Many theme parks across the US are beginning to release custom-built smartphone applications to their guests. But how do these apps benefit both the visitors and park management? We spoke with Aron Ezra, Chief Executive Officer of MacroView Labs, to find out why these apps are so popular, as well as what guests can expect in the future.
The Walt Disney Corporation, Six Flags, PARC Management and Sea World are all on the growing list of theme park companies across the US that have embraced the new technology.
The features of such applications typically include a park map (satellite or hand-drawn) with GPS-driven directions, a list of rides and attractions with their opening hours and an online store.
However, smartphone apps are getting smarter, and now have the ability to let users “bookmark” important areas on their map, such as the location of their parking spot. Users can also contact the park’s lost and found office, play games while queuing for a ride, check the latest weather information and preview rides from their phones.
Some applications even allow guests to speak directly to other members of their party without using traditional voice or text message services.
“An app allows the guests to actually interact with the park in new ways that were previously impossible”, Aron Ezra said.
Such applications are not just beneficial to the patrons. “From a park’s perspective, this technology is a huge win-win”, Mr Ezra added.
“A well-deployed free app gives the park a new mobile point of sale through which to sell tickets, promote shows, sell food, sell digital content like pictures or tours, and generate additional revenue through sponsorships and partnerships”.
“Plus they can get terrific feedback from guests as they walk around — letting them know which rides are popular, which bathrooms need to be cleaned, and what guests are searching for using the app”.
Aron labelled the adoption rate to mobile apps as “incredible”. Nonetheless, he is confident that paper maps will not completely disappear anytime soon.
In terms of future development, Mr Ezra believes that the “sky’s the limit”.
“Mobile apps as we know them today really only got started about two years ago — so we’re still in the very early stages of this technology”.
“MacroView Labs has dozens of new features under development this year alone — I think that there are thousands of new features and capabilities that our industry will unveil in the coming years”.
“Future mobile apps will see dramatic improvements in speed, voice recognition, GPS/Wi-Fi accuracy, ease of calendar and photo integrations, better analytics, new games, new social media integrations, more powerful shopping tools, more customized user experiences, and more”.
Mr Ezra also believes that virtual queuing systems could one day be integrated into a smartphone application.
“If we had a client tomorrow that wanted to integrate their existing virtual queuing system into a broader park app, we could do it”, Mr Ezra added.
Photo: MacroView Labs
