Management of leisure and theme parks

Transcription

Management of
leisure and theme parks
Paul Vyskovsky
Spring 2006
Agenda
Theme park design
- Imagineering
- Architecture/Development of themed worlds
- Ride technology and safety aspects in construction
Amusement Park Physics – a simulation
Finance & Controlling
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Theme Park Design
Imagineering
„We‘re always exploring and
experimenting ...
we call it Imagineering –
the blending of
creative imagination
and technical know-how.“
Walt Disney
Theme Park Design
Imagineering - creating a new attraction
Idea / Early sketching
Brainstorming
Theme Setting
Storyboard
3D Modeling / Virtual Modeling
Architectural Planning / Statics
Character Creation
Ride Technology
Special Effects
Staging / Interior Design
Quantifying the Design
Integration
Visual Communication
Public
Performance
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Theme Park Design
Creating …
case study
Theme Park Design
1. Idea / Early Sketching
- based on Universal blockbuster movies
“Mummy” and “Mummy 2”
- collaboration with film director Stephen
Sommers
- 10 years in research and development
- Idea:
“create a ride that plays with
common human phobias”
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Theme Park Design
1. Idea / Early Sketching
Human Phobias
Lysgophobia … fear of the dark
Entomophobia … fear of insects
Tachophobia.. … fear of speed
Acrophobia … fear of heights
Demonophobia … fear of evil spirits
Necrophobia … fear of death
Theme Park Design
2. Brainstorming
Brainstorming session for Blizzard Beach
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Theme Park Design
3. Theme Setting
- Studies of Egyptian Art and Architecture
- Indoor roller coaster with themed dark ride
environments based on movie script
- multi-sensory environment
Theme Park Design
4. Storyboard
Storyboard of
Disney’s
Splash Mountain
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Theme Park Design
4. Storyboard – 2nd example
4. Storyboard
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Theme Park Design
5. 3D Modeling / Virtual Modeling
Theme Park Design
6. Architectural Planning / Statics
- Focus on groundwork, hull, statical issues, layout of
ride, visitor guidance, façade, …
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Theme Park Design
7. Character Creation
- re-use of movie characters
- ride will feature 60 mummies & warriors
and 1000 scarabs
Theme Park Design
8. Ride technology
Type
combination of varying speed steel roller coaster,
with themed dark ride environments, projections,
audio animatronics, sound,
special effects, lighting
Track
- 500 m track
- 2,5 minutes length of ride
- speed: 45 mph
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Theme Park Design
8. Ride technology
Vehicles
16 passenger mine-car roller coaster
Roller coaster technology
- electro-magnetic propulsion launch system
- combination of linear induction motors (LIMs) and
SLIMs (used in dark ride area) to allow varying speed
of the train (3 motors, 4 kinds of breaks)
- seven near “zero G” drop, acceleration forces of 1G+
- one 25 feet fall at 50 degree angle
- unique forward / backward motion
Theme Park Design
9. Special Effects
Sound System / Sound Effects
- audio system with 18,000 watts of sound, 200
speakers, vehicle is fitted with 22 speakers (350 watts)
- original music score precisely synchronized with ride
effects and ride scenes, composed by musical
composer Alan Silvestri
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Theme Park Design
9. Special Effects
Lighting
- theatrical spot lighting throughout the attraction
- ultraviolet black light technolgy, strobe lighting and
custom designed gobo patterns
Theme Park Design
9. Special Effects
video projection (1000 scarabs)
realistic audio-animatronics
sudden 20 feet free fall of 4 mummy warrior above
guest’s heads
True immersive flame effect directly over guest’s heads
Smoke curtain effect
Forward / backward motion effect
sudden halt at dead-end wall, out if which pour thousands of hungy scarabs
heading for riders, vehicle switches tracks and slips backwards down a
steep drop
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Theme Park Design
10. Staging / Interior Design
Scenics
- main material is gypsum to
fabricate “ancient” slabs of stone
making up the walls of the tomb
Decoration
- The “Book of the Dead” (original movie prop)
- statues, burial chambers,
- hieroglyphics
- ghostly images (flash black light/strobo/gobo effect)
Theme Park Design
11. Quantifying the design
project budget is developed
bid packages are compiled and forwarded to ride
manufacturers and suppliers
tendering procedure is completed, suppliers are selected
project controlling is established
Mummy – The Ride total investment: $80 million
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Theme Park Design
12. Integration

construction begins
capacity planning
ride cycle timing simulation models created
infrastructure is created
Theme Park Design
13. Visual Communication
Attraction Brand
Attractions’ own website
Sneak Preview videos
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Theme Park Design
14. Public Performance
opening day support
fine tuning of show experience,
ride cycle timing, capacity planning
transition from design and
production to daily operation
Theme Park Design
Steel Roller Coasters
-
-
indoor/outdoor
Speed: 50 - 120 mph
Price tag: ~ US$ 15 mill.
