Skip to main content

Amusement parks: Delivering the Wow! & the Pow! The Recce Period.

Opinion

It’s a funny old business TV production but I feel right at home within the theme park industry, as your projects are equally difficult to get off the ground and just as dependent on a million variables.

This week I have been reaching out to some of the potential rides to try to get more information of the technology involved. It’s often a catch22, “Can’t tell you, it’s top secret but we want to be in the show.” “Can’t include you if I don’t know anything about the ride.” Nothing a few non-disclosure agreements can’t solve, for now.

Our biggest challenge ahead is going to be how to film experiences that are, well, meant to be experienced. My instinct tells me to surrender. White flag. There is no way that we can make a show that delivers the WOW POW of riding no matter how virtual — we can’t reach through the telly and shake the sofa under the viewers bum, dropping them backwards through black tunnels and then spin them 360 degrees.

Am writing right now from an outdoor café in the States, just having gotten off the phone about to get on the road to visit potential rides. This is what we call the recce period: research, research and more research. We get to meet with the engineers, compile information and see the rides for ourselves before we make a call on what to include.

Can’t wait for the challenges ahead and figuring out where we will place the camera to capture the experience and how we will visualize some of the physical principles behind the magic. Next time you see a solo passenger on a ride near you, she might just be researching.

Share this

Search for something

More from this author

Related content

Your web browser is out of date. Update your browser for more security, speed and the best experience on this site.

Find out how to update