InPark Magazine issue #81 (Spring 2020)

issue 81, spring 2020 inparkmagazine.com

Contactless technology helps attractions reopen safely

Disney’s Galaxy

COVID-19

Dubai 2021

Two new trackless dark rides at the Walt Disney World Resort

Zoos & aquariums take a missiondriven approach to the pandemic

The UAE’s Expo 2020 is officially postponed one year

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issue 81, spring 2020

Inside the time machine

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Sustaining the mission Zoos and aquariums in the age of COVID-19

by Joe Kleiman

22 Geoff Thatcher’s new book: The CEO’s Time

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Through the generations Mack Rides and Europa-Park have stood the test of time • by Kevin Dazey

25 What should Themed Experience graduates

Removing barriers

12 The trend of contactless technology is here to stay • by Martin Palicki

Course objectives

know, say and do? • by Peter Weishar Reality, but better

28 AR and VR are making more memorable attractions • by Sarah Brack

Self-driving vehicle

Rethinking touch on interactive exhibits

17 CAVU Designwerks rolls out an intelligent,

30 Mad Systems’ QuickSilver integrates touchless

trackless ride vehicle • by Sarah Brack

and other options for museums • by Maris Ensing

Postponing an Expo

19 What does it mean to postpone Expo 2020

Dubai until 2021 • by Jim Ogul & Judith Rubin Weighing in on the delay

21 International participants in Dubai Expo 2020

share thoughts on the new dates • by Jim Ogul

COVER: The Connect&GO ParkPass RFID wristband is allowing attractions to reopen safely by making ticketing, purchases, queuing and more completely contactless.

Photo courtesy of Connect&GO

Machine • interview by Martin Palicki

Around Disney’s Galaxy in 25 minutes

34 Rise of the Resistance impresses on all fronts

by Martin Palicki & Judith Rubin Inside the mouse house

38 Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway revealed

by Martin Palicki

team & contributors PUBLISHER Martin Palicki

DESIGN Martin Palicki

EDITOR Judith Rubin

CONTRIBUTORS Sarah Brack Kevin Dazey Maris Ensing Jim Ogul Peter Weishar

NEWS EDITOR Joe Kleiman

InPark Magazine (ISSN 1553-1767) is published five times a year by Martin Chronicles Publishing, LLC. 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Shipping address: 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Phone: +1-262-412-7107. Printing by Johnson Press of America.

Contents © 2020 InPark Magazine. All rights reserved. Nothing in the magazine may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the magazine. InPark Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations. Such material must be accompanied by a self-adressed and stamped envelope to be returned.

Postmaster: Send address changes to InPark Magazine 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Subscriptions are available annually for $45 per year ($70 international). Opinions expressed in editorial matter are not necessarily those of InPark Magazine or its publishers, Martin Chronicles Publishing, LLC.

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Finding paths forward during uncertain times

Appreciation for Alf Heller, to whom I owe my career

Martin Palicki, InPark Magazine publisher

Judith Rubin, InPark Magazine editor

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The long-term effects on travel and entertainment remain to be seen. Still, many parks and attractions are reopening; there is a clear group of people ready to get out and consume experiences again.

It was one year after the last great world expo on North American soil, Vancouver 86 and five years after the opening of Epcot. Both projects helped launch many careers and firms still active in our industry and set in motion many important trends that continue today.

avigating the first half of 2020 has been difficult for everyone. Uncertainty over isolation, global travel bans, civil unrest and massive layoffs are just a few of the factors that are impacting decision makers around the world.

The industry is resilient, and our companies are populated by creative thinkers and problem solvers. Just in the last two months, leaders have identified ways to minimize risk and earn the public’s trust. Even so, it all seems so fragile, as though one major incident could clamp down the gates for even longer.

Also challenging are the issues surrounding systemic racism and the enormous disparities that go along with it. It may not feel like your problem, but we are likely on the verge of a social shift that will impact every company’s interaction with law enforcement, security, recruiting, marketing and more. The wise business owner will act not only because the winds are changing, but because it is the ethical and socially just action to take.

At InPark we have adjusted our process as a result of the industry dynamics. This issue, normally focused on TEA Thea award recipients, has been transformed to include more pandemic related features. Our next issue, out later this summer, will have an international focus and also feature our Thea content. Online, we have been reporting on COVID-19 since parks in Asia first started closing and we continue to provide information and resources as everyone continues to work through these issues.

We’ve also evaluated our priorities. We have always endeavored to appreciate and elevate a diverse community of voices. Listening to a wider body helps reduce confirmation bias and opens up an organization to broader and healthier growth. We pledge to work even harder towards fulfilling that commitment.

Finally, without reserve we declare that WE MISS YOU. Calls just aren’t the same and we look forward to the time when we can see you again in person. In the meantime, we hope you will find this issue enjoyable, relevant and useful.

Joe Kleiman is News Editor for the InPark website. He has 25+ years management experience: in tourism, museums and attractions, in the giant screen industries and as a zookeeper.

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987 was the year I moved from New York to Oakland and joined the small staff of the quarterly World’s Fair magazine.

The eight years I spent working with editor and publisher Alfred Heller were my entrée to the attractions industry.

Alf, who passed away in December 2019 at age 90, had started World’s Fair magazine because he loved world’s fairs. He had an extensive collection, especially of posters. But the study of expos also corresponded with his other areas of deep interest and knowledge: environmentalism, urban development, history, anthropology, politics and business.

I brought several years’ publishing experience, a knack for writing and promotion, and an art background. One of the tests Alf gave me was to research and write what became my first Parade of Events, a popular column that ran in every issue.

Alf enabled me to learn and explore in many directions. He was fond of saying, “You know, you’re NOT the editor.” But he eventually promoted me to associate editor/publisher, as World’s Fair transitioned from a scholarly journal to a respectable trade magazine with a scholarly air and a booth at IAAPA. The 1990s were a rollercoaster for expos, with plenty to write about: a spate of unofficial (non-BIE) expos in Japan; the declining performance of the US; the expanding role of specialty film and high-tech interactive exhibits; Korea’s first world’s fair (1993); the opening of Euro Disneyland. It took me into many overlapping sectors of visitor attractions, project development, entertainment technology and design.

Expos tend to suffer from a lack of institutional memory as each new organizing committee and pavilion team seeks to put its unique stamp on the product. In 1994, Alf wrote, “The BIE should hold workshops for member countries on how to present themselves effectively at expos. They should invite designers, equipmentmakers, architects and experts on the best exhibits at expos past as well as on the trend of the moment.” This was a key statement.

World’s Fair magazine was a resource to the expo world, providing shared wisdom and perspective that were otherwise hard to find.

The magazine ran 15 years. Alf continued to attend world’s fairs (20 in his lifetime) and to review them on his site worldsfairs.com.

He donated his collection to Yale. I’ll leave you with a quote from his Editor’s Notebook, Vol. XV, No. 4, Oct-Dec 1995: “Expos won’t survive without ideas.”

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Sustaining the mission Zoos & aquariums in the age of COVID-19

by Joe Kleiman

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ith the COVID-19 pandemic having shut down attractions worldwide, operators have been faced with a tough decision – deciding what portions of their operations are necessary to maintain their facilities in preparation for an undetermined reopening. Zoos and aquariums have a special challenge in being responsible for thousands of animals reliant on human care.

“Members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums are approaching total closure,” says Dan Ashe, President and CEO of AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums), which represents and accredits over 230 zoos and aquariums in North America, Asia, and Europe. “Over 90 percent of our membership is currently closed, and that number continues to rise. AZA members are taking drastic actions to maintain the viability of their facilities while also maintaining commitments to provide exceptional care of their animals. This pandemic uniquely impacts zoos and aquariums with animals to care for – our members can’t simply turn off the lights and walk away for months. That is the message we have been delivering to Congress and the Administration as we seek funding as part of any economic relief legislation. We will continue to partner with the broader museum and travel and tourism communities to secure support for our member facilities.”

InPark news editor Joe Kleiman discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the zoo and aquarium community with executives from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Diego Zoo Global, and the AZA.

The closure Both the Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Diego Zoo Global are members of four leading industry associations. In addition to AZA, both are members of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). Membership in these organizations has opened multiple channels of communication with other zoos, aquariums, and attractions on a global basis, enabling industry members to monitor the path of the global COVID-19 outbreak since it was first reported in December, 2019.

As the Vice President of Guest Experience at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California, David Rosenberg was also working with other aquarium executives and his teams to prepare for a closure of the famed aquarium should the virus come stateside.

A sea otter enjoys a snack from a caretaker at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Photo courtesy Monterey Bay Aquarium

“We were definitely watching China,” he says, “But we were much more focused on a local geographical area. We made sure to follow California and CDC guidelines. We watched the situation for months, so that we were not caught by surprise.

We made sure we knew what others were doing. In addition to being part of AZA and IAAPA and following IAAPA best guidance, one unique thing that we did in this situation is that we created ongoing communication with other Northern California attractions.”

Three hundred eighty miles to the south, San Diego Zoo Global was preparing to close both its San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park. “As a zoological association, we’ve prepared for regional and global scale crisis. We train and modify our business plans continuously,” says Shawn Dixon, COO of San Diego Zoo Global. “Disease outbreak with animals, bird flu, economic disasters, forest fires, COVID-19 – these touch on every aspect of our business – supply chain, financial stability, impact on the community. We started discussing the coronavirus situation in China early on in December. By mid-January, we had task forces established to work on problems and create solutions, comprised of specialists in each area – business continuity, supply chain, human resource and staffing, communications/PR – both internally and externally. Animal health and safety, the structure of our teams working with animals, safety protocols for care were a priority. As much as one can plan, this whole process has been very on-the-go, working the plans as the situation developed.

We’re fortunate that AZA has a great online communication platform for sharing ideas and challenges. Through discussions with our colleagues, we could actually watch the wave of the virus’ impact around the country in real time.”

Animal care management Both Rosenberg and Dixon report that they have sufficient reserves of food on hand and that there appears to be no impact on the supply lines for additional goods as needed.

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At Monterey Bay Aquarium, animal husbandry specialists are split into two teams working in rotation to ensure that staff are able to take time off. The Aquarium has also maintained its sea otter rescue and rehabilitation program during this period.

San Diego Zoo Global developed backup plans for its core staff that could move between its two properties. “The first thing we had to do,” says Dixon, “was to work with local government health officials to make sure animal care was considered an ‘essential service.’ Having two groups meant that if someone in one group was infected, there would be no cross-contamination with the other group. We also determined key areas for crosstraining and cross-utilization of other staff if needed.”

The tiger factor On April 5, 2020, New York’s Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced that after nine tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo developed a dry cough, one was tested, with positive results, for COVID-19. It is believed by WCS that the “cats were infected by a person caring for them who was asymptomatically infected with the virus or before that person developed symptoms.”

In a prepared statement, AZA’s Ashe along with Robert Hilsenroth, DVM, Executive Director of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV), said: “…AZAaccredited members have protocols, procedures, and precautions in place when a disease situation like this arises at a facility. All AZA members were advised in real-time, are acting on the latest information from the veterinary staff at Bronx Zoo, and are consulting their colleagues to identify and implement protective and preventive practices. They all have access to trained veterinary professionals, as well as to the extended AZA and AAZV networks of professionals should a similar situation arise at their facility.”

In its own statement, San Diego Zoo Global stated: “With the increased challenge posed by the community spread of COVID-19, we have further increased our biosecurity measures.

Many of the same measures used to protect people (i.e. physical distancing, face covers, hand washing and disinfection) also

serve to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to our animals.

When wildlife care professionals are unable to ensure physical distancing, we use additional measures.

“Through communications received from scientists around the world, we are aware that great apes and possibly other primates, bats, carnivores and suids (pigs) may be impacted by COVID-19.

Although none of the animals in our care have been affected, San Diego Zoo Global veterinarians and wildlife care professionals are discussing increased biosecurity measures, just as we have for other infectious diseases such as virulent Newcastle disease and avian flu.”

“While the chances of the transmission of coronavirus from a human to an animal are low, we know that it is possible based on the situation at the Bronx Zoo and several other domestic animal cases,” says Dr. Mike Murray, Director of Veterinary Services at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. “The species in our collection of most concern would be our southern sea otters. As a precaution, we already implemented social distancing practices for our animal care staff, which includes maintaining six-foot face-to-face distance from the animals during all interactions with the exception of necessary medical exams. Our animal care staff will also begin wearing non-surgical cloth masks when interacting with the otters. Our staff will also wear masks when preparing food for the otters, along with protective gloves which had already been required.”

