Theme Parks: Fun For Mom at Manta

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.

Many people who had involvement in the Manta project were on hand, including John Linn and Brian Morrow of Busch Entertainment Corporation (BEC), Al Cross, James Wible and Ned Diestelkamp of PGAV Destination Consulting, Dan Christman and Pat Gallegos of X-nth, David Smith and Linda Smith of Smithink and Jumana Broderson of The J Co. Rebranding and tweaking the SeaWorld Parks has been an ongoing process for BEC. Essentially, it is a process of mixing rides and fish, or if you prefer, the integration of rides and animal exhibits. SeaWorld is a living laboratory for the blending of education with entertainment to create family attractions, and the Manta team is proud of how that plays out in this new manifestation. As explained by the Smiths, the integration of rides into SeaWorld made the guest experience qualitatively different from that of a zoo by introducing a dramatic emotional arc. It also addressed the “teen veto” factor – the presence of thrill rides being a powerful inducement for a teenager to join the family outing. Manta goes even farther in the quest to shape an attraction that truly has something for each family member, by putting just as much emphasis on the non-ride element – a walk-through aquarium experience with plenty of variety and close-up animal encounters – and weaving it all together so that non-riders have a great view of the coaster and get vicarious thrills. “It's a total experience for the non-riders as well as the riders,” says Linda Smith. In other words, even Mom gets to have fun. As Smith pointed out, there are two big reasons this is important: moms tend to be the decision makers about family outings, and moms tend to be self-sacrificing. When Mom does something just for herself, such as going to a spa, there tends to be a certain amount of guilt involved – hence the “because you're worth it” marketing spin that is often put on products targeting women. In the case of Manta, it's more of a win-win: Mom's fun doesn't come at any perceived expense to the rest of her family. The Manta concept was largely the vision of Jumana Brodersen, and the project was her final one with BEC, where she was director of product development prior to launching her own company in 2008 ( see Amusement Parks: Busch Corp.’s Themed Entertainment Legacy in St. Louis). David and Linda Smith, who contributed their marketing and product wisdom to Manta, are likewise both former BEC execs who became independent in 2008 (see Theme Park Design and Project Interruptus – David and Linda Smith of Smithink, former Busch Entertainment execs, carry on). Brodersen and the Smiths all played instrumental roles in the Busch parks' coming into their own as uniquely branded attractions. Some 300 people were on hand to experience Manta last night, and quite a few of them were moms (or dads); however, there were no children in tow at this adults-only business event. There may have been some guilt in the air, but there were plenty of chocolate-laden pastries available (thank you, SeaWorld) to help smother it. TEA leadership was present in force, including executive director Gene Jeffers, staffers Carole Mumford and Brian Szaks, outgoing eastern division president Steve Birket (Birket Engineering), incoming western division president David Aion (Aion Company) and international board president Steve Thorburn (Thorburn Associates Inc.) Last night's turnout augurs well for a good conference today. Watch this space for additional reports from SATE over the next two days. See also: Themed Entertainment: Live Interaction with Electrosonic’s Chris Conte Teaching Themed Entertainment : Interview with Don Marinelli The Joyful Architect: Al Cross Talks about Themed Attraction Design Alan and the Whales: Theme park design & animal attractions for Busch Entertainment Themed Entertainment: SATE '09 is almost Here Theme Parks: Manta Soars Over SeaWorld Orlando This Summer
Posted By Judith Rubin -- At 2:11 PM \| Comments (0) \| Trackbacks (0)
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Categories Amusements Parks, Attractions Business, Themed Design, Trade Shows Tags manta, Orlando, sate, SeaWorld, TEA
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