An Introduction to Themed Attraction Design:

Defining Terms

It is always best to define terms so that it is clear to everyone just what we mean when we say that something is themed. It is a common misconception that amusement parks and theme parks are one in the same, but the fact is that nothing could be farther from the truth.

The words amusement and park, when used together mean quite literally: a place to be amused. Fittingly, an amusement park uses many different devices to amuse its guests, but they almost always include rollercoasters and other iron rides. Iron rides are essentially machines with one sole purpose: to use physics to force a smile (or vomit) from the rider. Iron rides are bare bones structures, save colorful paint and colored lighting.

The words theme and park, when used together very literally mean a place for stories. In many ways a theme park is a much more elegant place than an amusement park because it uses much more elegant methods than an amusement park does. Whereas sole purpose of an amusement park is to use all means necessary to beat a smile into a guest (i.e. amuse), the theme park uses story telling to move the emotions. A story can touch the full spectrum of emotion above and beyond simple amusement, so in that regard a true theme park has a dimension that amusement parks will never have. One of the reasons that the world's first theme park, Disneyland, has been so successful is that its attractions are very good story telling devices. It is easy to see why Disneyland can be considered a theme park as well. The folks at Disney consider their parks showplaces, where guests can move around and interact in a three-dimensional story. Much like a Broadway show, their employees are called cast members, and there is even a "red carpet' (which is tactfully simulated with painted concrete) to lead guests in the front gate! The show like atmosphere is evident at Disney parks every day - an atmosphere that is lacking at many of the world's amusement parks. I recall one time participating in a survey at a Six Flags amusement park. The person asked me if Six Flags made me "feel like I had been transported to a different place or time". By asking their question, the Six Flags marketing group was trying to find out how good of a theme park Six Flags was. But the problem was, they didn't know the difference between a theme park and an amusement park, because nearly every Six Flags attraction is an iron ride with little or no theming added to it. Six Flags parks are amusement parks, not theme parks, attempting to thrill -- not tell a story. I gave a "strongly disagree" answer on the survey. If the Six Flags marketing department really wanted to know how well their amusement park was performing, the question they should have asked was: did you have fun today? The answer to that question would have been "strongly agree"!

Theme Attraction Design, Part One

Theme Attractions: An unusual medium
Like storytelling, illustration, or musical composition, the design of themed attractions is very much an artform. But it is much more complex because of the need to accommodate all five senses.

The goal of a theme attraction is to tell stories, but the theme park attraction is different from any other medium known to the world. An artist's canvas is limited in that it can only be seen. A story told in a motion picture or at a play is limited to sight and sound, but the stories told at theme parks can and should utilize all 5 senses to tell a convincing story. A good story has the ability to seemingly take a person on a journey to the ends of the earth, or beyond - and every possible technique should be used to accomplish this goal.

Seeing is believing . . .
Visual imagery is the most obvious and most necessary tool for creating the themed environment. Each visitor will enter a themed attraction and then judge whether or not he believes what he sees. It is this critical judgment that the designer must try to win over. To do so, it is imperative that every detail be thought out, so that the created environment is perceived as real. Here are several aspects that one needs to consider when creating the visual aspects of the themed attraction 1. Architecture: The viewer should be completely engulfed in a new world, and the architecture should be designed to accomplish this task. In an ideal world, no expense should be spared to painstakingly recreate exquisite environments. In the real world though, budgets have limits, so it is at least necessary to avoid many common design pitfalls where some of the outside world "leaks" inside and diminishes the realism of the theme. A few examples of this include: exposed exit doors, places where a viewer can see behind a set, and allowing damage to the architecture to go unchecked.

A well-intentioned, but badly themed attraction can backfire. If cheap architecture and special effects are used, the visitor may actually experience an attraction, thinking: "I'm sitting in a little battery powered buggy looking at plywood cutouts", instead of the true goal of the ride -- to entertain and inspire with a wonderful or fantastic tale. A poorly themed attraction usually stimulates only a one or two of the five senses, and very often stimulates those senses either very poorly or in a detrimental fashion. 2. Landscape: All too often in today's theme parks, millions of dollars are spent on new attractions, and then the "icing on the cake" it left off. Landscape is to architecture what make-up is to a model. Good landscape design adds an aesthetic to architecture that is necessary for completing an environment. 3. Lighting: Good lighting makes good architecture seem better, but it is rarely noticed. Bad lighting, on the other hand is noticed right away. Lighting is very important to the success of a themed attraction. There are four primary types of lighting in themed entertainment design: architectural lighting, theatrical lighting, black lighting, and fiber optic lighting. Each has different functions, but very often two or more of these types of lighting are combined in a finished themed attraction.

Architectural lighting is the lighting that reveals common architectural interiors and exteriors, including the landscaping. Care should be taken to reveal the most important objects (called "tasks") in the area. This lighting consists of ordinary light fixtures, and is used to guide the guests and make normal environments seem more pleasant, or work easier.

Like dramatic productions, many themed attractions use theatrical sets to help tell a story. And when those sets are used, a special type of lighting is also commonly necessary. Theatrical lighting is used to create moods through the use of color and the careful highlighting of important elements on the set. Theatrical lights are extremely powerful units, often exceeding 1000 watts per fixture. It is an invaluable resource with almost limitless capabilities. Very often Gobos (short for go-between) patterns are used to project intricate patterns of light onto the walls, which is just one of the many special effects available with theatrical lighting.

Black lighting is used in very specialized situations. Blacklighting is used when it is necessary to give an object a glow (such as a far off window on a painted set). Blacklights are special light bulbs that emit only Ultra-violet light. Special fluorescent paints glow when bombarded with this ultra-violet light, creating an eerie look to an object. Blacklighting is very useful when lighting three dimensional cartoon characters, as they appear very life like. As well, a room becomes extremely striking in appearance when lit only with blacklight, as people are not used to seeing fluorescence. Indeed, blacklighting is a very valuable tool in certain situations. And because people are not used to seeing fluorescent blacklit objects, there is a potential to create very striking, memorable scenes with this tool. Fiber optic lighting has gone from a little used resource a few years ago to a widespread lighting technique with a tremendous number of applications today. A fiber optic light is composed of an illuminator, which produces light to be directed into the fibers, and bundles of plastic tubes, the fibers themselves in various lengths and sizes. Fiber optic lighting looks exactly like neon lighting with two distinct advantages: first, it is flexible tubing so it can be moved while it is illuminated; and second, its color can be changed (sometimes every few seconds) through the use of a color wheel that is attached to the illuminator. A further advantage is that the end points of the fibers make realistic looking stars for settings where a night-time sky is needed, or it can be used to make ordinary signage sparkle. Fiber optics can be used to light areas with intense spots of light while simultaneously shooting security camera footage, as light travels both directions through the fibers, too, allowing it an extremely valuable function in some situations where hidden cameras are necessary. The only drawbacks to fiber optics are that the bundles of fibers tend to cost about 20 dollars per linear foot (imagine covering an entire ceiling with "stars" at that cost), and that they generate a tremendous amount of heat.

Sound: The mood setter
There is no more effective tool for shaping the mood in a space than sound. Consider the feelings you experienced when you last heard the following movie theme songs:
Chariots of Fire, title song
Disney's Dumbo, "Baby Mine"
Raiders of the Lost Ark, title song
Star Wars "Imperial Death March"
The Twilight Zone theme song
Psycho
Disney's Pinnochio, "When you wish upon a star"
Rocky, "Eye of the Tiger"

In many respects, these popular movie theme songs are just as recognizable as the movies themselves, if not more so. Just as no television show or movie would go without background music, the power of sound should never be neglected as a mood-enhancing tool for themed attractions either. Sound is all-important, whether it is musical theme songs, special effects or story enhancing dialog. Too, sound should always be over-utilized rather than under-utilized. Sometimes, silence is desired, and in such cases it should be used to punctuate the drama of a situation, but never because "we just couldn't think of something to do there". Just as television and movies continuously use background sounds to add mood and interest, so should it be with themed attractions and architectural showplaces.

