Themed Design

Wednesday, February 08, 2012 Parkology: Coney Island the First Theme Park?    parkology

(park•ol’•o•gy)
n.
1. The systematic study of the art and science of the theme park, especially the study of the origins, organization, development, and nature of said art form.
2. The indulgent ramblings of an industry veteran trying to make sense of it all

also, park•ol’o•gist n. ...View more

Thursday, November 17, 2011 Chic, Contemporary Christmas - The Champs-Élysées' Christmas illuminations    Possibly the most famous street in the world, Champs-Élysées in Paris, will be looking extra chic and contemporary this Christmas as they reveal their brand new Christmas illuminations....View more

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 What are you main objectives for the IAAPA Expo?    We asked the 3000+ members of Blooloop's LinkedIn group, “Are you planning on attending the IAAPA Expo? If so, what are your main objectives?”...View more

Sunday, November 13, 2011 What's the Big Idea? Looking at the Legacy of the Millennium Commission    If you visit the Millennium Commission website you might be forgiven for thinking that every visitor attraction project they were involved in was an unqualified success. ...View more

Monday, October 17, 2011 Dancing in the Park: LEGOLAND Florida Opens    LEGOLAND Florida, the fifth LEGOLAND park, and the biggest in the world opened this weekend. We have some great images showing the LEGOLAND party in full swing....View more

Friday, October 07, 2011 The Wax Museum After Dark    Have you noticed how the classic wax museum seems to be booming these years? The grand dame of waxworks, Madame Tussauds, is constantly opening new attractions, currently operating 13 attractions and counting.
...View more

Wednesday, September 21, 2011 "And the bigger one is called a Giant Leonopterix" : Theme Park Designers on the Disney / Avatar News    Yesterday saw news that Walt Disney Parks will collaborate with filmmaker James Cameron and Fox Filmed Entertainment to bring the world of AVATAR to life at Disney parks. What does this development mean for Disney, for the theme park business, will it be a good (or logical) fit into Animal Kingdom and will Disney's HR team soon be looking for 9ft tall blue skinned applicants? We spoke to some leading theme park designers...
...View more

Monday, September 19, 2011 Themed Entertainment: TEA gets BeWitched at BeWILDerwood    Norfolk's BeWILDerwood theme park played host to the TEA's (Themed Entertainment Association) European and Middle Eastern division last week as around 30 creatives from the theme park and themed entertainment industry took the opportunity to visit the park, hear about its history and background and engage in the kind of convivial alcohol-fuelled networking for which the TEA is rightly known.
...View more

Wednesday, September 07, 2011 Themed Design: The Attraction of Scent    When my bottle of cologne hit the bathroom floor this morning it wasn’t the sight of broken glass that occupied my senses. It was the scent. It was powerful. It took me right back to the shop where I tried it on for the first time. I have always been interested in scents, and the use of scent is starting to blossom in some sectors....View more

Sunday, August 21, 2011 Audiovisual installations: When "Urban Art" Just Doesn't Work    I find it, still, incredible, the number of ‘Urban Art’ high tech projects dotted around cities that do not work. Is it because there is no financial incentive?...View more

Tuesday, July 12, 2011 Themed Entertainment: TEA’s Mr. Mission Control – Buzz Price (1921 – 2010)    It’s been nearly a year (August 15, 2010) since Buzz Price passed away and since then I’ve had numerous opportunities to talk with friends and colleagues about dad. Everyone that knew dad had a favorite story. ...View more

Tuesday, July 05, 2011 Themed Entertainment: We make the magic at SATE 2011 in Amsterdam    The SATE (Storytelling/Architecture/Technology/Experience) conference 2011 in Amsterdam was like a rollercoaster ride of ideas, sage advice, discussion and inspiration. 78 year old Marty ‘We make the magic’ Sklar was the keynote speaker at the conference - with his wealth of experience he remains an inspiration for many people in the business. ...View more

Thursday, May 19, 2011 Lemurs & Lions at Resort World Sentosa as Madagascar Attraction set to Open    Greetings from Singapore – home to some of the best shopping, dining and entertainment in the world. Those pursuits are on the back-burner for me this trip, because a group of us are hard at work here on Sentosa Island prepping for the official grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore (May 28), and the debut of the park’s newest attraction – Madagascar: A Crate Adventure.
...View more

