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Industry News:
---- THE LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS ----
(1/18/2025) 2024 Blooloop Innovation Award Winners Announced
(1/17/2025) 13 Current Industry Trends To Keep An Eye On
(1/12/2025) Blooloop Festival of Innovation - Innovation Showcase
(1/11/2025) Aardman Animations Looking To Expand The Reach of Shaun the Sheep
(1/11/2025) Sony Prepares To Create Immersive "The Last Of Us" Attraction
(1/5/2025) Pursuit Attractions Purchases Canadian Rocky Mountain Attraction
Theme Park Attendance Reports - (10/30/2024) Blooloop has posted a breakdown of the Top 25 most attended theme parks across the world based on their overall 2023 year attendance records, along with a growth comparison as to how they performed in 2022.
(8/19/2024) TEA/AECOM have released the 2023 Theme Index Report, collecting valuable attendance data from theme parks, museums and other attractions around the world. Follow the link to find the latest data from last year (2023) as well as links to reports going back as far as 2006. The nice thing about the 2023 report data is that finally the direct impact from the pandemic is “firmly in the past”, resulting in numbers across the globe that are more reflective of the way things were in 2019 and before. As a result, the reports from 2020 through 2022 froze the “ranking” of parks by attendance due to the pandemic, but the 2023 report also brings back the ranking process.
With that in mind, Disney is clearly ranked once again as the top theme park operator in the world, with over 142 million guests passing through their gates in 2023. China’s Fantawild Group comes in second with 85.6 million, followed by Merlin in 3rd (62.1million) and Universal in 4th with 60.8 million. China’s Chimelong Group and Happy Valley Group take the #5 and 6 spots, but are trailing far behind Universal with 36 million and 35.7 million, before we come back to the US for Cedar Fair at #7 with 26.7 million and Six Flags at #8 with 22.2 million, followed closely by United Parks (formerly SeaWorld) in #9 with 21.6 million then Parques Reunidos at $10 with 19.3 million. It’s worth mentioning that going forward, Six Flags and Cedar Fair reporting will eventually be merged, so if you merge the data from 2023 the combined pair would have an attendance of 48.9 million, putting them in the #5 spot right behind Universal.
Some of the biggest attendance gainers in 2023 would go to park’s in China that were slower to recover from the pandemic, such as Chimelong Ocean Kingdom (up 184.5%), Zigong Fantawild Dino Kingdom (up 177.9%) or Shanghai Disneyland (up 164.2%). In fact, most parks saw gains in 2023, with the two Universal parks in Orlando both seeing losses of about 9.3% each. I would expect to see that trend continue in 2024 as well, as many are likely delaying visits until 2025 when the Universal Orlando resort opens their new Epic Universe theme park.
There is so much information in the report, broken down between the various attraction types and location in the world, that these reports are an invaluable resource that you can spend hours pouring over the data as needed.
 General News - (1/11/2025) Aardman Animation is now working with Spacetoon to expand the reach of their Shaun the Sheep character and introduce him to new audiences around the world. As part of this, Spacetoon will open a temporary themed Shaun the Sheep attraction in Qatar’s Lagoona Mall from Jan. 16 to Jan. 31, 2025.
(1/4/2025) In a world full of theme parks owned by chains that have been growing increasingly larger and larger due to mergers, there is something to be said for the persistent existence a true “family owned” theme park in today’s world. This week Blooloop has posted a fantastic list showcasing “17 of the world’s best family-owned theme parks”.
The list includes some parks you’ve probably heard of, like Europa-Park, Holiday World and Blackpool Pleasure Beach, but also a good number of park’s that you maybe haven’t heard of, or perhaps you never realized that they were family owned. Check it out!
(12/15/2024) Blooloop will be hosting an online-only Festival of Innovation event, featuring a very large collection of speakers. The collection of presenters come from a wide range of entertainment and technical disciplines ranging from theme parks, movie studios, museums and the creators at various technical solution houses. Follow the link to see the dates and list of speakers slated to present.