Safety: 0,00002 % injury chance*
Engine:
- Linear Induction Motor (LIM)
Rotor rotates around stator beacuse the magnetic field generated by stator induces a
current in the rotor which opposes the direction of the magnetic field, constant
speed motor, speed changed by several motors along the track
- Linear Synchronous Motor (LSM)
for high speed rides (100 mph), includes LIM, train is attracted and repeled by the
magnetic flux at intervals that create maximum accelearation, can be used as
accelerating and braking system – 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds
- Lift chain
- Lift Tire
Laser Sensors monitor position/speed of trains along track
Hydraulic restraints to keep passenger in seat
G-Forces: up to 4.5 Gs
- Drop: up to 400 feet
- Descent angle: 90 d.
*(IAAPA, 1988)
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Theme Park Design
Wooden Roller Coasters
-
Speed: up to 78 mph
Engine: Chain lift
Liquid Coasters
-
hybrid between roller coaster and water ride
operated by lift chain, lift tire and water flow
railing system for boat guidance
Theme Park Design
Liquid rides / Water Coasters
- movement of „log vehicles“
through continuous water flow
- lift chain to get logs
to top at beginning of ride
- water is recycled at end of attraction
and pumped up back again
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Theme Park Design
Rapids Ride
- most popular family water ride
- works with conveyor belt system
and continuous water flow
- Free floating round structure of
vehcile makes every ride unique
Theme Park Design
Dark Ride
-
endless transportation system
or individually motor operated cars
- track based with separated scenes/showcases
showing animatronics/fixed installations
- new: interactive elements (shoot games)
with merit based end-scenes
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Theme Park Design
Motion Simulator Rides
-
Motion Theater (open version)
movie projection on large projection screen
synchronized hydraulic motion system
with 6 degrees of freedom (DOF)
high performance servo valves
surround sound audio system
Theme Park Design
Motion Simulator Rides
-
Motion Theater (closed version)
high Resolution LCD projector
synchronized hydraulic (3 DOF)
or electric (6 DOF) motion system
high performance servo valves
Four speaker surround sound system
with under seat-subwoofer
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Theme Park Design
Audio Animatronics is a form of robotics. The robots move and make noise,
generally speech or song. An animatronic robot works off prerecorded moves and
sounds using speech synchronized air pressure or servor motors to initiate
movement of body, body parts, eyes, eyebrows, lips, skin, ... The first
Animatronics were the Tiki birds invented by WED Enterprises for the Tiki Room
show at Disneyland, CA.
