T his has been a busy year for the attractions industry. Projects that had previously stalled – particularly those in the UAE – are moving into the final phases of completion and will open to the public in 2014. Asia continues to show strong growth, with announcements of both big and small parks for next year and ride manufacturers in both the US and Europe are predicting a solid year ahead.
It hasn’t all been good though. Finding affordable land that can justify huge capital investment is still the major barrier for many attractions’ investors and even some big theme park stalwarts are facing the difficult decision to shut poor performing parks in major cities that should, on paper, be a financial gold mine.
The start of a new investment cycle builds fresh hope however, whether a site is in its umpteenth season or its first, and new product brings excitement and renewed impetus for operators in an industry that thrives on getting bigger, better, faster and more thrilling.
Dubai’s Worlds of Adventures to open The Worlds of Adventure theme park in Dubai will open in mid to late 2014, according to developer IMG Group. The theme park, which will be located in Dubailand’s much-delayed City of Arabia, will consist of four zones – the Marvel Universe, the Cartoon Network zone, the Lost Valley zone and the IMG entertainment zone. It will also include a 12-screen cinema and external F&B and retail areas. The 140,000sq m (1.5m sq ft) theme park will feature children’s favourites Ben 10 and Marvel superhero Iron Man.
Children’s superhero Ben 10 will feature
Into the Abyss Perth-based Adventure World will open its brand new Aus$12m (US$11.4m, E8.4m, £7.1m) roller coaster in November 2013. Abyss is the single largest investment at Adventure World since it launched in 1982 and features a 10 storey-high vertical lift, a 100ft (30.5m) vertical drop and giant turns and twists. The 630m (2,000ft) Gerstlauer custom built coaster also features four daylight inversions and a secret dark ride section, as well as a zero-g-roll, rollover loop, cobra roll and inline loop. The theme is a spooky underworld with towering Guardians, massive upturned trees with exposed roots and an intimidating themed arch entrance to create a feeling of impending doom.
The Abyss rollercoaster is themed around a spooky underworld
Transforming costume characters Universal Studios Hollywood has introduced robotic, voice technology enabling walk-about characters to its park, which interact and speak with its theme park guests. As an extension of its thrill ride Transformers: The Ride – 3D, the humanoid robots Megatron and Optimus Prime can now engage in conversations with guests in both the tone and personality of their characters.
At Universal Studios, humanoid robots now interact with visitors
Something cooking at Disneyland Paris A new dark ride based on the Ratatouille movie will open at Disneyland Paris next year. Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy will use trackless ride vehicles and 3D to ‘shrink’ guests and submerge them in the madness of a Parisian kitchen. (See interview with COO Joe Schott on p26.)
The new ride ‘shrinks’ guests into a mad Paris kitchen
Film studio to open park Cinecittà World, the cinema-inspired theme park being built near Rome, Italy, is to open in the first half of next year. The US$700m (E517m, £43.7m) park will combine art and cinema to create a tourist attraction with theme park rides aimed at families and children. In subsequent phases, the park will also house shops, restaurants and film sets.
PHOTO: flickr/sapiamaia
Film studio Cinecittà will house the park
All systems go
Work has started on Robot Land theme park in the coastal city of Incheon, South Korea. The park’s developer, Robotland Co has broken ground on the US$600m (E444m, £376m) project, which will include a robot-inspired theme park, robotics school and accommodation. The park is scheduled to open in 2016.
Welcome Homer Universal Orlando Resort in Florida has opened its new themed environment based on TV show The Simpsons. Springfield features all of Homer and family’s favourite haunts, including Shelbyville by the Sea and Duff Brewery. As well as The Simpsons Ride, the newly-themed area includes iconic eateries and an outdoor attraction based on the show’s evil alien duo, Kang & Kodos.
The park area features Homer’s haunts
The official angry birds The first official Angry Birds theme park in China opened in October in Haining, East China’s Zhejiang province. Although there have been many unlicensed imitations in China, this is the only official Rovio Entertainment Angry Birds theme park outside of Finland, where Rovio Entertainment is based. Attractions include a 4D theatre, an interactive square for guests to play versions of the popular Angry Birds game and also a parkour zone aimed at teens. The 20m yuan (US$3.25m, E2.54m, £2.18m) park is just 150km (93 miles) away from mainland China’s first Disney Resort in Shanghai, which is due to open in 2015.
