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Going behind-the-scenes for the development of Legoland Windsor’s newest attraction, an evening with a videogame industry legend, the immersive Doctor Who experience coming to London and the Smithsonian’s latest out-of-this-world acquisition. Welcome to the latest edition of The Week from Planet Attractions
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 16 May 2021
This is the thirteenth edition of The Week and it’s been a busy one with some major openings taking place and some equally exciting acquisitions promising exciting attractions for the future.
Being our thirteenth time out, it’s probably quite apt that we’ve featured the first Doctor of thirteen in the Doctor Who franchise. It’s a quite stunning immersive theatrical experience and hopefully once normality is restored we can take a trip over to the capital to take in the spectacle.
Elsewhere we’ve delved into the new Lego Mythica attraction coming to Legoland Windsor, while the Smithsonian has gotten its hands on an iconic Star Wars prop, which you can see being worked on right now inside the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Welcome to your seven day breakdown of everything related to the visitor attractions industry. Welcome to The Week from Planet Attractions.
In the final days of the year that was 2020, Italy’s Ministry of Culture announced plans to spend €18.5m (US$22.4m, £16m) on a major new heritage project, which was almost certain to bring back tourists lost as a result of the global pandemic.
On May 2, the winning design, which is part of the government’s wider strategy to restore and reorganise Rome’s historical sites, was unveiled to huge fanfare.
All sounds great right? Well not quite.
The project in question would see the Colosseum, arguably Italy’s most iconic heritage site, receive a retractable wooden floor, offering visitors the chance to stand where Rome’s gladiators once stood and take in this piece of Roman history from an entirely new perspective. The addition of the floor would also open up the Colosseum for use in major culture events, which culture minister Dario Franceschini has promised will be “of the highest quality”.
The original Colosseum of course had a floor, which survived in various iterations as late as the 1930s, when Mussolini ordered archaeological excavations to clear the earth that replaced the floor for good.The original floor was destroyed in 217 AD when a fire started by lightning destroyed much of it. The site has a tangled history however with many modifications taking place over nearly 400 years of continuous use, so it’s not entirely certain what survived until when.
Milanese firm Ingegneria has been handed the task of installing the modern wooden floor above the hypogeum - a historic wooden structure covering 3,000sq m, whose layout tells the history of the corridors below the floor.
For the first time in modern history, people will be able to experience in real life the layout of the Colosseum, with the floor also giving them a better idea of what it must have been like to be held in the dark hypogeum underneath.
In non-pandemic times, around seven million people visit the Colosseum each year. With the addition of a floor, this number could rise significantly but not everyone thinks this is a good thing. The project received criticism, with some commentators questioning the large price tag and asking simply whether the venue needs a floor at all.
In addition to cost, critics opposing the project have highlighted a number of concerns.
The first is potential damage to the ruins, though Ingegneria says the installation will place heritage preservation at its forefront, with the construction of the floor completely reversible with no damage caused to the remains.
The second point raised concerns the obscuring of the hypogeum, which is seen as a key aspect of the current Colosseum experience.
The third, and perhaps the most important aspect, is the further commercialisation of a site which is already a key part of tourism not only in Rome but for all of Italy. Opponents to the plans say that commercial concerns (high-paying sponsors for example) and upkeep costs mean archeological issues might come face-to-face with commercial ones. If it means funding, it’s likely, believe critics, that the commercial concerns will win out.
Commercialism for a heritage site however isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Look at the Merlin Entertainments-operated Warwick Castle in the UK.
A medieval castle developed from a wooden fort and originally built by William the Conqueror in 1068, Warwick Castle is an iconic piece of British history but also one that has been turned into a fully-fledged attraction that goes way beyond the traditional castle experience.
Originally purchased by the Tussauds Group in 1978, Merlin acquired the property following a merger in 2007, which was then sold to the Prestbury Group under a sale and leaseback agreement, renewable every 35 years.
The castle is still protected against unauthorised change as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is a Grade I listed building. However, Merlin has taken that heritage and made it into a spectacle that even the non-history buff will enjoy.
In 2005, the castle became home to one of the world's largest working siege engines - an 18m (59ft) -tall trebuchet, which draws huge crowds wanting to see it fired.
Taking in the best of Merlin’s many attractions, the castle itself is filled with historical waxworks courtesy of Tussauds, while part of the castle has also been converted into a Dungeons experience. Other tourist attractions include a bird show featuring eagles and vultures, archery displays and jousting.
A visit to Warwick Castle isn’t quite a step back in time thanks to the huge amounts of visitors around you but it certainly is an ‘attractified’ window into the past, bringing history to life in the most exciting and engaging way possible.
For Warwick, this approach is clearly working. With an average pre-Covid attendance of around 625,000 visitors a year, Warwick Castle is among the top 20 attractions anywhere in Britain.
Staying in the UK, in August 2019, English Heritage finished a landmark project reconnecting the divided landscape of Tintagel - the inspiration for the legendary King Arthur.
In the Middle Ages, Tintagel's residents walked from one side of the site to the other using a narrow land bridge as high as the clifftops. But the crossing disappeared somewhere between the 14th and 17th centuries, leaving a natural chasm between the 13th century castle and the mainland, with the only way to access the historic remains via a very long and narrow set of 140 steps.
The new Tintagel Bridge reinstates the original route, offering visitors the chance to experience Tintagel Castle the way its medieval inhabitants once did. The aim, says English Heritage, was to find a bridge specifically tailored to the castle, harmonising with the iconic coastal landscape. The design sees two cantilevers reach out and meet, not quite touching, with a 40mm gap in the middle, which represents the transition from the mainland to the island, present to past.
