Main Entrance Cast: Thought of the Day: Recent Episodes
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In this skill, the co-hosts of the Main Entrance Cast will provide a thought of the day. This can be anything from thoughts on featured destinations, attractions, news, opinions, trivia, and much, much more. Don't forget to subscribe to the Main Entrance Cast, available on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio and all major podcast sites.
In 1993, a film premiered that was unlike anything that had come before it. Audiences worldwide were shocked by the incredible monsters it featured and the sheer terror wrought upon its main characters. Meanwhile, a 7-year old boy in Minnesota watched the film and thought, boy, that would be an amazing theme park. That film, of course, was Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, Jurassic Park.
Our story begins in 1996 on the lower lot of Universal Studios Hollywood. There, the creative minds at Universal brought a small section of Isla Nublar to Southern California in Jurassic Park: The Ride. In the story, Guests are about to tour Jurassic Park through a River Adventure ride. In the queue, Guests hear all about the park from its founder, John Hammond, played again by the incomparable Richard Attenborough. Once on board, Guests are lifted up to the river, where Richard Kiley, notably the narrator selected by Jurassic Park author Michael Chricton in his book, and also featured in the film, introduces the park. The gates open and Guests come face to face with ultrasaurs, psittacosaurs, stegosaurs, compsognathus and a playful parasaurolophus. They are unfortunately bumped off course near the predator enclosures where they encounter the spitting dilophosaurus. Heading into an Environmental Systems Building to escape, Guests instead come face to face with hungry velociraptors, and finally, from behind a waterfall, they meet the king (or should I say queen) of the dinosaurs, the T-Rex herself, before falling 85 feet to the lagoon below. Interestingly, development for this ride began while the movie was still in production, leveraging the creativity of production designers right from the film!
The attraction was a smash hit, and brought a whole new level of detail to Universal attractions. This success was replicated just three short years later with the opening of Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. While very similar to the California experience. Florida’s ride, the Jurassic Park River Adventure, features a raptor containment unit falling above Guests in place of a falling jeep effect from the original. Also, in Florida’s story, a Jurassic Park was opened in Orlando following the disaster at Isla Nublar, but it also might be on an island. Admittedly, it’s a little unclear. What’s not unclear is the grandeur and scale of the attraction, as well as the amazing presence of Richard Attenborough as John Hammond once again.
Two years later, Universal took the dinos overseas with the opening of the ride again at Universal Studios Osaka. This version is very similar to Orlando’s attraction.
In 2010, however, designers breathed new life into the ride franchise with the opening of the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure in Singapore. Instead of a shoot-the-chutes experience, Guests ride in 9-person rafts on a wild churning river. The highlight of this attraction involves a unique elevator-type lift in the park’s “Hydroelectric Plant” where a hungry T-Rex awaits above delicious riders, who only just escape down a 40-foot escape chute.
From there, we come full circle, as we return to Universal Studios Hollywood. With the Jurassic Park film franchise receiving a breath of new life in the highly successful Jurassic World films, Jurassic Park: the Ride underwent a major renovation starting in 2018, reopening in July 2019, becoming Jurassic World: The Ride. Alongside the returning park denizens from the original ride, the popular Mosasaurus and Indominus Rex were added to the attraction, along with an all new look and feel consistent with the 2015 film. Perhaps new additions will come with the opening of Universal parks in China and Orlando. One thing is for sure, the ride future looks bright for the franchise 65 million years in the making.
For those that love studying the history of the Disney parks, every once in a while a unique concept is stumbled upon. Something that is a little different from the castle parks and Vacation Club resorts. Every once in a while information comes out about one of Walt’s regional experiments, be it the famous Mineral King project in California or Riverfront Square in St Louis. Often these are seen as the Disneylands that never were, but there was one project that did come to life, and actually operated all the way up into the 1990’s. Located in my adopted hometown, Denver, CO, the Celebrity Sports Center is a not-as-well known hospitality oasis founded by Walt Disney himself.
Celebrity Lanes, as it was first known, opened in 1960, and was given its unique moniker due to the initial band of investors Walt lined up to open the complex. Joining Walt in this endeavor were his brother Roy, Jack Benny, George Burns, Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, Art Linkletter, as well as Charles Laughton, John Payne, Spike Jones, and Jim and Marion Jordan. Technically located within Glendale, Colorado, the location was chosen due to the large population growth the area was experiencing. Denver was already known for its outdoor adventures, but needed indoor recreation for the cold winter months. To fill this need, the Center was home to 80 lanes of bowling, three arcades eventually featuring more than 300 video games spread between them, a full service restaurant, Hofbrau, Coffee and Soda Shops, and even a Shooting Gallery. A year later, an olympic sized pool was added to the attraction lineup. Reminding Guests of the Disney connection, it wasn’t uncommon to see Goofy water skiing on the 500,000 gallon pool. Outside the watery confines, the big cheese himself, Mickey Mouse would also make appearances. Walt, ever the perfectionist, even assigned an art director from Disneyland to the center to oversee new additions.
The Center would be expanded throughout its history, adding waterslides and dining options. However, it was not always successful. Within a few years of opening, management issues would scare away many of the celebrity investors that had been so critical to the opening of the complex. Beginning in October 1961, Walt Disney Productions began to buy out the other partners, and by 1962 was the sole owner of the property. It was at this time, the complex took on the name Celebrity Sports Center. For Walt, this was not just a mere entertainment enterprise. This was a chance to address societal needs. Children and Teens, no longer part of the workforce to the degree they had previously were, needed something to do, amusement to keep them out of trouble. This center provided that, at a reasonable cost. But the biggest advantage this place had was the ability to train future managers for the upcoming “Disneyland East” project Walt was dreaming up for Central Florida. Employees at the Center were held to the same high standards Walt expected from his Disneyland Cast Members, and as Disneyland employees, they also received the benefits of working in the kingdom. Really, the center was a small Disneyland in the Rocky Mountains.
