In today’s competitive attractions industry landscape, simply offering a lightly themed area or environment sometimes causes reactions to fall short of management expectations as they become “ordinary” quickly. Thrills fade as quickly as they come on when the newer, taller, faster, etc. get introduced. Guests crave experiences – journeys that linger in their mind long after they’ve left. This is where the art of storytelling steps in, proving to be a potent tool for building an unforgettable guest experience worth repeating again and again.
Why Stories Matter
People are wired for stories. They engage emotions, spark imagination, and create a deeper connection than visuals alone ever could. By incorporating storytelling into your “attraction” guest experience, you can:
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- Forge an Emotional Connection: Stories tap into feelings, fostering a sense of belonging and attachment to your ride, venue, or establishment. Imagine weaving a narrative about the history of your venue, or creating a background story about a ride or roller coaster on premise and build the experience around it. These stories personalize the space and create an emotional bond with your guests.
- Set the Stage for Memorable Moments: Think beyond the ride or attraction itself. Craft a narrative around the guest’s journey. Think about a ride that may have become stale on property? What immersive story can be told about the ride? Can elements be designed to fit into the line queue that begin the story before being seated on the ride? What music can be played while in line to add to the mystique?
Storytelling in Action
Here are some practical ways to weave storytelling into the guest experience:
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- Empower Your Staff: Train your staff to be storytellers. Be “in” character. When guests ask questions- answer is if in the story. Halloween attractions do this well. For example, when walking around the park the “headless horseman” is always the “headless horseman.” The person doesn’t walk around, in costume, and carry on normal conversations with guests or crack jokes- it ruins the story.
- Don’t Distract from the Story: great themed areas can quickly get confusing. Like having your haunted house line queue lit up with bright screens advertising food at a nearby stand or playing the latest “pop” music. How many haunted houses have either? I’m thinking more along the lines of static on the screens (if there are screens at all), eerie music, strobe lights, and the sound of wind, footsteps, etc.
By harnessing the power of storytelling, you can transform your guest experience from a simple ride to an experience worth repeating. It’s not just about the destination, it’s about the journey.
Brief Case Study:
I’ve written about this before, so I’ll be brief. I was asked a few years ago by a small FEC (arcade with a small outdoor component) for ideas about a small “kiddie coaster” that they were considering to remove. Ridership had fallen off and the cost or maintenance and staffing the ride was more than the revenue it generated. They could have sold it and been done with it, but then have a large footprint in their back lot with nothing in it or plan for it.
I suggested to create a story then add thematic elements to tell it. Long story, short- the “kiddie coaster” became a “Runaway Train” with a small built tunnel featuring fog, introduced a couple characters (an antagonist and protagonist), relics they picked up off some local farm “trash” heaps, relevant music, and some nighttime lighting effects. As well as some other elements. Certain elements of the upgrade allowed the employees to create a slightly different experience each ride, and made sure the attendants were “Conductors or Engineers”- not employees.
The upgrades cost roughly $7,500. Some rough math meant that at $2.50 per rider this “new attraction” needed approximately 3,000 paying riders (above their average) to cash flow. The upgrades paid for itself in just under 6 months…. Additionally, the antagonist/protagonist characters, became marketable “mascots.”