Many times in themed entertainment, soundtracks are continuously looped in order to accommodate a continuous flow of guests; a task provided by show control experts.

Tactile Tactics. . .
Tactile stimulation is important in theme rides as well. It is less important than sound effects in terms of overall impact to the guest, but it still can be a very important tool in enhancing the "realness" of an environment. Consider the effect a spray of mist on the face would have on a guest in a tropical themed adventure ride, or how the cold iron bars in a dungeon might feel to a visitor of that attraction. The applications for texture planning are endless, and clearly contribute to an effective environmental design.

Interestingly enough, the most effective torture method known to the world today is a technique called sensory depravation. When used, the victim is placed inside a seamless silicon full body suit, where he can feel or touch absolutely nothing. He is suspended in a weightless water environment with earplugs, an eye visor and a muzzle. After several hours without any sensory input whatsoever, the victim becomes hypersuggestable to any sensory input, (namely, the interrogator's suggestion that the victim answer his questions). But just as the power of touch is used to torture spies, experts agree that a mother's loving touch is just as important to the to the positive development of a healthy baby. Clearly, though overlooked, meaningful tactile input is a very necessary factor in our lives, and it should be considered in theme attraction design as well.

Smell / Taste
Although smell and taste are usually thought of as two different senses, they are so closely linked that for our purposes they can be considered one in the same. Humans use these senses very little in comparison to those senses previously mentioned, but they should never be overlooked when planning an attraction. Indeed, a well-placed scent can provide that final touch of realism that will make the experience a memorable one. Consider how the smell of smoke could enhance a burning building set, or how that distinctive sea aroma would contribute to an ocean themed attraction. Imagine how the wafting smell of rain (accomplished by adding nitrogen content to the air) would make a visitor feel before entering a ride featuring a tornado or thunderstorm? There are many more uses of smell than are immediately obvious to most, but good designers get paid to focus on details like these.

The following piece is from EPCOT CENTER TODAY, Vol 1, No. 2 1981.
(Outdated, or were they just ahead of their time?)

Disney imagineers have added a fifth sense to the newest attractions at Epcot Center. The sense of smell will be added to scores of other special effects in a new generation of Disney shows now being designed for Future World and the World Showcase pavilions. Working with the imagineers at WED Enterprises in California, Bob McCarthy has developed "a smellitzer machine" , to add the aroma of everything from an erupting volcano in the Universe of Energy show to the tantalizing smell of a barbecue of the fragrence of orange blossoms. Each will be keyed to a particular show scene to enhance the realism of experiences in the Future World and World Showcase. WED designers are collecting scents from suppliers all over the world and blending them to produce the desired effect. So far, more than 300 odors have been tried, but more than 3,000 will be tested before the final choices are made. The smellitzer operates like an air cannon, aiming the scent up to 200 feet across a room toward an exhaust system. Guests travelling on the moving vehicles will pass through the scene as the appropriate scent drifts across their path. Regulated by computer, the scent can be triggered for a fresh aroma just prior to each vehicle's arival. According to McCarthy, the use of smell has fascinated the entertainment industry for a long time. "Back in the fifties, Mike Todd developed a process called 'smell-a-vision'," McCarthy said. "The idea was to release certain scents into the theatre as the visual counterpart was shown on the screen." McCarthy, who worked with Todd on the project, claims there were many problems with "smell-a-vision." "The main problems was that odors tended to linger in the air, and after a while they all blended together," he said. "We couldn't get the scents in and out of the theatre quickly enough." At Epcot Center, the situation will be different because the audience will be moving through each of the many experiences in each pavilion. Some of the most unusual scents will be in the Land pavilion at Epcot Center. Here, the visitors will experience tropical vegetation, rain forests, deserts; some of the great terrain found on Earth. Of course, Disney "imagineers" plan to supply all the appropriate smells. Guests travelling through a farming scene may detect a faint animal smell. In another scene, an orange grove will smell like the real thing. Still another effect calls for the smell of damp earth. Some of the smells will hardly be noticable to most people. The aroma will be there, but the sensory perception may not be a concious one. The WED engineers have learned how to regulate the strength or intensity of the odors used. A whole generation of unique techniques, special effects and transportation systems are being developed for Epcot Center.

One final note about smell and taste. A few years ago I was touring a Disney theme park when I noticed a popcorn cart and an attendant. I approached him and asked him what effect the "popcorn smell" had on his sales. His reply was enlightening. He said, "Every time I turn on my artificial popcorn smell, I can have a line of up to ten people within five minutes". At the time, he and I were the only ones there, and his "smell button" was turned off.

Final thoughts
The best themed attractions can be said to be perfect mimics of the environment it attempts to re-create. When done well, the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred, and a truly memorable guest experience is created. But to be effective, these attractions must effectively stimulate all five senses.

The Good and the Bad:

What is the Difference Between Theme Parks Anyway?

These two pictures were taken at two different theme parks, owned by two competing companies. The train on the left is at a park on the West Coast, and the train on the right is in a park on the East Coast. Both trains look identical at first glance, don't they???

But upon further inspection, it is easy to see that the differences in these trains and their respective theme parks are about as large as the east is far from the west. When creating theme parks and other themed leisuretime attractions, attention to detail makes all the difference!

I took these two pictures with the intention of writing a compare/contrast essay, but I was even more shocked as I looked at the two pictures together. These pictures only further convinced me of the need to take care in every detail when creating themed environments. It is these details that subconsciously transform an "ordinary" place into a "magical" one. In fact, there is not too much difference between the picture on the left and the picture on the right, but the sum of many small details makes a huge difference.

Betrayed by Sound. . .
As you approach "Righty", you hear the huge boiler let off steam, you catch a whiff of the steam and the grease. You hear the steam powered whistle. It is almost as though you had been transported back to the 1870's, after all, it is an authentic train, painstakingly restored. The train on the left looks nearly identical to "Righty", but "Righty" probably cost five times more than "Lefty". Was it worth it to spend the extra dough? I would argue, yes. The designers of "Lefty" made a very nice replica of an authentic railroad train. In fact, one could even say that it is stunningly beautiful as trains go. They did a great job pleasing our visual senses, but what they forgot was that we, the guest, have more than one sense. The closer you get to "Lefty" the more you are convinced that you are in fact standing next to the world's largest air conditioner fan. You don't look at the train and think, "Wow! That's exactly the sort of contraption that Casey Jones used to engineer!" You think, "Geez, that's a nice train, but I can tell it's just an imitation". The wretched noise gives it away.

When it comes to theming, it is important to always take the idea to its furthest workable solution, or everything you strived for can be effectively ruined by a few "betraying" details. The sound of the diesel engine effectively ruined the "nostalgia" produced by the left train's good looks. If the "Lefty" designers chose the diesel train to save money, the question then becomes: Why go through the trouble of recreating a great looking steam train (and spending extra money on it) if the riders aren't going to be convinced that it is a steam train anyway? And furthermore, why make it look like a steam train if you have a diesel train? There are many beautiful diesel trains of yesteryear, why not design a gorgeous diesel train instead? It all depends on what theme you are trying to create after all. If it is themed to the 1850's, it should be a steam train; but if it is a 1930's theme, then maybe a diesel train is a better choice?

More Pixie dust Escapes. . .
Now look at the landscaping for the pictures on the left and the right. You'll notice how nice the landscaping on "Righty" looks, from the grass, to the trees, to the tracks: everything is immaculately groomed. It looks like a great place to go for a train ride, does it not?