But, like all good things, this too came to an end. After Walt’s death in 1966, Walt Disney Productions continued to operate the Center to train management for their Florida operations. In 1979, amidst the planning and construction of larger projects in Orlando and Japan, WDP sold the property to a group of buyers. The new owners continued to expand the complex throughout the 1980’s and its popularity soared. However, the success was not to be long lived. By the late 80’s the center began to attract more troublesome visitors, and attendance began to decline. With this decline came an equal decline in revenue, and in 1994, it was announced the Celebrity Sports Center would be closed forever, its land sold for retail development.
For today’s CreatiCore, we’re going to be talking about the segment’s namesake, Communicore. Designed as a two-in-one pavilion at the heart of Epcot Center’s Future World, Communicore was the community core of the park. While Communicore’s twin structures provided more context and detail about the themes of the Epcot Center pavilions, at its heart, Communicore introduced the public to the new and emerging realm of computers. In fact, Guests could see a presentation that showed them the nerve center of the entire park. Originally called the Astuter Computer Revue, it was quickly replaced with Backstage Magic, featuring hosts Julie and I/O. Another Epcot icon, SMRT-1, also called Communicore East its home.
Communicore, from a design standpoint, served many important roles within the park. Today, at least for the near future, but soon to change, the center of the pavilions that used to be Communicore is covered in massive spans of pavement surrounding a large fountain. But initially, this wasn’t the case. There were in fact, a few other water features that resulted in the plaza being significantly tighter. This may seem like an odd design choice, but it was very intentional. Beyond serving as an exhibit and attraction hall, Communicore also acted as an Epcot Center Main Street. The space was actually designed in such a way that there were transitways through the building, with exhibits and sights being on different elevations altogether. To get a sense of what this was like, check out Club Cool before it closes. Communicore was also host to the Stargate and Sunrise Terrace Restaurants. The Centorium, Epcot Center’s main retail location, and Walt Disney World’s largest store at the time, was also housed in Communicore East.
The buildings were constructed with expansive window walls. While providing an inviting look into the two buildings, these walls served a more practical purpose as well, as Communicore was designed to be easily expandable. This design trait was the progeny of the original plans for World Showcase, back when it was planned to live closer to the Transportation and Ticket Center. From one side, in this case, the fountain side, Communicore would look sleek and uniform, however, the outer walls could be easily removed, and the building could be expanded to accommodate new attractions. This actually occurred in 1993 and 1994, as Communicore was retired and converted into its successor, Innoventions. Did you know, Communicore was built extra tall to be able to accomodate a future Wedway Peoplemover? True story!
With Innoventions, however, came the end of much of what made Communicore so unique. The bright, inviting window walls were blackened, the entire space was flattened to one pedestrian level, and the fountain plaza area was paved. While as a successor, Innoventions was initially successful, with bright flashy sponsors like Sega, AT&T, and IBM, little by little the offerings of the two buildings eroded, leaving behind big awkward empty spaces. The flow of traffic gone, Innoventions was never truly a successor Main Street, instead acting as another warehouse of quickly outdated products. The retail location, now called MouseGear, expanded outside it’s original space to encompass the entire south end of Innoventions East. Coca-Cola would take over exhibit space at the south end of Innoventions West. Finally, with the expansion of Epcot Character Spot into the West building, the days of Innoventions and Communicore were solidly over.
In the coming months and years, Communicore West will be demolished, and the East building will become home to a store and restaurant, but ironically, the traffic patterns that were once embraced by the Communicore model seem to be partially returning, bringing back the importance of what was the Communicore courtyard area and reintroducing the Main Street of Epcot.
Today for our attraction spotlight, we’re going to incorporate a bit of a review as well. Nestled in the corner of Nickelodeon Universe at Bloomington, Minnesota’s Mall of America is an attraction that is simultaneously unique, yet very familiar. Inspired by Disney’s famous Soarin’ attractions, FlyOver America brings the flying theater concept to a very different venue. Opened in 2016, this attraction is the brainchild of Stephen Geddes and Andrew Strang, who originally opened FlyOver Canada, which is currently operating in Vancouver. After demonstrated success at that venue, the partners looked for a new location, and found it at the Midwest Megamall.
The ride system of the attraction was designed by Brogent Technologies Inc. and in part by famed coaster manufacturer Vekoma. The 20 million dollar attraction is very much like it’s Soarin predecessor, however with some very distinct differences. Both feature a comical safety video, with the US version currently borrowing from its Canadian sibling. It’d definitely be interesting to see Patrick Warburton’s safety spiel overlaid on the FlyOver video. I’m sure an impressive amount of synchrony would be the result. In Soarin’, Guests all board the attraction at the same level, with the ride vehicles being lifted into position by massive mechanical arms. This gives Guests a “takeoff” sensation to begin their adventure. FlyOver, on the other hand, asks Guests to do the lifting, with queues ending on multiple levels from 10ft off the ground to 40ft, accessed by stairways and ramps. Upon entering the theater, Guests board hang-glideresque benches and face the screen. Once buckled in (with smaller aviators who don’t measure up to height indicators on the seats needing to thread their buckle through a loop on the seat) the lights go out, the guide rails fall back, and the vehicles are slowly moved out into position above the screen.