Much like the Colosseum, the £5m (US$7m, €5.8m) project received some criticism, with some accusing English Heritage of the “Disneyfication” of the historic site (though it has gone nowhere near levels Warwick Castle has), pointing to a carving of Merlin's head and an Arthurian sculpture as evidence of this.
While this might be the critics’ opinion, it’s undeniable that access to the castle is now significantly easier and available in a much more elegant fashion. Tintagel encourages people to engage in history and whether people like it or not, so will building a floor in the Colosseum.
Of course we should always be mindful of our heritage and must ensure we do everything we can for their protection for future generations. But we also have to consider - what is the point of protecting these historic treasures if no one wants to see them in the first place.
Attractifying Warwick Castle was a game changer for the site, which has sparked the imaginations of countless children wanting to learn more about history.
Building a bridge to Tintagel and leaning into the legend of King Arthur, has had a dramatic impact on footfall to the site, opening it up for people who simply wouldn’t have been able to visit before.
Let’s turn our heads to Rome and to the Colosseum and look at it from that perspective. You might be able to see a downside, but all I can see is the potential that this historic venue offers not only to Italy, but to the countless people that will be inspired as they stand in the centre of that landmark, taking in the awe-inspiring sight that is Rome’s mighty Colosseum.
Home to iconic monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, Washington DC’s National Mall is soon to become home to another icon - an X-Wing from the legendary Star Wars saga.
The full-sized vehicle, with a wingspan of 37ft (11.2m), appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and is on a long-term loan from Lucasfilm. The spacecraft, which was flown in the movie by Poe Dameron, will be the first Star Wars movie prop to go on long-term display at the museum since...keep reading
With the opening of the UK’s hottest new attraction imminent, Gary Pope of Kids Industries has revealed how Legoland Windsor’s newest addition - Lego Mythica - was brought to life
In the story of Mythica, a portal to this universe has been discovered at Legoland Windsor, with guests invited to come on a journey to witness the impossible as some of the most renowned creatures from different mythologies that have...keep reading
A brand new waterpark destination is coming to the Bahamas, with the upcoming Baha Bay set to become one of the premier tourist offerings in the entire country when it opens to visitors on July 2.
Part of the Baha Mar resort destination, the US$200m (€166m, £144m) waterpark will be available exclusively to guests of the resort, with the new addition covering 60,000sq m (645,000sq ft) of...keep reading
Our Quote of The Week comes from seasoned British actor David Bradley, who is the second person to play the first iteration of The Doctor from Doctor Who after William Hartnell.
Bradley has once again lent his talents to the role, this time for an immersive theatrical experience coming to London on May 26.
Called Doctor Who: Time Fracture, the experience will see guests play the role of UNIT recruits, fighting to protect the people of earth from alien threats such as Daleks and Cybermen.
Read more here
More reading
• LED is here to challenge projection’s throne
• WhiteWater names Baptiste Caulonque and Andrew Thatcher to key positions within Endless Surf division
• SeaWorld hands Marc Swanson CEO role on permanent basis
Rounding up all the biggest news from both publications and associations, in this week’s edition of From The Industry, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) says now is the time to place a ban on private ownership and public interaction with big cats, the winners of the European Museum of the Year Awards are announced and Australia’s first wooden coaster in 35 years is nearing completion.
Read more here
From attractions community this week, we’re getting a first ride on Universal’s brand new VelociCoaster, being offered a detailed history on Animal Kingdom’s Expedition Everest and the question is asked - how big would the Star Destroyer in Rise of the Resistance be compared to the rest of Disney World?
Read more here
Cocktails with the Creators
The Strong National Museum has announced the latest edition in its series of online events - an evening with videogame industry legend Nolan Bushnell.
Debuted in February, Cocktails with the Creators is hosted by the museum’s play and history experts, who guide the conversation and highlight artefacts which are a part of The Strong’s archive - the largest collection of toys, video games, and related archival materials anywhere in the world.
Bushnell, most famously known for co-founding Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, will join the museum via Zoom on June 3, and follows names such as former Sega, Mattel and Leapfrog CEO, Tom Kalinske, as the Strong aims to celebrate the most influential and creative innovators in both the videogame and toy industries.
Read more here
Jurassic World: The Exhibition
Jurassic World: The Exhibition, a major travelling exhibition themed around the Jurassic World movie franchise, will return to North America later this year.
The exhibition is scheduled to open at Grandscape in The Colony in Dallas, Texas, on June 18, 2021.
Produced by Round Room Live and Cityneon in partnership with Universal Parks and Resorts, the exhibition first opened in Melbourne, Australia, in 2016. It’s since gone on to become a global phenomenon, welcoming nearly three million visitors from Paris, Madrid, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seoul, Guangzhou and Chengdu.
Read more here
Licensing Expo
Taking place live and online at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Licensing Expo connects the world's most influential entertainment, character, art, and corporate brand owners and agents with consumer goods manufacturers, licensees and retailers. The event touts itself as “the meeting place for the global licensing industry”.
Originally rescheduled for May 25-27, the event has now been moved back, instead taking place August 10-12, 2021.
More information
Stretching half a kilometre and hanging 570ft (173m) above Arouca’s Paiva River, our Photo of The Week comes in the form of a new record-breaking suspension bridge, which recently opened in Portugal in a bid to entice new visitors to the region.
Dubbed the 516 Arouca - named after the nearby town of Arouca and the bridge’s length in metres - the architectural marvel cost €2.3m (US$2.8m, £2m) to build, with the construction process starting in May 2018 and taking around two years to complete.
Read more here
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