Mark Cornell is president of Epic Resort Destinations and Mattel Adventure Park. Epic, a company creating IP-driven destinations and location-based entertainment, is behind two Mattel Adventure Park locations (in Glendale, Arizona and Kansas City). It has plans to launch six Epic Resort Destinations properties in the US over the next 10 years, Cornell tells blooloop. He also reveals the Glendale park will open in 2025.
Cornell started out working for a military company that made flight simulators used to train fighter pilots. “Young in my career, it was exciting to tell people I worked with fighter pilots,” he says. “I worked in the shop, but I eventually got into the actual training in addition to taking care of the equipment. It was very high-tech. We didn’t have personal computers back then that had the power to generate these really cool graphics. So, we had to work with these multimillion-dollar reality engine systems.”
The company was forced to innovate when President Ronald Reagan cut the US Navy budget, Cornell says. “They said: ‘What if we took this technology and made an amusement ride?’ My hand immediately went up. It made me realise that I wasn’t doing exactly what I wanted to do. I went on a journey, and we created a centrifuge device that we brought to IAAPA. It was in Dallas, and I went on the road with it. I went on tour.
“It was a great experience in my life, and ride entertainment was in my blood at that point. I was going to start selling tickets. I was going to create attractions, bring joy to my guests.”
6 new Epic sites planned
After the company sold a few ride systems to Australia, Cornell worked for Village Roadshow where he opened indoor theme parks. He then returned to the US to work at Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Fiesta Texas, before joining IMAX. “It was a real opportunity for me to grow as a business person,” he says.
Post-IMAX, Cornell went to work for SimEx-Iwerks Entertainment. “That was the big dose for me,” he says. “I got a chance to create a new business model in the industry and connect with big brands and studios like Warner Bros., DC Comics, Sony, Paramount, Marvel Studios, and Nickelodeon.
“Some of the best content I think I’ve ever produced was with the BBC. Planet Earth, Frozen Planet: [we took] these $30 million documentaries and we made world-class cinematic attractions for venues like San Diego Zoo, Bronx Zoo, Shedd Aquarium, Georgia Aquarium.”
Cornell was with SimEx-Iwerks when Covid-19 hit. Then, he came up with the Mattel Adventure Park concept. “Lo and behold, the big idea was formulated. I formed a partnership, and we created a real estate development around a resort with hotels, a large central body of water, retail experiences, food and beverage, and a theme park,” he says.
“I’ve had a career of working with global IPs. Mattel came to mind and I couldn’t get it out of my head. It was my mother’s brand; 1959 – the birth year of Barbie. I had a suitcase of Hot Wheels in my closet when I was a kid. These are evergreen brands. They were relevant 60 years ago, and they are even more relevant today. Look at Barbie – $1.4 billion at the box office.”
“So Epic Resort Destinations was born,” Cornell adds. “We borrowed a significant amount of money out here [in Arizona], and we are building a magnificent resort. We’re building our second in Kansas City. We’ve written a beautiful licensing deal with Mattel, utilizing all of their big toy brands. Even today, my hair stands up when I say that out loud. I feel like I have such a duty as an ambassador of these brands to bring these toys to life in the best possible way.”
Highlights in the new Mattel Adventure Parks include Hot Wheels-themed coasters, a Barbie Beach House, and Thomas & Friends attractions.
“Epic Resort Destinations is – at its heart of hearts – a hospitality resort company. We’re incredibly guest obsessed, and we’re dedicated to developing world-class destinations. That’s the core of who we are,” Cornell says.
The biggest brands in the world
“We want to offer branded thrill rides using the biggest brands in the world and truly immersive experiences. Our intent is to roll out at least six of these parks over the next 10 years, incorporating an innovative hospitality experience, retail, and engaging food and beverage, again utilising these global brands to create world-class theme parks.”
As above, the Mattel Adventure Parks will have many of the same attractions, like Thomas & Friends: World of Sodor, an area with family-friendly attractions and rides, and an indoor play space. Fans of Masters of the Universe will enjoy the He-Man vs. Skeletor Laser Tag experience, a laser tag arena designed to look like the iconic Castle Grayskull fortress.
Other highlights include an immersive mini-golf experience with nine holes inspired by brands such as Magic 8 Ball and Pictionary, and a huge Uno-themed climbing structure.
“We have Mattel. But we have more IPs to announce shortly in Kansas, so I’m throwing that in as a little bit of a buzz,” Cornell reveals.
“Here in Glendale, Arizona, we’re about 10 acres located on VAI Resort, right across from the State Farm Stadium. That has been the home of the Super Bowl in Arizona a few times. It’s an iconic location up against the highway that sees over 150,000 cars driving by each day. So, its an extremely great location.
“We’re on a $1.1 billion resort in global development. There are about 25 attractions at Mattel Adventure Park in Glendale with two iconic coasters, and a World of Sodor dedicated to Thomas the Tank Engine with seven attractions.”