Lefty is a different story. It is difficult to tell in the picture, but there are plenty of weeds and scrub brush on "Lefty's" tracks and on the hill opposite the station. Of course it is probably not more than two weeks worth of growth, but here again is another subconscious clue that "Lefty" is just another ordinary place with weeds. Weeds don't grow in the world of our dreams and imagination (unless dragons are involved, and then they are called briars). I can't say it enough: In order to have an extraordinary themed environment, it is important that no details are left uncared for!

The Road to Success?
Compare now the pavement on the right and the pavement on the left. The pavement on the left looks much like an ordinary sidewalk or parking lot. The chipped and faded yellow safety stripe is reminiscent of a typical yellow "no parking zone" curb we see every day in our cities. Because we are so used to seeing them; when a guest sees details like this it just reinforces the feeling of "ordinary-ness" of a park like "Lefty".

Question: When is the last time you have seen pavement that looks like the pavement on the right? I would guess never probably, unless you have been to this particular theme park. This fantastically colored reddish pavement does a lot to reinforce the fantasy feeling of this park, does it not?

What Else is missing???
Note how the little extra additions in architectural structure really help to enhance the effectiveness of "Righty" as well. The two buildings on the far right side add just that little bit of extra detail to make the scene complete. One of the "Righty" structures is a water tower for the train, and the other is a storage shed. Those extra buildings were omitted from the "Lefty" park. It is interesting how "Lefty" seems just fine until it is compared to "Righty", is it not? Some details are not noticed when they are omitted, but when they are present, they quietly add extra impact to an environment. It makes ones' subconscious think, "Wow! This is an amazing place!"

It is interesting to note that even something as simple as a storage shed and a water tower are painstakingly themed to drive home the point that "Righty" is not the sort of place you see every day. "Normal" is what well-themed parks should avoid! Just to play devil's advocate, one might argue that it is not fair to criticize "Lefty" for not having a water tower, because "Lefty" is a diesel train after all, and diesels don't need water towers right? Wrong! "Lefty" is supposed to be a steam train! In a themed environment, an imitation steam train needs a water tower just as much as a real steam train does! Every detail possible must be reproduced for accuracy in a themed environment. Suppose your favorite alien from your favorite sci-fi movie wore sneakers instead of alien feet? How would you feel? It wouldn't effect the plot of the movie in any way, but you expect an alien to have a pair of alien feet, right? In the same way, you would expect a steam train to have a water tower, too. The lack of a water tower won't effect the train ride itself, but it will effect the themed experience. Water towers and steam trains go hand and hand. It is always important to complete the theme with obvious details (and then add as many subtle ones as possible too).

Conclusion. . .
There are a lot of theme parks out there, but only a few really amazing theme parks - at least in the mind of the public. When designing a theme park or a similar leisuretime facility, it is easy to want to say, "ok, that's all! We've done enough, and spent more than enough." But with theming, the 20/80 rule applies. The last 20 percent of theming produces 80 percent of the lasting impressions of your theme park. So designers, developers, owners, I would encourage you: Avoid the mistake that "Lefty" made, and go the extra mile for your paying guests! Do it "Right"!

Theme attraction design, part three

The Sixth Sense, the Story, and the Cliche`
In Part One we talked about how theming creates an envelope around the viewer to convince his five senses that what he is seeing is actually real. What's the best way to make that happen? It involves tapping into a guest's sixth sense. Sixth sense, you ask? Yes! The sixth sense in themed entertainment is your imagination: calling upon the preconceived notions and nostalgic memories of a guest not only to advance a storyline, but also to make that person believe (though maybe only for a moment) that he is actually in a fantasy environment.

If you play upon a guest's sixth sense, you will not to have a passive visitor simply observing your environment. Instead, it will take a passive viewer and pull him from his relaxed realm of reality into the realm of fantasy. Every themed attraction should try to convince a person that he is actually in the world that you have created for him. If you can do that, chances are you have created a truly wonderful attraction - one that guests will remember. Before we talk about how to influence the sixth sense, let us take a step back to the initial design process.

The first step is in the design process is to make sure that the themed attraction focuses on a story. I have toured quite a few theme parks in the last few years, and one of the biggest mistakes that nearly all of them still make is that they attempt to make their attractions "themed" by simply adding scenery and props to it. If you were to ride a Ferris wheel named "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and if each car was shaped like a submarine, would you leave the ride feeling that you have actually experienced a Jules Verne novel? Probably not, I would think. In this case, a Ferris wheel painted yellow would have given you the exact same experience, because there was no emotion and no story attached to the attraction whatsoever. This sort of attraction is what may be considered a poor themed experience, as simply adding expensive props to a set adds nothing of value to the guest experience. A Ferris wheel can hardly evoke too much emotion because there is no story involved with it at all (Not that Ferris wheels are bad, mind you. I love Ferris wheels myself. Just not as a themed attraction) Along the same lines let us take the Broadway musical "Phantom of the Opera" as an example. Phantom is a very excellent show, combining beautiful imagery, striking special effects, and hauntingly exciting music. It is a compelling story of a brilliant, yet grotesquely deformed man and his love affair with a woman. The show is so engrossing that one feels a part of it. Now suppose we were to remove the story from Phantom. If all the special effects and pyrotechnics were set off, if a few nice props were on the set, and if once in a while someone would come out and sing a song or two; would we, the guest still have the same experience? Of course not! It would be a talent show, which is certainly not a moving theatrical event like Phantom of the Opera. Story is one of the keys to stirring the guests' emotion. So in creating a truly memorable theme park experience, every themed attraction should have a story, just as every Broadway musical has a story.

Now imagine if you will another theme park attraction: the theme is still "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".* This time we will try to influence all five senses, and our aforementioned sixth sense. Of course, the story comes first: Instead of being on a Ferris wheel, I want you to imagine yourself inside the dimly lit control room of The Nautilus. Captain Nemo is there, calmly giving out orders to his highly trained crew. And all seems well as the crew carries their duties with a characteristic din. The sonar pings rhythmically, and Nemo seems truly at ease, though astute, in the command chair as his vessel slips silently through the water 5 fathoms below the surface. The chamber smells of freshly oiled machinery with an occasional whiff of diesel. You are aboard a well maintained machine. Suddenly, the sonar begins to make not one, but two pings every few seconds. "We have a contact, Captain!", the young sonar operator reports. "Can you tell what it is?", Nemo asks. "I'm not sure sir, but it's big, and it's approaching fast!" "Full left rudder! Brace for impact!" Nemo commands. And just then the entire room shudders, and you are jolted by the impact. One of the young ensigns is thrown from his chair. The sound of collision is terribly loud -- a cacophony of reverberating steel. "Damage control! Battle Stations!" Nemo shouts as nozzles begin to burst in various places throughout the room. As the salty spray hits your arms and face, you begin to feel like this will not be the serene voyage you thought it would be.

This is a short story that I just made up based on the Jules Verne novel, but this is the sort of story one might expect for this sort of theme, and, given the proper ride system, this could be a truly memorable guest experience. Don't you agree? What have I done differently than the Ferris wheel? Answer: I have placed you not as an observer of the action, but as a crew member inside the submarine. There is something at stake for you just as much as there is for Nemo. This story not only places you inside the fantasy environment, but it attempts to influence all five senses (as mentioned in Part One)

1. Sight.... you see that you are sitting inside The Nautilus. The main characters to advance the plot are present
   
2. Hearing.... you hear the sonar, the engine, the crew, the impact and Captain Nemo talk
   
3. Touch.... you not only feel the submarine, but you are very evident that something important has happened as you are nearly thrown from your seat. At the end of this scene, you feel the ocean water hit your face. The effect of spray on your face drives home the point that the submarine you are in is in grave danger.
   