Friday, April 29, 2011 Audiovisual Technology: Dawn of the Pixel    What happened to all those exciting darting spears of light, sharply piercing through artificial smoke-induced mists at those great rock concerts in the 1990s? Automated moving light was such a great invention – movement, colour, great projected patterns on scenery and in space. One wonders if for some, the show lighting may have been more interesting than the music. But then, I am a lighting man!...View more

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 IP & Theme Parks: here to stay?    "It all started with a Mouse", one of Walt Disney's famous quotes. Well indeed, I believe the Disney company may be credited for being the first theme park that successfully based its themes around well known TV and film characters. And although amusement parks here and there have since then added famous characters to their theme, not until just a few years ago did we see the surge in intellectual property (IP)-based themed areas, for the moment in Europe led by the UK. What started with the very successful "Thomasland" at Drayton Manor Theme Park is now being replicated by others around the country....View more

Thursday, March 10, 2011 Billionaires and BRICs: Attractions Trends    Forbes Magazine’s annual global ranking of billionaires records the rise of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Little wonder then that the Attractions Business is following the money.
...View more

Friday, March 04, 2011 Themed Design: Scary Monsters and Dr Who in 3D    I can still remember how excited my friends and I were back in January 1974. Dr. Who, the British science fiction show, the staple of any self respecting small boy’s Saturday night TV watching and generator of a million nightmares, was to be the subject of an exhibition in Blackpool, Lancashire’s coastal resort. The tales of “The Doctor” (we never knew his name) and his battle against monsters from across the galaxy transfixed us each weekend on the television and news of the exhibition spread rapidly around the school. ...View more

Monday, February 21, 2011 Audiovisual technology: LEDs are the new Pixidust    ‘I wish I could take a handful of pixels and scatter them wherever I want’ mused a leading industry figure a few years ago. It is remarkable that we now are in a world where this has become possible. Designers with imagination can now literally place colourful and bright ‘pixels’ practically anywhere and control them together to sprinkle magic over practically anything....View more

Friday, January 21, 2011 Theme Park Design and why Steve Alcorn’s Time Portal won’t get made    "If a theme park attraction were a kitchen it would be pretty crowded, and not just with cooks." I thought I had a good working idea of what went on behind the scenes at a major theme park, I really did. Turns out I didn’t and were it not for Steve Alcorn’s new book I’d still be none the wiser......View more

Monday, December 13, 2010 Disturbing my Equilibrium on Universal's Harry Potter Ride    I count myself and my family very lucky to have lived through first release of the Harry Potter books and Harry Potter movies. Sure there will be those who love the series in the future. However, there is something particularly special about being there at the birth of one of these iconic cultural happenings....View more

Friday, November 05, 2010 Not bad for a Boy Wizard! Universal's Magical Ride    The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, opened June 18, 2010, has delivered the best quarterly results in Universal’s 20-year history. According to a new Securities and Exchange Commission filing, prior to Harry’s apparition at Universal, paid theme park admissions were 5% down on the previous year.
...View more

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 Themed Design: When Less is More...    BRC Imagination Arts' CEO and founder Bob Rogers spoke recently about the importance for the themed designer to focus initially on what the audience wants to see, or as he rather more poetically put it, "to look into their hearts". The story and the experience is the key, and the theming, the design, the technology should be a secondary consideration, as these are a means to an end, the method by which the designer creates the experience and communicates the story....View more

Thursday, April 01, 2010 Attractions technology : 3 Major Projects – What happened next?    With a mood of cautious optimism in the amusement park industry and a number of high profile developments creating a stir – Disney in Asia, Sentosa, massive Chinese developments, the growth of the industry in South America and the rise and rise of Merlin – it is timely to revisit 3 major projects . What happened?...View more

Monday, December 14, 2009 Theme Parks: IAAPA Expo photos.    From 17th to 20th November 2009, and for the first time in its 91 year history, the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) Attractions Expo took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, USA. For the first time ever, the world's biggest event in this sector was held in the capital of gambling and entertainment...
...View more

