The Flintstones: Bedrock Adventure at
Warner Bros. World, Abu Dhabi

Innovative technology takes visitors back to the Stone Age on an immersive flume ride.

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INTRODUCTION

The Flintstones: Bedrock Adventure is a spectacular immersive flume ride in the heart of the world’s biggest indoor theme park. Visitors take a scenic boat ride through the sights and sounds of prehistoric Bedrock where they watch the city’s ‘Stonetennial’ celebrations before encountering the chaos caused by a runaway dinosaur.

Throughout the flume ride, visitors are surrounded by interactive and immersive elements created by a 270⁰ turntable media sequence, projection, audio, special effects, animatronic figures and 3-dimensional props — all triggered by sophisticated beam-break sensing technology.

Electrosonic, in partnership with experience designers Thinkwell, was responsible for technology design, integration and complex programming of the ride’s audiovisual, lighting show control and paging systems. The result is an exhilarating family-friendly Stone-Age water-based ride.

OVERVIEW

Visitors travel in passenger boats through an intricately detailed set that recreates the landscape, city and characters of the Stone Age from the popular television series. The rocky landscape provides ideal mounting positions for concealing speakers and other technology within caves, quarries, swamps, city buildings and other scenery.

Eight boats move from scene to scene encountering different interactive and immersive experiences at every point along the flume. As each boat enters a new scene, the show elements are triggered by beam-break sensors pointed across the flume.

The show control system takes information from the triggers and starts the correct sequence of video projection, audio, lighting, special effects and animatronics based on the current position of each moving boat.

The media turntable is a unique feature of the ride, providing an immersive 270⁰ media sequence. Three projectors play video content on walls with painted-on screens backed by audio from weatherproofed speakers concealed in scenery above the screens.

Audio is used effectively throughout the ride with more than 180 speakers and subwoofers and 47 processing amplifiers providing background music, time-triggered audio for the scene or special audio effects such as the roar of dinosaurs or the sounds of the ‘Stonetennial’ celebrations.

CHALLENGE

The biggest technical challenge was the programming of the show control system for the various scenes, which proved extremely complex. The system has to ensure precise activation of interactive elements, including projection, audio and animated figures triggered by beam break sensors. The show control programmer also has to take into consideration the position of each boat in relationship to the other boats, which varied in dispatch times and speed based on passenger weight and the water flow rate.

SOLUTION

All that information is fed into a complex program using the Medialon show control system. Medialon takes the triggers and starts video projection, animated figures, special effects and audio based on the position of the boats in each scene.

This solution ensures precise control and timing to synchronize content display and interactive elements with the progress of the boats. The local show control system is integrated with the Parkwide Control System so that the Flintstones experience can be monitored and controlled centrally.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The Flintstones: Bedrock River Adventure is a fun-packed immersive flume ride that integrates interactivity, special effects, a unique turntable media sequence and animatronics in a popular attraction that’s full of surprises.

The large number of scenes and the challenge of calculating multiple boat positions created complex programming requirements, but skilful programming and sophisticated show control technology ensure precise timing of content throughout.

Project Details

Client

Warner Bros. World, Abu Dhabi

Location

Yas Island, Abu Dhabi

Size

1.65 million sq. ft. (full park)

Services

Technology Design Consulting

Build & System Integration

Projection Studies

Audio, Video & Control Systems

Engineering & Fabrication

Integration & Installation

Testing & Programming

This is truly the first time a whole theme park has been designed and built around control systems that run entirely in a virtual environment. The Medialon team was proud to partner with Smart Monkeys and Electrosonic to help create the most technologically advanced theme park possible.

Eric Cantrell

VP of Business Operations, Medialon

Hidden technology The rocky landscape provides an ideal place to conceal technology and maintain the magic of the experience.

Precise timing Beam-breaking sensors trigger content, animatronics and special effects as visitors’ boats enter a new scene.

Prehistoric ambience More than 180 speakers and subwoofers recreate the sounds and sensations of the Stone Age immersing visitors in a prehistoric environment.