Theme parks are the epitome of fun and nostalgia.
From your first experiences as a child to taking your own children and experiencing the magic of themed entertainment into your golden years, theme parks offer the ultimate vehicle for innovations in storytelling technology and immersive experiences that keep us all coming back for more.
Even in this uncertain era and as the technological landscape reshapes, there is much to celebrate about the innovative and impactful nature of themed entertainment – and the powerful moments and memories that lie at its core.
Let’s explore some of the industry’s biggest leaps forward with an eye toward how they’ll continue to deliver excitement and engagement for years to come.
Intellectual property has had a key impact on themed attractions and their design since the 1950s, and, over the past decade, it’s once again become a critical factor. Park visitors look for great storytelling they can relate to, whether it’s about movies they saw, brands they know or even places they have visited.
Finding a reference that resonates with the life of your visitors is your key to success as an operator. Attraction design, brand experience design, overall theme park design and more all play a role, but it’s really the technological leaps in narrative experiences that are forging the path forward.
Narrative is at the heart of human experience, and no amount of thrill will get guests through the doors again and again without a story to tie it all together.
Whether you’re adapting an existing story to the themed entertainment setting or crafting a wholly original narrative, getting it right and making the way it’s presented through technology feel authentic are critical.
Here are some strategies to keep in mind when considering how best to craft a truly memorable experience through storytelling:
No narrative or memorable experience reaches its full impact without immersion.
When guests take in themed entertainment or visit a theme park, they want to be transported. They want to be fully immersed in the world you’ve created, not feel like they’re an outsider looking in at the fun.
And that focus on experience isn’t going anywhere – according to a Harris Group survey, 72% of millennials would rather pay for an experience than a material item.
The quickest way to ensure immersion is to engage and surround the guest with the experience, not have them simply watch it unfold on a screen or in person before them.
At the same time, however, immersion can also be broken by technology that’s too overbearing and in the guests’ face. The goal should be to integrate technological solutions into the world you’ve created in such a way that the guest never knows it’s there, yet feels its impact at all time.
To achieve this, it’s critical to work with an AV integrator with a proven history of success in delivering end-to-end, holistic strategies and plans that result in powerful experiences. It isn’t enough to simply throw technology into a space – it needs to be thoroughly integrated into the very bones of the physical location and narrative atmosphere.
We’ve examined the importance of narrative and immersion – but which technological innovations and advances are currently helping you make that possible in your own park?
The future of themed entertainment and theme parks is an exciting one, and it will be driven by powerful AV technology solutions like:
Through navigation and adaptation to COVID-19, the role of digital media and experiences in our lives, coupled with an acceleration in technological development, has come to the forefront. This shift will help you, as an operator, develop even more immersive experiences and lands for your facility.
In short, themed entertainment is primed to leverage the technologies and innovations that have been created over the past several years to engineer renewed growth and success.
To learn more about how Electrosonic is prepared to help drive that progress, contact us today.
Maurizio Capuzzo, Electrosonic’s Chief Marketing Officer, fuses the science of data with the art of visual and verbal communication to explain how technology adds value and helps foster innovation. Maurizio writes from a wealth of experience, holding leadership roles in global technology companies as well as possessing a deep understanding of how technology contributes to business growth.