The virtual world Museums, zoos, aquariums, and other attractions worldwide are reaching out to their communities and fans through online programming, creating virtual versions of themselves. Here are some of the ways Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Diego Zoo Global are reaching out via the web: ONLINE CAMS – Both organizations have seen a substantial increase in viewership of their exhibit webcams. For San Diego Zoo Global, “We’ve seen a 1000% increase.” During the closures, a new webcam was added to the Safari Park’s Butterfly Jungle, with at least one more new webcam in the works for other habitats. Monterey Bay Aquarium’s viewers find images of the ocean relaxing during a stressful time of sheltering at home.

“Our moon jelly cam is extremely popular,” says Rosenberg.

SOCIAL MEDIA – “Our use of social media campaigns shot up and the viewership shot up,” says Rosenberg. “It’s created a different kind of connection with our visitors and that’s good for the aquarium. We’re using Facebook Live a lot more, because we can also use it remotely.” An online presence, says Dixon, “Is an important way to stay engaged with visitors, with donors, and with the world around us during this time.”

Shawn Dixon, San Diego Zoo Global

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EDUCATION – Both Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Diego Zoo Global are offering educational plans and materials free of charge for homeschooling and remote teaching during this period. “We’re using our current platforms as well as enhancing what we had for the traditional classroom structure to

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Bay Aquarium is currently able to maintain its staffing levels, it is continually evaluating the long-term situation in light of prolonged shelter-in-place orders.

David Rosenberg, Monterey Bay Aquarium

homeschool and remote,” says Dixon. “We launched free online courses for high school and middle school groups based on taxonomic groups through the San Diego Zoo Global Academy.”

At Monterey Bay Aquarium, according to Rosenberg, “Our Education Department has come up with options for homeschooling that can be used by educators and teachers as well. We’ve created curriculum, games, and activities. We now have two online self-guided video classes up at the Aquarium website as well. You can see those and all of our current offerings at this page of our site: montereybayaquarium.org/for-educators/ learning-at-home.”

Communities small and large In 2018, 5.5 million people visited the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Large crowds means the San Diego Zoo Global has to run a substantial food & beverage operation. “We made sure that food didn’t go to waste. In the week before we closed our gates, we took that food and we fed our staff breakfast and lunch every day. Afterwards, we donated the remainder to a food bank.” For all of 2019, San Diego Zoo Global donated over 1,200 pounds of food to Feeding America as part of its community outreach. The overall donation for the last few days before closing amounted to 2,000 pounds.

One commonality between the Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Diego Zoo Global is the use of the terms “family” and “community” to represent both those within their gates and without. Neither institution has furloughed or laid off staff during this period. All staff currently continue to be paid regardless of whether or not they remain on premises, a number working remotely. “We create a few videos per week for them with updates,” says Dixon. “There’s a lot of communication using Zoom.” “The big thing is to stay connected with staff, including our volunteers,” says Rosenberg. “The Aquarium has a huge volunteer pool. I miss seeing them. One of the popular events that’s sprung up is evening happy hours online.”

Throughout the industry, closure due to COVID-19 is impacting zoos and aquariums both small and large. On April 7, the Sacramento Zoo, with annual attendance of 500,000, announced it would begin layoffs and furloughs for the majority of its staff. Two days earlier, Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo, with annual visitation of two million, announced the same. While Monterey

The industry has support structures in place for seeking solutions as it deals with widespread closures. Both Rosenberg and Dixon point at the advocacy efforts of industry associations like AZA, AAM, and IAAPA to secure federal funding for attractions.

They also mentioned the networking opportunities within these organizations. “Going through the AZA as a collective group, there is a collective impact,” says Dixon. “All 236 members have been impacted.”

“Attractions are dynamic,” says Rosenberg, “They operate with cost controls when needed due to ebbs and flows with visitorship. So far, there’s some leeway, but not enough, on federal funding. The small business funding in the stimulus package looks good, but larger businesses are impacted as well.

“Monterey relies on its tourist industry. Think of the Aquarium as the anchor store in the area. It’s a very different feeling not to see many people in this area. The Aquarium is on Cannery Row. Everything is empty now, including the hotels. It’s very strange to see. When I see it, I think this must be what it was like when the canneries all shut down. In a small town like Monterey, the missing tourists makes it feel very different.”

The road to reopening Both Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Diego Zoo Global are looking to federal, state, and local guidance as to when and how to reopen. Dixon believes the reopening may follow the orders for closures, but in reverse order – from groups of 10 to 50 to 100 to 500 and so on.

For Rosenberg, the immediate future looks much like our current way of life, with limited admissions, restricted hours, and social distancing. In the long term, while operations may change, he sees the visitor experience returning to normal. “People like to be together in large groups,” he says. “And attractions help bring us together to create memories.”

What can pandemics teach about conservation?

Zoos and aquariums like San Diego Zoo Global and Monterey Bay Aquarium continue their missions whether or not they’re able to open to the public. First and foremost, they are dedicated to conservation, research, and education, with their facilities acting as public portals to the work they conduct for wild environments and populations. As this latest global pandemic is a natural phenomenon, it is quickly becoming a tool to help promote their missions.

“This can teach us a lot about the natural world,” says Rosenberg.

“It can teach us that the natural world more than ever needs us to step up to the plate and take care of it. The Aquarium becomes even more relevant as you see that. It’s important to keep in mind that everything’s connected. The global pandemic is a reminder of that.” • • •

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Through the generations As supplier and operator, Mack Rides and Europa-Park have stood the test of time article and photos by Kevin Dazey

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irst came Mack Rides, the family owned and operated business dating back to 1780 that eventually became a leading international supplier of roller coasters, water rides, and other amusement standards. More recently, the company opened its own theme park in 1975 - Europa-Park - to double as a showroom for Mack products. The park, situated about 25 miles (40 km) from Mack headquarters in the southwest German town of Rust, quickly met with popular success and has grown into a substantial resort over the years. By attendance, the 2018 TEA/ AECOM Theme Index placed Europa-Park in the Top 25 theme parks worldwide, with 5,720,000 visits for the year.

Europa-Park and members of the Mack family have been the recipients of numerous industry honors, including several Thea Awards from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), IAAPA Brass Ring Awards, Hotelier of the Year in 2020 from AHGZ, several European Star Awards and TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice Awards, among others. IAAPA Hall of Fame status was awarded to the late Franz Mack in 2005, and later to Roland Mack in 2016. Roland has also served in the position of IAAPA Chair.

Mack clients can visit Europa-Park to experience a product firsthand, see how it operates in the field and observe guest reactions.

“This happens often, we have many park operators from all over the world as guests,” says Noel Ebhart, Europa-Park Corporate Communications. “For Mack Rides, Europa-Park is a great exhibition place.”

The park is also a platform for Mack to test and customize new products and concepts. Maximilian Roeser, Head of Marketing at Mack Rides gives an example. “Our Xtreme Spinning Coaster was tested during the nighttime at Europa-Park; it gave us the opportunity to test a launched inverting coaster with free spinning gondolas. Where else could you do such tests? During the marketing phase and for our sales pitch to Silver Dollar City [the record breaking Time Traveler coaster opened at SDC in March 2018] we had the chance to let our first customers test the

ride on Blue Fire [launched coaster] in the park to inform their decisions first-hand.”

Over the years, Mack ventures have branched out beyond ride manufacturing and theme park operations to form additional companies offering specialized creative services. “As a relatively large amusement park we plan attractions (Mack Solutions) and digital content (MackMedia) ourselves,” explains Ebhart. “This requires resources in the form of employees and their experience.

This is what we have in Europa-Park; small parks do not and that’s why we offer this service. Together with the attractions of Mack Rides we are able to offer complex theming areas from a single source.”

The one-stop-shop model was further expanded in 2018 with the launch of Tacumeon Rides which pairs Mack Rides hardware with content from the company’s media divisions.

“With Tacumeon Rides we launched a great brand in the market of media-based attractions,” says Roeser. “Together with Mack Animation and MackNext we are able to create the content, the ride system, and therefore the whole attraction as a turn-key project.”

Growth of Europa-Park Europa-Park has watched visitor numbers steadily rise in recent times as the annual count approaches six million guests.

Maintaining quality in essential areas is part of the formula for the park’s success. “We strongly focus on cleanliness, quality, and details,” says Ebhart. “For example, in the European themed areas there is not only accurate architecture incorporated, but typical dishes of a particular country can be sampled as well. All of this would not work without our 4,450 employees. They work with great joy and motivation every day to provide visitors with a perfect experience.”

Ride queues are one of the areas where employee dedication to guest satisfaction really stands out. The load/unload efficiency and short dispatch times we witnessed during our recent visit

COVID-19 update The operational information for Europa-park and Mack Rides has been subject to change due to the pandemic.

The Europa-Park resort reopened on May 29th, 2020. Mack Rides is reporting all departments operating at normal capacity while adapting to keep employees safe. Of special note is Mack Rides’ eagerness to donate face masks and protective gear following a call from local health officials seeking those critical supplies.

As always the latest status updates can be found on the park’s website and social media outlets.

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Europa-Park opened in 1975 by the Mack family to showcase the product portfolio of Mack Rides.

were very apparent. Interestingly, guests will not find any sort of skip-the-line pass here. Per Ebhart, “In Europa-Park there is only the regular queue and a single-rider access. Every guest gets the same experience. We have very high passing in our queues, as they are maintained at 100 percent. We are proud of that.”

Commitment from leadership to determine where and how to enhance the guest experience has led to recent significant additions inside and outside the park. Europa-Park opened its sixth on-site hotel in May 2019 adjacent to the park’s most ambitious project to date, the Rulantica waterpark which opened in November of the same year.

Within Europa-Park the flying theater Voletarium debuted in 2017 while 2018 brought a Jim Button (Jim Knopf) themed family train ride and a reimagining of the Eurosat roller coaster to become the Eurosat – CanCan Coaster. Late 2019 brought a new dark ride in the Scandanavian section of the park named Snorri Touren that explores the mythology of Rulantica.

“The Mack family invests continuously, year after year, in new attractions or the hotel resort,” says Ebhart. “As a result there is always something new to experience. We have many repeat visitors - 80 percent are returning while 20 percent are firstvisitors.”

The mix Europa-Park boasts 18 unique themed lands, most featuring a specific European country. This was not part of the initial park concept but was slowly implemented starting in 1982. Two of the exceptions to the country-themed areas include Grimm’s Enchanted Forest dedicated to stories by the Brothers Grimm while another explores the world of Arthur and the Invisibles franchise.

Attractions based on licensed intellectual property are fairly new to the park and are helping to drive attendance, strategically applied. Ebhart says, “In recent years, some brands have joined Europa-Park since well-known brands are a good marketing tool.

Arthur for example is a very popular film series in France, almost every child is familiar with it. With this attraction [applied to a Mack inverted powered coaster] we were able to significantly increase our visitor numbers from France. The same applies to Paddington Bear and England. However, we also try to create our own brands. Alpha Mods P.D., a brand of car toys, was developed

by MackMedia last year and can now be experienced in the park on Alpenexpress Coastiality.”

The first on-site hotel opened at Europa-Park in 1995 propelling it from a regional theme park to a full-fledged, destination resort.

This was a natural result of the park’s continued increases in offerings over the years, which led to longer guest stays which

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led to the need for overnight accommodations. As it currently stands, the resort complex consists of the original theme park, six on-site hotels, a camping resort, and the recently opened, highly detailed Rulantica indoor/outdoor waterpark. Rulantica will extend operations to year-round for the first time in EuropaPark’s history.

The hospitality component has brought about the ability to host events and conferences of all types, a notion the company has dubbed “Confertainment.” Ebhart says, “We have over 1,300 events a year, ranging from a birthday party of 20 guests, up to large events with over 5,000 guests,” says Ebhart. “Our advantage is the combination of conference facilities and the hotel resorts with 5,800 beds at one place. This is unique in Germany and convinces many customers, as they do not have to search around for different hotels. We can offer a lot with our departments: catering, event technology, and shows.”