(12/6/2024) Here is a fun bit of trivia… if you’ve ever visited the Coke sponsored Club Cool at Epcot, the World of Coca-Cola attractions in Atlanta, or a few Coca-Cola Store locations like the one in Las Vegas, you may have had the opportunity to sample an odd beverage by the name, “Beverly”. The bitter tasting drink was created for the Italian market where it was introduced back in 1969… but in the US, it’s become something more of a rite of passage, as friends bring other unsuspecting friends to these attractions for the sole purpose watching them try a taste of Beverly for the first time.
If you’ve never tried Beverly, the taste is something you really won’t forget, but it also seems to write itself into everyone’s memory a little differently, because if you ask a group of people to describe the taste of it, you’re going to get a lot of different answers. For me, it’s like someone mixed a tiny taste of bitter ginger with the tastebud numbing nuclear winter of a White Claw, and then dropped in a heavy shot of carbonated wallpaper adhesive goop, and shook it all up just before you slam it.
Eewww…
I still find it shocking that it was popular in Italy. And I say that in the past tense on purpose, because many don’t realize that Beverly was retired as a drink in Italy in 2009! So what makes this even more funny is when you realize that Beverly is still made TODAY… but for the sole purpose of these taste test sampling stations. Otherwise, you can’t actually buy it anywhere in the world.
(11/30/2024) While Screamscape has strived to showcase theme park news from around the globe, focusing in depth on water park attractions around the globe has been far more difficult due to just how many more there actually are, which has resulted in most of our coverage to be focused on North American properties. However, if you are curious about what the top attended waterparks are across Europe, the Middle East and Africa region of the world, Blooloop has actually posted a ranked rundown of the Top 10 waterparks in the EMEA by their attendance rankings over the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
The list includes a number of extremely popular waterparks that even I’m not very familiar with, including the #1 on the list, Therme Erding in Germany that served 1,860,000 guests in 2023 and in addition to 27 indoor and outdoor waterslides, it is home to the world’s largest thermal bath and spa complex.
 (11/21/2024) The Blooloop 50 list for 2024’s Theme Park Influencers has been announced. The list contains a number of names many in the industry are sure to recognize, as well as a many more worth making note of for their own contributions. Give it a read and congratulations to all!
(11/19/2024) A launch of a new attraction company was announced at IAAPA this week called Extreme Legacy. It is described as “a full-service engineering design and manufacturing firm that services the amusement, attractions, and leisure industries. A majority female-owned company, Extreme Legacy also announced the appointment of Jaimie Enterkin as chief executive officer.”
“Based in Orlando, Florida, Extreme Legacy purchased Extreme Engineering’s 30-year portfolio of attractions. The purchase consists of the rights to Extreme Engineering’s intellectual property and expertise in engineering design and fabrication. The company’s name, Extreme Legacy, was chosen as a nod to Extreme Engineering’s 30-year legacy of creating award-winning attractions and providing breakthrough solutions around the globe.”
“Extreme Legacy is based in Orlando, Florida, and has manufacturing facilities in Texas. In 2025, the company plans to expand its manufacturing capabilities in Central Florida.” For more information, visit the new ExtremeLegacy.com website.
(11/9/2024) Blooloop has announced the Blooloop 50 Immersive Influencer list this week as well as the Blooloop 50 Museum Influencer list for 2024 last week, joining the previous list announced for the Zoo & Aquarium category. All that is left is to announce the Blooloop 50 Theme Park Influencers list for 2024, which will be taking place on November 20th, the week of the annual IAAPA Expo in Orlando.
(10/20/2024) Blooloop has announced the first of their four 2024 Blooloop 50 influencer lists this week, starting with the Zoo & Aquarium Influencer List for 2024. Click the link to give the list a quick read and congratulations to them all!
Look for upcoming announcements over the next couple of weeks as the other three Blooloop 50 groups are announced!
(8/30/2024) While we may be coming to the end of the Summer of 2024, I’m going to take a look back at the best new waterparks and waterslides that have opened around the world this year with our friends at Blooloop.
(7/12/2024) a new article at Blooloop goes over the process behind the creation of the unique ABBA Voyage attraction in London, and what the future may hold. While the original concept was dreamt up more as an idea for a touring attraction, the further into the development they got the more they realized they needed to build a custom dedicated space to hold it all so that the technology would work as intended.
As for the future, they are looking to possibly expand to other markets, especially at locations within North America, Australia and Asia. There are a lot of options and a lot of conversations going on as to where another ABBA Voyage could be built within the next year or two.