4. Smell.. You can smell both the grease from the engine and the diesel fumes. It is evident that this is not just a dressed up room you are sitting in...
   
5. Taste.... Some of the salt water will reach your face, and with luck your taste buds. Ones' naturally curious tongue will help this effect.
   
6. I suppose you are wondering where the sixth sense comes in, aren't you?
   

This attraction will influence a guest's sixth sense for a couple reasons: first because most people already know a whole lot about the novel, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". It is more easy to imagine something that we have a pre-conceived notion about. So in this way, we have tapped into your sense of nostalgia.

But more importantly, this particular attraction forces you, the guest, to imagine the unseen object outside the submarine. To drive home the point, let me ask this question: Do you know what attacked the Nautilus? It should be obvious to most readers that it was a giant squid. Without even mentioning what the creature actually was, most people knew that a classic undersea battle was about to take place. When a designer can get his audience to start imagining, then his work is done. If a design is successful, it gets the ball rolling enough that the visitor's imagination takes over. What the viewer actually sees matters less, as his imagination naturally fills in the blanks for him. Walla!! We have just created a memorable guest experience. And that's your sixth sense at work. You used it just by reading the story, without even riding this attraction! In this way, a theme park designer plays on the sixth sense of the visitor.

As a side, an award winning attractions designer, Bob Rogers, once told me that in theme attraction design, we "never avoid the cliches`. The reason cliches` are called cliches` is because they work. And so we add as many as we can to our attractions" When a cliche` is added to a themed attraction, it only serves make it better. Why you ask? In short, adding cliches` to a story help evoke a person's imagination, their sixth sense.

1. A cliche` helps communicate an idea through the use of visual imagery. This is helpful because you can't always use words to tell a story, and anything you can add to help them along is always desirable.
   
2. It helps the audience relate to what is happening, because they feel they know the story and the characters.
   
3. It fires the imagination and it helps move emotions

A typical movie cliche`, for example (and one of my favorites) is from the horror movies. It never fails in that scary moment when you know the bad guy is about to strike, a cat always jumps out at you. Inevitably, the real killer is very nearby, though. How many times has this happened in the movies? It has happened dozens of times, I am sure, and that's what makes it a cliche`. If we were designing a haunted attraction, what better way to let the audience know that there is some sort of danger approaching by having a cat jump out at them? Using a cliche` to in attraction is nothing to be eschewed. On the contrary, it is a very useful story telling device.

So in essence, it's not enough just to add sights and sounds to an attraction. The attraction should be a creative blend of sights, story telling devices, with goal in mind to stir the emotion and imagination of a guest. With the proper use of all of the elements we have talked about so far it is very possible to create a guest experience exciting enough to keep them coming back time and again. And that's what it is all about.

Bob Rogers is a Renaissance man, a technology buff, and a great storyteller. After leaving CalArts, he was an in-and-out man at WDI, working on Florida Disney attractions and Pavilions at EPCOT.

In 1981, looking for steadier employment, he founded BRC Imagination Arts. And his productions there have won him many prizes: Kennedy and Houston Space Centers, Spirit Lodge, Rainbow War, and Vancouver Expo where he stole the show. You all know his talent. He will tell us about the coming revolution in themed entertainment.

Speech by Bob Rogers:
Buzz says that I was an in and out man at Disney. What he means by that is that I have been fired by the Disney organization three times now, and each time told I will never ever work there again. This morning I will demonstrate why. . .

In the early 1950's Walt Disney ignored the conventional wisdom of his day and re-invented our business. Walt died in 1966 but his revolution continued on without him, and it was codified by less original thinkers. Today that revolution has become the establishment. It's well-developed rules select against new ideas while replicating old ones. Derivative thinking regulates our industry's economic models and it's creative options.

Today it is time to once again re-invent our industry To understand the coming revolution, look to the original revolution. It's implications and insights are still ringing throughout our industry. Now the public relations perfect story says that it all started at a merry-go-round in Griffith Park California where a father, Walt, had taken his two daughters in a failing attempt to find some family fun. Well, that's pretty and that's cute, but I'm here to tell you that that revolution really began late one stormy November night in a hotel room in Chicago, and I'd like to take you there:

You have entered a classic smoke filled room. There are Cuban cigars, caviar, an entire case of Chevis Regal, and seven men. It is 44 years ago tonight, during the annual meeting of the National Association of Parks Pools and beaches; the organization which later became the AAPA, which only recently became the IAAPA.
Walt Disney is not here; the three men representing Walt know relatively little about theme parks. They are Buzz Price, Dick Irvine and Nat Weinkoff. The other four men in the room are here to confidently tell the first three why Walt's ideas will fail. They are the giants of our industry in 1953, the most experienced, successful and respected owners and operators of amusement parks. They are William Shmidt, owner of River Forest in Chicago, Harry Bat of Ponchetrain in New Orleans, Ed Schott of Coney Island, and George Whitney of Playland at the Beach in San Francisco.
The three from Disney unroll this bird's eye master plan drawn by Herb Ryman and they stick it to the wall with masking tape, and now they stand back they invite comments.

It's a massacre! Now I'm going to tell you what they told these guys that night, and as I do that, I'd like to think that this sounds like a meeting that you've been in while your work has been reviewed recently.

Number one: All the proven money makers are conspicuously missing: No roller coaster, no ferris wheel, no shoot the chute, no tunnel of love, no hot dog carts, no beer. Worst of all, no carny games like the baseball throw. Without barkers along the midway to sell the sideshows the marks won't pay to go in. Customers are likely to slip out of your park with money still left in their pockets.

Number two: Custom rides will never work, they cost too much to buy, they will be constantly breaking down resulting in reduced total ride capacity and angry customers. Only stock, off the shelf rides are cheap enough and reliable enough to do the job, and besides, the public doesn't know the difference or care.

Number three: Most of Disney's proposed park produces no revenue but it's going to be very expensive to build and maintain. Things like the castle and the pirate ship are cute but they aren't rides, so there isn't any economic reason to build them is there?

Number four: Town square is loaded with things that don't produce revenue, like town hall for the fire department, and of course town square itself.

Number five: The horse cars, the horseless carriages, and the western wagon rides have such small capacity and cost so much to run that they will lose money even if they run full all the time.

Number six: You can't operate an amusement park year round, 120 days per year is the best you can do.

Number seven: Walt's design only has one entrance, this is going to create a terrible bottleneck. Traditional wisdom dictates entrances on all sides for closer parking and easier access.

Number eight: You'll lose money providing all those design details and nice finishes. The people are going to destroy the grounds and vandalize the ride vehicles no matter what you do, so you might as well go cheap.

Number nine: Walt's screwy ideas about cleanliness and great landscape maintainence are economic suicide. He'll lose his shirt by overspending on these things which the customers never really notice.

Number ten:. Modern mid-twentieth century amusement park management theory dictates: Build it cheap and then control your costs. Employment theory is similar. Pay your employees the least you can and then ride them hard and get ready to fire them, because they will steal from you.

The bottom-line. The customers only spend about 1 dollar per capita when they go to an amusement park and they will never spend any more. Mr. Disney's park idea is just too expensive to build, and too expensive to operate. Tell your boss to stick to save his money they said, tell him to stick to cartoons. Tell him to stick to what he knows and leave the amusement business to the professionals .

The establishment of 1953 had spoken!