Mack the manufacturer Mack Rides is well established as a top ride developer thanks to a wide-ranging product line, a reputation for safety and quality, and a customer-focused approach. Company reps like to say that Mack rides makes people smile. Best known for roller coasters,

the company also produces log flumes, interactive boat rides, tea cup rides, and classics such as the Music Express spinning ride (ubiquitous in the industry). When asked which Mack product deserves more attention, Roeser named dark rides: “We have a high-capacity product with an endless system. Many operators demand a high throughput and we are very happy that our product is certainly one with the top numbers in this segment.

We think that together with multimedia elements and great scenery, you can get an outstanding attraction.”

All Mack rides are still built in the same town where their story began so long ago. The Waldkirch, Germany factory produces all major ride components including track along with necessary items for ride vehicles such as frames, bodies, restraint hardware, and seating. Fabricating as much as possible in-house supports tighter process control and more time to deal with any unexpected issues. “We found ourselves in the position to invest in new CNC milling machines to bring more components from our own departments,” says Roeser. “We included a strict testing and manufacturing protocol to produce these components with the highest quality aspects.” When suppliers are necessary for items not manufactured by Mack, most can be found within the region; coincidentally electronic components are sourced from a vendor located next to the factory.

WODAN – Timburcoaster, one of two roller coasters in the Iceland themed area.

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improved components on older rides to meet the latest safety standards (think updated control systems or restraints to name a few). Older rides with newer parts or retrofits make it possible to refresh and extend the operating life of an aging but popular ride. “We recently had the chance to retrofit several boats of a water coaster with new, much smaller restraint mechanisms that also allow smaller children to ride this attraction,” says Roser.

“Therefore we not only had new boats but also the benefit of a new target group for this attraction.”

The park’s rebuilt Pirates of Batavia is expected to open in July 2020.

Safety, collaboration and servicing Consider quality, safety, and uncompromising reliability as fundamentals of a successful manufacturing company, especially one building attractions to endure the rigorous service requirements of the attractions business.

Mack Rides has paid close attention to these areas; the company was certified to ISO 9001 in 2002, the international standard for a quality management system that a manufacturer can obtain through implementing processes and procedures.

To ensure meeting global safety standards, Mack enlisted the help of Roman Hauer based on his experience at TÜV SÜD, an organization dealing with testing, auditing, and certification. At TÜV SÜD Hauer would inspect and approve rides before they went into operations. “Safety is our highest priority whenever we work on our rides, and Roman Hauer is an expert in this field,” says Roeser. “From the very beginning of our projects we can implement different points of view in regard to safety that make it easier during the project. With more and more strict standards it was key to have a dedicated safety expert on the team.”

Mack has collaborated with universities on several occasions.

Recently, Mack Rides partnered with Pforzheim University students contributed ideas that could be applied to the trains used on Europa Park’s Blue Fire launched coaster. Roeser gave other examples. “We had a design contest to find the best ergonomic shaped seats possible for a roller coaster without shoulder restraints; this became sort of standard in our portfolio.

On VR Coaster we partnered with Prof. Thomas Wagner from the University of Kaiserslautern. In his class he wanted to develop a VR product that can be used on roller coasters and thrill rides. Today VR Coaster is the top supplier for these kinds of attractions, holding several patents on this kind of ride.”

(MackMedia along with VR Coaster were the first to bring virtual reality to a roller coaster in 2015 which was subsequently adopted at numerous other parks around the world.)

The Mack Services division was created to cover operator needs for the lifespan of a given ride. “Our customers have the great opportunity to get a broad base of knowledge from us, as we are both operator and manufacturer and benefit on a daily basis from the experience of Europa-Park’s maintenance and operations teams,” says Roeser.

Services include sending staff to commission new rides for providing training on operations and maintenance and offering

Customers can also benefit from ride inspections performed by Mack Rides’ specialists to ensure compliance with the latest safety standards. A routine inspection paired with training sessions helps certified maintenance staff stay up to date while Mack gains insight that its engineers can use for continuous improvement.

Family and future Today Mack Rides and Europa-Park remain under control of the Mack family as the seventh and eighth generations lead the way in a continuous and successful run. A long-term view with continued emphasis on quality supports the likelihood that manufacturer, park, and surrounding brands will continue to endure for generations.

Europa-Park opens its 46th season in 2020 with the muchanticipated reappearance of a favorite dark ride lost to a fire in 2018. “We are already building a big attraction for the summer of 2020; the Pirates of Batavia is returning,” says Ebhart. “This is the boat trip, which unfortunately burned down. We are currently rebuilding, nicer and better than before.”

2020 also brings signature Mack roller coasters and other rides to the U.K., Australia, Netherlands, and the United States to name a few. “Of course Mack Rides is also developing new ideas currently – but which of them actually are going to be on the market we will have to see,” says Roeser. • • •

Author Kevin Dazey with Mack Rides’ Maximilian Roeser

Kevin Dazey (dazey200x@yahoo.com) works in R&D at a manufacturing company and has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Wright State University. He writes for InPark about ride engineering and theme park operations. He enjoys hearing the design stories behind the rides along with all the technical details. Kevin is an active member of American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) and an avid vehicle hobbyist.

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Connect&GO Co-Founder Anthony Palermo with his family at a soon-to-open theme park while sporting the company’s ParkPass RFID wristbands. Photo by Daniel Haber. All other photos courtesy of Connect&GO.

Removing barriers The trend of contactless technology is here to stay

by Martin Palicki

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arks and attractions have begun to reopen, and optimism is on the rise. The industry’s strong will to recover is matched by the audiences’ keen desire to return. Creating contactless environments will help keep employees and guests safe in the era of COVID-19, and industry leaders are stepping up to develop solutions.

Connect&GO, with a customer base in parks and attractions and provider of wearable RFID systems that interact with ticketing, POS, queuing and security systems has pivoted to apply its products and expertise to help navigate the reopening process.

They even developed a new device that takes the guesswork out of social distancing.

Co-Founder Anthony Palermo built Connect&GO around the idea that “We can provide the best solutions when we listen to the customer and find out what they need.” For the attractions industry, that includes prioritizing the guest experience in the

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development process. “Even as we think more about contactless environments, we must also be creating a positive interaction for the guest to help ensure they will use the tools we provide,” he says.

Sharing the research; ready for change As Palermo realized that coronavirus would profoundly impact the leisure industry, he took pro-active steps to reach out to his customer base and find out how Connect&GO might be able to help parks and attractions move forward. He assembled a series of roundtable discussions to talk through the issues. He brought together clients and others they have worked with, including representatives from Canada’s Wonderland, Luna Park, San Diego Zoo, Cirque du Soleil, Disneyland Paris, ProSlide, Triotech and InPark.

The goal of the roundtables was to help Connect&GO understand the needs of the community, but also to provide an

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opportunity for operators to hear one another’s perspectives.

To help disseminate the information even further within the community, Connect&GO recently published a report including key takeaways from the roundtables.

Each roundtable had roughly 20 participants and featured a moderator not affiliated with Connect&GO. Karen Staley, an independent consultant with decades of experience in parks and attractions was one of the moderators. During one roundtable, she shared her viewpoint that there were many benefits to opening as soon as safely possible. “Attractions don’t want to lose their status or branding within the community, so it’s important to open, employ locals and be visible,” said Staley.

The general consensus in the roundtables was that many venues will struggle to be financially successful in 2020, but the immediate concern to most operators was in handling capacity restrictions. Some facilities are looking to a daily cap while others are looking at timed sessions where a group of guests is allowed in for several hours and then large-scale sanitation efforts take place before the next guests are allowed entry.

Any solution a park implements will have to satisfy the demands of three groups: governments, health experts and the public - and reconciling the three won’t always be simple.

Governments are issuing policies for reopening entertainment destinations. Some will have legal teeth behind them, while others will be suggestions. Most will include capacity and distancing restrictions. Second, local health experts may have recommendations that are not necessarily in line with government policies. Finally, the public’s perception of what is safe and appropriate also has to be considered. If people don’t believe a venue is safe, they will not visit it - but they are also ready for change.

What will change? There will be physical procedures primarily for staff, behavioral expectations for guests, and additional technology to support both of those things. Most importantly, accurate and regular communication about these changes will ensure guest expectations align with the experience.

Anthony Palermo

Karen Staley

Some attractions are already following this playbook.

Energylandia in Poland produced a video showing the new procedures taking place in the park. Six Flags announced their attendance reservation program even before publicizing park opening dates.

“Guests will be expecting a different experience now,” confirmed Staley. “They will not be looking for the same things as before and that is a big benefit for the operator.”

It’s clear that now is the time to make changes that will keep guests safe and also simplify and streamline operations. “Because of the pandemic, guests will be more open to technology now in a way they might not have been just four months ago,” says Palermo.

Contactless: cashless & carefree at attractions Connect&GO was already on a technology track that fits well with parks’ new priorities, because its basic systems rely on RFID technology to connect guests to services and experiences with minimal need to interact with staff or touch equipment. Guests receive a card or wristband that can be purchased online or at the entrance. The RFID system only requires the device to be moved close to a reader without the need for contact. It becomes a singular touchless device for access to the park, payments within the park, queuing systems, and more. It can be used for elements like lockers and vending machines. Furthermore, since users set up an account in the system, the device also becomes a tool for loyalty and reward programs that can encourage return visitation and enhance revenue streams.

Even before the pandemic, Connect&GO was creating simplified guest-focused transaction systems that also provided a largely contactless experience, like they did for the touring Nerf Challenge, which premiered in Los Angeles in late 2019.

Produced by Kilburn Live, event organizers were seeking an RFID solution that was flexible and easy for the guest to use.

“We wanted to create a gamified active play experience with automatic score tracking and reporting for each attendee so that everyone in the family gets to participate in a fun and competitive

Logan Caldwell

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Richard Guest-Gornall

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experience,” says Kilburn Live Production Manager Logan Caldwell. “We needed a seamless integration between software and hardware that simply worked for the guest without effort.”

Kiosks at the Nerf Challenge allow guests to sign a waiver and receive their RFID wristbands.

The experience starts at home with an online ticketing platform that produces a scannable code. Once at Nerf Challenge, guests use a kiosk to scan their code and their RFID wristbands are dispensed from the machine. The kiosk also allows guests to digitally sign a waiver before entering the experience.

Connect&GO’s wristbands then give the guest access to nearly a dozen different games and experiences throughout the venue.

The system keeps track of scores and displays guests’ names on a giant scoreboard.

Caldwell says guests find the technological integration flawless and the production team has been happy with the Connect&GO solution. “The result of this implementation has put Nerf Challenge in a position to be one of the most unique active play experiences on the market.”

Other parks and attractions had also been moving towards cashless payment systems with more regularity before the pandemic - much of it inspired by Disney’s MagicBand product at the Walt Disney World Resort. “That trend is only going to accelerate because of the pandemic,” says Palermo. “Cash is likely to become a thing of the past.”

The RFID wristband is lightweight and disposable.

With reduced capacity, revenue generation is a heightened concern. Palermo points out that in addition to the safety considerations that contactless systems offer, the device has the potential to increase per capita spending while inside the park, and also provides valuable data for the operator. “Currently, people aren’t talking about big data the way they were a few months ago,” says Palermo. “But data remains extremely valuable and will continue to drive operators towards contactless solutions after the current health and safety concerns are addressed.”

The wristband provides access to each of the Nerf Challenge activities.

In situations where RFID is not the desired solution, there are a variety of other options for contactless interactions including barcodes, mobile device apps, Bluetooth Low Energy and, more recently, facial recognition. “Some facilities can accomplish everything they want to with barcode or QR code technology,” says Palermo. “We’re interested in matching the technology to what will best support the customer producing optimal return on investment.”

Creating a social distance buzz for parks (literally) Connect&Go’s standard system assists in creating contactless environments, but the company recently developed SafeBand, a new wristband device designed to take the guesswork out of social distancing. SafeBand relies on Bluetooth technology to communicate with other wristbands. The wristband vibrates and blinks when another person gets within six feet, helping employees learn to self-distance appropriately.

The wristbands track scores from each activity, with high scores appearing on the leaderboard.

