Industry Inversion

This month, THRILL brought the world of roller coasters to the Ville! At this event, passionate members of THRILL presented on a wide range of roller coaster topics. THRILL collaborated on this event with the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, using its new Engineering Student Success & Research Building (ESSRB), and with the University of Louisville Honors Program, which generously provided free food for all presenters and attendees.

This event was THRILL's biggest to date, with over 100 students, from the Speed School and across other majors, attending to learn more about roller coasters. Here is what our presenters shared.

Our presentation covered the basic history of roller coasters, beginning with ice slides in 17th-century Russia and continuing all the way to modern-day roller coasters. Along the way, improvements in construction, like using steel to make for a smoother ride, have helped bring roller coasters to where they are today.

Additionally, we discussed how computer-aided design (CAD) and other modern engineering tools have streamlined the process of designing roller coasters. These technologies have made other improvements, such as new forms of launch systems, easier to design and develop. Our presentation's purpose was to shed light on the eventful history of roller coasters and to explore the major milestones that have changed the roller coaster industry.

During CoasterVille, I hosted a booth about seasonal theme park haunt events such as Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, Six Flags' Fright Fest, and Hersheypark's Dark Nights. These events start in late August or mid-September and run until early November. At the center of these events are several haunted houses and scare zones, each with its own theming. Theming is often based on pop culture horror icons, common fears and phobias, or folklore monsters.

One of my favorite topics to share with CoasterVille attendees was the art of scare acting and the considerations designers and engineers take to keep scare actors safe. Anyone can audition to be a scare actor, and since actors are primarily cast based on height, body type, and experience, the audition process is very simple. I asked three volunteers from each group to tell me their name, age, and height, spin slowly to give a full view of their body type, and then state their favorite scary movie. That is a very common audition structure, even for massively popular events.

Several precautions are taken when constructing haunted houses to keep actors from getting hit by guests who can't control their fear reaction. Actors often perform scares from behind walls or screens, on top of stages, or within fenced-off areas. Actors are also usually taught to perform their jump scare very quickly and remove themselves as soon as they're finished, which can keep them from becoming the victim of a physically violent guest. These safeguards are not always foolproof, though, especially for a roaming actor in a scare zone. More effective solutions for actor safety are still developing within the industry.

Architects are well known for making beautifully meticulous models of their buildings and the spaces around them, often with makeshift materials (in the case of architecture students) like cardboard, paper, Styrofoam, and much more. On the THRILL Theming Team, we take heavy inspiration from this. By looking at the architectural models people have made, we can figure out what materials to use for the landscape and environment around the coaster. We have been making models of trees with clay, and we just began making leaves with Styrofoam. Models make the product (in this case, the coaster) feel cohesive with its environment and offer context and atmosphere.

We are doing this in THRILL by making our environment inspired by a local urban legend, the Pope Lick Monster. The environment will seem normal at first, then grow progressively more unsettling and immersive in the story, starting with the gas station. It may seem normal at first, but soon riders will see missing posters and feel the environment turn eerie. Like in architecture, we are taking heavy inspiration from the real Pope Lick site: the gas station, the creek, the bridge. We are learning from the architecture around Louisville and hope to create a theme around the coaster that does the site and story justice.

This month, THRILL had the honor of hosting guest speaker Dennis Speigel. As the founder and CEO of International Theme Park Services (ITPS), Dennis has spent more than 50 years impacting the attractions industry for the better. His career began at just 13 years old as a ticket taker at Coney Island in Cincinnati, Ohio, and eventually grew into a leadership role in the development and management of theme parks around the world.

In 1983, Speigel founded the consulting firm ITPS. Over his career, he has worked on more than 500 projects in over 55 countries and has contributed to the development and success of numerous attractions, including Kings Island and Kings Dominion. He has also served as chairman of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), one of the leading organizations in the global attractions industry. In recognition of his contributions, Speigel was inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame in 2022.

The best place to get started is simply wherever you can.

During his visit, THRILL members heard about Speigel's extensive industry experience and learned more about how to build a career in the theme park industry. He advised that the best place to get started is simply wherever you can, noting that something as small as taking tickets, like he did, could be the start of a successful career in this industry.

We are incredibly grateful to Dennis Speigel for taking the time to speak with THRILL and share his knowledge with our members. His experiences offered us insight into how everything within a theme park, from the hospitality to the rides themselves, is intertwined and works together to create the experience guests have when they visit. From all the members of THRILL, thank you, Dennis, for being part of our journey as a student organization and for showing our members a real industry leader who continues to shape the entertainment industry today!