Internet Finds - (1/18/2025) The winners of the 2024 Blooloop Innovation Awards have been announced and posted, following the end of the online Festival of Innovation event that took place on Jan. 15 - 16, 2025. Follow the link and check out the long list of winners, many of which include some really unique projects that you may not have even heard about yet.
(1/17/2025) A great read about 13 popular industry trends to keep an eye on in the attractions industry has been posted to Blooloop this week that is worth checking out. This goes beyond industry mantra-like buzz-words like making things more immersive or family friendly, but also points out increasingly popular concepts like accessibility, a rising depand for more overnight concepts, the increasing popularity of Horror themed attractions, and how AI might be incorporated into it all in new ways.
(1/12/2025) Just a reminder, Blooloop will present the Innovation Showcase at The Festival of Innovation as an online event taking place Jan. 15 - 16th. You can learn more and register for free by visiting the official event website.
(1/5/2025) Pursuit Attractions, the company behind the “Flyover” brand of Flying Theaters with locations in Vancouver, Iceland, Las Vegas and Chicago, has announced that they have closed on a deal to purchase the Jasper SkyTram attraction, located in Canada’s Jasper National Park, in a deal worth $23.7 million Canadian ($17 million US).
“Pursuit has a long-standing history of delivering exceptional guest experiences throughout the Canadian Rockies. Together with the experienced Jasper SkyTram team, we look forward to finalizing our plans to invest in the refresh and renewal of this important Jasper landmark,” said David Barry, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pursuit. “As we enter 2025, we will continue to work closely with the community, Parks Canada and our tourism partners to ensure Jasper’s thoughtful and sustainable growth.”
(11/28/2024) According to the local news, Spokane’s historic 1909 Looff Carrousel in Washington will have its “band organ” digitally upgraded in time for the 50th anniversary of it being installed at Riverfront Park next year. Much like a player piano, the Carrousel was designed to use a punched-paper roll system to play music during the ride and was able to mimic the sound of a 60-piece band. While the paper roll system was still in place and functional, the attractions ceased using it and was instead using recording of carousel music instead due to the deteriorating state of the music rolls.
The old punch-paper music has now been converted to digital MIDI music files, along with a computer that will now allow the attraction to play not only its original music, but also allow for updated music files to be added as well, making it able to play versions of even contemporary songs along with a complete restoration of the band organ.
The Looff Carrousel was originally installed at Spokane’s Natatorium Park from 1909 to 1968, and when the park closed it was relocated to Riverfront Park in 1975 following the end of the Expo ‘74 event that took place in the park from May to November 1974. (Note: Believe it or not, I was there for that. I’m dating myself, because I was only 4 at the time and don’t remember much beyond the skyride that traveled over the river and waterfalls alongside the park.)
(11/27/2024) Amusement Park Warehouse has a great article showcasing a large number of flat rides and attractions sold to various traveling midway groups, as well as several sold to various FECs and mini-parks around the world. It’s worth a read to see what older rides seem to still be popular and as well as a look at some new ride models that will be appearing over the next couple of years at an attraction near you.
(11/9/2024) Taking the rumor mill into considering… and pondering the idea that Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure just might take its last ride this weekend, then who will take the record for having the fastest roller coaster in the world?
Currently, Kingda Ka regained the record for being the fastest coaster in the world (128mph) when Formula Rossa at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi (149.1mph) closed for unknown reasons in early 2024 and has yet to reopen. By default, if Kingda Ka closes then the record would have gone to Top Thrill 2 at Cedar Point at 120mph, but sadly that transformation of the former Top Thrill Dragster coaster lasted only about 3 weeks before being shut down for technical issues and it too has yet to reopen and based on current rumors, it may not reopen in 2025 either.
So what’s next? Would you believe that the next in line would be Red Force at Ferrari Land in Spain, which features a 111.8mph launch. After that would be Superman: Escape from Krypton at Six Flags Magic Mountain, which opened as Superman: The Escape, with a 100mph launch way back in 1997 as the world’s fastest coaster. Over the years however, there are many who claim that Superman fails to reach that speed anymore, and there is a tie for the next two speed demons, with both Fury 325 at Carowinds (NC/SC) and Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land (Japan) both claiming to reach a top speed of 95mph.
