Asians Like Boutique Theme Parks

Legacy Entertainment ends the year with five major projects opening in Asia. The North Hollywood entertainment design firm worked on three full theme parks and two large-scale dark rides. Legacy Chief Creative Officer Taylor Jeffs said the company was fortunate to become a leading player in Asia’s booming theme park industry. It has designed and opened nearly 20 theme parks, resorts and attractions in China, Indonesia, South Korea and, soon, Vietnam, among other countries. “We attribute our continued winning streak to our focus on quality rather than quantity – we limit our project capacity in order to maintain our high standards,” Jeffs said in a statement. The largest of Legacy’s projects was the “Dream Bund” at Hengdian World Studios, located in China’s Zhejiang Province. The 76-acre park is a combination of themed attraction and film studio. The park’s sprawling lot opened in August along with a trolley tour ride. More attractions are expected to come online in time for China’s Spring Festival in late January. Collaborating with CT Corp., in Indonesia, Legacy designed a pair of indoor theme parks under the Trans Studio brand. Trans Studio Cibubur, in Jakarta, focuses on telling action stories through rides and attractions while Trans Studio Bali bills itself as the first theme park designed with social media in mind. It has rides, shows and attractions all primed for maximum share-ability. Trans Studio Cibubur is also home to “Pacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike,” a dark ride concept designed by Legacy that blends a ride experience with elements of live theater, immersive environments and motion-based ride technology. It is based on the “Pacific Rim” motion picture franchise from Legendary Entertainment in Burbank. Eric Carnagey, chief business development officer at Legacy, said that Trans Studio’s family entertainment center model is likely to become more common for emerging markets where large-scale theme parks do not make economic sense. “We anticipate that many more boutique parks like this will be popping up in all corners of the globe,” Carnagey said in a statement.