From that point, the experience is very similar. Large sweeping views of diverse landscapes around the country, with the occasional blast of mist to represent ocean spray or the bite of arctic cold. Slight smells are also generated, further adding to the experience. Not adding to the experience, however, is the abrupt end of the screen at the top and bottom, as well as the shadows from the ride vehicles on either periphery. This is an issue Soarin’s omnimax dome screen and projectors do not have. The soundtrack is certainly inspirational and appropriate, albeit somewhat sedate and not nearly as catchy as its Disney counterpart. The ride length, however, is impressively long, with many more locales being featured as a result of its ample run time.
Overall, FlyOver America feels like a generic version of the Disney classic. It is certainly fun, and definitely easier to access. The lack of corporate red tape allows for more flexibility in the films produced for the attraction, which allows for seasonal overlays and future enhancement. However, the queue areas feel somewhat amateur, and the staff certainly could use an infusion of charisma. Also, while certainly more practical, the omission of the lift into position takes away a needed scene one to the attraction, putting riders immediately into the action, further emphasizing that this is just a motion simulator. It feels like a great flying experience, but it's clear some expense was spared. That being said, it is worth seeing, especially if you happen to come across a BOGO or coupon. Without that, the $20 ticket price for adults and $16 ticket price for children are a bit steep for the experience and execution of this ride.
Have you had a chance to experience FlyOver America or FlyOver Canada? What are your impressions of the attraction? Let us know at connect@mainentrancecast.com.
“A rising tide lifts all boats.”
Today’s motivational Monday quote is actually more of an aphorism. The source of this saying is not 100% known, but it is said to have been a part of the Chinese language for hundreds of years. While this phrase is often used in the context of economic development or politics, it actually can be quite appropriate to the realm of location based entertainment.
Let’s first look at a man named Walt in Southern California. No, not Walt Disney, rather Walter Knott, founder of Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA. Knott’s Berry Farm really started in the mid 1920s, when the Knott Family would sell their famous jams and jellies at a roadside stand. Over the next few decades, the farm would grow to include the famous Chicken Dinner restaurant and a ghost town to entertain guests. It was certainly a well known attraction in the Los Angeles area. Then, in the mid 50’s another Walt, yes, this time Mr. Disney, scouts out nearby Anaheim for his own park.
This, of course, started the infamous Walter War that put Knott at odds with Disney for decades! Just kidding, in fact, Walt Disney and Walter Knott actually had a fairly friendly relationship, with both Walts visiting each others parks. It’s said Walt Disney even got some ideas for how to more heavily theme attractions and develop the queues at Disneyland by watching the progress of designer Bud Hurlbut’s Calico Mine Train attraction. Even with the opening of Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm saw continued success. In 1980, Knott’s even put adds in local newspapers wishing Disneyland a happy 25th anniversary to go along with their 60th. Guests to Disneyland would often plan trips to Knott’s and vice-versa. Even to this day, a theme park trip to Southern California can include Disneyland, Universal Studios and Knott’s Berry Farm.
In Aurora, OH, for many years the theme park Geauga Lake was a friendly neighbor to the second SeaWorld Park, Sea World of Ohio. In fact, the park was built next to Geauga Lake in an effort to drum up excitement and visitors for both parks. Later, Six Flags decided to buy both parks and combine them to form a mega park, which it then proceeded to sell to Cedar Fair, who later closed all parks and demolished the land in what has to be one of the most depressing episodes in theme park history.
Even in Orlando, the addition of Walt Disney World was initially seen as a big plus to nearby Cypress Gardens. Even Disney got in on the action, welcoming Universal Studios Florida to the Orlando area, stating “What’s good for tourism and entertainment is good for Central Florida. With the Eisner era, competition certainly heated up and became more cutthroat, but at the end of the day, when one park in Central Florida succeeds, all of them can reap the benefits. Without WDW, we wouldn’t have SeaWorld or Universal Orlando. While both parks would certainly love to steal market share from the other, I would find it very hard to believe that either would wish the other completely gone. Truly, a rising tide lifts all boats.
What do you think? Do you think cordial neighborly relationships benefit all entertainment enterprises, or is the cutthroat, all-business approach the more economically viable? Let us know at connect@mainentrancecast.com
Imagine yourself in the early 80’s. You’re into the future, all of the promises of tomorrow, in fact, you’d love to get a glimpse of what the future has in store for you. Maybe you’d like to see a house of tomorrow. You hop in the family car and head to a destination that will show you exactly what you’ve been dreaming of. You step outside the car, and what do you see. Why, you see an incredible piece of fantastical architecture. Is that a UFO, or a space station? Eagerly, you line up for your ticket and proceed into what is sure to be an unforgettable experience. You’ve finally arrived at your destination. No, it’s not Epcot, in fact, it’s over 1,300 miles from there. You’ve arrived in the Wisconsin Dells, and Tommy Bartlett’s Robot World.
Opened in 1982, Robot World was the brainchild of entertainer Tommy Bartlett, who, like Walt Disney, was a showman at heart. Specifically, he specialized in water ski shows. Interesting fact, Tommy Bartlett was inspired to create his own water ski spectacular after seeing one himself at the 1949 Chicago Railroad Fair, the same fair where Walt Disney started dreaming up the possibilities for the park that would eventually become Disneyland. It is a small world, after all.
Tommy eventually found a permanent home for his show in Wisconsin Dells, where he then began to branch out into other attractions, including dancing waters and the focus of our flashback, Robot World. Robot World was originally built to showcase the House of Tomorrow, and did so as a walk-through tour of various vignettes designed to show a futuristic family living their daily lives. Sounds a bit like Horizons at Epcot Center, doesn’t it? But this one came first.
