Back in the heydays of the first log flume and water attractions things were kept simple. The joy of the experience was left down to the thrills they afforded daring riders. The uncertainty of whether or not they would leave with soaked shoes. That’s how log flumes, the most classic of the water attractions, has been for most of its life so far. As the saying goes, ‘if it ain’t broke’.
The attraction industry now, compared to 50/60 years ago, is a very different playing field however, parks are springing up here there and everywhere and fans are calling out for a constant turnover of new attractions. We’re living in the new digital age, where the look and aesthetics of the ride carry just as much weight as the experience it provides. Where its marketability and how its photos look is more important than ever. So gone as the days of theming-less rides, and make way for elaborate storytelling, immersive experiences and intricate and detailed theming in order to fit the mould of what the new generation of theme park goers desire. Gone are the days of the standard tree trunk looking log flume ride.
Instead, it’s time to get creative. Storytelling is often an after-thought for water rides and theming isn’t seen as essential, relying on the natural landscape to take its place. Therefore often the story has to be implied in a more basic sense rather than directly told. In water attractions, a lot of this comes from boat design. There’s not much space or time for elaborate theming when you’re surrounded by water travelling at high speed. So often we rely on the boat to tell the stories of our attractions.
A twist on the traditional wooden design
One of our favourite examples of a twist on the classic wooden boat design is our Viking Voyage boat, designed for our attraction in Tayto Park, sporting the traditional wooden look that resonates with both older and younger generations but is also designed to represent the historic Viking Longships used in war. The hand-carved look with the added detail of little shields on either side helps to take riders on the narrative journey that they are indeed getting on a Viking Longship and going on an adventure. Coupled with the other reference points in this experience such as ascending through a giant Viking helmet helps to create a fluid narrative from start to end about the kind of journey riders are taken on.
The advantages of IPs in theming
When bringing IPs into the equation theming can become easier as the characters, world and quirks of the story are typically already well known and therefore theming can play into these to help guests believe they are in the world of their beloved film/TV characters. At Warner Parque in Madrid we created a Water Battle attraction themed to the Yogi Bear IP. Yogi the Bear is famed for stealing picnic baskets of unsuspecting tourists. So guest’s directive throughout the water battle experience is to protect the stolen picnic baskets that accompany them on their boat from Yogi and his friends by shooting them with their water pistols. Not only are the boats themed to match the character’s personality, but they also give guests a purpose to the experience. Oso Yogui is an intricately themed experience with lots of models of the characters and nods to the IP however giving the boat theming that also ties in adds an additional storytelling layer. Guests aren’t just looking in on the world, they are a part of it.
Eye-catching Colours
One of our more modern classic log flumes was created in 2012 for Walibi Rhone Alpes, steering away from the standard log appearance but still sticking to the same overall shape and feel, the boat was given a bright and eye-catching colour scheme along with the rest of the attraction. In this example, the park chose to use their own original characters to promote the ride’s story and concept, using gargoyle characters that are present in some of their other park attractions and centres around the concept of making tropical and exotic music. In doing so, the park achieved a central theme where the Bambooz attraction tells part of a bigger story within the musical zone of the park.
Another shift in the entertainment sector, has been an increase in indoor based attractions. Indoor theme parks have become really popular in countries where the weather and temperature is unpredictable – read more about how the weather affects theme parks in our blog post here – and with indoor theme parks everything must be man-made – including the theming, so without reliance on trees and greenery, this must all be done artificially instead.
Indoor Theme Park Theming
Our ‘Wahana Jelajah’ Superflume ride at the indoor theme park Trans Studio Bandung is one of our more highly-themed Superflume rides, using not only the boat design to convey its story but also using a lot of themed set elements within the ride too. The ride follows a narrative that guests are boarding a bright yellow, rubber dingy to take a trip through the South American jungles, admiring ruins of Aztec cities and exploring the Mayan temple that they conclude their ride plunging down from. As the rest of the ride is so well themed in this example, our boats didn’t have to take on such a large storytelling role, but still fit into the narrative as a feasible flotation vehicle, without stretching reality as much.
It’s clear that these attractions are big hitters due to their combination of compelling storytelling, powerful use of theming and of course a stellar ride system. The amalgamation of which is in a narrative experience that creates an emotional response which resonates with riders. By ensuring riders feel strong emotions, whether that be thrill, enjoyment, horror or surprise, we help create a strong memory for them of the attraction associated with that feeling. Making them want to come back and ride it again and again. At the end of the day, that’s our biggest goal.
