IAAPA, the global association for the attractions industry, has announced its recipients of the 2022 IAAPA Brass Ring Awards.
The prizewinners were announced at IAAPA Expo 2022 in Orlando, Florida, which for the first time since 2019, featured an in-person celebration, with a ceremony show produced by RWS Entertainment Group and featuring projections from batwin + robin.
The annual awards reward excellence in food and beverage, games and retail, human resources, live entertainment, marketing, innovative products, and exhibits at amusement parks, water parks, zoos, aquariums, museums, FECs and suppliers from around the world.
“There’s something special about coming together as an industry and cheering each other on when this year’s finalists were so strong in each category,” said the president of Ripley Entertainment, and IAAPA’s 2023 chairman of the board Jim Pattison. “Celebrating industry-wide innovations and successes is a win for all of us.”
The IAAPA Brass Ring Awards are regarded as one of the most prestigious honours in the global attractions industry. The winners this year are as follows:
Top Family Entertainment Center of the World
Winner: Wild Island Coconut Bowl, Sparks, Nevada, US
Live Entertainment Excellence
Most Creative Property-Wide Event, Amusement Parks and Attractions, Including Water Parks, Annual Attendance More Than 1 million: Disneyland Paris
Most Creative Sports/Stunt Show: SeaWorld San Antonio
Most Creative Multimedia Spectacular: Walt Disney World Resort
Most Creative Halloween Haunt, Show, or Experience: Hong Kong Disneyland
Most Creative Christmas/Holiday Show: Disneyland Paris
Best Theatrical Production, Amusement Parks and Attractions, Including Water Parks,
- With Annual Attendance of Less Than 1 Million: El Sueño de Toledo – Puy du Fou España
- With Annual Attendance of More Than 1 Million: Disneyland Resort
Best Live Edutainment Performance Act: SeaWorld Orlando
Best Atmosphere/Street Show Performance Act: Universal Studios Japan
Human Resources Excellence
Best Employee Engagement Initiative: Hershey’s Chocolate World
Best Employee Reward and Recognition Program: Doha Quest
Best Innovation in a Training Program: Universal Beijing Resort
Marketing
Best Digital Marketing Campaign: Fantasy Valley, Fantasy Valley Digital Marketing
Best Integrated Marketing Campaign: California Academy of Sciences, Bugs Exhibit Advertising Campaign
Best Outdoor Advertisement: Morey’s Piers and Resorts, Summer Jobs @ Morey’s
Best Public Relations Campaign: Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Ripley’s Assists in Making History with Kim Kardashian at Met Gala
Best Social Media Campaign: Dolphin Discovery, Sharing Dolphin DNA
Best Television or Digital Video Commercial, Annual Attendance More Than 1 Million: Morey’s Piers & Beachfront Water Parks, This is Where We Summer
Best Television or Digital Video Commercial, Annual Attendance 250,000-1 Million: Liseberg, Where joy lives
Best Television or Digital Video Commercial, Annual Attendance Less Than 250,000: Quassy Amusement & Waterpark, Water Coaster opens at Quassy Amusement & Waterpark
Games and Merchandise Excellence
Best Apparel Item: Disney Global Product Creation, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Cassette Player Shoulder Bag
Best Hard Good Item: Disney Global Product Creation, Halcyon Starcruiser Training Lightsaber Hilt
Best Plush Item: Disney Global Product Creation, Groot Scented Plush
Best Visual Merchandising: Dollywood Parks & Resorts, Dollywood Emporium Remodel
Food & Beverage