In addition, SafeBand sends its data to a gateway to sync all the information. This creates an effective tool for contact tracing. continued on page 16

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RFID in action: Hyde Park Winter Wonderland One of Connect&GO’s early customers was Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, produced and operated by IMG. Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is a seasonal attraction in London that combines rides, entertainment, attractions, games and dining into a short winter season. Up until 2018, guests who wanted to ride one of the park’s 70 rides would have to purchase tokens at a booth to exchange with the ride operator.

“We are a free to enter event but were keen to look at means by which our guests could pre-purchase their experiences and RFID was one of the potential solutions,” explains Richard Guest-Gornall, Vice President, Arts & Entertainment Events at IMG. IMG decided to implement Connect&GO’s RFID card solution (called Coaster Pass) exclusively for the park’s nine roller coasters. Guests could purchase the Coaster Pass online and received bonus credits for adding a certain amount of money to the card. It was primarily intended for the coaster enthusiasts and was a way for the park to experiment with the system without a major rollout. The trial was successful enough that in 2019 they expanded the system to all of the park’s rides, calling it Ride Pass. •

Contactless technology tradeoffs Mobile device • Many, but not all, guests already have one with them • Guest may be more comfortable with their own device • Can be web-based or an app • Might require robust WiFi network Barcodes • Guest scans barcode with phone and is taken to a website • Low cost • Barcode can only mean one thing and can’t be easily updated • Requires guest to use their own device Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) • Many phones already include BLE but can also be implemented as a wearable device • Wearables can be expensive per unit • Not as far a range as normal Bluetooth • Works for tracking, triangulation, payments and more Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID • Wearable devices are cheaper than BLE • Works for tracking, triangulation, payments and more • Flexible tool for a variety of situations • Easily updatable

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Utilizing Bluetooth allows the device to communicate without the need for major new infrastructure. It was designed primarily with employees in mind, but several parks have inquired about using it for guests, according to Palermo, who says, “It is a really pertinent and natural progression of contactless technology.”

there is the more likely they are to enjoy the experience, spend more money, tell others and come back again and again.”

Opportunities to increase revenue must always be in harmony with great guest experience. When a guest doesn’t have to wait in a very long line; when their food order is both correct and timely, they are having a better experience, they are a happier customer and they are likely to spend more money and to visit again in the future. In today’s conditions parks will be challenged to strike the perfect balance.

Developed in collaboration with two other vendors, SafeBand is an example of how Connect&GO has pivoted to apply its expertise and configure products for reopening in the “new normal.” Palermo explained that SafeBand emerged as a direct response to client needs and the company’s practice of staying in close touch with its customer base.

“When you layer on top of that the fact that the system is cashless and the guest doesn’t have to worry The ParkPass RFID wistband.

The experience comes first All photos courtesy of Connect&GO about touching anything, they feel While concerns about health and comfortable continuing to engage safety are at the forefront now, in an environment that otherwise Palermo doesn’t forget about the they might perceive to be risky,” importance of providing a great guest experience from start says Palermo. “Those elements have always been a part of RFID to finish. “Our job has always been to help remove the friction systems, but that context is so important right now, and that just points of an experience and simplify how a guest interacts with makes everything even sweeter for everyone - the employees, the an attraction,” says Palermo. “The RFID device is a key that operators, and most importantly, the guests.” • • • allows the guest to engage with the park. The more engagement

Connect&GO’s road to the attractions market Even before COVID-19 and the roundtables, Palermo built a business on listening to what companies need and developing solutions based on those needs. In the early 2000s Palermo was seeking a new challenge after years working in theater. He searched for “cool tech” online and discovered RFID as an emerging technology. After partnering with some grad students who were studying RFID he managed to get in front of Canadian aerospace manufacturer Bombardier to find out if they had an RFID strategy. His query was successful and for six years he worked with corporations and governments around the world helping them develop plans to integrate RFID solutions into their supply chains and asset management programs.

He was soon approached by a local soccer team that was expanding their stadium. The team wanted to “give people the keys to the stadium” and find ways to let their fans unlock all sorts of interactivity during a game. This led to a wearable RFID device that worked as an entry ticket, cashless purchase system and also activated experiences around the stadium, earning fans points and discounts for future visits. Palermo called the system, and his company, Connect&GO. This RFID system that integrated ticketing, POS, security, promotions and gamification into one package became the backbone of the new company.

The technology quickly became popular in the world of events and brand activations. Connect&GO produced the RFID technology backbone for music festivals and stadium tours. High-profile events like Comic-Con, SXSW, the Super Bowl and the Olympic Village at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games were powered by Connect&GO. By 2017 Palermo realized it was time to diversify into other markets. In addition to touring and temporary locations, Connect&GO moved decisively into the attractions and leisure space. •

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Self-Driving Vehicle CAVU Designwerks rolls out the SDV: an intelligent, trackless ride vehicle

by Sarah Brack, CAVU Designwerks

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he future of attractions relies on the ideal application of advanced technology, fully immersive storytelling, and direct control for guests. The more seamless the integration, the greater the likely success of any attraction. As an integrator, CAVU’s method of developing a new ride system is to take an existing proven technology and find exciting ways to custom-integrate it into the entertainment industry. This approach minimizes project risk while delivering innovation.

CAVU’s SDV is intelligent and can adapt to changing environments. The simple integration with other equipment like show action, scenic sets, and even other ride vehicles makes this SDV truly intelligent. Testing shows downtime of less than 1% which we believe is an unprecedented accomplishment. This means down time caused by ride track interruption is virtually eliminated as CAVU’s SDVs can identify objects and navigate around them, in real time, to the next waypoint.

As an example, the massive demand for Trackless Dark Rides in the entertainment world has demanded the development of a vehicle with high reliability – one that is simple, safe, and adaptive to its environment. CAVU took this challenge and developed and launched the Self-Driving Vehicle (SDV) a pioneering intelligent, trackless dark-ride vehicle.

The applications for CAVU’s SDV are expansive and include dark rides, guided tours, brand activation, moving show action equipment, moving theatres and choreographed shows. The SDV is able to supplement or replace a walk-through experience whereby guided tour guests can board the SDV and use the touch screen to indicate areas that they would like to learn more about.

The SDV is then able to seamlessly move guests through the tour while maintaining throughput.

Through a partnership with a leader in industrial robotics technology, CAVU employed a proven autonomous self-driving platform as the base of the SDV. This innovative solution showcases CAVU’s level of sophistication on highly engineered technologies and willingness to push the envelope to create the newest standard in amusement park attractions.

Immersive, guided tours or museum exhibits can now allow guests to board intelligent SDVs equipped with new, interactive devices. Through these different and novel interactions, guests are whisked away to exhibits, circulated 360 degrees around and

CAVU Designwerks’ Self Driving Vehicle

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CAVU’s SDV can rotate 360-degrees and can be utilized in a variety of applications, from dark rides to exhibit tours.

All photos courtesy of CAVU Designwerks.

through each exhibit where the story comes to life better than ever before through this multi-angle experience. Organically, favorite characters can truly come to life when animatronics or show action equipment are mounted to SDVs. Now there is a unique ability to follow alongside guests throughout the narrative, shape the story, and react to guests on an individual and personal level. This simple but surprising interaction can create a deep emotional connection.

There are potential applications today where SDVs could redefine the definition of live shows. Entire theaters could be transformed through the use of large SDVs capable of moving hundreds of people. Now, imagine stages that come alive and provide dynamic performance spaces by integrating SDVs into sections of the stage. Performers can interact with these sections and add a new dimension to live shows and the guest experience.

unique stories. Through the addition of an SDV CAVU can now provide guests an opportunity to get closer to the brands and experiences they love. Using the self-driving platform as the base, every aspect of the SDV can be customized to the clients’ needs.

CAVU Designwerks will be launching new applications for the SDV in addition to next generation ride attractions in the coming months. We partner with experts at every stage, including media, technology, and AV hardware, to deliver exceptional guest experiences, ride performance, and ROI. All of CAVU’s attractions meet ASTM or EN standards for design, quality, and safety, and our team members are actively involved in the ASTM F24 standards committee. Visit www.cavudw.com. • • •

These are just some of the ways that SDVs will change entertainment experiences to allow a deeper engagement with

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Sarah Brack is Senior Marketing Coordinator for CAVU Designwerks.

Postponing an Expo What will it mean to postpone Expo 2020 Dubai until 2021?

by Jim Ogul and Judith Rubin

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he Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) convened April 21, 2020 for a virtual meeting of its Executive Committee to confirm a change of dates for Expo 2020 Dubai, a six-month world’s fair that had been set to open October 20.

Expo 2020 represents a $7 billion investment with nearly 200 international participants and projected attendance of 25 million visits, 70% of those from overseas.

A one-year delay of a world expo is unusual. Here, we give some background and address some aspects of what such a delay could mean.

The decision process To officially finalize such a decision required the ratification of a two-thirds majority vote of BIE Member States as stipulated

by Article 28 of the 1928 Paris Convention. Quoted in The National (an English-language news service in the Middle East) Reem Al Hashimy, Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai, stated, “While they remain firmly committed to Expo 2020, many countries have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 and they have therefore expressed a need to postpone the opening of Expo 2020 Dubai by one year, to enable them to overcome this challenge.”

The BIE is the Paris-based, international organization that regulates world expositions or world’s fairs. The BIE executive committee consists of delegates of 12 elected BIE Member States as well as the Secretary General of the BIE, Dimitri Kerkentzes. Members of the Committee discussed the request of the Government of the United Arab Emirates to postpone the Expo for nearly a year, with the new dates being October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022. The request of the UAE Government was sent following discussions by the Expo 2020 Dubai Steering Committee with the Expo Organizer and the BIE on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As far as precedents go, there were some reshufflings in the 1990s: Seville Expo 92 had originally been part of a BIEapproved, two-city expo scheme including Chicago. Chicago 1992 would have been the first world’s fair hosted in the US since the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans – but was canceled due to lack of support from the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago. A subsequent two-city expo, Vienna-Budapest 1995, became just Budapest 1996, and then Budapest canceled, due to funding difficulties. A non-BIE event, the World City Expo in Tokyo, was canceled as well.

Construction and logistics Each Dubai 2020 participant – and the organizers themselves – will face unique challenges and opportunities with a one-year delay.

The extra time may be useful to countries that got a late start in planning and producing their pavilions, but there are potential complications as well. At the present time, in addition to the direct health risks of working on the expo grounds, there are shipping logistics and supply chain problems.

When will it be safe to resume construction work? Contracts will have to be extended and some terminated if companies cannot commit to the extended time frame, including some that already have received payment for goods or services. Costs may go up if there are fewer vendors available a year from now. Buildings that are largely finished will be sitting idle for months and may suffer some deterioration.

Design and operations Might this public health crisis dictate the need to change design and operations parameters in ways that could affect the nature of the event?

World’s fairs draw crowds of people who wait in queues to visit exhibits and theaters inside buildings, who gather in large public spaces for performances, parades and spectacles, who consume food, buy merchandise, use restroom facilities, share public benches, ride transit, use touchscreens and kiosks. There may be a need to review such things as throughput, visitor flow, crowd size, sanitation, food service and touchpoints in general.

All of this could have a ripple effect and could change individual aspects of design and the design day overall.

Participating countries will also have to consider what to do about operational staffs, personnel contracts and payroll for their respective pavilions. The delay also extends the fundraising window, but what will the fundraising environment be like?

Attendance and travel The Dubai 2020 attendance model, projecting 70% of visits from overseas, is essentially a reverse of past models. This reflects market realities for Dubai and is an untested model for expos; however, the Dubai 2020 organization has from the start shown itself to be enterprising and innovative.

When those projections were developed, however, COVID-19 was an unknown as were its effects on world travel and the travel

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Artist rendering of the central gathering space of the Dubai Expo, now delayed one year Image courtesy Expo 2020 Dubai

industry and infrastructure. Will things have sufficiently recovered

by October 2021?

U.S. participation United States’ participation in Dubai 2020 hung in the balance for some time due to complicated government regulations that make it difficult to fund US participation in world expos. A resolution came as recently as January 2020 with the announcement that the Emirati government would fund the US pavilion at Dubai.

If there is a change in administrations in the US in the intervening time, the pavilion content may have to be revised to reflect the policies of the new administration. There are also questions as to whether any ongoing sponsorship initiatives may be affected, and if in the new conditions, the provided funding will be enough.

