the fun happenings that were going on in mid-century Florida.

“There are still people around today who grew up in this culture. But there are also a lot of people, particularly in ICON Park’s audience, who have never experienced this tradition, because now everybody flies to Florida. By the end of the experience, they’re going to get a real sense of Florida’s roots and an appreciation for where the modern themed entertainment industry in Florida came from. They will emerge with a deeper sense of being part of a truly American tradition.

“As far as I know, this is the first themed attraction that is themed to themed attractions! It is something unexpected yet really in line with the ICON Park brand.”

Unique technology

The attraction makes use of some innovative technology developed by Creative Amusements and Steradian Technologies.

“Each guest is given their own camera, which is designed to look like one of the vintage cameras from the 1950s and it has a big neck strap just like the old vintage cameras,” explains Jaskiewicz.

“The cameras are outfitted with a special infrared technology that can reach up to 1000 feet. This is pretty unique because if you think about infrared technology, that’s what your TV remote uses, which reaches around six feet from your remote, but this technology can reach 1000 feet away to interact with these markers that we have on the billboards.”

ICON park sensor for Great Florida Road Trip

“Each time the player successfully snaps a photo, the camera responds and electronically locks their score. The more you snap, the more points you get.”

Moore adds:

“Steradian Technologies developed a way to shoot their signal over 1000 feet, close to 1500 feet in fact, and they have a two-way communication system that talks back to our camera. We’re able to target the cameras and able to identify that that target has been accurately hit and provide a response back so when you hit a target the camera comes back and says nice shot.”

Celebrating Florida’s tourism heritage at ICON Park

The Great Florida Road Trip celebrates a period of Florida tourism before the opening of Walt Disney World.

“The reason why Walt Disney picked Central Florida is that it was a place that families were already visiting,” says Jaskiewicz. “We want to celebrate that era of Florida tourism.

“So we have this wonderful mid-century aesthetic, where it feels like the 1950s and 60s. We have billboards on the rooftop that highlight these cities and towns and their iconic attractions. Then we have audio narration inspired by film travelogues and radio programmes from the era. And of course, we have our mascot family of cartoon flamingos, inspired by the famous plastic lawn flamingos from that era.”

Flamingo-Family-the-Great-Florida-Road-Trip-The-Wheel-at-ICON-Park

Wells says: “The genesis of the IP was based on ICON Park’s identity as a smaller attraction. When you go there, it’s got a very familiar feel; it doesn’t feel like a big corporate theme park. It feels like they’re your family. Characters are often the best entry point into a story, and because so few visitors to this attraction ever went on a Florida road trip of that nature, we needed to introduce guides to that world.”

Allen adds: “The family started as humans. It was just a chance encounter with Chris’s executive assistant who said: ‘Hey, what if we made them flamingos?’ And we all went: ‘Oh my God, that’s absolutely brilliant.’

“The art direction on this project was particularly critical. Our art director, Brian Nutt, one of his great passions and skills is character creation; he’s really good at animal characters. So he’s the one who put the personalities in place for those guys. When the flamingo decision got made, that was the magic moment.”

An engaging and educational experience

The team was keen to make something that was both fun and educational.

“Florida has a lot to be proud about. In the era of the large corporate theme park, some of that history is glossed over,” says Jaskiewicz.

Great Florida Road Trip map

“There are different aspects or levels of education built into the experience, so people who love the industry can, for example, learn about Jacksonville having the first amusement park on the boardwalk or that the Winter Park boat tour was the oldest continuously operating attraction in Florida. We talk about South Beach’s Art Deco Skyline. We touch on the circus in Sarasota…these are things that are interesting to industry folks. But then there is also general history.

“For instance, the spacesuit that’s featured on the billboard for Cape Canaveral was based on Alan Shepard’s real spacesuit that he wore in 1961, eight years before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, which came out of Cape Canaveral.

“Or, when we look at Cross Creek, we mention that it’s where Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings lived. She was the author of some very famous books, one of which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1939, The Yearling, and her home is now a museum. To me, more people should know about that. As a leader in Florida tourism, we wanted to celebrate the state and highlight its heritage. It is so rich in history.

“But we also wanted to make it fun for families and children. That’s why we have the game, where riders can take these pictures and get points. The highest score gets a prize, and everyone gets a postcard and it’s a fun, enjoyable experience for people, not just a boring history lesson.”

A passion for Florida’s history

It’s this passion for Florida’s heritage that has helped to create in this new attraction a truly joyful celebration of the state. The initial reception for The Great Florida Road Trip has been positive

“People love it, says Jaskiewicz. “We’re testing it now and people love it; the feedback has been great. It’s exciting to roll out a new experience. People in our industry don’t do this every day. So it’s fun for the team to be involved in executing a brand-new experience that is cutting-edge in the industry. Nothing’s been tried like this on an observation wheel anywhere in the world.”

A family with Great Florida Road Trip camera devices on The Wheel at ICON Park

Wells adds: “It’s been gratifying. As a history buff myself, it’s truly been a delight digging into the past and understanding so much of where the industry that I work in, that everyone in our company works in, came from.

“It’s been a unique pleasure to pay homage to the giants that came before us and the ones that have been forgotten over the years. I think our client, who also really appreciates his heritage, was thankful that we showed so much attention to getting the history right and getting the general feel of that era correct as well. It’s been a lot of fun, and became a passion project for all of us involved.”

What’s next?

In terms of what’s next for IDEAS, Allen says:

“We’re working on a couple of really cool projects, including one called Space Base California. We’re just emerging from the final conceptual design, we’ve got a viable programme and a solid supportable investment model. I’ve been describing it as the love child of a theme park and a Science Centre. It’s a really interesting mashup, and it’s a completely next-generation way to think about an immersive destination that includes purposeful learning.

“We are also working on the schematic design of a project at the Port of San Juan in Puerto Rico, called Bahía Urbana Park. It’s got waterfront retail, dining and entertainment component, and a unique attraction experience called Beach On The Bay. It’s going to be a neat attraction environment, not unlike ICON Park to some degree, right on the harbour in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“In addition, we are working with the Florida aquarium, which is in the middle of a multi-year complete reinvention. We are designing a fun new guest experience for them as well.”

kid with camera the The Wheel ICON Park

Meanwhile, ICON Park is set to go from strength to strength as the new attraction prepares to open.

“We’re rolling out an updated ICON Park Play Pass which includes all of our attractions and discounts to our restaurants,” says Jaskiewicz. “That will also include The Great Florida Road Trip. We also have a new virtual reality tenant called Max Action Arena, and we have events throughout the year, like April’s Orlando Taco Festival and our annual Sip n’ Savor event which highlights all of our restaurants on property, with proceeds benefitting the Ronald McDonald House.

“We have a lot going on, and because ICON Park is a collection of unique attractions, restaurants, stores and bars we are particularly excited about the launch of the Great Florida Road trip; it honours the people, concepts and attractions that paved the way for our success.”

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charlotte coates

Charlotte Coates

Charlotte Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.

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