He adds: “We’ve embraced all of the Mattel games. We have mini golf, we have a Kerplunk drop tower, and we have an Uno harnessless climber. We have Hot Wheels electric lithium-ion go-karts. It looks like we just confirmed that it’s the largest elevated go-kart track in the world. We have Masters of the Universe laser tag. We have, obviously, the first Barbie Beach House brick and mortar in the world.”
Kansas City’s site is even larger, Cornell says:
“Almost all of these attractions will transfer to Kansas, but Mattel Adventure Park in Kansas has 180 acres. Here, we have about 63 acres, and we are in charge of the entire resort development in Kansas. That gives us some significant and additional opportunities to be able to leverage everything, from experiential food and beverage to branded hospitality.”
More coasters coming to Kansas City
Epic will be adding even more coasters at its second site, he tells us:
“In Kansas, the real delta between the two parks is that we are planning on bringing four roller coasters to Kansas, and we are very excited about rolling out the first Hot Wheels Legends bar and grill at a significant size. We have a smaller version here in Glendale. But the Kansas location will have an exterior front with the classic Hot Wheels look. We’re very excited about that.”
More on those “gravity-defying” Hot Wheels coasters, named ‘Hot Wheels Bone Shaker: The Ultimate Ride’ and ‘Hot Wheels Twin Mill Racer’. The former is an 84-foot-tall family coaster featuring the hot rod skull design. The latter offers a double loop and two corkscrews.
“We have an extraordinary team, we don’t just go out and procure rides. Our team has a lot of experience developing some of the biggest attractions globally. Our ride development engineer [Cindy Emerick] has worked with Disney, Universal, and Genting, just to name a few. She’s done some of the most amazing roller coasters on the planet.”
Sustainable technologies have been used in the development of the coasters at the Mattel Adventure Parks. He explains: “We pushed the envelope a little bit when we were in early development. I went out and checked the cost of running a launching roller coaster. I was looking for a really efficient way to utilize linear synchronous motors (LSM). It’s a lot of electricity to push these roller coasters out of a tunnel, from zero to 60 in under three seconds. I just wanted to be more efficient, so we pushed the envelope.
“Electrically, we roughly take in 200 amps, and by using a very efficient energy management system with a lithium-ion battery storage, we find ourselves with one of the most efficient launching coasters in the world. It recharges at night, when the cost of electricity is cheaper, but we’ve really pushed the envelope here: with 200 amps in and 2,000 amps out through this innovative energy management system, well, we are making magic. We are proud to be working with partners like Force Engineering out of the UK, and we are saving money and energy.”
“All of our numbers say that we’re probably using 70 percent less power with this method. That is simply amazing. I want to scream that from the rooftops, to be able to accomplish this level of efficiency,” Cornell adds.
As for ride stats, he says: “With Hot Wheels, we want to be loyal to our demographics and know who our guest is, but a double looping Hot Wheels Twin Mill Racer with four inversions and a corkscrew through a double loop… all of this is great, but I’m going to boast a little bit.”
A “magnificent” Hot Wheels coaster
Cornell says the engineering and marketing teams have collaborated to create a “magnificent” coaster: “Our team is so unique, and we communicate so well, and we’re aligned so well, and we’re so guest obsessed. Marketing reached out to engineering and said the roller coaster up against a highway with 150,000 daily drive-by cars is a powerful billboard for the Mattel Adventure Park. We wanted a beautiful, head-turning coaster from the highway.
“Design and engineering really delivered. We have an orange, glowing, right on brand Hot Wheels double loop, this gorgeous amount of steel against the highway. Much like the look of the toys and track sets, we have a blue-color track for the corkscrew that threads these loops, mimicking an actual Hot Wheels racing track set.
“There’s a certain angle [on the highway] that is truly magical. You can see the corkscrew thread right through that iconic double loop. It’s about as exciting as any cluster of steel that you’ve ever seen on the side of a highway.”
He adds: “It’s more than a billboard. I think it’s simply magnificent. When I come to work every day and I drive the route, I’m blown away by how engineering answered the call from a marketing team; this type of collaboration doesn’t happen very often in our industry. I believe that makes us a little more cutting-edge in the way we’re doing things, demonstrating the unusual chemistry and dynamics of the attraction teams.”
To sum up, he says:
“I’m very impressed with our energy management system, and I love the way that we’ve incorporated our design to be fortuitous for prospective guests driving down the highway. We are building something unique and special – something we can’t wait to share with the world.”
As for technology at the Mattel Adventure Parks, the life-size Barbie Beach House is a perfect example. This will have an interactive retail experience and hologram technology, as well as a Barbie-themed flying theatre and a fully themed Barbie Beach Club restaurant.
“Mattel is a very large retail and consumer-based product company. Consumer products are the core of their business. Understanding how to work with Mattel from a retail perspective, well, we had to be innovative. You have to be innovative when you can simply go to Target or Walmart and buy a $9.99 Barbie doll. And yes, you can easily sell Barbies in our retail store here at the park, but we needed to do much more than that.
“Again, it was about providing the ultimate guest experience and tapping into cutting-edge technology with Barbie, and truly creating an experience for retail that is a must have,” Cornell says.