And then there was this revolution. About six weeks ago, I had the rare privilege of to discuss this revolution with one of the men actually there that night. He's here with us today. Mr. Harrison Price.
He said, "Before Walt came along, the entire industry was getting one dollar per capita. The main thing that Walt did was to figure out how to get the per caps up to $4.50 in the very first year. And by the second year they were up to 6 dollars. The rest of the industry was astonished."
How did Disney do this? Well it was very simple. It comes down to stay time. Before Disney, the stay time at an average amusement park was less than two hours. But Disney created an environment with an abiance that was so refreshing and pleasant that the stay time went up to an unheard of seven hours. And because the stay time went up, the per capitas on food, retail, and ride tickets went up. And the place was an attraction in itself so he could charge people to get in, which wasn't done elsewhere. The result of all this theming, landscaping, and entertainment balance was a revolutionary new and different income profile not seen here, very clearly.

There were two other things about the planning that also seems especially important, and each involves putting the guests' experience first :

1. Walk planned the circulation patterns first. That's the place where the people walk. They planned that as a first priority. Up to that point, designers usually focussed on the the positive space. That's the thing being built; rather than the negative space, the place where people will be. And he planned every attraction from the perspective of the guest rather than the operator or the manager. Walt focussed on the people.
   
2. Second and very dear to my heart, and perhaps more important. . . Disneyland was the first major attraction planned by storytellers rather than engineers, architects, operators or curators.

After Walt's death, Walts' audience friendly revolution hardened into the new establishment. Many of the current rules are just as dogmatic as the rules that Walt defied in 1953. And surprise! Many of them are the same rules. All of these hard, fast rules are just begging for a new revolution. So now it is time for you to re-invent the business.

The motto of your new revolution should be the same one that Walt used in the original one: Follow the guests. Walt's revolution changed the design priorities. Ride operators had focussed on their own problems of operating rides: mainly keeping capital labor and maintenance costs down. Walt's original revolution focussed instead on the guests' experience. . . putting the guests' priorities first. Cleanliness, service, adventure, music, magic, fun, happy feet.

Today attractions are once again being designed to solve the operators' and owners 'problems instead of the guests' problems. All you have to do is talk to the guests. They'll tell you what they don't like!
Based on that, here are seven of many possible directions for the next revolutions in themed attractions.

Anyone? Hazard a guess? What do people not like about theme parks? Lines! NO LINES! Too much of a theme park visit is spent waiting in line. Today, the establishment's idea of correct park design deliberately causes lines. Master planners intentionally set ride capacity target below the projected demand in order to minimize the owner's capital cost. The prevailing wisdom is "ahhh, they'll wait, they really don't have a choice anyway". So a line is a master planner's method of rationing rides. Now that's a dirty trick! We promise our guests a day of fun and rides at our park, and then after they've paid us to get in we use these lines to ration the rides. Could lines and waiting time be eliminated or at least greatly reduced? Of course they could! In the coming revolution, the long line is dead.

1. A return to gates within gates. At the original Disneyland in 1955, the main entrance ticket booth sold you a pass to get into the park and it came attached to a book of ride tickets, A through E. If you used all those tickets you could buy more. Later Disneyland, and soon all the parks went to a one price admission. Today, guests expect to go on everything within the park at no additional park at no additional cost.
   But wait a minute! This system is being challenged. After paying almost forty dollars to get into EPCOT, you would have to pay an additional four dollars to drive the Daytona. This summer Knott's Berry Farm successfully charged extra for rock climbing and laser tag and other specially ticketed attractions within the gates of their park. Surprise! The public seems to be going along with this! Will the 1955 Disneyland style of Disneyland come back?
   
2. Faster obsolescence. Today, new becomes old faster than ever before. Yet state of the art attractions, like Jurassic Park the Ride, Superman the Ride, and Indiana Jones the Ride are becoming more expensive and less adaptive. Now if the traveling version of Cirque du Soliel can completely remake itself every couple of years, why can't a themed attraction remake itself every couple of years? Home grown haunted houses for crying out loud . . . the kind done on residential streets by amateurs. . . often are new and completely different each year! So if the amateurs can do it, why can't our industry? We are the ones with all the tricks!
   Reinventing a park every two years would reverse the current trend toward ever more expensive attractions amortized over twenty years . Your likely revolutionary strategies to achieve this will include new forms, new formats, and new ideas built to recover their costs in a single season showing large profits in two seasons. More reliance on theatrical techniques that engage the audiences imagination instead of using money as an imagination substitute.
   Flexible attractions with adaptability designed in. For example: take a more theatrical approach. Require the audience to willingly enter the story. Put more emphasis on light, sound, illusion, artistry, and the power of suggestion. . . And above all, more emphasis on great storytelling to fire the guests interests and imagination.
   
3. More refreshing. Back in the early 1950's, Walt noticed that the atmosphere at most parks was not relaxing. The colors and graphics were garish, the barkers were irritating, and the employees looked dangerous, and the place was noisy and dirty. Stay times were around two hours partly because in that environment, people got tired faster. Walt got those seven hour stay times by using lush landscaping, a relaxing ambiance, and a balanced blend of big thrills and little discoveries to keep the guests constantly relaxed and refreshed.
   But today, the once refreshing visit to a Disney, Universal or other theme park has become a frantic experience that many guests do not find relaxing. Because of the high cost of admission many guests feel pressured to get their money's worth. But there is too much to see, and not enough day to do it in. They are fighting crowds and the logistics of getting around; and instead of refreshment, the result is an amount of stress that no amount of happy elevator music can hide. What is happening here? What are we doing to ourselves? Are we actually overproducing our parks? By adding only E tickets, and not enough A's and B's (and actually, after a park opens, you never add an A or a B). Are we making our parks too stimulating? Could we actually do better for our owners and our guests generating higher profits and greater satisfaction by spending less and charging less? The coming revolution will certainly continue to create pockets of high excitement, but between those pockets it will bring back the refreshing soft touch.
   
4. Better food. With very few exceptions theme park food is awful. McDonald's serves better! When will we fix our food?
   
5. Offering first class seats. Why do we insist on selling only coach class experiences in our theme parks? A coach class ticket from Los Angeles to Paris can be bought for about $800. A first class ticket on the exactly same plane costs just under $10,000, but both seats go to the same place. Now the difference in experience is worth the difference in price to a few. Why don't we apply that kind of thinking to our business? Already in our shop in some of our designs, there will be coach class and first class experiences.
   
6. Meaningful and intelligent fun. We possess. . . you possess the most powerful communications storytelling tools of all time. Why don't we apply those tools to subjects that really matter to our guests? Things that our guests think about or worry about all the time? Things like family, community, sex, life, death, faith, the future, and of course, who Kathy Lee is dating now.
   Creating deeply meaningful, intelligent fun that is also highly entertaining and highly repeatable. . . that would be a real revolution. This is just a short list of strategies it's only a beginning. It's easy to add ideas to it. Just follow the guest. Improve the guest experience and you will be rewarded. If that means that you have to re-invent some of the rules, then let's do that.
   

Today's conventional wisdom is still filled with wisdom. But in some areas, especially around the edges, it often reminds me of a middle ages map of the world with its frontiers full of all devouring dragons and giant waterfalls where you can fall right off the flat edge of the earth. The message of those symbols is avoid danger, stick to the known. Well today we are at the dawn of a new millenium, and a new age in themed entertainment. But our technology and our audience is changing far faster than we change the rules we use to organize them. There is treasure all around us. In 1953, as now, the future belongs to those who dare to create it.

I'm the Chairman of BRC Imagination Arts. BRC Imagination Arts creates and produces attractions for themed entertainment, world fairs and visitor centers. This is our fourteenth year and still we continue to try new things. Next week we will open our first Aquarium project. What BRC does is to weave great storytelling together with the latest state of the art technology. That's why I'm delighted to be here at TiLE. We have three great days ahead of us, three great days to explore the latest technical opportunities in our industry.

All of us here love the technology of this business. It's fun. Technology is like a new toy -- endlessly fascinating. One of the best things about coming to TiLE is seeing all the wonderful new things the wizards have invented.
But later, when the conference is over, we have to go back home. Back to the real work.

