Amusement Parks & Family Entertainment Amusement Parks

vice offerings, in as many media as
possible, in as many places as possible,
24 hours a day. The concept
is an evolutionary descendent of
“brand spread” in consumables,
an example of which is Marlboro
Lights/Menthols/100s, etc.
The Disney Animal Kingdom
is a good example of another
key trend in theme parks:
convergence.
The competition for our
leisure dollar is fierce. The good
news is that competition drives
new park attractions to innovative
digitally-based heights of amazing
fantasy or adrenaline-spiking experience.
A recent example is the
Indiana Jones Temple of Doom
ride at Disneyland. One can return
to the ride several times and be
scared by different beasties at different
moments each trip; digital
equals enhanced variety or richness
in the experience design.
That ride, in fact, is so successful
that the new Disney Animal Kingdom
in Orlando has a version of
the same ride technology, rethemed
as a prehistoric dinosaur
chase called Countdown to Extinction.
The Disney Animal Kingdom
is a good example of another
key trend in theme parks: convergence.
The convergence of
markets, media, and demographics,
with the tools that make them
all work together. The park even
has a resemblance to good science
museums, in that it enables
those who are interested to find
out more information about some
of the animals. Just as in the software
business, parks are trying to
cover more areas to attract a
broader user base, and Animal
Kingdom provides extraordinary,
exotic, accurate African themeing,
in addition to the animals (which
are showcased with elements of
The Lion King). In fact, just as Animal
Kingdom can attract an older
demographic than Disney World’s
kids and young families, and as
the Disney Institute appeals to
adults, Universal’s traditional teen
and 20-something demographic is
about to be greatly augmented by
its new offerings to the Disney
World demographic. Islands of
Adventure has Popeye, Dr. Seuss,
and many other characters for
kids.
What’s In It For Me?
So where does it get interesting
for us, as designers,
builders, and animators? Simple.
Popeye and his associates need to
come to life in as many ways as
possible (see marketing goals,
above). So, for example, the Star-
Bellied Sneeches need to live forever
in 3D on the Universal park
web site, with plenty of artificial
intelligence (AI) and synthetic personalities
to keep them interesting
when you log in repeatedly. They
need to remember your name
when you come back, greet you
by name — with voices, not text
— and have interesting stories to
relate and adventures on which to
take you. Spiderman needs the
same outlets; in a few years, he’ll
have as context the time you rode
his dark ride at the park. In fact, he
will know who you were with and
the date. So the conversations he
will strike up with you will not be
inane, that is if the code is wellexecuted.
Plus, you’ll probably
end up helping him take out the
Bad Guys. You’ll also get occasional
well-timed promotional pitches
back home, skewed to your
demographic interests, and most
To attract the widest range of visitors, Disney’s Animal Kingdom goes beyond simply
being a zoo and becomes more of an experience. © Disney.All Rights Reserved.
ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE December 1998 20