interactive attractions

Orlando, Friday, 7 November 2025.
Merlin has opened a standalone Peppa Pig theme park in Texas with an investment exceeding $40 million, while Triotech marks its 25th year by deploying large-scale interactive media attractions—most notably Into The Deep at Six Flags Qiddiya and Transformers projects in Saudi Arabia. Together these moves signal two industry shifts: accelerated, IP-led regional expansion aimed at predictable family audiences and growing supplier readiness to deliver modular, high-capacity media-based dark rides and turnkey systems for mid‑market parks. For retail and attraction operators this means rethinking master plans, phasing and CAPEX allocation between licensing and technology, prioritizing throughput and maintenance predictability over novelty, and updating sourcing strategies to favour turnkey suppliers that reduce installation risk. The Texas park’s emphasis on accessible, sensory-friendly design also highlights growing expectations around inclusivity. Read on to understand timing, capital implications and operational trade‑offs that will affect site-level yields and seasonality across portfolios in the coming years.

Orlando, Monday, 25 August 2025.
Merlin Entertainments’ confirmed Peppa Pig theme park for the US in 2025 — targeting family-focused, midscale demand with lower price-point day tickets — paired with Triotech’s 25th‑anniversary push of modular, media‑driven dark rides and high‑capacity simulators, spells a clear market shift. Retail and leisure operators should expect accelerated franchising of proven children’s IP to capture domestic attendance, and a faster supplier pipeline offering repeatable, lower‑engineering attractions that prioritise throughput, maintainability and reduced lifecycle costs. The most intriguing fact: two industry pillars are aligning — operators expanding greenfield and localized franchised parks while suppliers scale product lines to meet predictable family demand. For investors and procurement teams this raises immediate priorities: clarify licensing and revenue-share terms, model capital intensity of greenfield versus retrofit, and tighten RFP specifications on capacity, serviceability and total cost of ownership to avoid supplier‑consolidation and operational bottlenecks.