/ by Valerio Mazzoli /

In this month’s issue, Valerio Mazzoli focuses on family entertainment centres.

In last month’s issue we explored the topic of large shopping malls and their transformation: these are no longer traditional shopping destinations, but a chance for the whole family to experience shopping in a dynamic, educational and entertaining way. 

We will now turn our attention to the world of family entertainment centres (FECs). These establishments, varying in size and types of entertainment, cater to 3 diverse target segments: kids, teenagers and families. The market provides several types of attractions, but the initial phase usually involves preparing project budgets, purchasing attractions and related equipment. Just like shopping malls, the vast majority of the existing FECs are pretty ordinary and repetitive. 

I would like to say a few words about children entertainment centres specifically. These are usually more active and productive seeing that they have party room areas for the celebration of birthdays and the likes, which are very interesting and profitable activities. For some years now, the traditional FEC model has evolved to incorporate new technologies and innovative playgrounds (a few years ago, I personally carried out the set design for a very innovative playground project at Abu Dhabi Ferrari World for Global Attractions), as well as rides and specifically tailored attractions featuring unique designs, interactive games and fantasy environments or mini-cities. 

Some years ago, I collaborated with an excellent amusement ride manufacturer named Fionda, a Brasilian company founded by Italian entrepreneur Giovanni Zanoletti, whom I was introduced to by my dear friend Danilo Tosetto. During my time with Fionda I developed some attractions and began to study new concepts of indoor miniparks as well as a very innovative theme park project, Planeta Azul (Blue Planet). I was able to visit several shopping centres with integrated FECs on that occasion, and I was particularly impressed by a project which seemed to be quite ahead of its time (i.e. the 90s) which was called Parque da Mônica: developed inside Sao Paulo’s SP Market shopping centre and still operational today, this was a mini city for kids in a market where manpower and human resource management are very affordable.

Conversely, similar mini cities built on several locations across the globe in a lot of cases yielded negative results due to high management costs and the outdatedness of their model. Hence the need to develop the kind of innovative projects (small to medium in size and possibly indoor) that can viably function in the increasingly vast and repetitive entertainment industry of today, which often leads to choices borne out of a desperate attempt to outdo competitors,  and not always successfully at that. 

Granted, major theme parks will carry about their business as usual, with their impressive construction projects drawing ever-bigger audiences, but any FEC or mini-park curated with attention to detail and an eye to the future will certainly target an important audience bracket and thus create a new market for both manufacturers and facility operators as well as retail and food operators. 

Orlando, the city where I live and work, can boast of having some of the leading theme parks in the world. To give you a quick idea of the scope, consider that approximately 75 million visitors annually come to visit 2 or 3 of its major parks on average.  The remainder of their budget is then distributed across the various smaller entertainment venues that the city offers. There seem to be no intermediate alternatives to between these hugely different realities.

For some months now, my staff and I have been collaborating with a group of professionals with a background in publishing and cinema as well as writers/authors, technicians and builders towards the development of a new large scale project, easily adaptable to all international markets, with very interesting budgets and featuring new types of attractions and technologies.

In closing, this December issue marks the 6th month anniversary of my column in ‘Games & Parks Industry’. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers and express my hope that my words may inspire them to conceive new ideas for this wonderful entertainment world of ours which continues to keep us young at heart.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2020. Special thanks to the magazine editorial team for their wonderful work. I feel very connected and linked to them by a strong bond of friendship which developed over many years of shared history. A special thanks to the founder of ‘Games & Parks Industry’ and my great friend Danilo Tosetto, who continues to be with us in spirit.

Taken from Games&Parks Industry December 2019, page 70

Valerio Mazzoli /  theme park & attraction designer / info@valeriomazzoli.com