The robots generally fell into two main categories, there were the more simple type, consisting of spheres with prominent eyes and arms, and the more human-like models, looking a tad bit reminiscent of C3PO from the Star Wars films. Your host was the odd exception, being a four-foot tall R2D2ish robot guide by the name of Tatu.
Within the futuristic 2.2 million dollar space-capsule-esque building, designed by a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright, Guests would board a rocket capsule and fly to the Star Shadow Habitat in the distant year of 2020. Once onboard the habitat, Guests could see everything from food preparation to the computer classroom of the future. One somewhat awkward scene had guests barging in on a bath in progress. The robot denizens of this experience would even serenade your arrival and departure with an ear worm likely to stick with you for the rest of your vacation.
In 1983, Robot World added the Exploratory, which featured a wide array of interactive science experiments designed to engage members of the whole family. As time went on, more and more emphasis was put on the exploratory, including the amazing addition of an actual core module built to be a replacement to the Russian Space Station MIR. Sadly, Robot World slowly devolved into a shell of its former self. In 2018, due to leaks that couldn’t be repaired, the original Robot World building was retired, with all of the remaining exhibits being moved to the former gift shop of the experience. Now, only two robots remain, an android named Tutorios, and Tatu.
As a smaller attraction in south-central Wisconsin, Robot World featured many elements that one could usually only see in a major theme park, like fully articulated animatronics. Sadly, like Disney’s Tomorrowlands, the future caught up with Robot World, and it now exists only in memory (and YouTube!). But for a time, the house of tomorrow was within reach among the lakes and trees of Wisconsin Dells.
Have you had the chance to visit Robot World or another attraction like it? Do you miss those optimistic and sometimes cheesy looks at the future? Let us know at connect@mainentrancecast.com.
Today, we’re going to be heading to infinity, and beyond, as we talk about that infamous Space Ranger, Buzz Lightyear, and his many attractions around the world.
Now, when talking about the many attractions to bear Buzz Lightyear’s name, it’s easy to think of Magic Kingdom having the original, but that’s actually not the case. As a matter of fact, Magic Kingdom was beaten by it’s now defunct quasi-sibling a few miles away, DisneyQuest. Buzz Lightyear AstroBlasters opened with DisneyQuest in 1998. Looking like a bumper car on steroids, AstroBlasters combined the driving and bumping of dodgems with a rubber ball cannon that could be used to blast other cars in the arena, causing them to spin uncontrollably for a few seconds. This fast-paced game was best played with two players and could command pretty high wait times, but it was certainly unique, and memorable.
In November 1998, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin opened in the former home of If You Had Wings, If You Could Fly, Delta Dreamflight, and Take Flight. Utilizing the exact same layout and vehicle type as the previous tenants, Space Ranger Spin was the first laser-based interactive attraction built by Disney. In this ride, Guests board a XP-37 spaceship ride vehicle with a joystick that allows the ship to spin on the track. Throughout the ride, Guests shoot at “Z” targets located on robots, ships, landscapes (including a volcano) and other minions of the evil Emperor Zurg. Fun fact, the ride actually incorporated a few elements from the previous attraction housed in that building, including the speed tunnel from If You Had Wings, the jet engine effect and even the base of the marquee from Delta Dreamflight. Seriously, same sign, take a close look! A couple additional interesting features of Magic Kingdom’s ride include the ability to see into the attraction from the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover, and it is the only version of this attraction with blasters mounted to the ride vehicle.
The next version of the attraction opened in 2004 at Tokyo Disneyland, now named Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. There, it had replaced the Visionarium attraction, known as Timekeeper in the United States. While very similar to the Florida version, now the blasters could be lifted off the spaceships, allowing for much more freedom in aiming. Disneyland followed shortly thereafter in 2005, replacing the queue for the ill-fated Rocket Rods attraction, which was also previously the Circle-Vision theater. This version, similar to Tokyo, also had removable blasters, but can also send scores to visitors, along with their pictures, at home. Due to the unique home of this attraction, it has a more compact and tightly placed queue and ride path, but is still a marked improvement from the WDW original.
The attraction was later added to Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, with the latter two getting new purpose-built facilities instead of replacing older attractions. Like Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, these versions of the attraction continued to feature detached blasters.
Interestingly, Hong Kong Disneyland’s version, opened in 2005, has gone to the great space station in the sky, being replaced in 2017 with the Ant Man and the Wasp: Nano Battle! attraction, based on the Marvel film. While very similar to the Buzz Lightyear attraction that preceded it, Nano Battle removes the ability to control the spin of the cars, allowing designers to focus Guest attention in the direction they choose.
Despite newer and arguably more impressive rides of these types being launched since the original Space Ranger Spin premiered, these attractions are still very popular and manage to attract long waits at their parks. Certainly they are trailblazers, and it will be interesting to see what kind of interactive shooting dark rides will come to be in the future.
Welcome to very first CreatiCore! In the CreatiCore, we’re going to bring you stories and tidbits about the design and technology of Location-Based Entertainment. Today, we’re going to start with an example of design that often goes unnoticed, but really is interesting when you take a deeper look.
Main Street U.S.A. is the entryway into five of the six Disney castle parks. A love letter to turn of the 20th Century America, Main Street U.S.A. has been called an idealized view of Marceline, Missouri, the boyhood home of Walt Disney. Interestingly, many amusement enterprise operators criticised Walt’s idea of a single entrance to his park, saying that it would create congestion and bottlenecks, or would limit the income potential of the park as a whole. Ultimately, this did not end up becoming the case.