Beyond that, the list reads like a greatest hits list from Cedar Fair theme parks starting with Millenium Force at Cedar Point (93mph), Leviathan at Canada’s Wonderland (92mph) and Orion at Kings Island (91mph) and then Pantherian (formerly Intimidator 305) at Kings Dominion (90mph).
Waiting in the wings however is Falcon’s Flight, a new steel coaster currently under construction at Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia, will has been planned to achieve a record-breaking 155.3mph. The earliest we may see Falcon’s Flight open however may be late 2025, and quite possibly not until 2026, so if this really is the end for Kingda Ka, then the crown would go to Red Force… at least until Ferrari World is able to reopen Formula Rossa.
(11/8/2024) While the former Six Flags New Orleans theme park closed for good after being sacked by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the ruins of the theme park have remained standing as a creepy reminder of what once was over the past two decades. That all starts to change this week as demolition crews have arrived on site and have begun to take down the structures from the closed theme park to allow for future redevelopment of the site.
(11/3/2024) There are a lot of headlines in the news lately about the struggles of returning employees to the workplace after the last few years saw many more people working from home. As part of the process, a number of businesses have been adding more ‘perks’ to the office space as an incentive to bring workers back in. Sure, even before the pandemic we’ve heard about free food, free snack and beverage stations, free childcare centers or maybe even an on-site fitness center, but an office in Stockholm, Sweden just upped the bar to a whole new level!
Creative Studio “The Great Exhibition”, formerly known as PJADAD, reopened their office under their new brand name on October 25th with something very special… a fully functioning indoor roller coaster. This is going to be one very exclusive credit for you coaster counters to strive for, and they call it The Frontal Lobe. The bright red coaster is about 200 feet long and is only about 10 feet tall with a shiny silver car that fits one rider at a time, and it winds though many different sections of the office past working employees! According to the description and photos you can climb aboard and go on a journey past the social media department, through the kitchen, up and over and main entrance and through a lounge area, curving around a meeting table, and more.
According to the studio founders, the dream of adding a roller coaster to the office serves many purposes, starting of course with the fact that it is just a fun experience in general. It also quite literally serves as a constant visual reminder to the creative studio staff of how to move away from the predictable and to create an raw out-of-the-box emotional experience. They also call the roller coaster a deliberate “act of resistance” against the rapid explosion of AI driven tech that can ruin creativity. A roller coaster is an office is not logical, nor something any computer simulation would suggest, as the illogical nature of the concept itself serves as a physical in-your-face representation of the concept of “fun”.
Due to some tight clearance issues to fit into the office space, the designers went through a number of revisions to the design, talking with both engineering experts as well as some members of the “backyard coaster” community before finalizing their design. A loud bell rings throughout the office just before anyone takes a ride on the coaster for safety reasons. All said and done, they say they spent around $150,000 on the project and have enjoyed seeing how their staff have taken to the ride in different ways. Some take it for a spin as part of the morning arrival ritual, while others prefer to take a spin on the coaster just before they leave at the end of a long day.
Now, what I’m sure the Screamscape audience wants to know right now is… just how in the world can we get invited in to take The Frontal Lobe for a spin? Or at the very least, is there a POV video of the experience we can see?
(10/21/2024) Ever wanted to own your own roller coaster? The city of Tuscumbia, Alabama has put the Python, an E&F Miler family coaster that stands just 11.5 feet tall, up for sale. The coaster was originally build as a Pythons Pit coaster for the Jeepers chain of indoor playland parks where it ran at a location in Michigan in 1998 before being sold to a small attraction in Nashville from 2003 to 2004, and then being relocated to Spring Park in Alabama.
According to the story they stopped running the Python in 2021 during the peak of the pandemic and just never reopened it. Overall it’s thought to be in decent shape, and just needs some maintenance to be reopened.
As of right now the current bid on the coaster is $2,000, but a local news story says that the town won’t take anything less than $8,000. Whoever wins is responsible for taking it apart and removing it from the current site and rebuilding it at the new intended location. The open bidding is said to be open until 2:45pm on Halloween if someone wants to own their own roller coaster.
