The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Expo kicks off this week, and with it celebrates 100 years of IAAPA. IAAPA is the association that links all of the theme parks, amusement parks, zoos, family entertainment centers and even museums together under one umbrella, and links them all together at the annual Expo. If you’ve seen it in a theme park in the last ten years, chances are, it’s been at IAAPA first. This week will see a ton of big reveals, not only from theme parks, but also from ride manufacturers, games, haunted attractions and more. Pretty much if it has something to do with theme parks, it’s going to be at IAAPA.
The Expo will feature over 10 miles of exhibits and new attractions, with over 35,000 vendors present, as it takes up the entire space of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. There’s over 22,000 buyers and so much happening, that it’s often hard to keep up with everything.
So, what does that mean for you? Well, while it all sounds exciting, you’ll likely not see much of it. However, it’s a time when theme parks tend to make big announcements, or reveal new details about the announcements that they’ve already made. We’ll see huge reveals from SeaWorld, and Legoland, Kennywood and a few more. While all attractions are on the amusement industry, you’ll see other parks releasing new details about existing projects (we’re looking at you Universal), and even more new projects announced.
IAAPA will also have awards for new products and outstanding achievements in the field announced throughout the week.
And we’ll be there to cover as much as we can, so you’ll see all the latest and greatest new products, announcements and technologies that are already at theme parks, or will be in the near future.
Stay tuned for more from IAAPA, and be sure to get social with us on Facebook and follow along with us on Twitter @BehindThrills for the latest updates!
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