Relevance and content

All of these challenges can be seen as opportunities – grand opportunities of the kind that a world’s fair should and must embrace. We hope to see the Dubai Expo do what world expos were created to do – bring the world together for meaningful and useful dialogue and give us a glimpse of – and tools for – a better future. It will also provide inspiration and examples for the hosts of the next world’s fair. Based on their accomplishments and vision statements so far, we believe that Dubai 2021 is up to the task. • • • James Ogul is world’s fair editor of InPark and spent his career administering world’s fair pavilions for the US Government. Read his free online book, Tales from the Expo Judith Rubin is Editor of InPark and one of her specializations is world’s fairs. She spent nearly a decade with World’s Fair magazine (published by the late Alfred Heller).

Finally, there’s the question of relevance. The Dubai 2020 theme, “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” is broad enough, but how it is addressed in individual exhibits may in some cases lose relevance due to the changes brought by the pandemic and by the renewed focus on racial injustice and inequity. There may be many instances in which content will need to be updated to reflect changed conditions and expectations.

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Weighing in on the delay International participants in Dubai Expo 2020 share thoughts on the one-year postponement and the status of their pavilions compiled by Jim Ogul

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s mentioned in the previous article, Expo 2020 Dubai will be postponed for one year and open in 2021 due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, what’s going on at the Expo site, and how are participants responding to current conditions? We have learned that some construction is still going on, within new restrictions.

Leaders of several national pavilions being developed for the expo shared information with InPark’s resident world expo specialist, Jim Ogul.

Editor’s Note: These statements were collected before the BIE had finalized the decision to delay the expo to 2021.

Daniel Sahr, Director, Luxembourg Pavilion The BIE decision will be a very important next step. Currently we are analyzing the different scenarios in close partnership with our general contractor. For the time being we move on slowly and strictly, respecting all restrictions and regulations now in place regarding Coronavirus/COVID-19.

There is an impact on our program – mainly on supply chains and related to travel restrictions. Currently we will probably need more time to finalize our Pavilion.

Umaree Charnnarong, Director, Thailand EXPO2020 Dubai The Thailand Pavilion is still going forward according to plan, with a Thai engineer supervising a local team in the UAE. At this time, the pavilion has already made progress of approximately 55% of the overall project. The foundation structure is 100% completed. The interior architecture and the process of engineering system are more than 40% complete.

be affected, with the next steps of our process dependent on transportation and import.

Originally, we had planned for the interior to be finished by the end of August 2020. We are now considering adjusting the working time frame of the interior to start next year instead.

Not only the construction and interior plans, but also the operation and management plans of our pavilion are subject to postponement and adjustment – including a recruitment campaign for Thailand Pavilion staffs and performers. We believe that postponement of the Expo by one year will be a great benefit for all the participating countries. We remain committed to our vision to present Thailand Pavilion as a mesmerizing experience and to successfully create a remarkable event on the global stage.

Clayton Kimpton, New Zealand Commissioner-General to Expo 2020 We are currently continuing with construction under a COVID-19 regime, which will impact our construction program.

I am not in a position to say much more at this point.

Dag Koppervik, Deputy Commissioner General / Project Director, Norway Expo 2020 Dubai at Innovation Norway We still proceed toward the original opening date of October 20, 2020. Building activities are affected by strict measures, but we are able to continue as per now. If everything should come to a halt, we would like to have a weather-proof building at that time.

•••

The UAE government rules and regulations to control and prevent the spread of COVID-19 are extremely rigorous, and we have had to adjust to comply. There are numerous challenges to the original plan as a result, for instance in regard to the overall timeframe and overtime. However, our team is happy and willing to cooperate fully and give 100% support to the host. The priority is to keep everyone safe.

For the interior architecture and the exterior of the building, we mainly use local materials, with a minimal amount exported from Thailand. If the number of COVID cases continues to increase, there is a high chance that the next steps of our process will

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Artist rendering of the Thailand pavilion Image courtesy Expo 2020 Dubai

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Geoff & Zoe Thatcher, Author & Illustrator of “The CEO’s Time Machine”

Inside the time machine Creative Principals’ Geoff Thatcher says now is the time for themed entertainment designers to create their own IP and delivers his own with The CEO’s Time Machine. interview by Martin Palicki

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hen COVID-19 hit, firms in the industry looked for ways to innovate and contribute. Geoff Thatcher, who founded the small experience design firm Creative Principals in 2017, believes one of the ways to do that is through IP. As projects went on hold and the world turned upside down, he turned to a short story he had written in 2016.

The CEO’s Time Machine is a quick and enjoyable read with 43 stunning illustrations. It’s a business parable that takes readers on an unexpected journey with a successful CEO and his anticipated successor. Will everyone agree with the conclusions drawn from

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the story? Perhaps not, but it’s provocative and gets the reader to think. That alone is a marker of a successful book. More importantly, this project kept the team at Creative Principals, including a few key regular contractors, busy. Working with publisher Casa Flamingo Literary Arts and IAAPA Hall of Fame inductee Tim O’Brien, they published the book and had it up on Amazon in four weeks.

I recently had the opportunity to ask Geoff for some background on the book and the lessons behind it.

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-M.P.

Where did you develop the idea for The CEO’s Time Machine?

In 2016 I was working on a project with JRA in Saudi Arabia for the King Abdullah Foundation. We were partnering with The History Factory and I immediately connected with their CEO Bruce Weindruch. What intrigued me about Bruce’s philosophy is that while his company is about history, he always starts with the future. In fact, he wrote a book called Start with the Future and Work Back. The premise of the book is that an organization’s future is dependent on leadership understanding the company’s past. So, on one of my many flights back and forth to Riyadh, I started thinking about time. And I started writing.

Originally, I published this short story in the summer of 2016 through four different LinkedIn posts. And the posts just sat there. I think about five people read them. I always thought it was a good story, but I felt like it needed strong visuals to bring it to life.

What inspired you to publish the book now?

In October 2019, I told our new designer Zoe that she could use company time to participate in the Instagram challenge #inktober because I saw Randy Ewing at Thinkwell doing the same. On October 29th, she posted a black and white sketch featuring a girl with a red scarf. When I saw it, I immediately thought, “Wow, this would be a great illustration style for The CEO’s Time Machine.” Zoe is an amazingly talented designer.

I’m biased, of course, because she’s my daughter.

It also felt good to invest in a very small way back into the economy. Like almost everywhere else, so many projects have been put on hold. So, it was fun working on something, even if small. It felt great actually paying some of our regular freelance partners.

Why did you opt to write the book like it was a theme park attraction?

If you love the theme park industry, one thing you’ll quickly notice is that the book is written like a ride. There’s an iconic entrance to the experience—a garage door. Then our CEO and his protégé wind their way through a queue full of stuff. Next, they end up in what amounts to a pre-show. And finally, there is the main attraction as they step into the time machine. This Experience Model works far beyond our industry and is really about psychology more than anything else.

First, we want to ATTRACT people into the experience. Second, we want to build TRUST and provide some context. Third, we want to INFORM them and give them the tools they need to move forward in their journey. Fourth, we want them to INTERNALIZE the story – it’s about emotion! Fifth and finally, we want them to ACT. This is the model we use in all of our work and it’s the model I used to write the book. So yes, The CEO’s Time Machine is a ride!

Although Zoe played around with some character design, we honestly were just too busy on other projects to really invest any time in it. About the only thing we’d figured out by March 2020 was the character design for our hero “the protege” and that we never wanted to show the CEO’s face. And then COVID-19 hit!

When we realized the economy was shutting down mid-March, I immediately turned to Zoe and said, “We are going to work harder than ever before. Let’s get that book published before the lockdown ends.” So, while Zoe worked on 43 illustrations, I called Tim O’Brien and asked if he would be willing to publish a book in four weeks. Thankfully, he said “YES!” Tim’s a boutique publisher and that was exactly what we needed to get the work done. We brought on Carrie Oneal to do the typography and layout. I absolutely love how Carrie worked with Zoe’s illustration for our cover. We also brought in Callie Stoker as an editor. She agreed to rush us to the front of the queue.

It’s hard to describe, but I personally felt this urgent desire to “DO SOMETHING” and do it quickly. I had people tell me it was a huge mistake to publish a book in the midst of a pandemic, but I honestly believe there is no better time for the creative minds in our industry to generate their own intellectual property. Now is the time to dust off that novel, song, podcast or whatever, and start generating your own IP.

An illustration by Zoe Thatcher from “The CEO’s Time Machine”

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will appeal to leaders as well as young people just starting their careers. The lessons in this book apply across vertical markets.

Whether you are an accountant or a designer, the lessons apply equally. This book is for everyone.

What lessons do you hope people learn from the book?

There are three lessons I want people to take from this book.

First, do not ignore the past. Second, be decisive in the present.

And third, listen to the young people in your organization because they are, quite literally, your future. There are other lessons people can absorb, such as the ethical dilemma toward the end of the story. What’s been interesting to me is that people tend to take away a different lesson depending on their own personal experiences. And I love that!

What other writing have you done?

I worked my way through a journalism degree working at an amusement park and then after a few years in newspapers, my first job in the “industry” was as a creative writer at JRA. I’ve written a coming of age novel set in an amusement park, but it isn’t ready to be published yet. I helped research and ghost write a book on leadership communication back in 2002. I’ve posted a ton of short essays on LinkedIn. And, of course, I write every day at work.

“The CEO’s Time Machine” is available for purchase on Amazon.

Are the characters modeled after anyone from your career?

When I wrote this book, I imagined the CEO as a Steve Jobs or Elon Musk type of executive who is always predicting the future. There have been others from the past who did the same and there will be others in the future. The book mentions Ben Rich from Lockheed Martin and he’s the type of executive who inspired me.

The protege is modeled after so many people who simply never got the chance to be “plucked” out of their work by a leader who saw potential. One theme of this book is that leaders often do a horrible job of identifying talent. There have been so many examples of leaders who not only let visionaries leave their company, but actually fired them! I’ve experienced this in my own career where a leader doesn’t believe in you and doesn’t believe in your potential. That can be crushing. So, the protege in this book is really a substitute for anyone who has felt like their ideas and their potential was ignored. Also, we made the protege a woman because there is a well-documented history of women being overlooked in the workplace. We wanted our story to enable and inspire.

There are plenty of theme park references in the book, but it feels like your audience is larger than that.

Despite COVID-19, we have one project still active and it has involved a lot of writing for both me and Colette Piceau from It Ain’t Shakespeare Inc. In my opinion, she is one of the best writers in our industry. In fact, I think too many people don’t understand that writing is a creative process. Too often in this industry, people want to brainstorm and workshop an idea forever rather than allowing one creative writer to go away and write. Writing, rather than talking, is what truly helps you figure things out. In fact, when I started writing The CEO’s Time Machine, I had no idea how it was going to end.

What books and shows have inspired you?

One of my all-time-favorite books about the industry is Walt’s Revolution!: By the Numbers by Harrison “Buzz” Price, which also happens to have been published by Tim O’Brien. When it comes to fiction, Zoe is a huge Brandon Sanderson fan so I’ve been reading his novels. I also love sci-fi time travel shows, from all those amazing time travel episodes in Star Trek to even corny romances like Somewhere in Time.

Where can people order a copy?

The book is available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online retailers. You can find more information and links to these sellers at www.ceotimemachine.com. • • •

While I think people in the industry will like this book because it’s written like a ride, it is also a business parable. We think it

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Peter Weishar (R) at Jurassic World Live tour in Orlando with students and UCF Interim President Thad Seymour (L), January 2020 Photo courtesy of Peter Weishar

Course objectives

What should Themed Experience graduates know, say and do?

by Peter Weishar

W

hen I tell people I’m a Professor of Themed Experience, the response is often something like “Wow, that’s cool.

I wish I could have studied that.” The comment is usually followed by the typical questions of, “So… like rollercoasters and stuff ? (Answer: “Among other things.”) “Do you get to go to theme parks for free?” (Answer: “When I’m working.”) Then, the important question: “What do you teach?” That is a solid question with a longer answer – and the subject of this article.

We started the Themed Experience graduate program at University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando about a year ago. When starting a new academic program, it is important

(and actually required by the accrediting bodies) to consult with industry professionals as well as with other academics to determine best practices and discern the unique skillsets and knowledge required by the profession. Academics often refer to programmatic criteria as, “What students should know, say and do.” To achieve these goals, we map out a sequence of courses that comprise the curriculum.