The new park in China cost £2.18m
Creating history in Moscow Suburban landowner and property developer RDI has announced plans to build a historical theme park in Moscow in 2014. The Russian theme park will be a showcase for costumed historical reenactments, similar to the French theme park Puy du Fou.
Russian developer RDI, has allocated RUB2bn (US$60.3m, E45.5m, £39m) and 1sq km (0.38sq m) of land for the project, which could be built within the next five years. The theme park will also include a 150-room hotel, ethnography museum, historical village with guest houses and an amphitheatre and will be able to cater to around 40,000 visitors once it’s open.
A £39m park planned for Russia will offer historical reenactments
Deep rooted
Plans are underway in Dubai in the UAE to build a themed destination based on the Quran. The Dubai Municipality says the new Holy Quran Park, which will be based on the central religious text of Islam, will open in September 2014.
The 60-hectare US$7.3m (E5.5m, (£4.7m) attraction will showcase “the miracles of the Quran” and is said to include an outdoor theatre, children’s play area and a series of Islamic gardens featuring many of the plants and trees mentioned in the text of the Quran.
Job done India’s first KidZania has opened this month in Mumbai. Backed by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, the 75,000sq ft (7,000sq m) attraction is operating under a licensing deal with KidZania Mexico. KidZania Mumbai, located in Ghatkopar, is the 13th KidZania franchise worldwide. ImagiNation Edutainment India, the India franchisee, plans to open other KidZania sites in cities across India, including Delhi and Bangalore.
News reporter or dentist? Kids can ‘try out’ new skills at Kidzania in Mumbai
News reporter or dentist? Kids can ‘try out’ new skills at Kidzania in Mumbai
Flags flying Six Flags has a host of new attractions for the 2014 season. Six Flags America will introduce a New Orleans-themed Mardi Gras section to its Baltimore park along with two new rides; Ragin’ Cajun, a four-passenger train, fast-track roller coaster and a family-friendly, flying ride called French Quarter Flyers. At Montreal’s La Ronde, high-flying, inverted spinning ride The Demon will debut next year.
At Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, a drop ride called Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom is new, which at 415ft (126m) will take the honour of tallest drop tower in the world when it opens next year. The ride will replace the park’s classic wooden coaster Rolling Thunder.
At Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, Bugs Bunny World – the children’s area of the park – will undergo a makeover, with the addition of a new children’s coaster and family-friendly show in the Carrot Club Theater. Six Flags Over Texas is also expanding its children’s area for the new season, with new rides and an interactive play area.
Six Flags parks around the US have many new attractions for 2014
Arthur’s Seat Visitors to Germany’s Europa-Park will be able to get up close and personal with the world according to Luc Besson in April 2014. The French director of the Arthur and the Invisibles trilogy is working alongside Mack Rides to create a new family attraction based on the films at the family-run park.
Arthur – In the Minimoys Kingdom is a 3,500 m (11,480ft) attraction built under a 15m (49ft)-dome, featuring the secret world of tiny beings called Minimoys. Visitors will experience seven kingdoms, including a 550m (1,800ft)-long flight through an underground universe. A dark ride is part of the attraction, as well as a free-fall tower and carousel ride, built within Grimm’s enchanted forest.
Europa visitors will meet the Minimoys
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T his has been a busy year for the attractions industry. Projects that had previously stalled – particularly those in the UAE – are moving into the final phases of completion and will open to the public in 2014. Asia continues to show strong growth, with announcements of both big and small parks for next year and ride manufacturers in both the US and Europe are predicting a solid year ahead.
It hasn’t all been good though. Finding affordable land that can justify huge capital investment is still the major barrier for many attractions’ investors and even some big theme park stalwarts are facing the difficult decision to shut poor performing parks in major cities that should, on paper, be a financial gold mine.
The start of a new investment cycle builds fresh hope however, whether a site is in its umpteenth season or its first, and new product brings excitement and renewed impetus for operators in an industry that thrives on getting bigger, better, faster and more thrilling.
