Through a variety of companies and countless projects, Gary Goddard has left an indelible and innovative mark on the amusement park industry. InPark’s Martin Palicki spoke with Goddard and Taylor Jeffs, Director of Design at Goddard Group, on recent and upcoming projects along with their take on paths for industry growth. While InPark’s conversation on theme park and experience design is informative (please, read it here: https://goo.gl/CnOqoC), it’s the question about an update on the Cirque Park that we’re more interested in…
Q. One of the major projects you’re working on now is the Cirque du Soleil park under construction in Neuvo Vallarta, Mexico. Can you give us an update?
Taylor Jeffs: Construction is racing along in Mexico while we continue to develop and innovate both here at our headquarters in Los Angeles, and at Cirque’s home base in Quebec. We conducted a mock-up of one attraction this past fall near Quebec City, inviting both industry colleagues and members of the public to attend, and the result was truly electric- I felt I was looking into the future.
Gary Goddard: I call it an experience park instead of a theme park because it is filled with immersive experiences. It has theme park elements, rides and shows, etc. But the way we have configured things and the way it will be consumed is very different. The waterpark is conceived as a rainforest. There will be no red, blue and yellow slides. It will appear that things are built by tribes in a way only Cirque can do. There is an entire nighttime waterpark experience but it will revolutionize the evening experience for waterparks. We are working with Cirque to create something truly original and revolutionary.
Taylor Jeffs: I really believe our Cirque du Soleil waterpark will dramatically shake things up when the first phase debuts (scheduled for 2019). We’ve creating an entirely new creative approach that could fundamentally change waterparks, and I really can’t wait to share that with the world.
{ SOURCE: InPark Magazine | goo.gl/CnOqoC }