We'll probably have to explain a few things. One thing we'll probably have to explain is: What good did we get out of this conference about Trends and Technology in Leisure Entertainment? To prepare our answer, what should we be looking for while we are here?

It is really quite simple. It comes down to one word: It is the same, whether you are a vendor of hardware, a seller of creative services or an owner or operator of an attraction. We are all here to create...value. That's the objective of TiLE --

To understand the trends and technology in leisure entertainment, and use them to create value. How do you define value for the attractions you create, equip or operate? Think about that for a second. In trade advertising, we all spend far too much time trying to create value in the relationship between the park owner and the vendors. The much more important place to create value is between the park and its guests. In the end, the guest is the boss. If the guests don't like the new attraction it is a failure. So, in the end, all of us are on the same team and we are all working for the guest, creating value.

What does value look like? It might look like increased profits. Or longer lines. More repeat visits. For public institutions, it might be greater educational or social impact. But to me, value looks like this:

Imagine a child hugging your park's mascot. To me, that image, that loving connection between your attraction and your guests, symbolizes the value we are all here to create.

Look at the kids' faces. Their smiles confirm that you have connected. These kids have received something that they found really meaningful -- something that did more than entertain. It captured their imagination and rewarded them for coming to your attraction. You have touched their hearts.

If we can get even a little better at creating this kind of value, this year's TiLE conference will be a great success. Of course every one of us here will have his or her own ideas about how to go about it. There is no right or wrong way to create value, as long as you end up with the customers loving your attraction. This morning we will look at just one popular way to create value: Story. Through stories we create and add value. This isn't the only way to create value, but it works. It has worked for centuries. It is timeless. To make the point, here's a question to ponder as you explore TiLE this year. What was the number one, single most valuable and profitable entertainment project, of any kind, created last year?
Was it a theater system? Was it a Virtual Reality experience? A Family Entertainment Center? A theme park? Did it use the most special effects technology? None of the above. It was The Lion King. The Lion King used plenty of advanced technology, and enjoyed one of the greatest marketing campaigns ever created.

But is that what the people came to see? No. They came to see a great story, beautifully told, with lovable, interesting, engaging characters. The financial results were also lovable. In its first nine months, from movie theaters alone, The Lion King took in over 742 million U.S. Dollars. But wait. This is only the movie theaters. There's lots more. In addition, The Lion King has already sold over 30 million video copies. And the videos are still selling. But there's more. We haven't counted retail sales, character licenses, TV versions, park attractions, Broadway shows, Ice Shows or anything else. By the time it is done, The Lion King will undoubtedly become the most profitable film ever made.

With an original cost rumored to be around $50 million, experts estimate that over its lifetime, The Lion King will be worth over one billion dollars. That's an American billion with a B. A thousand million. That's net profits to Disney. A 2,000 percent return. Now that's a story with a happy ending! But Lion King was for kids, right? And besides, it's Disney. So that doesn't count.

"Forrest Gump" was clearly an entertainment for adults, and winner of the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year. Box office to date: $648 million. Did the audiences come to see the trick shots that combined Tom Hanks with images of dead American Presidents? Maybe some people did. But mainly, Forrest Gump was a great story that made you sincerely love and care about the characters.

With or without stars, with or without a big budget, a well-told story is a winner. Now, The Lion King, Forrest Gump and Four Weddings and a Funeral were all released in 35mm/1.85 running at twenty-four per second, twenty-five in Europe. The film aperture may be small and old fashioned, but a great story will make the experience big and fresh. Story makes the screen seem bigger. That's the ability of story to create and add value.

But wait a minute. These are feature films. How does story work in our business, in Themed Entertainment?
First, story gives identity to your entire park. If people remember and love that identity, then they remember and love you.
Look again at the words: Theme...Park. Don't they really mean Story...Place? A place with a story? The story or your park is the identity of your park. If the audience loves your story, they will want to be a part of your story by visiting your park more often. What is the story of your park? One of my favorite themed attractions of all time is Efteling. As you know, Efteling is all about traditional local fairy tales. Most of the technology there is relatively simple. But the same guests keep coming back, year after year. Children visit, grow up and return with their children. They return again and again because there is a wonderful spirit about the place that people find deeply meaningful on a personal level.
Efteling is more than entertainment. It is a part of people's lives. That is the kind of deep value that story can create for you -- a deep connection with the hearts of your audience.

Second, story makes experiences more valuable by adding meaning and creating emotional involvement with your audience. We love Doug Trumbull's Back to the Future the Ride at Universal Studios. Why is it so effective? Certainly the technology is a big part of it. But another big reason is that we already know the story and the characters established in the hit film. Now, in the ride, we get to be in the movie. It becomes our adventure. We are the hero. Would the ride have been as successful without the story?

We love Disney's brand new Indiana Jones Ride which just opened in California. The technology is fabulous. But the main reason the ride works is that we have previously helped Indiana Jones fight his way through all those great George Lucas and Steven Spielberg films. Because we know and love the story, the ride is much more fun. Story creates value. Story adds value.

Of course these same rides would still be fun without any story, just the raw technology and the physical sensation of a near-death experience. But starting from this purely mechanical beginning, story can create and add value, as it did in the Indiana Jones and Back to the Future rides.

To illustrate how story adds value to technology, let me tell you a story. As a matter of fact, you are in the story. Imagine two magicians: The other magician and you. The other magician has challenged you to a contest to see who is the greatest magician. The other magician takes the stage and out of thin air he causes his lovely assistant to suddenly appear. Amazing! Then she disappears, right in front of us. Fascinating. How did he do it?

Now it is your turn. Imagine you are performing alone on stage. Your performance is more than a trick. You tell a story -- a story about yourself. You begin your story by telling the audience that you are sad. Your girl friend has left you. You said something to her that was stupid and thoughtless and now you may never see her again. If only you could find her and apologize and tell her how much you love her. But you can't. She is gone. And you miss her so much that sometimes you imagine that you see her, coming back to you. Like a dream, she appears! She steps right out of the air.
She is smiling as she moves toward you. You and she embrace. And then she is gone, like a dream vanished out of your arms as mysteriously as she came. You are alone again, sad, missing her terribly. Okay. Time's up! You know you both did pretty much the same trick. But you won the magic contest. Your audience is now applauding in tears. It was a wonderful, magical moment.

What made your version so great? The technology? The magical apparatus, sometimes known as the gimmick?
The technology is nothing - some cloth, a wire and some very careful lighting. Not very impressive. But most important, the technology was the same for both magicians. The difference was that you added the power of story. You added the romantic idea of the lost lover who appears, returns to you and then vanishes right in your arms. The story - that's where the magic is.

Of course all of you here today at TiLE already knew about story, that story adds value. The next question is: How to do it. How do you go about adding story with technology to create value?

Well here are a couple of ideas to share: Six Key Strategies that we use in our creative meetings at BRC Imagination Arts. These six keys help us. Maybe you'll find them helpful. Incidentally, if you know of some others, I'd love to hear about them from you here at TiLE, sometime in the next several days.

