WAITING FOR THE FUN: AMBIENT STORYTELLING AS A MEANS TO SUPPORT GUEST SATISFACTION IN THEME PARK ATTRACTION QUEUES By BETH BURKHARDT A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF INTERIOR DESIGN UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2013 1 © 2013 Beth Burkhardt 2 To my parents for their unyielding faith, love, and support in me, and for giving me the courage to always dream bigger 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people to whom I would like to express my most sincere gratitude for the role they played in helping me reach this milestone. First I would like to thank my committee chair Candy Carmel-Gilfilen and my committee member Dr. Maruja Torres-Antonini. Thank you for encouraging my enthusiasm for the themed entertainment industry and joining me in exploring this topic of research. Your advice, guidance, and passion for learning have been an inspiration to me at every step of this process. I owe you my most sincere thanks for your time and contributions to this study. I could not have done this without your invaluable help. I would like to thank my dear friends Marissa Cowan, Priya and Ojas Sampat, Lindsay Agnew, Arielle Rassel, Mary Carver, and Mike Schwalm for everything you've done to help me achieve this goal. This journey would not have been possible or nearly as much fun without all of your support and faith in me along the way. To my co-workers and mentors at Walt Disney Imagineering, especially Claire Wiley, Jennifer Sale, and Cathy Carver, thank you for offering me the encouragement I needed to balance my schoolwork with the opportunities you've given me at work. Please know how very much I appreciate your support and all that you have taught me. I owe a debt of gratitude to my sisters, Stephanie, Catie, and Sarah. I am so truly blessed to have you in my life. You were such a huge help to me throughout this journey. Thank you to my brothers, Brookes and Christian, for being a constant reminder of why I love doing what I do. I'd also like to thank Walt Disney and all who love to dream for sparking my love of themed entertainment and for giving me the courage to always dream bigger. 4 I would like to thank my parents, Brookes and Cathy Burkhardt, for being the most supportive people in my life. Throughout every struggle you stood at my side, leading me closer to this achievement. I owe you a lifetime of thanks for the love and faith you have always shown me. No words could express how very much you mean to me. I'd also like to offer a special thank you to all of my family members, especially Marian Burkhardt and Thelma Bissett, who have prayed for me and supported this journey the past few years. Thank you George Bissett for being my biggest inspiration to never give up and keep moving forward, even in the most trying of times. Finally, and most importantly, I'd like to thank God for all of the blessings this journey has bestowed upon me. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 9 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 12 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 15 Purpose .................................................................................................................. 17 Significance ............................................................................................................ 18 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 19 Assumptions ........................................................................................................... 19 Definitions ............................................................................................................... 20 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 21 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 23 History of the Amusement Industry ......................................................................... 24 "E" Tickets, FASTPASS®, and MyMagic+ ....................................................... 30 Psychology of Queuing ........................................................................................... 33 Waiting Time Fillers and Environment .............................................................. 36 Queue Line Design ........................................................................................... 38 Trends in Queue Line Design ........................................................................... 39 Flow Management .................................................................................................. 43 Summary of Literature Review ................................................................................ 45 RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................................... 47 Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................ 48 Rationale for Data Collection .................................................................................. 49 Research Design .................................................................................................... 51 Case Selection ........................................................................................................ 53 Participants ............................................................................................................. 54 Research Setting .................................................................................................... 55 Test Track® ...................................................................................................... 55 Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™ ....................................................... 58 Data Collection ....................................................................................................... 61 Preliminary Field Research .............................................................................. 61 6 Pilot Study ........................................................................................................ 62 Participant Observations .................................................................................. 63 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 64 Limitations ............................................................................................................... 65 Pictorial Essay of Research Setting ........................................................................ 65 FINDINGS ..................................................................................................................... 80 Test Track® ............................................................................................................ 80 Research Question One ................................................................................... 80 Research Question Two ................................................................................... 90 Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™ ............................................................. 99 Research Question One ................................................................................... 99 Research Question Two ................................................................................. 107 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 114 DISCUSSION .............................................................................................................. 116 Interactive Experiences at Test Track ................................................................... 118 Visual Storytelling at Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ............................. 122 Noted Strengths and Weaknesses of the TT and HPFJ Queues .......................... 125 Creating a Positive Waiting Experience ......................................................... 127 Recommendations for Theme Park Queue Line Design ....................................... 132 Recommendations for Future Research ............................................................... 135 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 136 APPENDIX A INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD PERMISSION ............................................... 138 B INFORMED CONSENT FORM ............................................................................. 140 C OBSERVATION FORMS ...................................................................................... 142 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 148 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 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