In fact, Main Street U.S.A. shows a very deep and logical understanding of people and their habits. As the entrance and the exit to the park, Main Street serves as a great provider, provisioning Guests with all the goods they need to begin and end their day in the best way possible, and it uses societal norms and design to accomplish this in a very ingenious way. Consider Magic Kingdom Park, at Walt Disney World Resort. Upon entering the park, you may notice that key stores, such as the hat store, candy store, and most important of all, the bakery, sit on the right-hand side of the road. In the United States, traffic patterns generally have cars and pedestrians keeping to the right side of traffic. Thus, when entering Magic Kingdom, especially in the morning, your source of baked goods and coffee will greet you on the side of the road you are most likely to take to enter the park (that is, if you are an American Guest, or from another country that drives on the right side of the road).
Conversely, as you exiting the park, the purveyors of late night snacks, the ice cream and hot dog shops, are at the end of Main Street, with Casey’s Corner again on the right side of the road. And what is Casey’s connected to? Why, the largest shop in all the kingdom, of course. Even those intrepid visitors who feel they can leave without that last minute souvenir may find themselves drawn in by the cleverly designed window displays that line the street. Knowing that they are positioned for maximum visibility, this subtle design can actually contribute to park profit. It’s a very clever design tactic, one that most people probably don’t even notice.
Magic Kingdom is not alone on this one, either. Where is the coffee shop at Disneyland? On the right. Where is the coffee shop at Epcot (for now) or Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Again, they’re on the right. Now, an argument could be made that this tactic only works in parks where a general hub approach is taken with park navigation, and to a degree I think that’s true, as in other parks, traffic flow can usually be determined by the placement of key attractions. However, where in place, it’s interesting to see this design choice in action and easy to appreciate how human psychology can really make an impact on the planning choices for a destination.
Do you think this is an intentional design choice, or did it just end up that way. If it is intentional, do you think it’s effective? Let us know at connect@mainentrancecast.com.
Welcome to our first Attraction Spotlight! Today, we’re not going to be talking about a theme park, a ride, or a museum, we’re going to be talking about something very different, and very popular. Sports and games really are a fundamental part of the human experience, from team sports like basketball and football, to digital sports, board games and even those games that get made up on the fly. But we’re going to focus on one sport today and a novel way it’s been brought to the masses. Today, we’re going to head to the links and talk about the royal and ancient sport of Golf, but in a not-so-ancient way. Today’s Attraction Spotlight is TopGolf.
Founded in 2000, with an original location just outside of London, UK, TopGolf is unlike any golf course or driving range that had come before. TopGolf is unique in that each golf ball has a trackable chip implanted within it. The TopGolf range includes an array of large bunker-ish targets that span its length, with the targets including sensors that can read the golf balls as they fall into them. This gives TopGolf the ability to create games for its patrons to play. From Top Chip to Top Pressure, there are games for every skill level.While this may be seen as a far cry from the traditional game of golf, it certainly democratizes the game and has introduced the fundamentals to a whole new audience.
Fun fact: Did you know the Top in TopGolf is actually an acronym? It actually stands for Target-Oriented Practice. Cool, right?!
TopGolf wasn’t initially successful, surprisingly. Mostly, this was due to no one really knowing what it was or what it entailed. Golf, regrettably, has been on the decline for a few years, and a new golf-based experience just wasn’t prime in the minds of potential Guests. This is where the genius of TopGolf comes to the forefront. In addition to the game, TopGolf offers a full bar, full menu, convention and event spaces, and even arcades. TopGolf stopped being an enhanced driving range, and instead became a watering hole, gathering place, and entertainment complex, all in one!
That, along with an aggressive, yet strangely low-tech marketing campaign drew in the initial crowds, while word of mouth continued to bring in the masses. Now, TopGolf features 56 locations, with new locations opening up seemingly every month! There are TopGolf locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Growing beyond it’s initial offerings, TopGolf now offers, in addition to its trademark games, concerts, leagues, tournaments, and all of the favored amenities of high-tech sports bars. It has also expanded into creating its own television and radio, and even purchased the World Golf Tour, an online golf game with millions of active players.
What started as a simple idea to enhance the golfing experience is now a bonafide sports entertainment empire!
Have you been to TopGolf? Are you a fan, or is it not really your cup of “tee”? Let us know at connect@mainentrancecast.com.
Welcome to the very first Main Entrance FastCast. As we mentioned last Friday, Monday’s will be Motivational Mondays. So what does that mean? Well, it means we’re going to start with a motivational quote and explore the quote in the context of a Location-Based Entertainment story or anecdote. We hope you’ll find these quotes and stories inspirational and that they’ll help get your week started on the right foot. So, here’s our quote for today, which we hope is appropriate to our new endeavor.
“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you're not going to stay where you are.” - JP Morgan
Here at the Main Entrance Cast, we definitely face times that we’re pretty dead set on what we decided to do, and try our best to muscle through it, even if its not working as we’d hoped. The Thoughts of the Day were one of those things. While certainly a blast to write and record, we struggled to bring new and exciting content each day, and realized that something else was needed, something more solid and dependable. That led us to design the format for the Main Entrance FastCast.
