Katmandu Park | Punta Cana Brings a First-of-its-Kind Theme Park Experience to the Caribbean
Client: Katmandu Park | Punta Cana
Services: Mater Planning, theme park design, attraction design, character design, media production, interactive experiences, sound production, projection mapping, art direction, creative guardian, installation supervision, project management, ride programming
Location: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Katmandu Park | Punta Cana features fun, mega-park-level attractions, cutting-edge interactive experiences, kid-friendly activities, and detailed environmental storytelling that immerse adults and kids in the singular story of Katmandu.
Falcon’s Creative Group was responsible for creating the vision for this next-generation theme park, and they had a great partner in Katmandu Group, who opened the first Katmandu Park in 2007 on the beautiful Spanish island of Mallorca. With an established IP, the groundwork for the story was in place, but the task of expanding upon that IP and unlocking its full potential rested with the leaders at Falcon’s, who are no strangers to IP expansion.
As the team kicked off the master planning phase, another group generated ideas for character development. A central focus was beefing up backstories for existing characters who represent the heart and soul of the Katmandu™ IP. In addition, new characters were born that enhanced the overall lore and gave the Falcon’s team extra clay to mold a more layered story.
Part of the fun of launching a new theme park is figuring out how your characters will inhabit the space, but first, you have to determine what that space looks like. Enter Falcon’s scenic and set designers. They studied all the things that worked well for Katmandu Park | Mallorca and built upon them by conducting extensive research of Nepalese culture. Why Nepalese? Because Katmandu is partially set in a fictional Himalayan Village in Nepal. The rest of Katmandu is set in The Hidden Realms™ – mysterious, alternate worlds that chosen characters can explore. The Hidden Realms play a starring role in the attraction media, which was conceived and executed by Falcon’s.
A high priority for Falcon’s was designing an immersive environment that transports guests to the Himalayas. The setting had to feel genuine yet somehow fantastical. Every detail mattered – every door, every floor, every handle, every window, every piece of material that guests see would be heavily weighed against that fundamental concept.
From the get-go, designers knew there would be some form of an upside house because it is the centerpiece of Katmandu Park | Mallorca. The master planners for Punta Cana’s park determined there was no better way to pay homage than to create an upside-down house that serves as a gateway into the mystical Katmandu Village. When visitors cross under this intriguing landmark, they leave the real world behind.
It wasn’t just physical characteristics that carried over from the original Katmandu Park. The authentic steampunk style that’s woven into the motif of the first park is a key ingredient in Punta Cana. While it’s brilliantly captured in some of the attraction content, it is most apparent in the garb worn by the park’s entertainers and greeters.
All elements within the park’s borders capture the essence of the Himalayas, but the most obvious example is Expedition Golf™. Players can choose one of two 18-hole courses or go crazy and try them both for a combined 36-hole challenge. One path leads them through an icy cave while the other takes them over mountaintops reminiscent of...you guessed it, the Himalayas. Expedition Golf is one of nine attractions at the 4.6-acre park.
On the exhilarating 4D dark ride, Legend of the Desirata™, guests learn the origin story of Katmandu and discover why there’s an upside-down house. Traveling high into the Himalayas, riders come face-to-face with heroes from the Katmandu franchise. The vehicle’s movement is choreographed to the onscreen action, so when a character falls into a deep crevice, it feels like riders are falling too. Audio, wind and lighting effects, and a themed set design weave further intricacies into the experience.
Voyage of the Fathom Wanderer™ marks the debut of the Falcon’s Attraction's -patented Suspended Theater™ attraction system. Guests embark on a daring rescue mission to save an underwater society from a terrifying creature. Vivid 3D media is projected onto a giant, compound curved screen that’s hidden from guests’ views until it’s revealed at just the right moment to maximize surprise. The transition to the larger screen coincides with a physical rise of the seats to complement the wow factor.
In EtherQuest™, guests are introduced to Katmandu Village’s oldest storyteller. As she preps the “tour group” for their expedition through Jadu: The Hall of Magic, power-hungry villains interrupt the party. Within the various rooms of this unique interactive walkthrough attraction, guests must use numerous custom devices to ward off enemies. Carefully crafted transitions enhance EtherQuest’s unpredictable nature. To generate a visual extension of virtual worlds without the need for 3D glasses, Falcon’s developed a unique 3D positional tracking system using a real-time game engine.
In Challenge of the Mad Mage™, guests take their seats inside the first-ever ON!X™ Theater to battle an out-of-control maniac. The story bursts to 3D life as players aim to score the most points. At two separate moments, participants use their blasters to choose the next destination. This Falcon’s Attractions patented 4D interactive theater blends a robust system of intuitively designed player controls with special effects-laden, four-degrees-of-freedom motion seats and innovative tracking technology.
The rest of the attraction mix consists of High Point Adventure™, an outdoor ropes course for those who can look down from great heights; The Quadagon™, an indoor obstacle course; Maiya and Kumar’s Secret Ice Cave™, a soft-play area for little ones; and the Wheel of Infinite Wonder™, a custom-made carousel that features creatures from The Hidden Realms of Katmandu.
Falcon’s Creative Group also integrated BeyondME™, a software product developed by Falcon’s Beyond Brands, into the attractions. For example, when a guest scores a top three spot on the leaderboard of Challenge of the Mad Mage, their custom BeyondME avatar will appear. In EtherQuest, they can see their avatar on the final group score screen.
The award-winning Katmandu Park | Punta Cana serves as a shining example of many of the services that Falcon’s Creative Group offers – master planning, attraction design, theme park design, character development, media production, interactive experiences, game production, software development, sound production, project management, creative guardianship, art direction, ride programming, and installation supervision. By successfully navigating the winding roads of planning, designing, and building a theme park, the many people who contributed to this massive effort took away lasting memories. One might say the biggest takeaway, though, was capturing the essence of why this company exists to begin with: to transform everyday reality every day. Or in this case, you could also say, to turn reality upside-down.
