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IAAPA announces 2022 Brass Ring Awards finalists

IAAPA has unveiled the list of finalists for its prestigious Brass Ring Awards, with winners to be announced during a special ceremony at this year’s IAAPA Expo in Orlando, Florida

Winners will announced at a special ceremony during the IAAPA Expo

IAAPA has revealed the finalists for its 2022 Brass Ring Awards, with Triotech, Whitewater and Simworx among a host of industry elites vying for this year’s prestigious accolades.

Synonymous with achievement, the term brass ring dates back to the 1800s, where riders on a carousel were challenged to reach for a ring while on the ride. While most rings were made of iron, a single brass ring posed a significant challenge and those who managed to reach for it were usually awarded with a free carousel ride.

IAAPA’s annual Brass Ring Award winners will be announced during a special ceremony at this year’s IAAPA Expo in Orlando, Florida, with the awards celebrated in-person for the first time since 2019. The awards recognise excellence in the global attractions industry across several categories: live entertainment, new products, exhibits, marketing, human resources, games and retail and exhibits.

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Most Creative Property-Wide Event, Amusement Parks and Attractions, including Water Parks, Annual Attendance More Than 1 Million

    • Disneyland Paris
    • Walt Disney World Resort
    • Festival of Life and Death Traditions - XCaret

Most Creative Sports/Stunt Show

    • SeaWorld San Antonio
    • Global Village - Harbour Force
    • Fantasy Village

Most Creative Multimedia Spectacular

    • Busch Garden Tampa Bay
    • Disneyland Paris
    • Walt Disney World Resort

Most Creative Halloween Haunt, Show, or Experience

    • Universal Orlando Resort
    • SeaWorld Orlando
    • Hong Kong Disneyland

Most Creative Christmas/Holiday Show

    • Europa-Park
    • Busch Gardens Tampa
    • Disneyland Paris

Best Theatrical Production, Amusement Parks and Attractions, including Water Parks, With Annual Attendance Less Than 1 Million

    • El Sueño de Toledo, Puy du Fou España
    • El Último Cantar, Puy du Fou España
    • A Pluma y Espada, Puy du Fou España

Best Theatrical Production, Amusement Parks and Attractions, including Water Parks, With Annual Attendance More Than 1 Million

    • Universal Beijing Resort
    • Disneyland Resort
    • Europa-Park

Best Live Edutainment Performance Act

    • Science Museum Oklahoma
    • Daydream Forest
    • SeaWorld Orlando

Best Atmosphere/Street Show Performance Act

    • Disneyland Paris
    • Tivoli Gröna Lund
    • Universal Studios Japan

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Best Employee Engagement Initiative

    • Lagoon Amusement Park
    • Hershey’s Chocolate World
    • Enchanted Kingdom

Best Employee Reward and Recognition Program

    • Village Roadshow Theme Parks
    • Silverwood Theme Park
    • Doha Quest

Best Innovation in a Training Program

    • Hersheypark
    • Universal Beijing Resort
    • TEEG - The Entertainment and Education Group



Best Digital Marketing Campaign

    • Fantasy Valley - Digital Marketing
    • Cowabunga Vegas Waterpark - Two Parks, One Season Pass!
    • Fort Worth Zoo/Schaefer Advertising Co - Membership Campaign

Best Integrated Marketing Campaign

    • Dubai Parks & Resorts - The Fastest, The First, The Only Campaign
    • California Academy of Sciences - Bugs Exhibit Advertising Campaign
    • Tobomusik - Beach Park, Tobomusik

Best Outdoor Advertisement

    • Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach - 25 Years of Memories - Sea Turtle
    • Morey’s Piers and Resorts - Summer Jobs @ Moreys
    • Baha Bay - Digital Billboard - NYC Times Square

Best Public Relations Campaign

    • Typhoon Texas Waterpark - Beating Heat in Texas! Cool Down!
    • Liseberg - House of Cards
    • Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! - Making History with Kim Kardashian at Met Gala