This happens all the time in Location-Based Entertainment. Sometimes, it’s easy to get so attached to an attraction, or a way of doing things, that it becomes nearly unthinkable to change what has worked for so long. I think back to 1982, the year Disneyland discontinued issuing A-E tickets for their attractions and went to pay-one-price admission. Today, it seems almost inconceivable that you’d have to save up your tickets to re-ride Space Mountain or the Haunted Mansion, but that certainly was the case. While there was a transition time from the late seventies until the tickets were discontinued completely, this presented a completely different way of doing things in the parks. Was it better the old way versus the new. Hard to say. It certainly made the parks much more expensive to visit up front, but I would argue the current arrangement guarantees that a Guest has the ability to choose and execute their own definition of personal value and how they attain that in their visit.
Think of the story of Walt Disney himself. Born in Chicago, grew up in Marceline, MO and Kansas City, Walt was definitely a dreamer. The current Walt Disney Company won’t let you forget that. But Walt’s story is definitely inspirational in that he had to fail at many ventures before finding success with Mickey Mouse and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Walt, at several times in his career, decided that he wasn’t going to stay put, and that he needed to keep moving toward his ambitions. New beginnings were a critical part of the early Disney story.
Even in the parks, Walt was not one to stay put. Walt famously loved the circus, and among the attractions offered at Disneyland in its first year was the Mickey Mouse Club Circus. Not only was this an opportunity for Walt to have his circus, but he could also showcase his beloved Mouseketeers in his new park. But, it just didn’t resonate with his Guests. Now, Walt could have held strong and continued the circus well past its premature prime, but keeping with his mantra of moving forward and opening new doors, he pulled the final curtain on the Mickey Mouse Club Circus on January 8, 1956, after having been open just over a month. This represented a sizable loss of investment, but still, it wasn’t worth keeping around that which wasn’t working.
Moving on can be difficult, but it's often necessary. It’s a big risk to decide to leave where you’re comfortable and head towards brighter futures. Have you made a leap like this in your life? Let us know at connect@mainentrancecast.com.
Welcome to the very first Main Entrance FastCast. As we mentioned last Friday, Monday’s will be Motivational Mondays. So what does that mean? Well, it means we’re going to start with a motivational quote and explore the quote in the context of a Location-Based Entertainment story or anecdote. We hope you’ll find these quotes and stories inspirational and that they’ll help get your week started on the right foot. So, here’s our quote for today, which we hope is appropriate to our new endeavor.
“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you're not going to stay where you are.” - JP Morgan
Here at the Main Entrance Cast, we definitely face times that we’re pretty dead set on what we decided to do, and try our best to muscle through it, even if its not working as we’d hoped. The Thoughts of the Day were one of those things. While certainly a blast to write and record, we struggled to bring new and exciting content each day, and realized that something else was needed, something more solid and dependable. That led us to design the format for the Main Entrance FastCast.
This happens all the time in Location-Based Entertainment. Sometimes, it’s easy to get so attached to an attraction, or a way of doing things, that it becomes nearly unthinkable to change what has worked for so long. I think back to 1982, the year Disneyland discontinued issuing A-E tickets for their attractions and went to pay-one-price admission. Today, it seems almost inconceivable that you’d have to save up your tickets to re-ride Space Mountain or the Haunted Mansion, but that certainly was the case. While there was a transition time from the late seventies until the tickets were discontinued completely, this presented a completely different way of doing things in the parks. Was it better the old way versus the new. Hard to say. It certainly made the parks much more expensive to visit up front, but I would argue the current arrangement guarantees that a Guest has the ability to choose and execute their own definition of personal value and how they attain that in their visit.
Think of the story of Walt Disney himself. Born in Chicago, grew up in Marceline, MO and Kansas City, Walt was definitely a dreamer. The current Walt Disney Company won’t let you forget that. But Walt’s story is definitely inspirational in that he had to fail at many ventures before finding success with Mickey Mouse and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Walt, at several times in his career, decided that he wasn’t going to stay put, and that he needed to keep moving toward his ambitions. New beginnings were a critical part of the early Disney story.
Even in the parks, Walt was not one to stay put. Walt famously loved the circus, and among the attractions offered at Disneyland in its first year was the Mickey Mouse Club Circus. Not only was this an opportunity for Walt to have his circus, but he could also showcase his beloved Mouseketeers in his new park. But, it just didn’t resonate with his Guests. Now, Walt could have held strong and continued the circus well past its premature prime, but keeping with his mantra of moving forward and opening new doors, he pulled the final curtain on the Mickey Mouse Club Circus on January 8, 1956, after having been open just over a month. This represented a sizable loss of investment, but still, it wasn’t worth keeping around that which wasn’t working.
Moving on can be difficult, but it's often necessary. It’s a big risk to decide to leave where you’re comfortable and head towards brighter futures. Have you made a leap like this in your life? Let us know at connect@mainentrancecast.com.
Greetings adventurers and welcome to the Main Entrance Cast Thought of the Day, a companion to the tri-weekly Main Entrance Podcast. I’m your host, Teknikipedia, and here’s your Thought of the Day for Friday, August 23rd, 2019.
Today our Thought of the Day is a little special in that it’s actually the very last one. Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere. Like we mentioned in Episode 4, the Thought of the Day has always been a placeholder name until we found something that better represented the spirit of what we are trying to do. We’ve tried countless variations, and we’ve finally settled on the brand new identity for the Thought of the Day.
This coming Monday, August 26, we will be excited to premiere the Main Entrance FastCast! The FastCast will be much like the Thought of the Day, but with a little twist. We’ve done some deep thinking, and we have 5 special themes we’ll discuss over the course of the week, one for each day.
- Mondays will continue to be Motivational Mondays, where we will try to start your week off on the right foot with some motivational quotes and stories.
- Tuesdays will now host our Attraction Spotlight, where we will pick a Location-Based Entertainment to focus on and explore.