Note: During these difficult times of social distancing the University of Central Florida, like almost all educational institutions, has moved classes online and closed the campus to students. In the themed

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experience industry, we understand the impact and effectiveness of placemaking and the shared experience of learning and interacting with an environment. The same is true for education. I’ve always thought of a classroom as a bubble. Students can see and take in the external world but are safe to experiment and explore new creative avenues. A classroom, like a themed environment is a place where magic can happen, and it is difficult to recreate online.

Nevertheless, the curriculum and goals are the same regardless of delivery. As educators we can’t lose sight of these goals.

Collaboration, and…

We asked some colleagues in teaching and in the field for advice on the question of what to teach. The word “collaboration” came up often. Steve Grant, Program Director and Professor of Practice-Themed Environments Integration at the University of Florida states: “To have a successful career in the themed entertainment industry, students need to know how to collaborate within interdisciplinary teams, by knowing what other team members do, and having empathy for other viewpoints and perspectives.”

However, while collaboration is essential, it is not unique to the discipline of themed experience. In 2005, the New York Times ran an article that caused quite a stir – “Is a Cinema Studies Degree the New MBA?” – pointing out the transferability of skills such as collaboration, organization and communication.

Other disciplines – ranging from Engineering to Theatre to Business Administration – all teach collaboration and group management.

In themed experience education, what are we collaborating to do?

Skills, scope, communication and research According to Mike West, Senior Director/Executive Producer at Universal Creative, students “need to be informed and molded to understand the seemingly endless complexities and parameters that beset today’s ever evolving, ever-moreexpensive, global projects. It’s one thing to have an over-thetop, evolutionary design; it’s another to have a design that can actually be built within a budget and on schedule, which can then be maintained for years after it opens, and continue to satisfy the full complement of safety, maintenance and operational requirements. Then, and only then, is a project truly successful.

Good design is good. Good, responsible design is great!”

So, we need to teach practical skills such as context, budget, maintenance, operations, scheduling along with the creative.

Graduates should understand the scope of industry along with current trends and acceptable practices.

From Mk Haley, Walt Disney Imagineering Academic Outreach: “Some of the critical skillsets for success in the themed entertainment industry are less connected with the

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discipline itself, and more related to process and collaboration.

Students should all have an experience working on a team collaboratively… truly working as a team across disciplines on a project and understanding the entire thing well. Students should also be able to present their work cleanly and concisely and have work product to show that they can do original research. We need to see original and interesting questions asked, and then an in-depth investigation to inform the solution. Collaboration, communication, and research are all necessary to thrive.”

Soft skills, communication and understanding the guest Dr. Kathryn Woodcock is one of the founders of the Themed Experience and Attractions Academic Society and Director of THRILL Lab at Ryerson University. She stated, “Soft skills are essential – students must appreciate how many different and complementary professional backgrounds are needed in projects of the magnitude of themed attractions, from determining what should be designed, to designing its form, to translating it to technologies, and sustaining it in operation. Students need to be able to communicate their professional work to other professions and understand and respect the work of others.

“All professions need to understand that the person who completes the project is the guest. The guest’s response is what determines what experience has been had. An inadequate design cannot be redeemed by accusing the guest of ’not enjoying it right.’ Designers must anticipate the variety of guests, from size, shape, strength, agility, and acuity differences, to a wide spectrum of cultural understanding and knowledge.”

Range, curiosity and experience Phil Hettema, founder and CEO of The Hettema Group concisely wrote: “Be good at one thing and curious to learn about everything else. Themed entertainment design and production is, by definition, multi-disciplinary, which is precisely why it is exciting and challenging. The field encompasses an incredibly broad and diverse range of career paths and skills – so broad that no one enters the field having a comprehensive knowledge or capability across all aspects.

“A master’s student would be well advised to enter the field with a set of well-developed skills in one specific area that would be of value to a project team, accompanied by an overall awareness and understanding of other aspects – and curiosity about how those many facets relate to each other. That overview should include basic principles of operations and the economics of the industry in addition to the creative, design and production disciplines.

“The opportunity to watch the ‘big picture’ in both success and failure through the lens of participation is vital. Areas of specialty might include: Concept Design and Experiential Storytelling, Theme Park Project Management and Production Coordination, Show Scenic Design, Master Planning, Show Technical (production, audio and media) internship experiential design and production studio.”

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Mike West

Steven Grant

Kathryn Woodcock

A sequence of study emerges

Mk Haley

Phil Hettema

From this advice and insight, we begin to form a sequence of study based upon four tenets.

through a multi-year master’s program where they collaborate on dozens of projects. They work with each other, industry professionals, faculty, and students from other disciplines.

#1 – Context

#4 – The industry

Students should understand the history of the discipline. They should know who the innovators and leaders of the field have been and are now. A graduate should be able to trace the path from London’s 1851 Crystal Palace Exposition through the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair to current day EPCOT; and from Vauxhall Gardens London through Coney Island’s Luna Park to Super Nintendo World. Themed Experience has a rich history worthy of study. Context also entails understanding the breadth of the industry – exploring IAAPA, TEA and the many other trade associations to gain a sense of the true scope of the industry, its opportunities, culture and subcultures. Know the mainstream but also the disrupters.

A well-rounded program is a must. Students should understand the role of engineering, producing, maintenance, operations, hospitality, and the myriad of expertise necessary to design something that operates seven days a week all year long and is practical, safe and enjoyable. In short, they need to learn from experts in the collaborative disciplines and understand the big picture. A university environment with expertise across many related fields of study has the capacity to provide a curriculum with the necessary depth and diversity. At UCF, for example, Themed Experience students have the opportunity to take courses at The UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management and the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science (and the latter has very strong AR/VR and simulation expertise).

#2 – Skills, aesthetics and creativity Should we teach specific skillsets necessary for entry-level positions or should we focus on creativity and “creating new knowledge”? The answer is both; the difficulty is balance. Even the most accomplished and creative student needs to have the technical and production skills necessary to get that first job, the stepping stone into the industry. Conversely, hyper-emphasis on skills and production technique turns a graduate into a “pair of hands” for someone else’s vision and reduces the student’s ability to advance organically to higher-level creative and management positions. No matter how advanced the degree, that first job will be near the bottom of the ladder. #3 – Collaboration As noted above, this is a key component in preparing students to enter the industry. Students must learn to work in a group and respect one another’s contributions. The quality, depth, length and nature of that collaboration is crucial for making it a meaningful educational experience. At the UCF graduate program, we accept a diverse cohort of applicants from a mix of writers, designers, artists and producers. Those students move

Every year I am amazed by the new and exciting innovations and new technology in this field. Every year the skillsets my graduates need to have changes with trends and advancements in industry; however, the core values and skills of collaboration, creativity, communication and knowledge of the profession stay constant.

These form the heart of the curriculum and the focus of what they need to know, say and do. • • • Peter Weishar (peter.weishar@ucf.edu) is a Professor of Themed Experience and Program Director of the Themed Experience Graduate track at the University of Central Florida (https://www.ucf.edu/degree/ theatre-mfa/themed-experience/). He also serves as an Associate Member of the TEA Eastern North America Division Board, and is chair of the steering committee of the Themed Experience and Attractions Academic Society. Previously, Weishar was Dean of Fine Arts at FSU and Director of the Themed Experience Institute. He also served as Dean of Entertainment Arts at SCAD where he founded the first MFA in Themed Entertainment Design. Weishar has authored three books, Digital Space: Designing Virtual Environments; Blue Sky: The Art of Computer Animation; and CGI: The Art of the Computer Generated Image.

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Reality, but better

All photos courtesy of DreamCraft Attractions

AR and VR are making more memorable attractions

by Sarah Brack, CAVU Designwerks AR, the game changer

Augmented Reality 101

Boomers, zoomers, millennials, and everyone else are on the cusp of joining Generation AR (augmented reality): using powerful technology and real-time systems to add layers of information over the real world. So what is AR, and how will it change our lives?

There are two approaches to augmented reality: passthrough and reflection. AR headsets, like the Microsoft HoloLens or the Nreal AR glasses, use reflection to generate an AR experience.

Images are projected onto a surface (glass or a similar material) in front of the user’s eyes. The DreamCraft Attractions team has substantial experience with this format, having been part of the development team for HoloLens, and more recently, in a soon-tobe-seen, technologically impressive theme park attraction.

In 2016, the world discovered the first mass-market augmented reality app. People — young and old —were hunting in neighborhoods, parks, and city sidewalks, staring intensely at their phones to catch elusive creatures by swiping virtual balls at them.

These creatures exist only in the phones, but for anyone looking at their screen, they seemed to be right there in the real world.

Pokémon GO was a smash hit that made AR mainstream.

Like many technologies, AR has evolved a great deal since its roots in the military decades ago. It has evolved from rudimentary heads-up displays for flight crews to a robust entertainment experience connecting millions of people around the world.

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Passthrough AR applies virtual images to a video feed; Pokémon GO is one adaptation of this technology. Using their smartphone cameras, users can view their environment with an AR overlay to display interactive characters. Some Virtual Reality (VR) headsets, such as models from Varjo Technologies, use this technology. It’s a powerful way to immerse the viewer through a blend of virtual, augmented, and real-life elements.

Technical aspects of VR and AR will continue to improve, deepening the engagement in an AR experience. Currently, tethered headsets offer power and connection to a high-end

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processing solution, but limit guest’ freedom of movement.

Advancements in wireless technology will overcome this issue.

The resolution of the graphics in standalone headsets will improve as 5G/edge computing becomes a standard equipment integration, and longer-lived battery packs will allow for a seamless experience.

Beyond Immersion When combined with advanced technologies, such as real-time projection mapping, AR and VR can become fully interactive experiences. Within the augmented world, guests can battle aliens, interact with cartoons, and see details in events that otherwise would be impossible to see or overlooked altogether. In the hands of a producer familiar with the media, a guest experience can move between projection mapping and AR with ease, taking full advantage of the strengths of both technologies.

In addition, real-time projection mapping can bring the added benefit of social distancing to the guest experience. Guests can be shown where to stand in the line, while cameras track the group and projected content keeps everyone effectively and safely distant, all in real-time. This setup can substantially enhance the ride experience through the creative use of projection-mapped animations and integrations.

Tomorrow’s Technology, Today The future of AR will have a substantial impact on our lives.

Innovative organizations, like Apple, Nvidia and Qualcomm, are putting considerable efforts behind AR, seeing it as the future of human computing interfaces. The hardware is improving every day, and teams, such as DreamCraft Attractions, with substantial and successful experience and expertise with AR are pushing it to its limits. And beyond. While games like Pokémon GO have introduced AR to the masses, tomorrow’s AR experiences will help us interact with the world in truly amazing ways.

About DreamCraft Attractions With a strong focus on innovation, DreamCraft Attractions combines hardware systems, proprietary software, and storyline adaptations to tell stories through interactive experiences driven by advanced real-time technology. Visit www. dreamcraftattractions.com • • •

Midnight Ride at Lionsgate Entertainment World in Zhuhai, China

VR in action: Midnight Ride at Lionsgate World is a model for immersive, state-of-the-art, media-based experiences in the age of COVID DreamCraft’s most recent VR experience, a Twilight-themed adventure called Midnight Ride, available at Lionsgate Entertainment World in Zhuhai, China, lets guests climb on motorcycles attached to individual motion bases. The guests feel like they are actually riding with the movie’s wolf pack, with force feedback and the motion base providing the sensation of riding across different terrains, such as the beach, a rickety old bridge, and through the woods. The sense of immersion goes deeper due to the inclusion of hand-tracking, allowing groups of four to wave at or signal each other while engaging with the ride environment.

The ride vehicles for the Twilight experience are laid out in a pattern that demonstrates what the setup for attractions in a post-COVID-19 world might look like. Each guest rides the motion-based platform, situated over two meters apart. In this arrangement, guests can fill from back to front, then exit on the other side of the room in the same order, or reverse order if the exit is on the same wall as the entry. This keeps guests compliant with social distancing, and with a hygienic headset solution, such as DreamCraft’s DreamSet, helps alleviate concerns about sanitation. •

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Rethinking touch on interactive exhibits

All images courtesy of Mad Systems

Mad Systems’ QuickSilver® integrates touchless and other options for museums

by Maris Ensing, Mad Systems

T

he current COVID-19 crisis has had a significant impact on our lives over the past while, and it will clearly continue for quite a while yet as we move towards a new normal as quickly as we can. We have given considerable thought as to how to safely reopen our doors, and our clients’ doors as well. The Mad Systems team have been designing solutions specifically for a post-peak COVID-19 world as part of the QuickSilver® AV++™ system. Of course, we have been using a range of sophisticated sensors in our past work to create complex interactives, including cameras for shadow play, sensors for puppetry type controls, structured light cameras for more complex interactives, and the usual RFID and barcode sensors.