Best Social Media Campaign

    • Doha Quest - Quest’s First Year Anniversary
    • Dolphin Discovery - Sharing Dolphin DNA
    • Liseberg - House of Cards

Best TV Or Digital Video Commercial With Attendance More Than 1 Million

    • Great Wolf Resorts - Strengthen the Pack
    • Fort Worth Zoo/Schaefer Advertising Co - Elephant Springs
    • Morey’s Piers & Water Parks - This is Where We Summer

Best TV Or Digital Video Commercial With Attendance of 250,000 - 1 Million

    • Liseberg - Luna Park
    • Liseberg - Where Joy Lives
    • Typhoon Texas Waterpark - Stay and Play Package - Staycation

Best TV Or Digital Video Commercial With Attendance Less Than 250,000

    • Xavage by Xcaret - Xavage: A New Way of Adventure
    • The Funplex - The Funplex Marketing Excellence Application
    • Quassy Amusement & Waterpark - Water Coaster Opens

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Best Apparel Item

    • Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, The Walk - "Original Boardwalk Apparel"
    • Luna Park Sydney, Luna Park Sydney Denim Jacket Collection
    • Disney Global Product Creation, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Cassette Player Shoulder Bag

Best Hard Good Item

    • Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, Holiday World & Splashin' Safari: 75 Years of America's First Theme Park (75th Anniversary Book)
    • Disney Global Product Creation, Halcyon Starcruiser Training Lightsaber Hilt
    • Meow Wolf, Omega Mart Millk Carton Mug

Best Plush Item

    • Morey's Piers and Water Parks, Sunny the Seagull
    • Meow Wolf, Convergence Station Pizza Pals Za Plush
    • Disney Global Product Creation, Groot Scented Plush

Best Visual Merchandising

    • Skånes Djurpark, The Dig Site Retail Store
    • Dollywood Parks & Resorts, Dollywood Emporium Remodel
    • Meow Wolf, Convergence Station Transit Gift Shop

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Best New Menu Item With Annual Attendance Less Than 1 Million

    • Skånes Djurpark, The Wild Breakfast Basket
    • Telus Spark Science Centre, The James Webb
    • Boomers Parks, Caribbean Island Salad w/Grilled Jerk Chicken

Best New Menu Item With Annual Attendance More Than 1 Million

    • Dollywood Parks & Resorts, Three Little Pigs Sandwich
    • Futuroscope, Bar Des Pilotes
    • The Ganachey at Disney Springs, Chocolate Mighty Thor’s Hammer

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Major Ride/Attraction, Product cost of more than US$5 million

Premier Rides - Epiq Coaster
    • Dynamic Attractions - Dynamic Motion Theatre
    • Intamin - LSM Vertical Launch Storm Coaster
    • Sally Dark Rides - Volkanu - Quest for the Golden Idol

Major Ride/Attraction, Product cost of US$2 to US$5 million

    • DOF Robotics - Digital Park: Mission Space
    • Triotech - Double Walkthrough: Hive Break

Major Ride/Attraction, Product cost of less than US$2 million

    • Great Coasters International, Inc. - Titan Track
    • Whitewater West - Boomerango Squeeze
    • ABC Rides Switzerland - C3
    • Josef Wiegand GMBH & Co. KG - U-Drop Dry Slide

Family Ride/Attraction

    • Sela Group S.R.L - Jumbo
    • Zamperla Group - Big Wavez
    • Altitude Rides And Attractions LLC - Get Hammered Tower Ride
    • Intamin - Biberberg Flume Ride

Water Park Ride/Attraction, Product cost of more than US$2 million

    • WhiteWater West, Blasterango Battle
    • Polin Group, Extraventure
    • Wiegand.Waterrides GmbH, 4-passenger Fusion Slide of "BigBang" and "Lotus"
    • Polin Waterparks, Rally Racer

