The Suspended Theater™ Attraction at Katmandu Park | Punta Cana Lifts Audiences to New Heights
Client: Katmandu Park | Punta Cana
Services: Attraction design, media production, sound production, art direction, installation supervision, project management, ride programming, character development
Location: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
When Falcon’s developed the creative concept for a new type of flying theater, they didn’t know what show would be the first to grace its giant compound curve screen; they just knew it had to involve spectacle. Why is that? Because the Suspended Theater attraction system delivers the unique sensation of flight in an entirely new way. Its patented reveal technology provides a moment of true surprise and excitement. After liftoff, riders are sent soaring across an epic adventure. The Voyage of the Fathom Wanderer™ gave the team at Falcon’s the perfect opportunity to showcase what this unique system could do. Put another way, it was time to let her fly.
Before experiencing the Suspended Theater’s memorable features, guests meet Kilgore Goode™, the fearless hero of Katmandu™, and his robot sidekick, Busby™, during an animated pre-show. Kilgore explains that visitors will be touring Azurlan, an underwater realm home to fearsome and friendly creatures. Queen Merala protects Azurlan and its citizens. She has asked Kilgore (and the tour group) to shield a place of unparalleled importance – the Caverns of Life. Before Kilgore can explain the characteristics of the submersible that will serve as their transportation, he’s interrupted by an incoming transmission from the Queen. She informs him that a ferocious Nylobyss has slipped past Azurlan’s defenses and threatens to destroy the Caverns of Life. Now that Kilgore must hurry out, he hands things over to Busby to give everyone a rundown of the submersible, known as the Fathom Wanderer.
With this suddenly challenging mission ahead of them, guests grab their 3D glasses and head into the main theater, where they find a standard seating area with a panoramic screen. It almost looks like a movie theater, but the nondescript atmosphere is intentional; it’s meant to conceal the true genius of this elegant flying theater system.
The content on the screen shows that guests’ seats are being loaded into the Fathom Wanderer. Suddenly, their theater seats smoothly yet quickly rise into the air and tilt into place as a much larger screen is seamlessly revealed. The incredible vista that’s now enveloping riders offers a spectacular canvas, one in which an immersive story is about to unfold.
Just as the seats settle into their new position, high above the floor, the Nylobyss extends its tentacles through a portal, yanking the tour group directly into Azurlan. Guests are now getting their first look at the brilliant underwater realm that Kilgore spoke so highly of just moments before. Unfortunately, the kraken-like creature that’s now in the dead center of the screen is bent on ruining the mood. The battle is on!
Falcon’s wrote and produced the vivid, fast-paced, 3D media that plays out over the next few minutes. Animators utilized the Falcon’s X-Lab and its state-of-the-art Vicon motion capture system to help bring Kilgore, Busby, and Merala to life. Sound effects, dialogue, and an original music score boom through a 13.4 custom speaker array located behind the massive screen.
Taking a seat inside the Suspended Theater is like going on a ride. As the seats rise, a canopy that’s attached to each row rotates forward, directing guests’ vision toward the curved screen. The canopies provide loads of effects, including LED strobe lights, scents, water spritzes, and wind. Additionally, the seats are equipped with butt kicker vibrations that are choreographed to onscreen action.
Falcon’s built a digital double of the ride system and screen to previsualize its movements and media in 3D. They placed scaled characters in the seats to determine the average guest sightline, which allowed them to position the media for optimal guest viewing of the hero action. Throughout this process, Falcon’s was able to view content in virtual reality on the full-scale ride system from the vantage point of any guest’s seated position. This was a powerful tool for reviewing the content before deploying it on site.
Falcon’s Creative Group, was heavily involved in the look for Voyage of the Fathom Wanderer. For example, having already designed the main characters, the concept artists illustrated Kilgore’s dive suit and aquabike, which plays a key role in defeating the sea monster.
Translating the aquabike into 3D was a fun assignment, and it represented the type of task Falcon’s has done time and time again for many animation projects. However, an additional assignment arose related to Kilgore’s impressive aquabike that was a bit more daunting. Plans called for a life-size scenic replica to be suspended from the ceiling in the queue, a space that Falcon’s designers had a blast with, making it look like Kilgore’s hangar. The end result of the work that went into that job speaks for itself.
As guests make their way through the queue, they hear a radio announcer telling them about Azurlan. His crackled messages seem to originate from a vintage phonograph player that sits on a table at the edge of the room. A speaker was placed underneath and inside the player, and a hole was cut on the unseen side, allowing sound to bounce off the wall, giving the illusion that audio is coming from the player itself.
Falcon’s turnkey effort on this stunning attraction at Katmandu Park | Punta Cana is emblematic of the company’s desire to elevate the guest experience at themed entertainment destinations. Based on enthusiastic audience reactions, more epic adventures that take place inside the Suspended Theater are sure to follow.