Key Number One: Think theatrically. Thinking theatrically starts with you. Think of yourself as an entertainer. Not a technician. Not a vendor. Not an operator.
Here's why it's so important, especially today: As tools improve skills tend to get weak. For example, as communications technology improves, we get instant international satellite telephone processors, e-mail, but as a result, letter writing skills are lost. Today, many, many people can't write clearly. All those wonderful communications technologies are used to send junk.
Is the same thing happening to our ability to entertain? As our entertainment tools get better, are we losing our entertainment skill? Are the story tellers among us trying hard enough? Are we relying on the razzle dazzle of style and the glamour of effects, hardware and buzz words and 'slight of mouth' to cover up lame story ideas?
As the equipment vendors, are we hiding in our technical booth, hoping that our technology can entertain by itself? Are park operators hiding backstage? Originally, attraction owners were all entertainers but are they becoming merely machine operators? Or real estate developers? Where has all the show biz gone?
We all need to step up to our traditional responsibility to entertain. We are all entertainers, whether we entertain with technology, architecture or greasepaint. Our objective is to give our guests a smile. We need to look at absolutely everything we do from the selection of music to the selection of trash cans and ask, what does this do for my guest? The first step, is to think of ourselves not as park operators or vendors or technicians but as entertainers. We need to think theatrically.

Key Number Two: Forget what you know.
As experts in entertainment technology, our goal must be to not see or think like experts. Instead we must always remind ourselves to see and think like our customers, our guests. Our guests are the real experts.
It doesn't matter how world class or state of the art something is. It doesn't matter if your colleagues in the industry admire your technology or despise it. Their opinion doesn't matter. The guests give all of us the only report card that counts. Get close to your guests, the ones paying your bills.
Stand in line with them, talk with them, think like them, feel like them, be one of them. Share their experience. All that matters is how your guests think and feel when they are in your park.

Key Number Three: Understand and respect your specific context. This is new! When we talk about story we almost never mention context but in the themed attraction business context is everything. Change the context and you change the story. Some examples: A story that delighted teenagers at a Korean world's fair won't necessarily be popular among the classic country music fans in Branson, Missouri.
What works in central Florida is no longer guaranteed to work in Paris. You must respect local conditions. Disney had a rough start in Europe but today, under European management, Disneyland Paris is rapidly adapting to its European context and will soon be a huge success. But here's the classic example: What comes to mind when you think of Las Vegas? Gambling, sudden riches, danger, glamour, outlaws, sex? All of these things.
This is what we mean by context. These are the story elements you expect. You won't be surprised if you found all these things in Las Vegas. You might even be a little disappointed if you didn't. No wonder Steve Wynn's spectacular pirate show in front of the Treasure Island Hotel is such a hit. A real crowd pleaser. It is exactly what the audience is in the mood for. Of course the lawless pirates win the battle and steal the gold. Of course they sink the symbol of authority, the British ship.
As Steve Wynn says, Las Vegas is an outlaw town and here the outlaws always win. Steve Wynn perfectly understands his context. The audiences in Las Vegas love it. While they're in Las Vegas.
But now suppose you move everything: Move the show and the audience too! Yes! Pick up all those exact same people in the audience and move them and the show to a different location. Instead of being in Las Vegas they are now in front of the United Nations Building. How does that feel?
Or maybe they're in front of Buckingham Palace, sort of a summer replacement for the Changing of the Guards Ceremony.
Or perhaps in Jerusalem, in the heart of the holy city. The same show we enjoyed in Las Vegas suddenly becomes disturbing in these locations, doesn't it? In areas highly concerned about security, the pirate theme instantly loses its charm. And yet it is the same show with exactly the same people in its audience but a change of context has completely changed the show's meaning and its popularity.
Ideas are not always portable. Respect the local context.

Key Number Four: If story is important, then keep focused on story. Don't be diverted or distracted. Remember that it is easy to use the word, 'story' in every sentence. This doesn't necessarily mean you actually have a story.
Watch for these telltale signs of a shift in focus:

Warning sign Number One: Someone wants you to commit to the technology before working out the story. If all you need is hardware, there is nothing wrong with this, but it doesn't address story.
Warning Sign Number Two: The discussion begins with story but quickly shifts to technical issues such as frames per second, axis of movement, horn lines, fields of view, screen sizes, sound environments, etc. And it never comes back. Again, this isn't necessarily bad. But if story was important, this probably won't fix it.
In contrast, storytellers tend to talk about things like dramatic hooks, plot points, three act structures, character, conflict, action, suspense, comic relief, obligatory scenes, payoff, resolution and finale. And they continue to talk about these things throughout the creation of the show, in addition to technology.

Key Number Five: Get a great Story Maker. A magic lamp is a great piece of hardware but it is no good without a genie to make the wishes come true. That's your story maker. You will need both the story maker and the technologist before you are done.

Key Number Six: Ask yourself often: "What is the product of the product?" Power tool maker Black and Decker makes and sells drills but they tell their salesmen, "Don't sell the drill; sell the holes."
The drill is the product. But perfect holes are what the customer really wants. The holes are the product of the product. Another example: The user of a photocopy machine may appreciate the machine's sleek design, the sophistication of its internal mechanics and the elegant efficiency of its electronic brain but in the end, what they really want isn't this machine. What they really want is their report, duplicated and collated precisely. The report is the product of the product.
What is the product of your product? Is it something as simple as a hug? A smile? A memory? A repeat visit? Several repeat visits?

So there you have our six keys to story.

Think Theatrically
Forget what you Know
Respect the Local Context
Keep Focused on Story
Get a Great Story Maker
Focus on the Product of the Product

People all over the world want similar things from themed attractions: They want an adventure; a chance to star in their own stimulating personal journey outside their usual experience; the chance to share this meaningful adventure with family, friends and loved ones.

When we open the gates of our attractions, we promise to deliver all those things and more. It is a big promise. To your ever lasting credit, this industry actually delivers on that promise most of the time. Here, this week, we're going to all get a little better at it. In the next three days we will celebrate the latest technical miracles. We will be consumed by bytes, bits, channels, flow rates, apertures and degrees of freedom. Of the many new tools on display, which is the right one for you? The best tool is always the one that can best tell the story that will create the most value for everyone.

At TiLE '95 in Maastricht, the Netherlands, the most valuable information was to be found in private conversation between industry insiders. Here we reveal some key trends they were talking about. Larger markets for bigger, better and fewer attractions.

The long term effect of Euro Disney and the two other new European parks, Port Aventura and Warner Brothers Movie World, will be profound. They will raise the definition of excellence, stimulating growth in total theme park attendance throughout Europe. It is also argued that smaller or less progressive parks may well be doomed.
Euro Disney is rapidly improving its performance under European management, as visitors come away saying: "Oh, that's a theme park." In this way their definition of excellence is raised.

In April Port Aventura opened on the site that Disney almost used in Spain and so far it looks to be a phenomenal success that also raises standards. Next spring, Warner Brothers Movie World will open in Bottrop, Germany, a development promising to be yet another world class park.

The impact of these three attractions will be two-fold: Public expectations and standards will be raised and the public will no longer be satisfied with the traditional attractions currently offered by many European parks.
This has already sparked a construction boom as competing parks rush to add more top quality attractions to keep up. Liseberg has a long term multi-million dollar expansion, while Fantasialand has US $10m worth of additions underway for 1996. Efteling is constructing a new entrance building and a mysterious new attraction based on movement and illusion. These are just a few of the parks to have risen to the challenge posed by the newcomers.
Insiders look ahead to a shake-out in which those parks which grow and upgrade will prosper and those that stagnate will die. In some cases smaller parks with outstanding management will grow, while larger parks, either over-leveraged and lacking borrowing power, or those limited by non-profit ownership or less adaptive management, will be unable to meet the challenge and disappear.

Exceptions may well be smaller, traditional specialty attractions with under 100,000 annual attendance. Examples of this type include Madurodam, The Hague, Zeedierenpark, Harderwijk, the Karl May Festival in Germany and perhaps even Schloss Beck (the mini attraction immediately next door to Warner Brothers Movie World). Gated attractions with attendance over 500,000, however, will need to face up to the challenge.