However, a lot of exhibits do not need that level of interaction, and there is a significant need for more mundane, safe activation methods.

Theme parks, museums, visitor centers, trade shows and conferences – the list goes on and on – cannot go back to what

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we were used to before the events of the past months. Ultimately it does not matter what any of us in the various related industries think about all of this. If we are to have visitors return and get back to a functioning economy, we have to create environments that are safe, and perceived to be safe for patrons in order to alleviate fears, real or imagined.

The QuickSilver® system is our company’s complete, advanced and well-established AV solution with several successful installations, including the first visitor center where the only printed graphics is the wallpaper – everything else is covered with pixels, and driven by QuickSilver®. We’ve always had various inputs including a range of different sensor inputs, and different types of outputs. During this time, we identified different needs, and have continued to work on further developments and extensions for QuickSilver® to create new contactless ways to activate exhibits. This has resulted in a new subsection of our QuickSilver® product line: the QS7200 Touchless Technology series.

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Not only that, but since we already had an agnostic user interface that allows for staff to control our systems with just about any smart device, we decided to expand those capabilities within our TeaParty show controller. That in turn allowed us to provide a safe way to allow our visitors to activate exhibits by using their own devices.

Of course, all of this needs to be combined with other factors within venues. These spaces will need crowd management to ensure physical distancing (we dislike the use of the term ‘social distancing’ as that, in our opinion, is the last thing we need).

Venues can also implement one-way pulsed visitor flow, mask and glove requirements for employees, and options such as (far) UVC sterilization of air conditioner returns, restrooms and other common spaces. Even so, none of that helps unless we can provide touch-free systems to make sure our visitors are comfortable in the space.

Let’s start with the most complex solution and discuss options, and then we will look at some other touchless options for controls:

Touchscreens We have four different touchless ways of dealing with touchscreens. None of them affect the basic use of the touchscreen – you can still use that too. You can either convert an ordinary monitor to be controlled, and to provide one of these options to the monitor’s functionality. Anyone who prefers to use a touchscreen can do so. However, if someone doesn’t want to touch a touchscreen, there are options.

• We have produced a new QuickSilver™ no-touch touchscreen solution that can be added to a touchscreen interactive, or it can be used to convert a monitor to make it interactive. Just stand in front of the screen, look at it, and

your facial movement will be enough to guide the cursor.

If you want to activate a button, look at it for a second or so, and it will be ‘pressed’. This is a very affordable optical solution that converts full touch functionality to facial tracking – no contact required. You’ll see the cursor on this screen – simply move it by looking around the monitor.

• If we are using infrared surrounds in front of the touchscreen, we can move the touch overlay away from the monitor or monitors. A disadvantage of this approach is that you have increased parallax, but if the ‘buttons’ on the screen are large enough to accommodate that parallax then this is perfectly acceptable as an approach. We have previously used this on exhibits, and it works well.

• We can put an image of the various ‘buttons’ on the screen that can be activated on a graphic panel (or we could line them up on the screen), and by reaching out to the appropriate button, you can activate it. A QuickSilver® linear sensor allows you to select different ranges to activate different ‘buttons’ – so from 2-5 inches you’d activate the first buttons, from 6-9 inches the next one, etc. One sensor can be used to select multiple ‘buttons’ on the screen or on the graphics. This image shows a touchscreen that has been converted to touchless technology with eight videos controlled by one sensor.

• The final alternative for now is our Bring-Your-Own-Device scenario. Since QuickSilver® is designed with all kinds of user interfaces, it was easy for us to add a BYOD type of interface. Activate the camera on your phone or other smart device tablet, scan the QR code mounted with the interactive, and the control screen for the interactive comes up on your device.

Tracking technology lets a guest choose items on a screen by simply looking at what they want.

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Infrared touchscreens can be made touchless so guests just need to get close to the screen without actually touching it.

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Guests can control a video language, both audio and captions, through their smartphone.

Of course the BYOD device option makes for an interesting solution- and although we had not mentioned it before, it is completely possible to use this with our QuickSilver® systems.

We can allow visitors to control touchscreen based or electromechanical interactives, trigger media, events, narrations, or sound bytes in our 3D audio systems. Just scan the QR code and you’ll get a tailored display on your phone that will allow you to trigger narratives, effects, or any other audio tracks.

Buttons Let’s look at the standard button. Since the virus can live for many hours on any button made of plastic or stainless, visitors are unlikely to want to touch buttons. You cannot realistically keep it safe – you’d have to clean the button, figure out how to clean the gap around it, and clean the local area after every use, something that cannot really be done. Visitors could use gloves, but an environment where you need to use gloves at all times is obviously not a great confidence builder, so we have produced ‘touchless buttons.’ As part of the system settings, you can set the minimum and maximum distance from the surface that the ‘button’ is meant to be activated at – so you could select a range of two to six inches, or from two to three feet. Of course, when the button is activated, it is quite possible to generate a satisfying click or other audible feedback, but no touch is required.

As an alternative, our BYOD option described above would be perfectly fine too. On-screen buttons would allow visitors to activate whichever function they want. Multiple users could be logged into the same controls, or we can time limit controls, or make sure that only the last person to scan the QR code can control the exhibit.

Actuators Here we are thinking of interactives where there is a handle or other control to activate a function, or an exhibit.

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A video playback can be controlled by moving a hand back and forth over the speed icons.

On the opposite page is an image of a pre-COVID installation of a water cycle exhibit. Kids cause water to be pushed up in the vertical pipes by pressing the black handle down (note red arrow for location). By adding a sensor a couple of inches above the handle, and setting the range to match, roughly between one inch and six inches, we can create a virtual lever. When activated, this virtual lever will then cause water to be pushed up the tubes to create rainfall over the city – exactly like the physical handle below, which would of course continue to function. As you can see in the image, BYOD is fine too.

More complex usage is also possible. Imagine having a display where you select one of three lights for a color mixing exhibit, and where you could then control the red, green and blue levels by using three sensors, each with a range from one inch to 12 inches. This would create a three-fixture, full color mixing experience with no contact required.

Frame viewer We can use a similar technique for a frame viewer. Usually we’d have a dial to scroll through the video – forward or reverse, fast or slow, as shown in the image above – and that is fully functional. However, for those who would prefer a no-contact way of using the exhibit, we can now use our hand to move around to do the same thing instead of using the dial.

QuickSilver® has been extended with these options, so that it is now possible to use any combination of technology with touchless options to create exhibits that allow your visitors to be comfortable, and we’re working on additional sensor technology to take this even further. With all of these options, you can create and install a system that ensures that your visitors are comfortable.

Our webinar on Touchless Technology, one in a series of webinars showing our latest technology comprising a

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presentation and demonstration, may be found on our website www.madsystems.com.

QS6900 – Miscellaneous options – including LifeSaver, TruCheck and DrinkMe

This is the current list of QuickSilver® product groups: QS6000 – Video – compressed and uncompressed

QS7000 – Dormouse audio guide systems QS7100 – Dormouse video guide systems

QS6100 – Audio – from simple replay to 3D immersive randomizing soundscapes QS6200 – Lighting and DMX

QS7200 – Touchless technology QS7300 – ADA options including the Caterpillar guide system for the visually impaired

QS6300 – Interactivity QS6400 – Inputs / Outputs and sensors including digital inputs, outputs and motion sensors QS6500 – User Interface – various options for our agnostic range of control devices QS6600 – Show Control – TeaParty and associated equipment

The latest QuickSilver® product list headings clearly show that our most recent AV++™ developments have resulted in a complete solution that offers the possibility of low cost, wireless, powerful long-life implementations with capabilities simply not found elsewhere – and the latest contactless control additions provide you with a range of post-peak COVID-19 solutions that will encourage your visitors to return by creating a safe environment while improving the quality of their experience.

•••

QS6700 – Power Management – WiFi and wireless mesh based on/off control

Maris Ensing (maris@madsystems.com) is founder and creative technology consultant, Mad Systems.

QS6800 – Infra-Structure – the backbone of the QuickSilver® system

A physical lever can be activated through a telephone and website, eliminating the need for guests to touch an exhibit element.

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Around Disney’s Galaxy in 25 minutes Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance impresses with advanced ride systems, projection and animatronic technology, and cast member passion

by Martin Palicki

S

ince the opening of the game-changing and award-winning Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure attraction at Shanghai Disneyland in 2016, both fans and industry professionals have been anxiously awaiting the next Disney attraction that would achieve or surpass that level of complete immersion. Now, with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (RotR) open on both US coasts, many are heralding the attraction as the pinnacle of what Disney does best: combining expertly crafted storytelling with state-of-the-art technology and media to create a captivating and thrilling experience. It’s also expanded the boundaries of what an attraction experience can be.

Start with the Basics RotR is the highly anticipated second attraction created for both Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands at Disneyland (California) and Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Florida). The land places guests on the fictional planet of Batuu. Galaxy’s Edge and its debut attraction, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, have already

been named to receive TEA Thea Awards for Outstanding Achievement [see sidebar].

RotR fits the narrative created for the land and expands upon it. After traversing a highly themed queue seeming carved out of the Batuu landscape, guests are recruited for a trans-galactic mission to assist the Resistance.

It’s probably worth noting here that the attraction does not follow the standard theme park format of pre-show, then the main ride/show event, and then a post-show walk-through or retail exit. RotR has two distinct ride experiences, and multiple pre-show scenes. In many ways, the model looks like two connected back-to-back attractions.

As such, the first pre-show featuring the spherical BB-8 and a hologram version of Resistance icon Rey gives guests information about their mission, and the space cruiser that will

Next gen animatronics are surrounded by detailed sets and specacular projection technology. All photos ©Disney

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The Intersystem Transport Ship (left) takes guests from Batuu to a First Order ship, where they are greeted by Storm Troopers (right).

take them across the galaxy. Doors open and guests are briefly back outside on Batuu where the cruiser is waiting for them to board. This is actually a key divergence from a typical attraction path (or trajectory). Normally one remains in the four walls of a building once the experience starts, but this brief return to the outside reminds people of the connected narrative of the land of Batuu, and makes the whole experience feel more believable.

Entering the Intersystem Transport Ship puts guests into the first ride of the attraction. Doors close and an animatronic Lieutenant Bek guides the ship off of Batuu and into space. LED lighting and screens give the standing guests a view of both where they are going and where they have been, while a motion simulator base enhances the feeling of flight. Of course, things go awry and the ship is captured by the First Order.

Because the cruiser is actually on a turntable and rotates 180 degrees, guests exit through the same doors they entered, a neat effect that enhances the narrative illusion. First Order officers escort everyone into the iconic docking bay of a First Order Star Destroyer, populated by a small army of stormtroopers. It’s arguably the largest selfie-set built, but it’s paying dividends in publicity as folks snap and share photos in the impressive hangar.

From here guests are led to “interrogation cells” that serve as the second pre-show. Here, a series of projection and special effects lead to the cell being breached by the Resistance, who rescue the guests and put them on vehicles to escape the First Order ship. These trackless vehicles take guests through the rest of the attraction, in what might be considered a more traditional dark ride format.

Except it’s hardly traditional. Once the vehicles leave the loading bay what follows is non-stop action and effects until the ride ends five minutes later. As the vehicles try to evade stormtroopers, AT-ATs, and Kylo Ren himself, guests are surrounded by action in every direction. Projection mapping blends with fabricated sets, lasers and other lighting effects to create realistic scenes. It’s one of the few attractions where guests really feel like they are in a different space, not just on a set. Lighting racks and sound

equipment are nowhere to be seen. There’s no drop-tile ceiling overhead – it’s 360-degrees of spaceship.