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 Theme Parks and Cultural Attractions: Judy Rubin reports on IAAPA in Las Vegas, Part 2    From Insecticide to Coney Island, Flip books to running machines, Blooloop Editor Judy Rubin reports from the show floor at the year's biggest bash and meets an industry leader who is just not what he was..
...View more

Friday, November 20, 2009 Amusement parks:Overheard at IAAPA, Las Vegas    Seen and heard by Blooloop's Judith Rubin at the biggest annual trade event of the Themed Entertainment Industry....View more

Friday, November 20, 2009 Themed Design: Lagasse's Stadium hits a home run for sports-themed restaurants    Checking in here live from the IAAPA Attractions Expo in Las Vegas...

The concept of themed dining—sometimes referred to as “eat-ertainment—has been around the amusement industry for several years in several different formats. You’ve had character breakfasts, dinner shows, and restaurants with audio and visual experiences like the Rainforest Cafes from Schussler Creative......View more

Friday, October 09, 2009 Theme Parks: Weighing in on Blackstone's purchase of the Busch parks    Ever since the international beverage giant InBev acquired Busch Corp. a little over a year ago , it has been expected that InBev would spin off the parks division. Swimming rapidly through the industry is the news that the private equity firm Blackstone has stepped up......View more

Saturday, September 26, 2009 Themed Entertainment: Blue Sky Adventure at TEA's SATE Conference    After a briefing and introduction from George Wiktor, Karen Armitage, Larry Tuch, Jeff Mayer, Chick Russell and Linda Smith, attendees of the 3rd annual SATE Conference (Storytelling-Architecture-Technology-Entertainment) in Orlando split up into five groups to conduct two-hour mini-charrettes......View more

Thursday, September 24, 2009 Theme Parks: Fun For Mom at Manta    SeaWorld Orlando helped the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) kick off its annual SATE (Storytelling-Architecture-Technology-Experience) Conference in style last night with an industry mixer behind the scenes at the new Manta roller coaster/aquarium attraction.
...View more

Saturday, September 19, 2009 Themed Attractions: Talking Pirates Today    Why are pirates so fascinating? They just arrrrr! An old joke of course but appropriate as today is National Talk Like a Pirate Day* in the US. My little boy did all the Orlando parks and attractions last Autumn, saw Spider-man, Shamu, Mickey and a host of other magical characters......View more

Friday, June 19, 2009 The Business of Audiovisual Technology: Steve Thorburn's InfoComm diary, day three    Get a bunch of techies together in Orlando in June and their thoughts turn naturally to the invention of fantastic new personal air conditioning devices......View more

Thursday, June 11, 2009 Themed Design: Building a Brachiosaur- Video    It’s not every day you spot the largest animal to walk the earth trying to break into a building, least of all an august institution such as the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. But watch the video, look again, this is no 50 tonne felon …...View more

Tuesday, June 02, 2009 Museum Design: Blistering Barnacles, it's Tintin and Magritte!    There are famously not any famous Belgians. However, today sees the opening of a museum each for two of the Kingdom’s most celebrated sons: the acclaimed artist - and painter of floating pipes - Magritte and that intrepid boy reporter and comic strip character Tintin....View more

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Museum Design: Who is this Man?    A photograph caught my eye today. It shows a man on the roof of a men’s lavatory in a California State Park. Why is he there? Why is he in black and white? Is he spying on someone through the skylight?                                                                 ...View more

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Museums: An Outpouring in Paper and Pencil - Visitors to Calif Academy Get to the Point on Climate Change    For the new California Academy of Sciences, my company, Cinnabar Inc., produced the exhibit “Altered State,” which focuses on climate change and California....View more

Thursday, April 30, 2009 Amusement Parks: Let's talk about Marty Sklar    Marty Sklar has been with Disney for 53 years. Five decades. Half a century. Longer than I've been alive...
...View more

Thursday, March 05, 2009 Museums: Unique Underwater Museum for Egypt's Famed Ancient City    In the news this last week, The UNESCO backed giant underwater museum, designed by French architect Jacques Rougerie, a specialist in water based construction, is to be located on the site of Cleopatra’s Palace in Alexandria and is set to break ground/water in 2010 and be completed in 3 years.
...View more