Theme Park Design
Thrill ride
(swinging ride / roundabout ride)
-
four vertically mobile booms carrying
rotating cross
-
Five arms at each end
-
A gondola is mounted swiveling at each
these arms and during every operation
is aligned in driving direction
-
chain drive
operated
one
of
motion it
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Theme Park Design
Flying Carpet
-
back and forward movement
1.8 positive „G“ force
free falling experience
chain drive operated
Theme Park Design
Observation Tower
with Rotating/Fixed Observation Platform
Option 1:
- Slightly curved arm with gondola
- Lifting arm, beared in a steel frame,
which is screwed onto the ground
Option 2:
- hexagonal tower shaft with
2 high speed elevators
- structure is not enclosed
to allow view from elevator
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Theme Park Design
Monorail
-
high capacity
transportation system
direct current motor operated
runs on air tires
Theme Park Design
Free Fall Ride
- e.g. Gyro drop
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Theme Park Design
Rail guided vehicles
- electric motor operated
Karts
- Electric/Fuel operated
Theme Park Design
Bumper cars
Carousels
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Theme Park Design
Water Park rides
- Material: Polyurethane
Theme Park Design
Exercise:
“Imagineer your own ride …”
¾ Design an attraction of your choice applying the “Imagineering
Design System”
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Theme Park Design
Planning & Development in the Industry
Europapark
- all planning and development within company
- own department with designer, architect,
construction engineer and business economist
- development of 4 – 5 projects/year
- redecoration is equally important as new creation
Other Theme Parks
- external creative consulting team collaborates with
management, architect, ride engineering company
Theme Park Design
Themed Worlds
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Themed Worlds
http://themeparks.universalstudios.com/themeparks_flash.html
Amusement Park Physics
Interactive Simulation
1. form teams with 2 people
2. visit: http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/
3. carefully read all instructions
4. carry out all exercises and write down your
solutions (number of choice)
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Glossary
see:
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/glossary.html
Roller Coaster Physics
see:
http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/circles/u6l2b.html
Interactive Simulation

Design a Roller Coaster
Carousel
Bumper Cars
Free fall
Pendulum
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Financing
Key Financial Characteristics
1. High Initial Costs
-
Austria € 5 – 10 mill, International: $ 200 mill. – X bn.
Time to recover debt: 10 years or more
2. Ongoing Capital Expenditures
-
periodic reinvestments necessary (see next slides)
3. High Operating Leverage
-
High fixed costs > strong leverage effect on incremental
value of each additional visitor (marginal cost)
4. Large Cash Flows
-
cash business > negative cash cycle through collection of
charges before settlement of payments (working capital)
strong seasonal dependency
Financing
How to finance an amusement park?
Rule of thumb:
1/3 equity capital
1/3 public funding
1/3 loans (long term/short term)
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Financing
Sources of funding
Equity capital:
-
Private Investors / Business Angels
-
Joint Venture Partners
-
Stock market
-
Mezzanine capital
-
Venture Capital
Loans:
-
Bank consortias
-
Government
Public Private Partnerships
Financing
Investment requirements
At least every 2 years investments required in
- repair/renovation of attractions
- introduction of new attractions
as a result of
- “wear&tear’
- changing market conditions
- expectations of repeat guests
“Themeing” increases necessary investment by at least
20 – 30 % per facitily
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Finance
Expenditure per person
$24
total expenditure
2 Major Profit Drivers
- Attendance
- Revenue/Visitor
1h
entrance fee
4h
8h
Source: Park World, Sep 1990, p. 30f
Finance
Most important cost factors
Personnel
Temporary
Personnel
Cost of goods
(F&B)
USA
International
Marketing
Maintenance/Repair
Admin
Other (Energy,
Insurance …)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
in % of total cost
Source: Funworld 12/89 – 01/90, p. 14
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Finance
The Business of Accounting
for Theme Parks
- very transaction intensive
- high sales volume places great demands on
revenue/cash management departments
- labor intensity requires high volume output by payroll
department
- challenging inventory accounting due to variety of
goods (F&B, merchandising)
- many different vendors increase the demands of the
accounts payable department
Finance
Transforming Transaction Data to Value
Added Business Decision Support
Value
Add
Business
Decision Support
Service Provider
Reporting
Control
Transaction
Processor
Time/Resources
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Finance
Accounting activities
- revenue accounting: records and audits different revenues
- cash control: records daily receipts, provdes change and
cash management functions of bank reconciliations and credit
card translations
- ticket control: prints, stores, distributes park ticket media
- capital accounting: monitoring investments in physical
property (e.g. calculating Net Present Value of an attraction)
- Analysis of merchandise & f&b business: periodic
evaluations with performance measures based on historical
data, similar locations within park and to industry trends
Finance
Important Performance Measures
- sales: number of transactions, average transaction
- merchandise movement: average unit retails, inventory
turns
- drivers of food costs: menu-mix data, ingredient cost
- labor productivity: sales/labor hour, labor in % of sales
- revenue per cap: total revenue/total attendance
(normalization for seasonality)
- guest mix (locals, tourists, ...)