(10/8/2024) One more quick note about The Legacy of Schwarzkopf documentary, there will also be a European Premier that will take place on Nov. 30th at Liseberg during the park’s annual Winterfest Event.
(10/6/2024) A new preview trailer for the upcoming “Legacy of Schwarzkopf” documentary can now be seen below. I’ve also been told that the film will hold a premier at the Circuit of the Americas (Austin, Texas) on November 9th, with another screening taking place at Fun Spot Orlando on November 20th during the IAAPA Expo.
(9/14/2024) For those who have been waiting for the release of Planet Coaster 2, Frontier Development has announced that the sequel to the popular theme park simulator will be released on November 6th, 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Fans who can’t wait can now place their pre-order to get it on day-1 through the Xbox or Playstation online stores, through Epic Games or Steam.
(9/8/2024) The annual Golden Ticket Awards took place last night in a live presentation from Kennywood. Dollywood came away as the biggest winner with a total of six Golden Ticket Awards (Best Family Coaster, Best New Show, Most Beautiful Park, Best Guest Experience and Best Kids Area plus a Legend award for their Smoky Mountain Christmas event).
Fan favorite, Holiday World, took home three awards, including a new category for Best New Theme Concept for this year’s “Good Gravy!” family coaster.
Germany’s Europa-Park won two major awards this year for the overall Best Park award as well as Best New Roller Coaster for the new Voltron Nevera.
Silver Dollar City took the award for Best New Family Attraction with their new Fire in the Hole family dark coaster.
Mount Olympus took an award for Best New Water Park Ride for their creation, Rise of Icarus.
Some other notable winners were:
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) for Best Dark Ride
Fury 325 (Carowinds) for Best Steel Roller Coaster (for the 8th year in a row)
Chiapas (Phantasialand) for Best Water Ride (a 2 time winner)
Phoenix (Knoebels) for Best Wooden Coaster
While it isn’t live just yet, the full list of winners should be posted soon for the official award site, GoldenTicketAwards.com.
(9/7/2024) Warhammer 40,000 fans are a rabid bunch, and to be fair, they’ve been patiently waiting for their time to shine in the limelight. Championed by celebrity fan, Henry Cavill, there a live action film and series destined for Amazon Video has been disturbingly going through a bit of chaos regarding the creative progress. Cavill was not only set to star in the production, but also serve as an Executive Producer on the creative team behind it all for Amazon Studios. Without getting into it, there are some creative differences between the two now, and they have until the end of the year to come to an agreement, otherwise the entire thing can be called off, much to the disappointment of the rabid fanbase.
Fortunately, if you located anywhere near a Zero Latency VR attraction location, you will soon be able to enter the Warhammer universe yourself with the soon to be released “Space Marine VR - Defenders of Avarax”, a free-roaming VR experience. According to the latest update, players will be able to enter the Warhammer themed universe at Zero Latency locations around the world starting on Sept. 25th. Follow the link to learn more about the experience and how you can book your tickets in advance. Meanwhile check out the teaser video below...
(6/30/2024) The first Monopoly Lifesized attraction will be coming to the US as a traveling attraction, and will be first set up in Colorado by October 2024 by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
(6/16/2024) As much as it may surprise some of you readers, I’ve stayed completely out of the realm of the No Limits roller coaster simulator software. I remember what it was like when Roller Coaster Tycoon first came out, finding myself in an endless time-suck, losing hours upon hours, lost in the matrix of those early days of theme park simulation. Being a husband and father of three… I knew better than to go down the No Limits rabbit hole, and instead just chose to enjoy other’s creations over the years.
While things from the software’s creators have been quiet since the dawn of the pandemic, I was alerted this week to the arrival of their first news post since January 2020. Apparently the first new DLC in over four years is now available for No Limits 2 users, adding an officially licensed Vekoma MK1101 coaster style to use. The new add-on is being offered only through Steam, and they've posted instructions for anyone who has purchased the stand-alone version to get a free Stream key to gain access to this update.
With new development obviously taking place now, perhaps this is a sign that even more things are to come.
(5/25/2024) For years we’ve seen numerous Flight Simulator attraction and later Flying Theater attractions, but are you ready for a Hot Air Balloon Simulator? Fulldome.pro , who are known for the creation of projection dome technology for numerous others, are now offering a Balloon Simulator. Through the use of a vertically installed wrap-around dome offering a full 360º view as you drift off on what will seem like a authentic balloon flight.
