In this episode of Experience Imagination, we explore the engineering side of entertainment, diving into the process of designing ride systems for theme parks, industry advancements, and more. We’re joined by a few experts in engineering from our Falcon’s Attractions team who share how unforgettable themed experiences start with brilliant behind-the-scenes problem-solving. Read the blog below for the highlights or listen to the podcast on your favorite streaming platform.
Meet the Engineering Experts
Dave Mauck
President of Falcons Attractions
Lauren Riley
Senior Manager Design and Engineering
Rachel Kimball
Staff mechanical engineer
What do you do every day?
Dave: My responsibility is to the business. It’s the profit and loss, it’s the engineering execution, it’s the project delivery, spares and maintenance support. What that really means is I’m here to make sure everyone has the resources, tools, and everything they need to get the work done. I’m really working for everybody else.
Rachel: I’ll jump in on the engineering side. Depending on where we’re at in the project, we’ll do design work, project engineering work, purchasing help, assembly, process stuff, install issues, and just whatever needs to be done.
Lauren: It depends on what phase of the project we’re in; we may be working on the creative side, matching ride systems to a creative concept at the beginning of the project. We may be in a show programming mode where we’re taking client concepts and bringing them to life in a visual way, working very closely with them to make their visions come to life. Or then we’re in the technical phases where we’re working through the details of the design with our customers, and then into the testing of our rides, and then the show programming on site and handing it over to them, and letting the guests enjoy what we created.
What is your favorite theme park ride?
Rachel: My favorite is Flight of Passage, it’s just so immersive. I really like it, and the way that all of it works together, it feels like a really interactive experience to me.
Lauren: This is probably going to sound strange coming from someone who creates motion profiles, but my favorite ride is Pirates of the Caribbean, which has the least amount of motion profiles. Because of the immersion aspect, all of your senses are taken over in that ride. You really feel like you’re immersed in it, the expansion of different areas, things come in tight and then you expand into these great areas with the battle scene and nothing has been able to take that off my top.
Dave: This is like picking your favorite kid. I’d have to say Jaws. I thought it was just an incredible undertaking from an engineering and experiential perspective, the flame and the data and statistics behind what made the attraction really work. But probably the most incredible thing is that these projects ultimately have a moment in time where it’s all hands on deck. We’re pushing many long hours, and the tougher it is at that moment, the more you bond with the team. Coming out of Jaws are some incredible relationships with leaders in the industry, from Mark Woodbury and Mike Hightower to Chip Largman to Ron Griffin at attraction services, you know the list goes on and on. But it was really an incredible undertaking.
Audrey: I think my favorite ride of all time is Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. Hagrid’s Motorbike at Islands of Adventure is amazing. I still can’t get my sister to go on it for some reason. But I’m like, it doesn’t even go upside down. It’s just, I don’t know, everything about it, I love.
Tell me about one of your favorite memories as an engineer.
Dave: My favorite memory from an engineering perspective was being presented with the Breakthrough Technology Award by Bob Gurr at the Thea Awards. One of my favorite rides is Haunted Mansion and that was one of Bob Gurr’s, and just his legacy and his status are incredibly humbling from an engineering perspective.
Rachel: I don’t have a favorite single memory. All of my favorites are a collection of tiny little memories of working with the team. Sometimes we get to the preview ride and see the behind-the-scenes stuff. But to me, that is still not as fun as being up underneath equipment and passing tools back and forth and checking off on drawings and passing that information back and forth. That’s what I love about it. Those are my favorite memories.
Lauren: The first trackless ride that we put in was in Antarctica at Sea World, and the trackless vehicles at that time were like magic to people. When people would stand in the unload station where these vehicles, like magic, are pulling into stations and moving around each other like a dance, and you would watch people just turn around and just watch the vehicles and be amazed by how they didn’t collide with each other. Even the penguins thought it was cool. The very first time they put the penguins into the exhibit, they were very active in exploring their exhibit. I was doing the show programming at that time, and the ride vehicle would pull up to the glass and all of the penguins gathered on the other side of the glass and crowded around the vehicle. And as it moved across, they all followed it. It was this amazing interaction with the animals, it was a really cool experience for me.
What steps are involved in designing ride vehicles for a theme park attraction?
Lauren: It starts with bridging the gap between the creative concept that our customer has and matching the right technology to it. The ride vehicle needs to look creatively like what they want; the skin, the fiberglass, the colors, everything.
And then having it move in a way that moves the guests to give them the experience that they’re after. We need to decide how many axes of motion are we going to have on it? What speed does it need to go? And what speed does it really need to go to give the experience that the people need? Maybe it’s really about the accelerations that you can put on the gas, not about the actual speed. It’s taking a clients creative terms and translating it into technology and what’s feasible with technology.
