No more long lines? AI and other new technologies are transforming amusement parks this summer.

Business Insider

2 days ago

It is a truth universally acknowledged: Lines are the worst part of amusement parks.
Sure, too many $8 pretzels can gut your budget, but there's something uniquely taxing about waiting in line for a popular ride on a sticky summer day.
There might be a fix, however: artificial intelligence. New technology of all kinds is transforming the theme park experience in the United States, helping drive growth in the industry.
Among the theme parks leveraging new technology is Legoland.
"We're using a technology called Vision AI," Adrian Thompson, operations transformation director for Legoland's parent company, Merlin Entertainments, toldBusiness Insider. "We have cameras placed over our attractions that analyze the number of people physically riding those attractions at any given time. It doesn't identify you uniquely, but it identifies the number of people riding an attraction."
Thompson said incorporating AI into attraction line areas allows ride managers to receive data in real time, mitigating potential issues or delays.
"If they see anomalies in that data — the number of dispatches has reduced or the queue times have gone up — they can take action at that moment and make changes," Thompson said. "Before, when it was all paper-based, we didn't have access to all that data in real time. You might not have gotten that information until the end of the day, at which point it's too late to impact the guest experience."
New tech brings the Arctic to Florida
About 40 miles north of Legoland is SeaWorld, where Expedition Odyssey opened to the public last month. Expedition Odyssey is an immersive flying theater ride that transports guests to the Arctic using real footage of the icy landscapes and wildlife.
"There's no CGI in it," Conner Carr, the vice president of rides and engineering for SeaWorld and Busch Gardens' parent company, United Parks & Resorts, told BI. "The standard on those ride types has always been to generate with animation or CGI effects for a ride film."
Instead, SeaWorld sent teams equipped with custom-lensed cameras and drones on expeditions to the Arctic to capture the videos.
"For us, it's not just a theme park experience. It's that zoological aspect, too," Carr said. "We don't want to sit in an office and draw a beluga whale. We want to show them a real one."
Although the authentic footage helps set Expedition Odyssey apart from its peers, Carr said there's another reason he refers to it as the "most technologically advanced ride" SeaWorld has ever done.
A typical flying theater involves guests entering their seats, enjoying the show, and exiting before another group can enter. Expedition Odyssey uses a rotating main tower that allows guests to load the ride while another is already watching the footage. Once the ride is done, the tower will essentially flip, and the groups will switch places.
"This lets us keep the line moving and procedures like you would see on a coaster, but on a completely new type of ride that typically doesn't allow that," Carr said.
Carr said another way guests interact with new technology at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens theme parks is by including audio and visual aspects in the line.
"That's what Penguin Trek does," Carr said, referring to a roller coaster at the Orlando park. "When you dispatch on the ride, you have special effects and lights that make you feel like you're in an ice cave that's falling."
That technology is also found at Busch Gardens, where guests can ride the Phoenix Rising roller coaster, which utilizes media screens, lights, and onboard audio.
At SeaWorld, Carr said 3D scanning has become a reliable tool for repairs and creating models.
"It is not just roller coaster track replacement. We use 3D scanning all over the place," Carr said. "The technology has been amazing for new projects like Penguin Trek and Expedition Odyssey."
Augmented reality is another type of technology becoming more prevalent at amusement parks, including Legoland California and Legoland Florida.
The Lego Ferrari Build & Race attraction allows guests to build and test cars, then use augmented reality to scan and race them virtually. Hands-on activities are a priority for Legoland theme parks, where the Ninjago ride uses hand-tracking movements that let riders use hand gestures to test their skills.
"The beauty for us is we're always going to do hands-on experiences because it's Lego," Thompson said.
Carr said SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have a similar approach, given their animal conservation efforts. "The mission is to inspire and educate right alongside rescuing all the animals," he said.
Other theme parks in the United States are also flexing their tech acumen, including Disney, which partnered with Nvidia and Google DeepMind to develop Newton. The open-source physics engine will help robots learn to navigate tasks more accurately.
Disney intends to use the technology to enhance the robotic characters in its theme parks to be more lifelike.
"This collaboration will allow us to create a new generation of robotic characters that are more expressive and engaging than ever before—and connect with our guests in ways that only Disney can," Kyle Laughlin, the senior vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering's Research and Development, said in a press release.
Theme parks are navigating tariffs
Although the attractions industry continues to entice guests from around the globe, the volatility caused by the Trump administration's tariffs has become an unpredictable obstacle.
"New tariffs will make securing product — like games, plush, and merchandise made outside the United States — more expensive to import. Ahead of the rate hikes, some operators created additional storage space and took possession of goods earlier in the season than what they have imported in the past to avoid paying the tariffs," the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions said this month.
The association said the tariffs have also strained the US relationship with Canada, potentially affecting theme park attendance this summer.
"Also of concern for several American facilities: a softening in the zest to travel south by Canadians who are accustomed to spending their summers in the United States. The current political climate between the two nations may adversely affect the sentiment to travel in the months ahead," the IAAPA said.
However, the uncertainty hasn't stopped companies from steamrolling ahead with ambitious projects. Universal's newest theme park, Epic Universe, opened to fanfare this month in Florida, while Disney announced plans to develop its seventh theme park in Abu Dhabi.