ORLANDO, Fla. — The pandemic put the tourism industry in a holding pattern, but some attractions pushed through and planned their debuts despite the uncertainty. Fresh new offerings — including a mind-bender on International Drive and a simulated intergalactic experience — are beginning to blossom in Central Florida.
Worldwide conditions played ever-changing roles in their creations, from supply-chain issues to the fluid public mindset.
“We opened to that unsure crowd that wanted to do … something,” said Marc Gregory Tipton, sales and marketing manager of Museum of Illusions Orlando, which came to Icon Park in January 2021.
But before welcoming visitors, parts of the attraction had to be assembled. The museum features artistic brain teasers, using angles and mirrors to create visual trickery and photo opportunities. But the company, created in Croatia in 2015, was unable to send a setup team to Florida because of travel restrictions.
Before opening “we had no clue how to work the illusions. So, we were on WhatsApp with Europe, because they couldn’t get over here,” Tipton said.
Since opening, it has applied common pandemic guidelines, including date-specific reservations, capacity limits and face-covering requirements. Policies morphed along with the industry as pandemic variants ebbed and flowed.
It also faced the challenge of being a new type of attraction in Orlando, one that many potential customers had not experienced.
“But there’s a lot of curiosity instantly,” which leads to ticket purchases, Tipton said.
The attraction started an event where dog owners brought their pets for photo sessions last spring.
“It sold out instantly,” Tipton said. “It was playing to the dog lovers, but also to getting the crowd that we potentially probably wouldn’t get.”
Merlin Entertainments Group, a global company that operates Legoland Florida in Winter Haven as well as Madame Tussauds and Sea Life Aquarium in Orlando, maintained its planned path for adding Peppa Pig Theme Park. The attraction, designed for preschoolers, was announced to the public Feb. 25, 2021. Its grand opening is next week, 364 days later.
“Opening a brand-new theme park on, hopefully, what is the back end of a pandemic has had its fair share of challenges. … The majority of those have been primarily in the area of shipping,” said Rex Jackson, managing director for Legoland Resorts, North America.
“Every challenge that we face, we’re able to identify a contingency that was able to mitigate the impact of that,” he said.
The pandemic didn’t influence the finished Peppa Pig product, Jackson said, but there were schedule changes with European ride manufacturers and installations.
“It was a little bit of a jigsaw puzzle, trying to get everything to match up just right,” he said. “And certainly, the puzzle pieces changed on us numerous times.”
The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic put most projects around the attractions world on hold, said Dennis Speigel, CEO of International Theme Park Services.
“It gave them additional planning time,” he said. Preparations for the future continued “just not as quickly as a normal process would.”
The shutdowns, unknowns and travel restrictions of 2020 hurt financially, but operators eventually made moves. Universal’s Islands of Adventure opened Jurassic World VelociCoaster in summer of 2021. Construction restarted on Epic Universe, the theme park project of Universal Orlando Resort near International Drive, while Universal Studios Beijing debuted in September. Orlando-based SeaWorld Parks is opening Ice Breaker roller coaster here and thrill rides in other parks. Legoland Florida introduced a pirate-themed hotel and a new ski show mid-pandemic.
At Walt Disney World, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure opened at Epcot, where Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind also is scheduled to launch this summer. On March 1, the resort is unveiling Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, an immersive two-night experience that has been in the planning stage for years. It has a direct connection with Galaxy’s Edge, the land that opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2019.
“We saw the optimism come back, we saw the people starting to come back. That pent-up demand, we saw spinning off the charts like we’ve never seen before,” Seigel said.
Back at the Museum of Illusions, Tipton sees that. He said more than 200,000 visitors have been in the attraction since opening, despite capacity limits. After schools returned to in-person sessions, it added more educational aspects, an appeal for group outings. It’s also working the date-night, conventions and birthday crowds.
“We were relying on U.K., Brazil … coming in at this point. They’re here, but they’re not coming in the waves that we’re used to,” he said. “It’s becoming more and more popular as we get our events message out there, too.”
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