
Today’s theme parks and entertainment attractions are more complex than ever, integrating food and beverage, retail, hospitality, corporate and private groups, VIP programs, sponsorship programs, and a host of revenue-producing activities that must be carefully accommodated. The guest, however, is focused on one thing: having a great experience in as much comfort as possible. We are adept at satisfying all these requirements of a well-designed entertainment project. Our approach to Master Planning integrates equal parts story, experience, operations, and economic feasibility. We work collaboratively with the client team, and bring to the team whatever specialty expertise may be necessary to adequately cover all the necessary bases. We establish attendance, capacity, and entertainment throughput requirements, then incorporate programming input from all disciplines to develop the master program. In a parallel effort, the thematic and story approach is developed. We then visualize the experience with all key attractions and transfer the program into a physical plan that embraces all the aspects necessary for a successful master plan.

Based on the design intent of an approved Master Plan, the Conceptual Design explores all key disciplines to visualize the experience, to fully develop the design, confirm feasibility of the design intent, and determine site and infrastructure requirements. We utilize our in-house expertise augmented by specialist designers, illustrators, technical directors, and other disciplines as necessary for a comprehensive conceptual design for the project. All key disciplines of the project: architecture, engineering, food service, retail, set and show design, attractions and rides, show technical, graphics and signage are all explored together for an integrated design that responds to the creative intent, operational requirements, and established budget for the project.

Comprised of Schematic and Design Development Phases, this portion of the design work engages all required disciplines in a robust design and engineering documentation necessary for final Construction Documents. For this demanding process, Wyatt Design Group performs as creative, art directors, and project managers of a team of specialized resources sub-contracted for the specific requirements of the project. These teams include set and show designers, technical directors, lighting, graphics and signage, and interior designers, architects and engineers, and media integrators among many others. Our many years experience has resulted in close working relationships with the best in the industry to deliver an outstanding project design. From Detailed Design, our role in the Construction Documentation and final Production of the project depends on the owner. We can support the owner’s team to complete the project, or take on the full responsibility for a completed project on opening day.

The experienced staff at Wyatt Design Group has developed attractions for some of the most successful theme parks in the world, including Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood, Busch Gardens Tampa, Warner Bros. Movieworld Madrid and Australia, Disneyland Paris, Six Flags, and many others. We provide all services from concept through detailed design and execution, including all disciplines necessary to develop successful attractions. Close working relationships with the leading specialists in show action, animatronics, media integration, show/ride engineering, and many other specialized disciplines allow us to form the ideal team to deliver each unique attraction we create.

Scenery and show sets are a key element in all themed attractions and re-created environments. Utilizing a background in theater design, our staff has provided scenic and set design for countless attractions for more than 25 years. We provide concept through production design of physical sets and incorporate lighting, audio, and media systems design through specialty consultants. Hands-on art direction and project management assure comprehensive bidding documents are provided for fabrication. We assist the owner in the bidding process and selection of the fabricator. We then provide the owner with production phase review and art direction through to completion to assure the design intent is faithfully followed through.

In our work, architecture sets the stage for storytelling and is arguably the key element to creating successful immersive environments for theme parks, leisure destinations, or interpretive experiences. We approach this important aspect of our projects with the eye of an art director, carefully studying the form and scale of the physical environment and applying just the right architectural style and details to create the ideal “set” for the story. At the same time, these “themed” structures are more than just sets—they are functional buildings that must function as efficient visitor facilities, restaurants, retail shops, and attraction buildings. A close working relationship is necessary between our art directors, architects and engineers to assure that structural, mechanical, and other technical aspects of each structure are integrated into the thematic design. This approach results in authentic story-driven environments that can be fully executed without compromising the art director’s creative intent.
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