Attractions Experts Q&A: Ted King

By Kendall Wolf

Ted King has brought his love of storytelling to the creative development and production of attractions such as “King Kong,” “The Ghostbusters Show,” “The Funtastick World of Hanna Barbera,” “Jurassic Park, The Ride,” and “Caesar’s Magical Empire,” a spectacular themed dining and entertainment attraction at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Ted also produced music, soundtrack, and multimedia content for Paramount Pictures’ “Star Trek the Experience” in Las Vegas; composed and produced songs for the $50 million “EFX” show at the MGM Grand; and conceived, co-wrote, and directed “Mistify,” SeaWorld Orlando’s multi-million-dollar fountain and fireworks spectacular. Most recently, Ted served as Executive Media Producer, supervising music and soundtrack production for the billion-dollar Warner Bros. World Theme Park in Abu Dhabi.

What theme park souvenir might we be surprised to find on your shelf, and what’s its story?

A maquette of Mickey Mouse. A long time ago, when I was still in college, I had a mentor named Bill Justice. I met him while performing at Walt Disney World in Hoop-Dee-Doo, the live stage show. He really liked the show and came to meet the whole cast afterward. He said we could stay in touch, and I did.

He was working at Walt Disney Imagineering (then called WED) and was designing an attraction, Mickey’s Madhouse. It was a concept, and he needed some music. He called me and said, “Do you want to do some music? Do you want to try to write a song?”

So, even though I was still in college, he gave me this opportunity. I wrote a song for his show. It didn’t go anywhere, but just the fact that I was writing a song for Bill Justice, a legendary Disney animator, was pretty thrilling. I played the piano at the music department at my school, sang the song, and sent it off to him on a cassette. The attraction was never built; it was just one of the many creative ideas from the team at WED.

Many years later, we were celebrating his birthday, and he had this maquette that he’d made and said he wanted me to have it. It’s one of my prized possessions.

What theme park have you always wanted to visit but have never been to? 

I would have to say Tokyo DisneySea. It’s been inspirational for many projects we designed, yet I’ve never been.

Was there a theme park or attraction that made you want to be in this industry, and how did it inspire you?

When I was in college, I was in the original cast of Hoop-Dee-Doo, and it’s still running, now in its 50^th year. I was cast with eight other college students from around the country. I’d been to Disneyland when I was a teenager, but when I was in that show for three months, we all got to travel around and see the other shows and attractions, and that’s when I said, “Oh, maybe I’m not going to be a music teacher when I grow up.”

At that point, a light bulb went off, and I thought, this is what I’m meant to do – be in this business. I spent that summer talking to everybody who would listen to me. I would go up to people and ask, what do you do? Everyone from stage managers to lighting directors and even the Vice President of Entertainment. They all talked to me, and I learned so much that year about how theme parks work. So Hoop-Dee-Doo was sort of a watershed summer for me.

What was your favorite ride or attraction as a child, and why?

The Pirates of the Caribbean. It was so real with all the theming and animatronics. Then your boat dropped into the catacombs and, of course, that song. I actually met the guy who wrote that song. He was one of Bill Justice’s best friends – X Atencio.

When I was living in LA in the ’70s, working at Disneyland, Bill had cocktail parties at his house in Burbank every week with all his friends like Herbie Ryman, Marc Davis, and X Atencio. And Bill would invite me to come and play the piano and sing for them. One time I was playing, and they were all clapping for me, and X Atencio said, “I wrote a song for one of our attractions.” I asked him which one, and he said, “Pirates of the Caribbean.” My jaw dropped.

Now I look back at it and think I cannot believe that really happened. It was magical, and Pirates is still one of my favorite rides.

Was there a ride, attraction, or character that frightened you as a child?

I didn’t like going up high. So when I went to carnivals as a kid, I did not go on the Ferris Wheels – that was too scary.

What’s your oddest or coolest job in a theme park?

One of my oddest jobs was when I did the original voice of King Kong in the ’80s for Kongfrontation (Universal Studios Florida). We had to record an ape, and he had to act. For the right effect, we couldn’t just slow down a lion’s roar because it didn’t sound like he was performing, so I basically got in front of a microphone and screamed my head off for an hour and a half, doing different scenes like when he gets shot or touches the high-tension wire against the bridge. In a few scenes, he had to react theatrically, and I had to figure out how to do that like a giant gorilla.

In terms of coolest, I’ve been pretty lucky, having worked on some really fun projects. With Granaroli Design and Entertainment, I was heavily involved in the creative development and production of the Warner Bros. Theme Park in Abu Dhabi, which turned into a five-year project. I was responsible for all the audio and media—every note of music and every soundtrack was under my guidance. I even co-directed a couple of films, including The Green Lantern flying theater film, which was one of the coolest projects I ever worked on in terms of visual media and soundtrack.