Mattel Adventure Park’s Barbie tech
“It’s pretty simple. We set out to provide something you can’t get in the aisle at Target. Here, guests can select their preferred Barbie skin colour and hair colour from a selection of dolls. They can dress and accessorise their Barbie in a unique Dream Closet experience.
“We also bring Barbie to life in a hologram inside of this Dream Closet experience. There’s interactivity with Brooklyn and Malibu, the two Barbies from the Barbie show on Netflix. Guests can interact with a host to accessorize these dolls. Brooklyn and Malibu serve as fashionistas to provide advice and to encourage selections. We’ve combined that with projection mapping of the garments, scissors and apparel to offer a build-your-own Barbie experience.
“Combining technologies that existed but pulling them all together in a retail experience has never been done before. So, we’re super excited about it. This is how we’re combining technologies to boost the experience for the guest.”
Other technologies used in the Mattel Adventure Parks range from cashless operations to facial recognition. “In our park we are embracing all of those technologies,” Cornell says.
The Glendale park was scheduled to open this year. However, that timeframe is now delayed due to resort construction scheduling issues, Cornell tells us:
“While Mattel Adventure Park is near completion, VAI Resort has greatly expanded its initial vision for the Glendale property. These vast expansions impact hospitality, dining, and other entertainment offerings and remain under construction. Mattel Adventure Park is a key anchor tenant of the resort.
“To ensure the best experience for our guests, Mattel Adventure Park will open in 2025 as part of VAI Resort’s phase one opening. Kansas City is underway, and our real business objective is to roll out at least six Epic Resort Destination properties across the United States in the next 10 years.”
He added, “With that expansion, Mattel Adventure Park’s objective is to deliver an unparalleled guest experience within a completed resort environment. So, we understand the participation surrounding the world’s first Mattel Adventure Park opening. We’re asking everyone to be enthusiastic and patient while we figure out the exact day that we’re going to open.”
The Kansas City destination is currently set to open in 2026.
Glendale, Arizona opening delayed to 2025
Mattel Adventure Parks are being developed amid a growing trend for branded and immersive family entertainment, from Peppa Pig theme parks to Bluey LBE. “I’ve been following this trend throughout my career. I embraced IP even when it wasn’t popular in the beginning because of the cost of licensing.
“I found ways to overcome satisfying the studios’ financial requirements and fully embracing the brands, either through volume or by saying, ‘More guests will come to this attraction and you will generate more revenue based on the power of the brands’,” Cornell says.
“I’ve been in this business for 25 years. So, I have found great ways to be a good ambassador of these IPs. Give the guests what they’re expecting of that IP while making the studios happy that they are represented properly and in the best light possible.”
Creating the Thomas & Friends area at Mattel Adventure Park was “a simpler task for us as it targets a young guest”, Cornell says. It has seven attractions. This includes “integrating analogue with digital to create attractions that we know have never been done before”, he adds.
“I’m amazed at the wide demographic reach of Barbie. Our rooftop restaurant and bar experience will provide guests with mocktails; signature pink drinks for all ages. But we’re also going to have cocktails and it’s because that’s what the guest wants and certainly expects,” he says.
Connecting with IPs at Mattel Adventure Park
“From a trend perspective, people love to connect with their favourite IPs. I’ve worked with The Simpsons creating the iconic donut in our Kwik-E-Mart in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Everyone knows what a donut tastes like, but they simply had to have a Simpsons donut. That’s the magic of IP; you find this great connection with your IP and your guests to create magic.
“But you’d better deliver it, and you’d better deliver it well. You’d better be a good ambassador, both for the studio; the IP holder, and for the guests. You’d better deliver it in a way that’s passionate and well thought out. From day one, the guest is going to tell you what you did right and what you did wrong.”
Cornell tells us Epic has no plans to downsize its concept:
“Epic is very committed to our unique theme park model, which is 20 to 25+ attractions,” he says. “We believe this is really a business model for the future of theme parks. We currently do not have plans to downsize our model.”
He adds: “We have a magical business model that is going to work in today’s times, with today’s guests, and today’s needs. We can offer a very affordable ticket price and we believe that you’ll be able to go to our park and spend five hours and experience more than a dozen attractions each visit, which is sometimes difficult to do in Orlando.”
Returning to the Epic Resort Destinations team, Cornell says: “We are creating magic here with this Epic team. When Epic formed, we set out to create some really basic core values. We wanted to be extremely guest-obsessed, fun and team-centric. We want to be successful together.
“When I started recruiting to build the Mattel Adventure Park, with these enchanting brands from Mattel, I couldn’t have dreamed that we would’ve attracted and retained a talent pool of this calibre. If we had more time, I’d also go through every single one of the team members. They are extraordinary human beings; their collective experiences in attraction-building globally are second to none.
“We’re committed to safety and innovation, and we always see things from our guests’ point of view. That has created a new business model for us, and for the industry. I’m so confident that our business model is going to allow us to roll this out across the country, and obviously working with Mattel and these world-class brands that have such a wide demographic reach; well, we have the tiger by the tail.”
