Musings on Theme Park Technology

The Carousel of Progress was created by Disney for the 1964 World’s Fair. It features an animatronic show that shows how the American home has changed over four scenes, the turn of the 20th century, the 20s, the 40s, and finally, the most updated piece…the future. Right now the future was determined in 1994.

In a recent trip to Disney World, surprising as it may seem, the Carousel of Progress, despite its lack of popularity, ranked as one of the more interesting rides. Sometimes, simplicity really does just work. But we want more.

In the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, the ride uses a randomized pattern of movements so the ride is not identical each time. Why can’t all rides be different every time we go through them? Epcot‘s Mission: Space offers a more mild version of the ride for people prone to motion-sickness. Why not ten different versions they can rotate through? Even if it doesn’t change for each passenger, the recordings could change once a day, or once an hour.

Systems like this, ones that adapt and offer a variety of options, are present in computer gaming and a variety of other fields. What do you think? What is the future of theme parks?