Dubai’s Worlds of Adventures to open The Worlds of Adventure theme park in Dubai will open in mid to late 2014, according to developer IMG Group. The theme park, which will be located in Dubailand’s much-delayed City of Arabia, will consist of four zones – the Marvel Universe, the Cartoon Network zone, the Lost Valley zone and the IMG entertainment zone. It will also include a 12-screen cinema and external F&B and retail areas. The 140,000sq m (1.5m sq ft) theme park will feature children’s favourites Ben 10 and Marvel superhero Iron Man.
Children’s superhero Ben 10 will feature
Into the Abyss Perth-based Adventure World will open its brand new Aus$12m (US$11.4m, E8.4m, £7.1m) roller coaster in November 2013. Abyss is the single largest investment at Adventure World since it launched in 1982 and features a 10 storey-high vertical lift, a 100ft (30.5m) vertical drop and giant turns and twists. The 630m (2,000ft) Gerstlauer custom built coaster also features four daylight inversions and a secret dark ride section, as well as a zero-g-roll, rollover loop, cobra roll and inline loop. The theme is a spooky underworld with towering Guardians, massive upturned trees with exposed roots and an intimidating themed arch entrance to create a feeling of impending doom.
The Abyss rollercoaster is themed around a spooky underworld
Transforming costume characters Universal Studios Hollywood has introduced robotic, voice technology enabling walk-about characters to its park, which interact and speak with its theme park guests. As an extension of its thrill ride Transformers: The Ride – 3D, the humanoid robots Megatron and Optimus Prime can now engage in conversations with guests in both the tone and personality of their characters.
At Universal Studios, humanoid robots now interact with visitors
Something cooking at Disneyland Paris A new dark ride based on the Ratatouille movie will open at Disneyland Paris next year. Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy will use trackless ride vehicles and 3D to ‘shrink’ guests and submerge them in the madness of a Parisian kitchen. (See interview with COO Joe Schott on p26.)
The new ride ‘shrinks’ guests into a mad Paris kitchen
Film studio to open park Cinecittà World, the cinema-inspired theme park being built near Rome, Italy, is to open in the first half of next year. The US$700m (E517m, £43.7m) park will combine art and cinema to create a tourist attraction with theme park rides aimed at families and children. In subsequent phases, the park will also house shops, restaurants and film sets.
PHOTO: flickr/sapiamaia
Film studio Cinecittà will house the park
All systems go
Work has started on Robot Land theme park in the coastal city of Incheon, South Korea. The park’s developer, Robotland Co has broken ground on the US$600m (E444m, £376m) project, which will include a robot-inspired theme park, robotics school and accommodation. The park is scheduled to open in 2016.
Welcome Homer Universal Orlando Resort in Florida has opened its new themed environment based on TV show The Simpsons. Springfield features all of Homer and family’s favourite haunts, including Shelbyville by the Sea and Duff Brewery. As well as The Simpsons Ride, the newly-themed area includes iconic eateries and an outdoor attraction based on the show’s evil alien duo, Kang & Kodos.
The park area features Homer’s haunts
The official angry birds The first official Angry Birds theme park in China opened in October in Haining, East China’s Zhejiang province. Although there have been many unlicensed imitations in China, this is the only official Rovio Entertainment Angry Birds theme park outside of Finland, where Rovio Entertainment is based. Attractions include a 4D theatre, an interactive square for guests to play versions of the popular Angry Birds game and also a parkour zone aimed at teens. The 20m yuan (US$3.25m, E2.54m, £2.18m) park is just 150km (93 miles) away from mainland China’s first Disney Resort in Shanghai, which is due to open in 2015.
The new park in China cost £2.18m
Creating history in Moscow Suburban landowner and property developer RDI has announced plans to build a historical theme park in Moscow in 2014. The Russian theme park will be a showcase for costumed historical reenactments, similar to the French theme park Puy du Fou.
Russian developer RDI, has allocated RUB2bn (US$60.3m, E45.5m, £39m) and 1sq km (0.38sq m) of land for the project, which could be built within the next five years. The theme park will also include a 150-room hotel, ethnography museum, historical village with guest houses and an amphitheatre and will be able to cater to around 40,000 visitors once it’s open.