The size and scope of these can be designed to custom fit the available space, as the first version is now open at Espace Ballon, a Swiss hot-air balloon museum, where guests climb into a balloon style basket positioned in front of a half-sphere like dome screen. Fulldome.pro has also launched their “Super Ride Dome” which positions riders in the middle of a near-full sphere shaped projection system, which I believe could also be combined with their new Balloon Simulator concept.
(4/30/2024) An interesting partnership was struck between Lucra and the gaming/entertainment center giant, Dave & Busters, this week. The goal seems to be to take the experience of visiting a Dave & Busters location, which is typically all about the games you play, and with the aid of Lucra, to create a new “full immersive experience” that they can roll out to Dave & Busters locations nationwide.
The new partnership will see Lucra’s “proprietary gamification software” to be integrated into the Dave & Busters guest app, which will allow the chain’s loyalty members “to digitally complete with each other, earn rewards, and unlock exclusive perks while competing with friends at Dave & Buster’s - bringing together the sports arena and the arcade for an unparalleled, gamified experience.”
While we have yet to see what the final experience will feel like, the concept of adding an increased layer of Gamification through competition with other on-site players does sound like a fun new addition that could definitely keep some guests on site longer and turn into the opportunity for increased revenue.
(4/6/2024) Back at the end of 2023 you may recall reading that at the end of the final live performance of the band KISS they previewed how the band would live on forever in Avatar / Hologram form. The details of exactly how this would happen moving forward were still to be worked out but now we have the next piece of the puzzle.
KISS has now officially sold their “music catalog, brand name and likeness” to Pophouse, the company behind the official ABBA Voyage hologram concert show in the UK. This comes as no surprise, as they were also involved with the creation of the preview avatars along with JOCOUP Creative. Pophouse was created by ABBA singer, Bjorn Ulvaeus, so they have a good idea of how to translate the live performance experience into this next generation format.
According to the write-up over at Blooloop, they confirm that the first KISS hologram style concert project is in development and expected to launch sometime in 2027. It is also interesting to note that Pophouse has also acquired Cyndi Lauper’s music catalog as well, giving us a glimpse into another future project from the endeavor.
IAAPA - (11/9/2024) For those keeping track, the annual IAAPA Orlando Expo will be taking place from Nov. 19 to Nov. 22, 2024. It has become a normal thing for parks and attraction developers to save some of their big announcements for the year to take place during the IAAPA trade show, so I thought it might be nice to list a few pending announcements that are already scheduled that week. This won’t be a complete list by any means, but these are some of the ones we know of so far that may involve major attractions or the unveiling of new attraction technology.
Brogent Technology, a force behind many media based attractions and flying theaters, will be hosting a press conference at their booth on Nov. 21 at 11am where they are set to reveal a new model of their “s-Ride” that will offer a “unique riding position” for the flying theater experience.
Extreme Engineering is announcing their ‘next chapter’ on Nov. 19 at 4:50pm.
Falcon’s Beyond says they have a major announcement to make about the growth of the company on Nov. 19 at 4pm.
Triotech will be holding a press conference on Nov. 19 at 3:30pm to unveil a large new IP based project they are working on.
VidantaWorld will be announcing something about the future of the their BON Luxury Theme Park in Mexico with a presentation featuring the Exec Vice-Chairman of Cirque do Soleil and the VP of Sales & Marketing from Vekoma and the CEO of Mack Rides on Nov. 19 at 12:45pm.
(9/24/2024) IAAPA has announced that the first IAAPA Expo Middle East will take place in Abu Dhabi from March 30 through April 2, 2026 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
(11/28/2023) IAAPA and Liseberg have announced some changes that will be made regarding the 2024 Applause Award program.
Starting in 2024, the Applause Award, which has only been issued bi-annually since the inception, will become an Annual award. They have also confirmed that the scope of the locations to be considered for an Applause Award will be broadened beyond just theme parks, it will now also be considered for waterparks, zoos, and resorts that meet the qualifications.
