The finale of Design & Technology was a talk by jeweller Silvia Weidenbach. Weidenbach, on her website, describes her approach to design as a fusion of the digital and traditional. Such combinations of the old and new when it comes to theme parks are, in my opinion, necessary to move into the next era of attraction design. When simulators all feel alike and dark rides provoke comparison to It’s a Small World, a new way forward must be sought.
I mention simulators and dark rides because we’ve already seen lasting success from a combination of the two: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey blends both into an attraction that continues to attract hours-long queues over a decade after its opening.
Forbidden Journey, for the non-themed entertainment nerd, consists of alternating simulator and dark ride sections. Each simulator section uses motion choreographed to projected video on a wrap-around screen – this is typical of simulators, but with each scene followed by an extremely immersive stretch of dark ride, the effect never becomes stale. Uniquely, the video is not in 3D, opposing the notion that simulators need that to be immersive.
In 2010, I felt certain that Forbidden Journey would herald a new era of theme park design. It was the first ‘grown up’ attraction I was brave enough to go on, but I knew it was unlike anything ever seen in a park before. While it did define the following years of attraction design in some ways, I was about a decade out with my assumption. Only now, as the dominance of simulators wanes and innovation opens doors to more advanced technology, is the combination attraction finding its stride. Perhaps the most exciting example is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which boldly combines simulator, dark ride, walk-through, and drop tower into one mind-blowingly innovative experience. I can’t stress enough how big a deal that is – Rise of the Resistance might be the biggest innovation in theme park attractions ever.
And I have to say – I could not be happier that it’s happening now. Hopefully, l will graduate next year into a themed entertainment industry developing the very concepts that made 10–year-old me excited about this career in the first place.
I give the fusion attraction 5 stars.
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