Greater Market Penetration

The good news should be the achievement of greater market penetration. European parks have traditionally had much lower rates than the US, but according to speculation at TiLE this may be changing.
Traditional rates for a European park may be 10 percent, e.g., 2 million annual attendance from a potential market of 20 million. A typical US park may see 2 million annually from a market of 10 million or less, which is 20 percent penetration.

There are now signs that the European public is being stimulated by high quality attractions and more advertising, raising awareness of themed attractions. Leading attractions are now gaining a higher profile. European markets will not expand but penetration rates will go up. The result should be a larger combined attendance for fewer surviving operators.

What kind of new attractions will meet such challenges?

Many parks will make the mistake of abandoning their traditional identity, making a reflex grab for the hottest new sensation without considering how it affects their image. The eventual result will be a confusing park and a confused public. One of a park's most precious assets is its identity, what I call the park's story (the characters and values the public identifies with it). The best new attractions blend into a park's existing identity while expanding it, telling an old story in a new way.

A current example is the mysterious "illusion and motion" attraction under construction at Efteling. The park's established identity comes from traditional European fairy tales and the story told in the new attraction extends this in an ingenious mixture of storytelling and thrill ride special effects. When it opens, it should harmonize with the park's established identity while expanding it through added marketing punch.
Examples of hastily-conceived additions are unfortunately all too easy to find. Frequently they are thinly disguised copies of successful attractions at other parks which have little or no relation to the tradition of their new location. Rather than building on the identity of the host park, they blur it with contradictions. After a few seasons of this kind of aimless acquisition, a park can become a Frankenstein's monster, assembled from disparate parts. In its architecture and its settings, such a park is telling too many stories that don't blend, its marketing identity becomes unfocused and its public image confused. Such misfit attractions may provide a short term attendance boost but in the long run they make marketing the park harder as they confuse its identity.

Is the story of a park really important?

Look again at the words: "theme park". Don't the words really mean "story...place?" When you expand a theme park, you are expanding a "story place." In this context, story is the most important element. It doesn't have to be a traditional story with a beginning, middle and end. The story of a park is its identity - a combination of brands, stories, human values, memories and special meanings that the public attributes to it. Even a so-called pure amusement park will have a definite identity in the mind of its guests. A story is vital to marketing of any park, for how can you sell something if the customer is having trouble understanding what it is?

An advert for a new attraction sells two things: "Experience our new attraction" and "Spend a day at our park."
An attendance-building attraction is marketed for a year, maybe two, but the story of a park, its underlying personality is sold in every advertisement, every year. It makes sense to nurture your identity as it is your most valuable asset. A perfect example of such marketing is the new Warner Brothers Movie World, which its manager Joe Meck calls "branding." Whatever you call it, the Warner Brothers characters and stories have become internationally known. They provide instant identity for any theme park or attraction they are associated with, but this has taken years of careful nurturing.

Using story to meet the challenge

Every park has at least some identity which it can continue to build on, gradually making it more its own, as Warner Brothers did, or it can become a patchwork quilt of contradictory themes. A story doesn't limit you to happy fairy tales. High-tech thrill rides like Universal's Back to the Future or Disneyland's Indiana Jones ride prove that story-telling and a series of near-death experiences can work well together. Market research experts can identify key demographic or regional groups that are prime targets and your marketing staff, who will later have to sell the results, should also have a voice.

Determine your identity by asking your guests (and potential guests who don't actually visit) questions about yourself. From this you will learn your true market identity and how you stand with the competition and your audience. List options for expansion and shape them to fit to your park's story. With your marketing staff and economic researchers select an expansion project to harmonize with your established identity while expanding it and adding marketing punch. Select an attraction producer who will do more than keep the budget, schedule and technology on track. Choose one with a proven track record of keeping the story elements of your new attraction on target.

Conclusion

In the coming European theme park shake-out, the short term will be won by parks that add the most competitive attractions the fastest. Long term winners will be those who protect, preserve and grow established story identities until they become bankable brands. The gigantic winners will be those that do both.

In our business of creating and producing entertainment environments that span the realm of theme parks, visitors' centers, world's fairs and expos, exhibition films, museums, and other attractions worldwide, the approach by many of my colleagues to the use of technology reminds me of the fellow who has a little bit of time on Saturday and decides that he'll do a few odd jobs around the house. He goes out to the garage, finds his tool kit, picks up a hammer, and says, "This is a great tool." And then, hammer in hand, he walks around the house, looking for a job to do with the hammer. If he happens upon a picture that needs to be hung, he's in luck, but more than likely he happens upon a sink that's clogged. Convinced that his hammer is the latest and greatest tool, he attacks the sink with it.

Very frequently, something similar happens to those of us in this business. We get out of sequence, and pick the tools before we've defined the task. We determine the means before we determine the end. A fellow I admire once said, "With state-of-the-art technology comes state-of-the-art problems, followed closely by state-of-the-art invoices." We should always remember that technology is only a tool.

My first job in this business was working in the Disneyland Magic Shop. There, I'd demonstrate the tricks for sale to audiences of mostly eleven-to twelve-year-old kids. They'd buy the trick, go read the instructions, and come back to expose me in front of the next audience. From this, I learned the hard way that technology is not, and should not be, the heart of the show. The mechanics of the "trick" are not the most important part of a magic show. Entertainment is. You've got to touch your audience with some suspense, give them a surprise, a bit of humor, and a role to play in the show. Technology plays a supporting role.

I think the Disney organization developed audio animatronics not because they wanted to be in the audio-animatronic business, but because they wanted to put on a show. And when BRC Imagination Arts developed the Holavision process, which we used in the Spirit Lodge show at the 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver, we weren't trying to create a new technology for its own sake. It was because we had a show idea and no other way to put it on. First came the show idea; the technology came second.

To cause a message to transcend its origins, you need to avoid thinking "one plus one equals two." You need to get to the point where you're thinking that one plus one equals A. It's not the sum of the parts, but rather something completely different. At BRC, we've been fortunate enough to do a couple of shows that have transported audiences to another level.
In our industry, there are too many examples of the technology working, but not much else. The occasions where technology and the creative idea come together to transcend the limits of the technology itself are really few and far between. I experienced such a rare occurrence recently.

Jim Henson's Muppet Vision 3-D movie at the Disney-MGM Studios tour is really a great example of excellence. I walked out of there saying to myself, "What a great show!" And about a half hour later, I realized this was the first 3-D film I'd ever been to when I didn't walk out commenting on the 3-D process itself. The movie transcended its technology. The 3-D was there, and it was fantastic, but the creators gave us a little bit of suspense, a little bit of anticipation, and some humor, a setting, a theater... all of the elements. They gave us a good show. And the 3-D became secondary. The magic became secondary to the magic show.

Technology should always play a supporting role. Black & Decker advises its salespeople, "Don't sell the drills, sell the holes." I think that's good advice. The other good motto along that line is General Electric telling us, "We bring good things to life." In both instances, they're casting their technology in a supporting, not starring role.
Technology does, however, have one very important role to play. And that's to help you gather a crowd. Technology very frequently gives you that nice little one-liner, "on a screen five stories tall" or "filmed and projected at 60 frames per second" or what have you. Phrases like these allow you to intrigue and attract an audience so that you gather a whole bunch of eager faces there waiting to see your show. Indeed, that audience may be totally charmed and dazzled by that technology all by itself -- for about two minutes. But then you must transcend the limits of that technology and put on a presentation they'll remember.

Today, our industry has more and better technical choices than ever before, and we tend to make those choices with less insight, less heart, and less idea of what it is we're communicating than ever before. How ironic: As our communication tools improve, the communication itself becomes worse. But while the tools are still wonderful, they're only tools. They are means, not ends. The technology may gather a crowd, but after you've gathered that crowd, you'd better have something more for them. Something that's really going to dazzle their eyes, stimulate their minds, and if you're lucky, touch their hearts.