NextGen Showcase, 2022 - 2023

Story Writer and Sound Designer

I had a blast taking part in the NextGen Showcase as part of Theme5. I worked alongside people with fascinating experience from all over the world, which greatly inspired me in my future career search.

Tasked with designing a new theme park land and retheming two others, our team had to develop our concepts from the Blue Sky, through Concept Development to the Schematic phase.

As well as working in my role, I got to learn more from the others about theirs, as well as learning from professionals at education sessions and in-person events. Everything came together with the final attraction, Entdecker Das Wundermuseum.

Blue Sky Phase

We started out with a brief: to retheme two existing areas of 'Parctopia' to fit with modern guest standards, and to develop an entirely new tentpole attraction to fill the space between them.

In the Blue Sky phase, we developed three concepts for the clients to choose from; Kroov Hollow, Atlantis, and Das Wundermuseum.

Meeting everyone at IAAPA Europe 2022 was a highlight!

Along with meeting my teammates and mentor for the first time, it was also the first time we presented our three concepts to the world after two months of development.

Concept Development

The client team selected Das Wundermuseum, meaning it was full steam ahead on developing the attraction and surrounding area.

I was responsible for writing the narrative for all new aspects of the guest experience: all three lands and the attraction itself. I collated reference images to assist the creative team with their concept art. We also adjusted the ride premise and vehicle from a flooding museum, to magical artefacts brought to life by the power of the Amethyst.

During the Schematic Design phase, I moved to Wellington, New Zealand. Despite this huge change, it was the phase where I came into my own.

I continued my tasks from Concept Development, as well as writing the second-by-second actions and story beats that occur in the attraction. This required me to establish the media track list and sound design for each scene, and to work between the creative and tech teams to establish its feasibility.

I am particularly proud of the track list I produced to inspire the musical identity of each of the locations and scenes. Sound is such an undervalued aspect of developing an immersive experience, and a cohesive musical theme helps to establish the mood and storyline of an attraction.

Schematic Design

Our final presentation video was made by Thomas Broch, and summarises the art, masterplans, technical details and final narrative that was developed by Theme5 over nine months. The team also presented the final designs at an event at Europa-Park in May 2023.

I am incredibly proud of our work and final product. I learned so much about writing for themed entertainment that I will bring with me into the future.

Final Narrative of Entdecker Das Wundermuseum

Guests wander the double-height lobby of the museum, encountering signs advertising volunteering roles. Following them to mezzanine-level, guests enter the attraction queue, travelling through the Archives, The Curators’ Office and CCTV room. The animatronic Curator tells guests they’ll be volunteering in the Myths & Legends Hall, where another volunteer is already working. Hosts dispatch guests to the pre-show room, on the ground floor (joining guests from the accessible line). The Myths & Legends Hall is double-height, containing newly-exhibited magical objects including the Amethyst on a plinth. Otto descends on a bosun’s chair to clean the artefacts. Overreaching, he knocks one over - causing a domino effect of falling objects, ultimately dislodging the Amethyst, which rolls away. With its magic sending the surrounding objects haywire, it is up to us to get the Amethyst back before the exhibition is due to open. Otto returns to the ceiling and can be heard scrambling to the other side of the door, “opening” the door to the final section of the queue.

Guests enter the Sweeper Store, where they board large “floor polishers” to look for the Amethyst and clear up its mayhem.

Guests enter the Nature Hall, which the Amethyst has turned into a forest. Otto looks everywhere, popping out of trees, and as guests exit through the archway, they see a tatzelwurm resting above them on a tree branch.

In the Music Hall, a statue of Mozart is playing the harpsichord - and the Amethyst bounces inside, causing the notes to go wild. Otto sits next to Mozart, trying to grab the gem. Mozart gets frustrated, slamming the keys and sending the Amethyst flying offstage.

Ride vehicles curve into the Ceramics Hall, where robot arms are carefully placing vases. Otto hangs from the ceiling and spots the Amethyst glowing from a plinth. He leaps for it, but the robot arm traps Otto in a vase and catapults the Amethyst into a ceiling ventilation pipe.

Guests get in an elevator, following the pipe up. When the doors open, Otto is upstairs too, trying to pull a vase off of his head.

In Technology, a robot is putting final touches on a circuit board spanning the entire wall. The Amethyst drops into the board from a vent, sending purple energy along the circuits. When the electronics go haywire, it disappears once again.

In the grand Art Gallery, ride vehicles travel inside several Austrian paintings brought to life by the Amethyst; Battle of Lissa, Tree of Life, The Rain Falls and Haywagon. Combining screen-based media and physical effects, the paintings surround guests.

Following the gallery, Otto is distracted from his hunt by Austrian Cuisine, including the world’s largest schnitzel. Seeing the purple glow of the Amethyst, he remembers the quest and disappears.

After taking the elevator “down”, guests enter the Science room. The Amethyst sits on a table, being zapped by scientific instruments. A scrim-projection of Otto reaches for it, but he is blasted away by the beam. As the vehicles move down the corridor, Otto flies past (projection) clutching the Amethyst, finally crashing through the wall.

After an adventure around the museum recovering (and cleaning up after) the mischievous Amethyst, guests ride past Otto wrangling the gem back onto its plinth in the Myths and Legends Hall, as the magical statues celebrate.

On the final corner, the animatronic Curator thanks guests for the successful opening of the exhibition. Behind them on CCTV screens, guests can see video clips of them inside the ride.

Guests unload in groups of two vehicles, and exit to the gift shop.