- Wednesdays are now the proud home of the CreatiCore. The creative core of our podcast week, the CreatiCore will focus on Entertainment Design and Technology.
- Thursdays are now Theme Thursdays, covering the wide world of Themed Entertainment. If the purpose of a place is to take you away from reality, we’ll be talking about it.
- Finally, Fridays will be dedicated to history. Flashback Fridays will look at those moments from the past that made location-based entertainment what it is today, and will hopefully give you, our listeners, a bit of curiosity and wonder for your weekend.
We’re also excited to announce that we’ll be working to bring the Main Entrance FastCast to all of your favorite podcast providers. While this may take a little bit of time, we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we’ve been approved.
Thanks for being our Guests on the Main Entrance Cast Thought of the Day, we hope you continue to join us every weekday on the Main Entrance FastCast, as well as the Main Entrance Cast. Don’t forget, Episode 4, “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Yesterday” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and at most popular podcast providers.
From all of us at the Main Entrance Cast, have a fantastic weekend, and we’ll see you real soon!
Greetings adventurers and welcome to the Main Entrance Cast Thought of the Day, a companion to the tri-weekly Main Entrance Podcast. I’m your host, Teknikipedia, and here’s your Thought of the Day for Thursday, August 22nd, 2019.
Today marks the beginning of the Minnesota State Fair, also known as the Great Minnesota Get-Together. For the next 12 days, citizens and visitors will descend on the Twin Cities to experience the live entertainment, livestock and craft displays, unique shopping opportunities, and, of course, all the food. French fries, cheese curds, corn dogs, milkshakes, pizza, deep-fried Twinkies, so many foods on a stick, and let’s not forget about the beers and wines, the fair is a culinary adventure with no equal.
State and county fairs are a quintessential piece of the American experience. The first state fair was held in New York way back in 1841. The Texas State Fair is currently the most highly visited, with Minnesota not far behind. Nearly every State now has at least one annual fair. Fairs represent a chance to enjoy the creativity, ingenuity and bounty of a state. A chance to come together as a community to have a little fun and show off skills with the dream of taking home that grand prize, a blue ribbon. It’s also a chance to test your bravery on the midways and attractions featured at many fairs.
You never know what you might see at a fair. Perhaps you’ll see the famous butter cow of the Iowa State Fair, an entire cow carved out of butter. If you like your butter in a more anthropomorphic way, you could check out the sculpted busts of Princess Kay of the Milky Way in Minnesota. The Kentucky State Fair lives up to its state’s equestrian reputation with the World’s Championship Horse Show. Feel a need for speed? Head to Montana for the Veggie 500, described as pinewood derby cars covered in vegetables. If you prefer your veggies a little more sedate, why not visit Ohio, who’s State Fair features a food sculpting contest. And, if you can channel your inner bovine and produce the best “moo”, put your skills to the test at the Wisconsin State Fair.
In a time of political and social turmoil, it’s events like State Fairs that leverage the love of home to bring people back together. What better place to connect with friends and neighbors than walking the midway, chocolate-covered Bacon on a stick in hand, quenching your thirst with a mini donut beer, smiling, laughing, and building up enough courage to take on the double ferris-wheel!?
Do you enjoy visiting your local State Fair? What makes your State’s fair unique. Let us know at connect@mainentrancecast.com.
On this Wonderful Wednesday, we’re going to turn our attention to a natural wonder.
Location-based entertainment is wonderful in its endless diversity of experiences, and today we’re going to talk about one of the very best natural experiences out there, Mammoth Cave National Park.
The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest cave system currently known in the world. The United States National Park that bears its name was established in 1941, but the cave has quite an interesting history that goes back thousands of years. Mammoth Cave was formed by acidic groundwater dissolving thin layers of limestone. All of which is covered by sandstone. Evidence, including mummified bodies of pre-Columbian Native Americans, indicates that the cave was in use by prehistoric people. One such person, nicknamed “Lost John” was actually exhibited to the public all the way up into the 1970’s. As the caretakers of the cave attraction became more sensitive and respectful to the native cultures, “Lost John” was re-interred in the cave, where he remains to this day.
The first Europeans in Mammoth Cave are thought to have arrived in the late 18th-Century. The cave changed hands for many years afterwards, with landowners of farms above claiming ownership of the cave passageways below. After the death of the most prominent landowners, a movement arose to establish the cave as a national park. Beginning in 1926, the federal government began to buy up as many land tracts as they could to establish the park. It finally hit its minimum size in 1941, at which point, it was officially established.
At present, over 400 miles of passageways have been discovered in the cave, with new passageways and chambers being discovered every year. Located near Brownsville, Kentucky, Mammoth Cave National Park offers a wide variety of cave tours to match the spelunking skill levels of its visitors. Attracting more than 500,000 visitors per year, the over 50,000 acre park has outfitted some of it’s most popular tour routes with electricity and even restroom facilities. Other routes feature unique options such as visitor-carried lantern-lit tours and even more wild and expert level tours which include crawling, climbing, and squeezing through tight, muddy passages. Prior to the 1990’s, there was even a boat ride offered on an underground river.
Mammoth Cave is a natural wonder, and an awe-inspiring sight to behold. From the ability to experience pure darkness, to the diverse ecosystem of creatures (including bats, crickets, and the endangered Kentucky Cave Shrimp) that call the cave system their home, Mammoth Cave is definitely an LBE experience to add to your bucket list.
Have you had the chance to visit Mammoth Cave or another massive cave system? Let us know all about it at connect@mainentrance.com.