Water Park Ride/Attraction, Product cost of US$2 million or less

    • ProSlide Technology, Inc., SwitchBACK
    • Polin Group, Naja
    • Vortex Aquatic Structures International, Dream Tunnel
    • Polin Waterparks, Rift

Patron Participation Ride/Attraction

    • Eldorado Climbing, Kinetix Action Towers
    • The Trekking Group, UPLA
    • Game of 1000 Boxes, Game of 1000 Boxes
    • Ka'ana Wave Co, CM7 Series - Deep Water Surf Machines

Product or Service used by Consumers

    • Roller, Guest Experience Score
    • Smarte Carte Inc, Dual Sided Locker
    • VAR Live International Limited, VAR Box ESports Mobile App
    • Vantage, Virtual Pass Processing

Product or Service Used by Facilities

    • Amusement Products LLC, VirTech™ Virtual Technician
    • Embed, Embed KIOSK+
    • VideoSlick, Inc., AI-Powered Professional Automatic Video/Photo Service&Systems
    • Avius, Optimus Artificial Intelligence Powered Agent Assist

Prizes, Plush, and Retail and Food Products

    • Fiesta, Sammy The Seagull
    • NXT Capture, NXT Picturepass
    • Penny Press Factory, Gem Penny Press
    • A&A Global, Dubble Bubble Motion Lamp 13IN

Games and Devices

    • Coastal Amusement, Break the Plate
    • Team Play, Photomotion
    • Elaut Group USA, Prize-O-Matic
    • Unis Technology, Wicked Tuna 4PN

Virtual and Augmented Reality

    • Valo Motion, ValoArena
    • Exploring Digital, Megacerse VR Theatre
    • Creative Works, Limitless VR
    • SEGA Amusements International, VR Agent

Exhibitions, Shows/Productions, Theatrical Equipment & Supplies, Displays & Sets

    • Billings Productions, Triceratops
    • Lightuptoys.com, Lightup Disco Display Cart
    • Zigong Lantern Group, Egyptian Illumination & Sphinx Tunnel

Services, Equipment, and Supplies

    • Semnox Solutions, LuminOS - Next Generation LinuxOS based Debit Card Readers
    • Semnox Solutions, Kinetick – Self-service Wristband Dispensing Ticketing Kiosks
    • Aquify Systems, Aquify Fiberglass Regenerative Media Filter
    • Extreme Engineering, Flex Shade System

Best New Product Concept Award, Attraction

    • Inowize, QBix
    • Eurogames, Overlander
    • Triotech, Qube
    • Extreme Engineering, Parkour Around

Best New Product Concept Award, Major Ride or Water Park Ride

    • Wibit Sports GmbH, Wibit Peakz
    • Zamperla Group, Double Heart Coaster
    • Polin Group, Cosmos
    • Simworx, Pegasus Flying Theatre

Other Product/Service

    • HAWE Micro Fluid GmbH, Hydraulic Locking Unit (HLU) for passenger restraint systems in amusement rides
    • VITO Fryfilter, VITO VL oil filter system
    • VGS, XPI Cross Platforms Integration
    • ZED Digital, ZIG

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Top Family Entertainment Center of the World

    • Timezone & Zone Bowling Surfers Paradise, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia
    • Wild Island Coconut Bowl, Sparks, Nevada, US
    • Kingpin, Queenstown, New Zealand,

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IAAPA 2022

Taking place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, from November 14-17, this year’s IAAPA Expo will feature an extensive trade show floor with more than 1,000 exhibitors from around the world and a comprehensive education programme with more than 200 sessions covering topics such as emergency preparedness, community experience, food and beverage and recruitment. A series of exciting networking opportunities will also be on offer.

Having served as a key media partner at the 2022 edition of IAAPA Expo Europe in London, Planet Attractions will also be in attendance, bringing you the latest updates directly from the show floor. To book a meeting with Planet Attractions at IAAPA Expo please contact our publisher Paul Thorman at [email protected].