A £39m park planned for Russia will offer historical reenactments
Deep rooted
Plans are underway in Dubai in the UAE to build a themed destination based on the Quran. The Dubai Municipality says the new Holy Quran Park, which will be based on the central religious text of Islam, will open in September 2014.
The 60-hectare US$7.3m (E5.5m, (£4.7m) attraction will showcase “the miracles of the Quran” and is said to include an outdoor theatre, children’s play area and a series of Islamic gardens featuring many of the plants and trees mentioned in the text of the Quran.
Job done India’s first KidZania has opened this month in Mumbai. Backed by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, the 75,000sq ft (7,000sq m) attraction is operating under a licensing deal with KidZania Mexico. KidZania Mumbai, located in Ghatkopar, is the 13th KidZania franchise worldwide. ImagiNation Edutainment India, the India franchisee, plans to open other KidZania sites in cities across India, including Delhi and Bangalore.
News reporter or dentist? Kids can ‘try out’ new skills at Kidzania in Mumbai
News reporter or dentist? Kids can ‘try out’ new skills at Kidzania in Mumbai
Flags flying Six Flags has a host of new attractions for the 2014 season. Six Flags America will introduce a New Orleans-themed Mardi Gras section to its Baltimore park along with two new rides; Ragin’ Cajun, a four-passenger train, fast-track roller coaster and a family-friendly, flying ride called French Quarter Flyers. At Montreal’s La Ronde, high-flying, inverted spinning ride The Demon will debut next year.
At Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, a drop ride called Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom is new, which at 415ft (126m) will take the honour of tallest drop tower in the world when it opens next year. The ride will replace the park’s classic wooden coaster Rolling Thunder.
At Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, Bugs Bunny World – the children’s area of the park – will undergo a makeover, with the addition of a new children’s coaster and family-friendly show in the Carrot Club Theater. Six Flags Over Texas is also expanding its children’s area for the new season, with new rides and an interactive play area.
Six Flags parks around the US have many new attractions for 2014
Arthur’s Seat Visitors to Germany’s Europa-Park will be able to get up close and personal with the world according to Luc Besson in April 2014. The French director of the Arthur and the Invisibles trilogy is working alongside Mack Rides to create a new family attraction based on the films at the family-run park.
Arthur – In the Minimoys Kingdom is a 3,500 m (11,480ft) attraction built under a 15m (49ft)-dome, featuring the secret world of tiny beings called Minimoys. Visitors will experience seven kingdoms, including a 550m (1,800ft)-long flight through an underground universe. A dark ride is part of the attraction, as well as a free-fall tower and carousel ride, built within Grimm’s enchanted forest.
Sony Pictures is set to launch an immersive indoor entertainment park at Oakbrook Center in
Chicago in December, featuring escape rooms, interactive exhibits, racing simulators, VR
attractions, bumper cars and food and drink.
At a recent think tank, The Tourism Society hosted a panel overseen by its first female chair,
Alison Cryer MBE, to discuss the importance of male allyship in the travel and tourism industry.
Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning (MoCAUP) has opened
An exhibition which provides a retrospective of the research and practices of MAD Architects.
Timbaland, Platinum Grammy Award-winning music producer, who's worked with artists such as Jay-Z,
Missy Elliott, Madonna, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake and Drake, has announced a partnership with health
and wellbeing music provider, Myndstream.
The rapid advance of technology in all areas of life is putting societies in flux, creating
uncertainty and forcing people to reassess their plans for the future, according to a new report
from consulting firm Accenture.
Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, UK, has opened a life-sized replica of a
healthcare centre for infants, offering visitors an opportunity to discover how new and
expectant mothers in the early 1960s were cared for and supported.
Attractions.io has created a bespoke nighttime app for UK theme park Alton Towers, which the
operator will use for its Scarefest and Ultimate Fireworks Spectacular events.
Morgan’s Wonderland – a Texas-based theme park which caters specifically to people with
disabilities – has revealed plans tol add attractions worth US$6 million in 2024.
Falcon’s Beyond Global has begun trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange, after
raising more
than US$100 million to support its growth strategy and completing a business
combination with
Fast Acquisition Corp.
SeaWorld has revealed plans to open new, "one-of-a-kind" marine life themed rides and
attractions at all three of its SeaWorld parks during Spring 2024.