- guest flow analysis: sales by time > capacity management
- cannibalization level: self-competition between outlets
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Controlling
Tasks & Tools of
Strategic Controlling
1. Strategic Planning
Industry Analysis (e.g. Five Forces Model by Porter)
Company Analysis (e.g. SWOT)
2. Strategic Control
Balanced Scorecard
Early Indicators
Controlling
Strategic Control – Early Indicators
factor
competition and strategic alliances
influenced by
scope of company activity and competition
has impact on
market position, investments, growth, cost situation, USP,
pricing, …
timing
changes of national, international climate on a mid-/long-term
view
measurement / monitoring
what?
press releases, news, company reports, competitor analysis,
research & analyst reports
how?
systematic collection, desk research, use of external sources
(e.g. Reuters), benchmarking
how often?
continously
who?
commercial services, PR department
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Controlling
Theme Park Industry Balanced Scorecard
Financial
Definition of strategic financial goals
(sales, capital, cash flow)
Processes & Employees
Customer
Strategy
Identification of critical business processes
and employee factors to ensure
customer satisfaction and financial goals
strategic market goals, desired
market positioning and customer perception
Safety & Maintenance
Critical safety indicators to ensure
safe and faultless operation
Controlling
Theme Park Industry Balanced Scorecard
Financial
revenue per cap
ticket yield
working capital
equity rate
revenue per sleeper
return on investment/equity
cash flow in % of sales
debt-repayment period
Processes & Employees
Customer
guest flow analysis
customer satisfaction
no. of guest complaints
mystery shopping
average duration of visit
repeat guest rate
guest mix (locals, tourists, segments)
average waiting time turnstile clicks/labor hour
inventory turns
attendance hour/labor hour
sales/labor hour
training hours/employee
no. of employee propositions/year
return rate of seasonal workers
Safety & Maintenance
downtime hours/year
no. of incidents/year
average age of rides
no. of security violations
no. of injuries/year (visitors/employees)
success rate of periodic evacuation exercises
Maintenance cost in % of sales
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Controlling
Tasks & Tools of Operational Controlling
2. Planning & Budgeting
Budget
Financial plan
Planned Balanced Sheet
3. Reporting

Standard Reporting (charts & figures)
Executive Reporting (1 page A4 max!)
Ad hoc Reporting
Exception Reporting (red/yellow/green traffic light system)
Cockpit
Controlling
Application
Indicators
Result
Sales focus
- Customers
- Products
- Regions
- Sales staff
- Turnover
- Profit
Margin
- Strength
- Importance
- risk
assessment
Procurement
focus
- Suppliers
- Goods
Purchasing
volume
- Importance
- risk
assessment
% turnover
Cost & Activity Accounting –
ABC Analysis
A
B
C
% number
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Bibliography
Recommended Reading
Weinhandl M. (1992) Das Management von Freizeitparks, Diplomarbeit,
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien
Greenberg D. (2003) Amusement Park Physics, Broomall PA, Chelsea Clubhouse
Further Reading
Forman J. (1998) Corporate Image and the Establishment of Euro Disney: Mickey
Mouse and the French Press, Technical Communication Quarterly, Vol. 7, No 3.,
p. 247 – 258
Bibliography
Recommended Reading
The Imagineers (1996) Walt Disney Imagineering, New York, Disney Editions
Konecny A. (1992) Die Stellung des Euro Disney Resorts unter den europäischen
Freizeitparks ...., Diplomarbeit, Wien, Wirtschaftsuniversität
Reynolds R. (1999) Roller Coasters, Flumes & Flying Saucers, 1st Edition, Jupiter
FL, Northern Lights Publishing
Greenberg D. (2003) Amusement Park Physics, Broomall PA, Chelsea Clubhouse
Dybedal P. (1998) Theme Parks as Flagship Attractions in Peripheral Areas,
Research Centre of Bornholm
Further Reading
Marling K. (1997) The Architecture of Reassurance, Canadian Centre for
Architecture
ASTM F-24 (2203) Standard Practice for Design of Amusement Rides and Devices,
ASTM International
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Theme Park Design
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