In 73 days, things get a little dark for a night. That’s right, we’re less than three months away from Halloween, and in the themed entertainment industry, perhaps no locale is more iconic than Universal Studios and their Halloween Horror Nights events. This year, Universal Orlando is featuring 10 haunted houses, 5 scare zones, and multiple live shows.
While there are countless great haunted events around the world, what makes Univeral so special is their ability to include beloved and even infamous franchises in terror. Among the sure-to-be stellar houses this year are Netflix’s Stranger Things, Jordan Peele’s Us, Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses, the cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and the 80’s classic Ghostbusters. Having had the opportunity to visit this event in previous years, I certainly can say I’m jealous of the folks who live in Orlando and near Hollywood. Halloween Horror Nights is truly otherworldly.
First begun in 1991 as Fright Nights, Halloween Horror Nights has now been scaring Guests for 27 years. With studio-quality artisans and plentiful resources, Universal is able to create environments so real, you’d think you’ve stepped right into a horror film. The live actors, affectionately called scare actors, are masters of their frightful craft, and will be sure to do their best to make you uncomfortably jovial.
And lets not forget about the icons. The Storyteller, the Caretaker, the Director, Bloody Mary, the Usher, Fear Itself, Lady Luck, and of course, the master of mayhem himself, Jack the Clown. We’ve even had the pleasure of being terrorized by Jack’s better half, Chance. Also rounding out the icon appearances have been several iconic villains from horror franchises, including Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface.
Given that a second sequel to the 1989 classic film, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is releasing next year, we’d be remiss not to mention the long running Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure, which ran for 25 years in Orlando. A parody of the past year’s pop culture, with all of the associated celebrities and passing fads, this show was a beloved staple of the event, saddening many Guests when it faced the final curtain in 2017.
This will not be the last time we talk about Halloween Horror Nights, or scary attractions. Do you enjoy things that go bump in the night. Do you live for jump scares and getting lost in epic clouds of fake smoke? Tell us all about it at connect@mainentrancecast.com.
Oh, and we can’t forget to mention that Episode 4 of the Main Entrance Cast, “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Yesterday” releases today. Make sure to head on over to our parent podcast to enjoy our talk about nostalgia vs. outdatedness.
Have you ever heard the saying that, in design, no good idea goes to waste? This is a concept that has popped up multiple times, especially in the history of Disney parks. It’s not uncommon for an idea to get shelved for years or even decades, only to re-emerge at the most unexpected time. Today, let’s talk about one such idea, Edison Square, planned for Disneyland in California.
As told by Disney historian, Jim Korkis, the idea for an attraction based on how technology has improved life was dreamt up when Disneyland was a mere toddler. As early as 1958, Edison Square was included on the famous Fun Maps by Imagineer Sam McKim, as well as the official Disneyland guide books. Set along Main Street U.S.A., this area of Disneyland would focus on American innovation and the inventive spirit of Americans like Thomas Edison. This would also be another opportunity to bring in corporate partners in the development of the park.
The attraction, Harnessing the Lightning, would have been a show housed in a theater with multiple stages, each stage showing an average American family at various points in time, showcasing how innovative products make their lives better. The family would be represented by “electro-mechanicals” the precursor of the eventual Audio-Animatronics Disney is famous for. And what company did Disney see potential with in this endeavor? Why, General Electric, of course! Not only would this show tell the story of American ingenuity and progress, it also presented an amazing opportunity for General Electric to sponsor a free attraction in the days when each experience at Disneyland merited its own admission.
So are you ready to walk down Main Street, hang a right, and visit Edison Square? Well, not so fast. Unfortunately, Edison Square never took up residence at Walt’s Magic Kingdom. GE, while looking to improve their public image, found a much more public way to showcase their wares. They did so in a little pavilion at an event you may have heard of, the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. No good idea goes to waste. Edison Square may be a fond tidbit, but Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress is still going strong at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom park, where it holds the record for the longest-running stage show in the history of American theater.
Walt had an unwavering faith in American free enterprise and its ability to bring better living to average Americans. It was this faith that led him to champion his square, along with the Carousel of Progress, Progressland, Tomorrowland, and eventually his ideas for Epcot. It might be hard to argue that corporate America rewarded that faith, but it certainly would provide a great deal of inspiration for the Disney of the 60’s through the 90’s.
Do you have an idea you loved that didn’t really work out, but you’re chomping at the bit to give another go? Let us know at connect@mainentrancecast.com, we’d love to hear from you.
Is there a special place in your life that you would fight to protect, even knowing that the experience might be antiquated or obsolete? Let us know at connect@mainentrancecast.com. If you’d like to hear more about the balance or boundary between outdatedness and nostalgia, check out the latest episode of the Main Entrance Cast, “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Yesterday” available now on iTunes, and all major podcast sites.
What’s in a name? Names are obviously a key component of opening or operating an attraction. Names can tell Guests in an instant what something is all about, what it has to offer, or what they can expect from that visit. As long as tastes and marketing efforts change, name changes will always be a part of the location-based entertainment game.
For over 15 years an old exhibit sat abandoned at the Minnesota Zoo, hidden behind walls and under floors. Imagine how many people have walked around or over that space not ever realizing it’s even there. Most, we would imagine, don’t really care, or would find it a curiosity, but we find ourselves more and more intrigued by what was left, building on a fascination born in distant memory.
Attractions such as Disney’s Kilimanjaro Safaris give animals a chance to live within a realistic environment with space and room to spread, while simultaneously removing the scourge of poaching and disgusting cruelty of man. A great deal of time and energy goes into the design of these environments to ensure the maximum amount of comfort for these magnificent creatures.