Theme Park Adventure: I have written about the themed entertainment industry, attractions of all kinds, and the men and women behind them for more than 20 years. I have seen a lot in the past two decades, from the opening of Luxor in Las Vegas with its groundbreaking Doug Trumbull attraction trilogy to the modernization of the San Diego Zoo with high tech habitats such as Hippo Beach and Polar Bear Plunge. I’ve watched Six Flags Magic Mountain build and open some of the biggest scream machines on Earth, and have been around to cover both the original opening day and re-dedication of Disney California Adventure.
2 comments:
I must confess that I don't have a passion for the theme park industry. But, I found myself relating to this article, not necessarily because of the subject matter, but because the author calls out to the people in his profession to care about their industry, and actively participate in it, instead of just making a drafting, taking the paycheck, and walking away. He argues that the theme parks cannot be truly entertaining unless the people who design them, test out what they've designed. In the theatre world, designers and managers are increasingly not caring about the production they work on, just their little part; and some don't even like theatre at all, they just do it because they're decent at it. I felt this author's passion, and I related to his call for his colleagues to have that same passion. I love theatre. I love going to see live theatre. I love watching the shows I manage. I care about what happens onstage, and what the audience thinks. There is also a cancer in our industry of lack of passion for the actual industry. People might be passionate about the lights or the construction of the set, but if they don't care about the production, or care about theatre as a whole, how can they produce something of true quality?
Wow. This article was completely eye-opening to me in terms of what goes into creating a theme park. I guess I've never really even thought about it. As a kid, I must have been to maybe two or three theme parks - my parents just didn't like to go. My junior year of high school I went to Disneyland for the first time, and it was definitely one of the best weekends of my life. Yet even then, even as a theater technician, I didn't even wonder about who created it and how - I think it was just too magical for me to even think about it.
My point is, after reading this, I fully support everything that Rick West wrote in his article. After all, as Kelly pointed out, what would theater artists and technicians be worth if they didn't care about theater itself? This was such a passionate, well-written and thought-out article, I want to go meet all these designers who don't care and tell them to shake themselves out of it! Hell, I want to go design a theme park with them, and then force them to go on all the rides with me!
I don't have much to add to West's article. All the points he made were spot-on. I guess what my comment really ended up being about is that I'm a big fan of awesome articles like this one.
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