What Are the Hallmarks of a Good Theme Park?
Theme parks are not a 20th century invention. They’ve been around since the 1500s, but in a much different way.
The first one, Bakken, opened in 1563 as a series of carnival entertainment that was built around hot springs in Denmark. Bakken evolved from a private hunting ground to an animal park and, eventually, a public park in the 18th century. It wasn’t until the 19th century that subsequent parks added thrill rides.
The modern theme park has changed by leaps and bounds. Thanks in large part to technology, consumers today have an astonishing array of entertainment and educational options in innovative theme parks.
Innovation in Theme Parks
Back then, people may have been satisfied to walk around a theme park design with rich landscaped features, floating balloons, al fresco musical entertainment, a few dining options, and thrill rides.
Theme parks today are no longer just about the magnificent landscaping and thrill rides. With virtual and augmented reality, visitors are transported to unforgettable experiences and new worlds.
For example, SeaWorld® Yas Island, Abu Dhabi features the Hypersphere, which is a fully immersive, 360-degree multimedia sphere that takes visitors to the depths of the ocean. With AR and VR, theme parks are providing immersive experiences and destinations that may be inaccessible to many in real life.
The innovation, however, is not limited to the attractions and rides.
The best theme park thinks about your experience even before you walk through the entrance. You can use QR codes to access a map of the entire park, making it easier for you to navigate your way and find the ride or attraction you want.
Because of the pandemic, some theme parks have also developed a contactless approach to park entry and even purchases. Facial recognition technology allows visitors to come into the park without the need for a physical ticket. All you have to do is download an app that facilitates this, and you can enjoy the park, have a meal, and buy what you want without lining up for transactions.
Some theme parks are also using data analytics to determine personalized services and experiences. Digital platforms further ensure theme parks deliver the right alerts and customized offers to visitors.
Qualities of a Good Theme Park
Every theme park strives to create the best experiences for every visitor. With competition for consumers, parks will try to outdo other businesses.
What features indicate that a theme park is going to give you unforgettable experiences?
Exploration Into Unseen Worlds
A good theme park makes the impossible, possible. When you enter the park, you know you’ll be in for some spectacular sights.
The best attractions are ones you haven’t seen before or have no opportunity to be in. For example, Warner Bros. World™ Yas Island, Abu Dhabi’s Batman: Knight Flight will take you through the thrilling world of Gotham City — in a prototype urban patrol vehicle that’s ultra high-tech.
A Full Sensory Experience
Here’s where the “theme” in “theme park” becomes a complete experience. The average theme park presents you with attractions you can marvel at, and maybe even touch. The best theme park will immerse you in their world, engaging all of your senses.
For example, Ferrari World™ Yas Island, Abu Dhabi has a 4D ride called Speed of Magic. Park visitors climb aboard the 4D ride and drive through ice caves, soar over cliffs, and dive into oceans while simulator technology teases your senses with changes in temperature, moisture, light, and movement all throughout.
Many theme parks in the Emirates have such unique rides that most people go to multiple parks. If you go to the right locations, you won’t even have to travel far to visit a lot of them. Yas theme park tickets, for one, gives visitors access to four exceptional parks.
Extraordinary Rides
A ride that simulates the movements of an awesome octopus. A megacoaster that goes sideways and does backward inverted loops. An epic 5D ride that takes you into the thick of the action — as though you were really in it — where good and evil battle it out.
Today’s theme park rides are not your grandpa’s rollercoaster or Ferris wheel. A whole lot of engineering, science, and creativity go into the design of contemporary rides, with immersion in fantastical worlds as the prevailing goal.
With each ride, you’ll enjoy breathtaking settings, a series of sound and light effects, and riveting action. When they say “thrill rides,” today’s theme parks live up to the concept.
A Story
What is even more remarkable about the evolution of the theme park is that you’re not just going on a ride or checking out an attraction. The top-rated parks in the UAE not only live up to their themed worlds, but they also carry a story throughout the park.
Storytelling turns your typical visit into an unforgettable journey into fascinating worlds. Storytelling is what sets an innovative theme park from your usual amusement park. It is a visionary feature that Disneyland Park pioneered in 1955, with the intention of transporting park visitors to a completely different world.
Although many of those worlds now are replicas of movies and movie scenes, other theme parks focus on realism with stories that shed light on the natural world, from the vastness of space to the depths of the sea.
Along with the story are characters, of course. You’ll see them in specific zones of the park, in costumes and in full character. They perform for visitors not as mascots, but as key parts of the story. They also engage visitors, turning their part in the story interactive.
A Themed Escape from the Everyday
Theme parks are the usual destination on a weekend or holiday for families and the young at heart. These parks provide an exhilarating and memorable time to enjoy each other’s company, and for many, an amazing break from the everyday.
With amazing advances in technology, theme parks can feature rides and attractions that do more than astonish. They can open minds and educate. They can help you overcome fears. They can bring people together. The possibilities for theme park experiences are limitless.