I did go to the park in the last two weeks when the teams were doing the final programming and installation. And I was amazed by the finished product. After seeing it on paper—a bunch of ideas on a wall on three-by-five cards—and remembering all the presentations with so much artwork and massive amounts of CAD and computer models, it was incredible to see the actual park. Just to walk around remembering that whole process, and then seeing it and hearing it finished, was one of the highlights of my career.

What ride or attraction do you think everyone needs to experience and why?

A few years ago, I would’ve said The Amazing Adventures of Spider-man (Universal Islands of Adventure) because that was the first ride where they actually had moving 3D (where the 3D image follows you). The technology that went into Spider-Man was really ground-breaking at the time. When we all went on it, we couldn’t believe they pulled it off—you’re moving through a scene, and the 3D image stays with you. At the time, I think it was a real game changer, but that was over 20 years ago.

But now, Avatar Flight of Passage (at Disney’s Animal Kingdom) is an attraction everyone’s got to see – also, the big, huge flying theaters. I remember the first time I rode Soaring over California; it took my breath away.

But in terms of the greatest classic attractions of all time that should be experienced, I have to say The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and it’s a Small World. In my view, those really set the tone for what dark rides would be. Disney really set the groundwork for immersive experiences for us to build on in terms of ride systems, visual effects, and music. And they still hold up–they still are magical to ride.

If you were tasked with creating a new theme park food, what would it be?

Churros dipped in Dippin’ Dots.

You’re a walk-around character for a day; who do you choose?

I actually was a walk-around character for a day. As a part of our experience as college kids at Walt Disney World, we had to be characters. So I’m going to say Pluto because that’s who I was for one day. He’s a lovable guy with big paws, and kids would come up and hug him. I still remember how fun it was.

What types of attractions would you like to see more of and why?

I love the Flying Theater technology – what Intamin and Brogent have done. With these flying theater systems, there are now so many amazing soaring rides. Super 78 did one in Seattle in a smaller venue that I thought worked really well.

If the budget is limitless, the KUKA robotic arm rides, like Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Universal Studios) and Batman: Night Flight (Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi). Using that technology – with the movement, the immersive screens, and the complete loss of where you are – takes you on fantastic adventures.

What have the biggest challenges been for you?

A big challenge is always getting projects built. We try so hard to keep projects on track and moving forward. But I’ve probably worked on 100 theme parks, and maybe five have been built.

When designing a park with all the lands and characters, you put so much effort into planning how the program will work. Yet so many things can change. I’ve been involved in projects where there’s a piece of land and plenty of funding, and all of a sudden, there isn’t any land, so we’re like, that’s done. So, the biggest challenge has always been to see projects get built.

Can you talk about what you are working on these days?

I’m the Senior Producer (and I don’t mean in terms of age but experience), producing a dark ride for Circus Circus in Las Vegas based on SpongeBob SquarePants.

Sally is the dark ride company doing the ride vehicles and gameplay. During the ride, guests interact with carnival games featuring SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs (the owner of the Krusty Krab and SpongeBob’s boss). Guests accumulate points, which are totaled at the end of the ride. We came up with the idea and the creative and worked with Nickelodeon Studios on the script, storyboards, and animation.

I’ve been the overall creative producer shepherding this project for the last year and a half, and it’s been really fun. I’m very familiar with all the design phases – the concept, schematic, and all the artwork and scripts – but I’m passionate about making the shows and producing the media. So when something gets into production like this, that’s when I really get involved and enjoy the work.

You are going to your favorite theme park–which industry people (dead or alive); who are you taking with you?

I’d like to take Bill Justice to Disneyland. I loved him so much – he was like a second father to me, and we never got to do that. I met him at Walt Disney World and lived with him and his family in the ’70s before I found an apartment in LA. We were like family; I was super close with him and his wife. We talked a lot about his work, but we never walked through Disneyland together and had that moment where he would point at things and tell me about them.

When Walt needed somebody to go over to WED and figure out how to make robots move to look like people, he picked Bill. Although known for his work at the studio on many movies like “101 Dalmatians” and “Bambi,” Bill also worked at WED, where he programmed Mr. Lincoln and Pirates of the Caribbean. He was an animator who learned through the technical people how to maneuver early computerized programming devices to make these characters lifelike and believable.

I’d met him when he came to see the Hoop-Dee-Doo show with his family in 1974. He came back three months later, and we went out together and talked about the production. The quote that he told me that I’ve never forgotten from 50 years ago was, “Walt would’ve loved your show.”

Looking back now, I’d love to take him to Disneyland for a day and just walk through the park and hear him talk about it.

Writer Kendall Wolf is a long-time consultant in the themed entertainment industry. She has worked with designers, producers, and fabricators to help developers create unique and successful projects around the world. In 2017, she introduced Merlin Entertainments to a development group in Sichuan province for the first Legoland park in China. Kendall continues to consult for the developer to open more themed resorts in China.