Tuesday, March 03, 2009 Amusement Parks: Not Just a Monorail    Alton Towers' monorail always did what it said on the tin, took you from the hotels to the park entrance. The views are pretty, the ride smooth but it was a pretty functional experience. Not now. For this year the trains have had a makeover…...View more

Friday, November 14, 2008 Amusement Parks: Queueing for Devon's Finest Fudge at the IAAPA Expo    Queues on my mind this week. This is not just because I am English and queuing is a national pastime...
...View more

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Themed Entertainment Design: BRC’s Chuck Roberts Gets Bemused    Back when I was the young designer with the crazy ideas, somebody (I'm trying to remember who) came back from a meeting and handed me this piece of paper headed “Details, Dimensions, and Specifications Are Not The Real Thing.”...View more

Friday, October 24, 2008 Amusement Parks: Will Dubai be the new Orlando? Will Abu Dhabi be the new Dubai?    Having just completed my magnum opus, an article about the UAE and factors in its growth as a leisure destination, to be published in the 2009 TEA Annual (which will be available in TEA's booth at IAAPA next month), my head is still buzzing with the topic......View more

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 This Is - and Isn’t - Your Grandfather’s Science Museum    Update from Jonathan Katz, CEO of Cinnabar, and executive producer of 35,000 square feet of new exhibits for the Kimball Natural History Museum at the new California Academy of Sciences....View more

Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Halloween Risk Management for Amusement Parks: Curbing the Scary Specter of Legal Liability    Now that Labor Day has passed, many parks are gearing down for the close of this year’s season. However, a growing trend within the industry has been to keep certain operations going through the Halloween-time....View more

Monday, September 01, 2008 Life in Dubai : Cranes, Waterparks and Atlantis...    Hello all, my name is Scott Deisley and I am a part of the Management Team at Atlantis, Palm Jumierah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. My responsibilities specifically include the safe and profitable operation of Aquaventure, the waterpark at Atlantis. ...View more

Friday, August 29, 2008 Giant Tortoises and Museum 2.0: Cinnabar Installation Diary    We’re now completing installation of exhibits on the east side of the Kimball Museum of Natural History at the new California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Those exhibits include “Islands of Evolution,” some 10,000 square feet of displays illustrating Academy research expeditions to Galápagos and Madagascar, while explaining key concepts about evolution and biodiversity....View more

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Amusement Law : Theme Park Trends in Central Florida and the Game of "What-If?"    I sat down last weekend to write about local government regulatory issues that have slowed, stalled and even stopped new projects from opening, and which vex a wide variety of operators. Then, a fascinating conversation with an industry insider prompted a quick change in direction ....View more

Saturday, August 23, 2008 Museums: More news from the installation front!    Here is the latest entry of Cinnabar’s installation diary, by Jonathan Katz (Executive Director) and Jeannie Lomma (project manager)...View more

Monday, August 11, 2008 Cinnabar Installation Diary: The California Academy of Sciences    Here’s a report from Jonathan Katz in San Francisco, where his company, Cinnabar, is in the process of installing new exhibits at the California Academy of Sciences. This will be a weekly diary for the next several weeks (the new Academy opens Sept. 27).
...View more

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 Amusement Parks: Genesis of Nemesis    A quintessentially British couple of days, one spent at a Dorset garden party the second sitting in the rain at a kid’s sports day. Met one of the men behind Nemesis (my favourite coaster) and an old friend from India…...View more

Friday, March 21, 2008 Planetariums and Science Centres. Two New Attractions Debut this Easter    This Easter weekend sees the opening of two brand new attractions, The Australian Museum's permanent dinosaur exhibit and here in the UK, Britains biggest Planetarium.
...View more

Friday, March 07, 2008 The Future of Themed Design; a Search for Identity? Jack Rouse writes...    Jack Rouse, Chairman and CEO Jack Rouse Associates- set to receive a Life time Achievement award from the TEA this weekend- has contributed a fascinating article to Blooloop in which he examines the trends and developments in themed design over the last 50 years....View more

Saturday, November 03, 2007 Amusement parks : Welcome to Bemusement, the Blooloop Blog    View the post