IAAPA Expo

Orlando, Saturday, 22 November 2025.
IAAPA Expo 2025 ended last Friday in Orlando with a record-breaking turnout that drew the industry’s largest-ever verified audience, signaling a clear acceleration in cross-border procurement and partnership activity. Attendance reached 38,520 verified attendees and 28,598 qualified buyers from over 100 countries, concentrating operators, suppliers and investors across ride manufacturing, guest-experience tech, operations consulting and IP licensing. China’s Chimelong Group recorded a prominent presence, underscoring renewed outbound engagement by Asian park operators with Western vendors. On the show floor and in education sessions, capital priorities for 2026 coalesced around safety systems, robotics, immersive media and large-scale dark rides, while Brass Ring winners and product debuts pointed to near-term project pipelines. For retail and on-site operators, the Expo acted as both market barometer and deal-flow accelerator: expect an uptick in announced projects and strategic collaborations within the next 12–18 months as global procurement shifts from exploration to execution and revenue growth.

Orlando, Wednesday, 29 October 2025.
At IAAPA Expo Orlando, key suppliers signalled a shift toward modular, interoperable attraction ecosystems to operators and merchandisers. Vekoma teased a ‘surprising’ coaster tied to Grupo Vidanta, WhiteWater unveiled compact, capacity‑boosting waterplay systems, Dronisos highlighted near‑500 shows at Disneyland Paris validating drone spectacles, and Accesso updated its accessoPassport guest‑management SaaS. Together these reveals point to shorter lead times, bundled procurement opportunities across rides, shows and retail/F&B systems, and rising demand for systems‑integration expertise to turn IP‑compliant show tech into per‑capita revenue. For retail teams this means tighter tie‑ins between show scheduling and F&B/merch forecasts, higher yields from dynamic bundles, and new vendor negotiation levers around modular delivery and post‑install platform fees. Operators should prioritise integration roadmaps, rider throughput metrics and IP licensing terms when evaluating bids. Expect procurement windows to shorten and the premium on cross‑discipline project managers to grow as suppliers push packaged, interoperable stacks that monetise flow.