During this portion of the attraction the ride vehicles ascend a lift to a second story, and at the end of the attraction, move into a drop-tower shaft with a motion platform designed to simulate the vehicle’s return to planet Batuu. The vehicles then travel outside the show building, completing the story arc and physically putting guests back on Batuu. Guests then disembark and return to explore the rest of Galaxy’s Edge.

Technically speaking Although RotR opened months after the land debuted, planning for the attraction began along with the rest of Galaxy’s Edge.

Imagineers knew early on that they wanted to have a Millennium Falcon attraction (Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run). But they also understood they needed what Jon Georges, executive producer at Walt Disney Imagineering refers to as “a Star Wars cinematic spectacle” within the land. They began with a traditional storyboarding process to develop the narrative for the attraction, which took nearly six months.

“Once the linear story had been determined we asked ourselves what kind of technology was available to support our storytelling,” explains Georges. “As an Imagineer we want the technology to be invisible. We want you to get into the experience and be completely immersed and the technology is just an enabling device to our storytelling.”

In terms of ride system technology, they settled on integrating four different ride systems into the singular attraction. The initial transport ship stands alone. But the eight-seat trackless troop transport vehicles move through two levels of the attraction, and engage with other ride systems along the way.

“The culmination of that experience is the finale return to the planet below. Your trackless vehicle goes into an escape pod that’s mounted to a Star Tours-like motion base, that’s mounted to a Twilight Zone Tower of Terror-like drop platform,” says

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During the dark ride portion of the attraction, guests are seated in trackless ride vehicles that move quickly throughout the ship, seeking escape pods that return guests to Batuu.

Georges. “Essentially at one point you have a triple ride sandwich dropping you two stories in a controlled freefall, while giving you the motion simulation experience for the return flight to Batuu.”

Naturally, each of those ride systems have sub-systems, locking mechanisms and multiple, redundant safety measures, resulting in one of the most technologically-complex attractions Disney has ever created.

It’s not just the ride systems that have raised the bar. “The ride is a key element, but we also have the show, all of the special effects, the A1000 audio-animatronic figures and the media,” says Georges. “The projections are all moving-eye point media, which means as you’re moving through a scene, the media moves in parallax with you seamlessly.”

Disney partnered with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to help produce the media for the attraction. As fans will know, ILM was founded in order to create special effects for the original Star Wars film, and has since grown into one of the most successful visual effects companies in entertainment.

The A1000 animatronics also represent the latest advancements in robotic technology. In addition to providing more realistic movements, new electric motors (replacing hydraulic and pneumatic systems) makes the animatronics easier to maintain and are more reliable. “The performance we document on opening day will be the same in year 3, 5, or 20 because of the precision of the electric actuation,” Georges explains.

“We’ve had thousands of people work on these projects over the last six years. It takes a lot of passion and a lot of talent from a lot of people to make this seem like a village that’s been here for 1,000 years,” says Scott Trowbridge, portfolio creative executive at Walt Disney Imagineering. Imagineers worked hard to create an attraction where guests, as Trowbridge says, “are not thinking of the 50 ride computers…and all the lines of code that are working together to make it a seamless experience.”

John Larena, creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, also credits the park cast members who are playing a critical part in the operation of RotR. “You can have all the animatronics and projection and effects but it’s that human level of interaction that takes it to the next level,” he says. “On the one hand they are so welcoming as the Resistance and bring you into the story.

Then as the First Order they help you understand you are in big trouble.”

Star Wars fans and park enthusiasts will be happy to know that the story doesn’t appear to be ending with this latest attraction.

“Getting Rise of the Resistance open is not a finishing point,” says Trowbridge. “It’s a starting point.”

As a point of origin, it’s a pretty impressive beginning, made possible through creativity, collaboration and drive. “Bob Iger asked us to be ambitious and then he said ‘Be the most ambitious you’ve ever been,’” says Georges. “When you tell an Imagineer that, this is what you get.” • • •

Imagineers also acknowledge the importance of fellow cast members, both on the development and operational sides.

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Vision accomplished

It was only January 2020 - but it was a long time ago in a galaxy far away that I had the pleasure to experience Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in person at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. At this writing, some four months later, the Florida parks are just beginning the process of reopening since the pandemic’s appearance.

The pioneering, new virtual queueing tool that Disney developed and had been testing for Rise of the Resistance was all the buzz around the time of my visit, and the buzz is even greater now, with virtual queuing being hailed as a key solution for safe operations in parks around the world.

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge are both named on the 26th annual slate of TEA Thea Award recipients. Of the former, the Thea Committee wrote: “This is a crowning achievement of our industry. Guests are empowered to live their own Star Wars adventure, quite literally taking the story into their own hands, as the attraction authentically brings to life one of the most iconic experiences in pop culture.” Of the latter, the Committee wrote: “The intricate layout, sophisticated use of scale, extension of character details and high quality of execution combine to make this an outstanding example of story-driven experiential design. We’ve never seen a theme park land like this before, and it just might change how we create them in the future.”

The attractions industry is at all times a creative laboratory, operating on a highly visible public platform.

Kudos to those who take the risk and make the investment. Public appetite has been huge for this genre of guest experience, enabling shared, improvised adventures themed to a story that inspires and uplifts. • - Judith Rubin

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Inside the mouse house Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway revealed

by Martin Palicki

A

s Walt Disney World Resort President Josh D’Amaro referenced while opening the new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (MMRR) attraction, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is no longer just a park that takes guests behind the scenes of moviemaking. Now, the theme park puts guests right in the middle of popular movies and stories to create their own authentic adventures alongside their favorite characters. Perhaps that is most evident on the new MMRR ride, where guests literally walk through the cinema screen and into the world of a Mickey & Minnie cartoon.

The attraction accomplishes this through the combination of state-of-the-art technology in projection and ride vehicles. Baked into all of that is classic Disney storytelling and artistic attention to detail. Much is written about creating more immersive environments, and lots of attention is paid to the technical side of things. But it’s really the blending of all of these things – the technology and the artistry and the storytelling – that results in the inviting and immersive experience that is Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.

The experience Guests arrive at the iconic Hollywood Studios Chinese Theater, ostensibly to see to see the latest Mickey Mouse cartoon, “Perfect Picnic.” Guests are led into the theater, which is actually the pre-show to the ride. In the cartoon, Mickey & Minnie prepare for a picnic in the park and croon about how absolutely nothing could possibly go wrong. Of course, something does: a small explosion in the cartoon blows a giant hole in the theater’s movie screen. An attendant opens the gates at the front of the theater and guests walk through the hole in the screen and step into the world of the cartoon themselves.

Immediately passing through the screen threshold, everything begins to look as though it were drawn by hand. Colors pop, most lines curve naturally, and the catchy theme song from the cartoon follows guests everywhere.

The ride begins with conductor Goofy captaining his train (and guests) on a tour through Runamuck Park. Riders soon see Mickey & Minnie on their way to the perfect picnic, but yet another unforeseen mishap causes the locomotive to veer off course and the remaining ride vehicles “runaway” from the railway. The ride then takes guests along on Mickey & Minnie’s cartoon adventures through the Wild West, into a carnival, through the jungle, under the sea and more. Just as vehicles are about to be crunched inside a menacing factory, Mickey and Minnie save the day, transforming the factory into a bucolic park scene. Reunited with Goofy, the train passes the mousy heroes at their penultimate picnic before stopping at the unload station.

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All aboard!

Each train consists of four trackless vehicles. Two rows in each car comfortably seat eight adults total. The vehicles arrive on the boarding platform appearing as a conjoined train, with a separate locomotive car piloted by Goofy. The cars are slightly reminiscent of the original The Great Movie Ride cars that occupied the same building from park opening in 1998 until 2017. Those vehicles held dozens of guests each and traveled together in pairs for most of the ride. They were trackless vehicles too, and also somewhat ahead of their time, technology wise. Those original automated guided vehicles followed wires buried in the floor, with minimal deviation from the set path. That same vehicle style was also used in the original Universe of Energy pavilion at EPCOT from 1982 until 2017.

The new MMRR vehicles are much smaller and utilize a different system that allows each vehicle to operate independently and follow a unique path. This is similar to rides Disney has built in Tokyo (Pooh’s Hunny Hunt) and Hong Kong (Mystic Manor).

The MMRR vehicles are technological twins to the cars in the Rise of the Resistance attractions at both Hollywood Studios and in California. [Disney doesn’t get into the details of how their trackless technology works, but you can learn how another similar modern trackless system technology works in “Cool Moves,” InPark Magazine issue #48.]

Depending on which vehicle a guest is in, the action they see might change from ride to ride, although the story arc remains the same.

The technology of the trackless system isn’t just “cool,” it’s also a creative opportunity. Imagineers utilized the flexibility the trackless system provides to create vehicles that become characters within the story. The seats rumble at points, the cars dance with one another, and they move fluidly through and around each scene. They have personality. At one point the last car backs away from the rest of the train, almost as though it is trying to avoid the certain calamity that lies ahead.

Seamless storytelling The projection systems throughout the attraction deliver a central element of the experience. After all, what better way to bring a cartoon to life than by using the platform for which cartoons were created. Imagineers use a blend of extensive projection mapping and painted props, oftentimes black light illuminated, to further blur the lines of reality. What is scenic and what is projected? In some cases, several rides are necessary before those distinctions can be perceived.

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Vehicles pass through projected and animated scenes, like this city streetscape. Photo ©Disney

As mentioned, the ride’s climactic scene instantly turns a dirty, crowded factory into a delightful garden park in front of guests’ eyes. The secret? Several set pieces retract to reveal garden accoutrements while others collapse into stylized trees, all while the projector system effortlessly swirls in images of a beautiful park setting. The effect is magical.

Of particular note is the use of projected, animated characters in dimensional spaces. Walt Disney pioneered the use of a multiplane camera to create dimension and realistic spatial movement in his animated films. It changed how animated films are made, how characters move in environments and how audiences perceive scenes. In a way, the same revolutionary impact can be found within the MMRR attraction. Like the multi-plane camera, characters appear on one plane while background images appear on a different plane. The character still appears 2D, but is living in a 3D world. The effect is used throughout the attraction and it’s impressive. The most obvious example is when Goofy swings open the shutters on the back of his locomotive. His 2D character appears in the middle of the cab, with the wall appearing a bit behind him, just like a real conductor would.

Several animatronic characters exist in the attraction, namely Mickie & Minnie, Pluto, and Daisy. They blend in well with the surrounding scenery, and all utilize interior projected face technology for a realistic animated face effect.

Disney artistry ties it together While the technology is the brains that make the ride hum, the artistic perspective applied to the technology is what brings heart and charm to the attraction. In this context, tech design becomes storytelling, and it’s apparent both technology and creative professionals collaborated on the attraction from the beginning.

The authentic cartoon-style painting throughout the ride combined with the animation embedded everywhere evoke a retro-Disney charm. The versions of Mickey and Minnie are also stylized in their nostalgic 1930s form.

The blending between scenic props and projection is what truly makes the screens disappear. Many modern media-based attractions have stark distinctions between the screen and the set.

But when the whole set becomes the screen, a more convincing level of immersion results.

With an attraction that takes such a deep dive into the cartoon world, there are unlimited possibilities for “easter eggs” and, naturally, hidden Mickeys. They appear everywhere throughout the queue and attraction. Mickey’s mug even appears in a more artistic format in the chandelier metalwork above the queue.

After riding multiple times, other secrets start to become apparent. Pluto can be found in nearly every scene, anxiously trying to catch up to his owners, and a small crab also makes subtle appearances throughout the ride. A small homage to The Great Movie Ride can be found in the Carnival scene.

There are certainly many more secrets hidden throughout the ride, and therein lies a key element of the attraction’s charm: while every ride vehicle affords different views, every ride also allows for new details to be discovered. And the best part is they don’t require extensive backstory or deep IP brand knowledge to be enjoyed. They are there for all to enjoy.

Of course, for those that have a deeper knowledge of Disney trivia and history, the ride is chock full of references...to Ub Iwerks, Imagineering’s headquarters, and significant dates in Disney’s timeline (among others!) Both the general and superfan “easter eggs” together help drive ride repeatability and long-term success for an attraction.

Even more than being a repeatable, fun, family-friendly experience, MMRR is a loving tribute to the characters upon which the entire Disney empire was founded. The technology and artistry within MMRR are great complements to the historic legacy of Walt’s iconic characters. • • •

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