In 2024 the Applause Award announcement will also move away from the IAAPA Expo event to the new “IAAPA Honors” celebration, taking place for the first time in Las Vegas on March 3, 2024. IAAPA Honors will celebrate the 2024 IAAPA Hall of Fame inductees, the 2024 IAAPA Service and Young Professional honorees, and winners of the IAAPA Brass Ring Awards.
“The Applause Award was one of the first awards celebrating the amusement- and theme park industry”, says Andreas Veilstrup Andersen, President and CEO, Liseberg Group and Chairman of The Applause Award Board of Governors. “With the transition into an annual award, and with a somewhat broader definition of what an amusement or theme park can look like in the 21st century, the award will continue to stay relevant and even better reflect the ever-evolving attractions industry.”
“We are very excited that the Applause Award will join IAAPA Honors. The idea with this new event is to celebrate excellence in the global attractions industry but also put an emphasis on what each one of the attendees can learn from the award winners to improve their own business,” says Jakob Wahl, CEO & President of IAAPA.
The last recipient of the Applause Award was Tokyo DisneySea in 2022.
LEGACY ENTERTAINMENT - (6/3/2024) Legacy Entertainment has been announced as the lead designer for the upcoming Beijing Haichang Ocean Park. The new marine themed park was first announced back in 2023 and is now expected to open in 2027, drawing an estimated 3.5 million visitors annually. Operated by the Haichang Ocean Park group, the park is intended to ‘strengthen the Beijing Sub-Central Cultural Tourism Zone, already home to Universal Studios Beijing.”
Over the last decade, the Legacy Entertainment team has been responsible for the design of several of the world’s most celebrated Aquariums and Oceanariums. Among these are The Sea Shell at VinWonders Phu Quoc in Vietnam, and the recently-opened Chimelong Spaceship, which currently holds seven world records. Legacy has previously collaborated with Haichang on the design of their flagship park in Shanghai. The 5 billion RMB park, which opened in 2018, has received a wide array of awards and accolades since its debut in 2018, including being named “China’s Best Theme Park” by numerous organizations.
NEON / Victory Hill - (12/23/2024) It has been confirmed that NEON’s Jurassic World: The Exhibition will be arriving next to Bangkok, Thailand sometime in Q2 of 2025, according to the official website. There will be a slight name change when it arrives, as the exhibit will now be known as Jurassic World: The Experience in Thailand.
Currently NEON is running Jurassic World attractions at four different locations around the world: Switzerland (though March 2025), Mexico (Ending Jan 12, 2025) , UK (Ending Jan 5, 2025) and Australia (through to at least Feb. 10, 2025). I can only assume that one of the existing tours slated to end soon will be relocated to Thailand, most likely the Australia version if for no other reason than it being the closest proximity to Thailand.
On a related note, Neon’s other very popular traveling exhibit, Harry Potter: Vision of Magic appears to be ending their run in Brussels, as the official website only shows tickets available through to Jan. 5, 2025. It isn’t known yet where that exhibit will travel to next.
(11/6/2024) NEON has announced that their new Harry Potter: Vision of Magic attraction will be ready to open at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore on November 22, 2024. This latest edition of the “Harry Potter: Vision of Magic” product is bigger than the initial version that is currently touring Europe and in Belgium, with the new Singapore version feature two entirely new environments, including an experience about the “whispers of Parseltongue” in the Chamber of Secrets and a series of rooms protecting a legendary treasure behind The Trap Door. Visit the official site to make your reservation to visit.
(8/19/2024) NEON has been quite busy as of late, reported to have opened six new experiences in six different countries, using four different IPs over the span of just 22 days. The list includes the opening of:
Impressions of Monet at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore
Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs in Cologne, Germany
Harry Potter: Vision of Magic in Brussels, Belgium
Jurassic World: The Exhibition in Mexico City, Mexico
Jurassic World: The Exhibition in Melbourne, Australia
Jurassic World: The Exhibition in Manchester, UK
(1/12/2024) If you missed visiting Jurassic World The Exhibition while it was in Atlanta, it is now too late. The temporary attraction has now closed up shop and the dinos are being shipped off to an all new destination… Houston, Texas. According to the official website Jurassic World: The Exhibition will open on the West side of Houston starting on March 8, 2024 at the Katy Mills mall.