Best New Menu Item, Annual Attendance Less Than 1 Million: TELUS Spark Science Centre, The James Webb
Best New Menu Item, Annual Attendance More Than 1 Million: The Ganachery at Disney Springs, Chocolate Mighty Thor’s Hammer
Product
Major Ride/Attraction, Product cost of more than US$5 million
- 1st Place, Sally Dark Rides, VOLKANU — Quest for the Golden Idol
- 2nd Place, Premier Rides, Epiq Coaster
Major Ride/Attraction, Product cost of US$2 to US$5 million
- 1st Place: DOF, Digital Park: Mission Space
- 2nd Place: Triotech, Double Walkthrough “Hive Break”
Major Ride/Attraction, Product cost of less than US$2 million
- 1st Place: ABC Rides Switzerland, C3
- 2nd Place: Josef Wiegand Gmbh & Co. KG, U-Drop Dry Slide
Family Ride/Attraction
- 1st Place: Zamperla Group, Big WaveZ
- 2nd Place: Altitude Rides and Attractions LLC, Get Hammered Tower Ride
Water Park Ride/Attraction, Product cost of more than US$2 million
- 1st Place: WhiteWater West, Blasterango Battle
- 2nd Place: Wiegand.Waterrides GmbH, 4-passenger Fusion Slide of “BigBang” and “Lotus”
Water Park Ride/Attraction, Product cost of US$2 million or less
- 1st Place: Vortex Aquatic Structures International, Dream Tunnel
- 2nd Place: ProSlide Technology, Inc., SwitchBACK
Patron Participation Ride/Attraction
- 1st Place: Game of 1000 Boxes, Game of 1000 Boxes
- 2nd Place: Eldorado Climbing, Kinetix Action Towers
Product or Service used by Consumers
- 1st Place: Vantage, Virtual Pass Processing
- 2nd Place: Smarte Carte Inc., Dual-Sided Locker
Product or Service used by Facilities
- 1st Place: Amusement Products LLC, VirTech Virtual Technician
- 2nd Place: Avius, Optimus Artificial Intelligence Powered Agent Assist
Prizes, Plush, and Retail and Food Products
- 1st Place: NXT Capture, NXT PicturePass
- 2nd Place: Penny Press Factory LLC, Gem Penny Press
Games and Devices
- 1st Place: Coastal Amusements, Inc., Break the Plate
- 2nd Place: UNIS Technology Ltd, Wicked Tuna 4P
Virtual and Augmented Reality
- 1st Place: Valo Motion, ValoArena
- 2nd Place: Creative Works, Limitless VR
Exhibitions, Shows/Productions, Theatrical Equipment & Supplies, Displays & Sets
- 1st Place: Zigong Lantern Group, Ancient Egyptian Illumination & Sphinx Tunnel of Hieroglyphics of Light
- 2nd Place: LightUpToys.com, LLC, LightUp Disco Display Cart
Services, Equipment, and Supplies
- 1st Place: Extreme Engineering, Flex Shade System
- 2nd Place: Semnox Solutions, LuminOS – Next Generation LinuxOS based Debit Card Readers
Best New Product Concept Award, Major Ride or Water Park Ride
- 1st Place: Extreme Engineering, Parkour Around
- 2nd Place: Eurogames, Overlander
Best New Product Concept Award, Attraction
- 1st Place: Wibit Sports GmbH, Wibit Peakz
- 2nd Place: Polin Group, Cosmos
Best New Product, Other Product/Service
- 1st Place: ZED Digital, ZIG
- 2nd Place: VITO Fryfilter, VITO VL oil filter system
IMPACT Award Winner: Vantage, Virtual Pass Processing
Best Exhibit Awards
100-399 Square Feet
- 1st Place: 3DXScenic
- 2nd Place: Amazing Magnets
400-499 Square Feet
- 1st Place: Themics Philippines Inc.
- 2nd Place: Ellis & Associates
500-899 Square Feet
- 1st Place: Vlocker North America LLC
- 2nd Place: Daniels Wood Land, Inc
900-1,200 Square Feet
- 1st Place: Wibit Sports GmgH
- 2nd Place: Sandy Creek Mining Company
1,201 Square Feet and Larger
- 1st Place: Apple Industries
- 2nd Place: Coastal Amusements
IMAGE Award Winner: accesso
IAAPA has also been celebrating its own success, with its ongoing event in Orlando featuring over 1,000 exhibitors from across the attractions industry and Expo attendance increasing 26% from 2021’s figures.