(12/17/2023) NEON has announced a new partnership with their ANIMAX subsidiary who create stunning animatronic figures with the famous Boston Dynamics robotics company. The goal is to mix Boston Dynamics’ amazing robotics technology with ANIMAX’s own stunning figures and animatronics to create captivating experiences “in ways that were previously unimaginable”. This is a big step forward for ANIMAX who push their own creative mantra of “Get Closer” to “create intimate, immersive narratives that bring technology and audiences closer than ever.” They say that the joint effort between the two groups will culminate in a major reveal to come at the end of 2024.
While ANIMAX is known for creating the many figures used in the various NEON exhibits throughout the world, such as the new Harry Potter: Vision of Magic, Jurassic World, Avatar, Marvel, Transformers and more, the group has quietly produced some big-name products for major theme park attractions. In particular over the past couple of years, if you’ve seen or visited Super Nintendo World at Univesal Japan or Hollywood, I’m told that ANIMAX was responsible for many of the animated Nintendo character figures.
Boston Dynamics on the other hand is not only an expert in industrial robotics, but has become known for their untethered autonomous robotic creations such as the four-legged SPOT robots and the bi-pedal ATLAS. With this in mind, I can’t wait to see what the combined efforts of both groups are able to come up with.
Netflix - (6/22/2024) The decline of the American brick-and-mortar retail market may end up being Netflix’s gain! What… wait? Netflix is to benefit and not just Amazon? That is starting to look to be the case, as Netflix has announced they will open new “Netflix House” immersive entertainment centers inside shopping malls in Texas and Pennsylvania in 2025. Netflix will build their new Location Base Entertainment (LBE) attractions inside former retail store venues at the King of Prussia mall in Pennsylvania and the Galleria in Dallas, Texas.
According to Blooloop, the Netflix House attractions will provide immersive experiences that will be regularly updated, as well as offering retail and food offerings that will tie into the themes of your favorite Netflix programs as well. Up until now Netflix has opened a number of limited time Netflix House themed experiences in 25 different cities across the world, offering a range of experiences themed to Netflix IP hit series such as Brigerton, Stranger Things, Squid Game, Knives Out, Army of the Dead, Money Heist and more. These latest two sites will be on a grander scale, taking up residence inside former department store locations, “covering an area of more than 100,000 square feet.”
SONY - (1/11/2025) Sony has reported that they are planning on building an “immersive experience” attraction themed around the popular “The Last Of Us” Playstation video game and HBO/MAX series. Some visuals about the concept were said to be on display at Sony’s booth at the CES show in Las Vegas this past week.
According to a statement from the video game studio that created the universe, the immersive experience will be set within the “infected underground” of Seattle, that are used as a setting in The Last of Us Part II game. While they don’t go over more details about this upcoming project, I do wonder if we might see some of it used as an expansion of the Sony Wonderverse attraction that opened about a year ago in the Chicago area.
UBISOFT - (11/19/21) Storyland Studios and Ubisoft have announced the development of the first ever Ubisoft Entertainment Center will take place at Studios Occitanie Mediterranee on France’s Mediterranean coast, in 2025. This is supposed to be the first of many venues where guests can immerse themselves in the various worlds from Ubisoft games.
The first location will also be home to a film studio and feature many other entertainment and retail opportunities, and happens to also be “in the region of Montpellier, home of the Ubisoft studio that created our iconic characters Rayman and the Rabbids.” The attraction will feature some all new entertainment concepts as they push forward with all new gamification technology.
Also still in the works between Ubisoft and Storyland Studios are plans to eventually create a full scape Ubisoft theme park project. I think the development of this smaller attraction does represents a big step forwards to the goal of eventually opening a full scale park, but testing the waters of the various Ubisoft IPs, as well as being a creative sandbox to test out ways to interact with new innovative attraction concepts.
Warner Brothers Discovery - (9/6/2024) Is Warner Brothers looking to get back into the attraction’s biz? According to the latest update, the new “Warner Brothers Discovery” restructure has created a new global division to oversee ‘Experiences, Parks, Exhibitions and More”. The purpose is to bring all of the teams that oversee the various studios tours, touring attractions and location-based experiences all together into a single team.
The goal of this new “Global Experiences” team will be to strategically expand and pursue new business opportunities in order to capitalize on the brand’s various Intellectual Properties.
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