Out of the Loop: New theme park to feature ‘The Hunger Games’
By Andy Guinigundo
Atlanta, Georgia – It was announced earlier this week that a new theme park would be opening just outside of Atlanta, Ga. Avatron Park will exclusively feature the Lionsgate movie property “The Hunger Games” with the possibility of others like “Divergent”, the “Twilight” series, and dance movie “Step Up”.
Park developers have stated this park will be unlike any other with its emphasis on the marriage between technology and entertainment. Vice Chairman James Ram stated, “We are pushing the thresholds of location-based entertainment storytelling like never before, thanks, in part, to our unique combination of experienced creative leadership and technology integration expertise. We look forward to sharing this game changing experience with future guests.”
Without providing a lot of details, it appears their aim is to provide a very individualized interactive experience that will be multimedia integrating Hollywood-styled storytelling and technology, perhaps similar to that of computer gaming. Park officials have stated they want to raise the bar on the current standard of immersive interactivity. This would seem to be aiming high indeed in that the masters of translating movies into theme park attractions includes Disney and Universal. Their latest offerings, such as Harry Potter and Carsland, have set an extremely high standard.
Park president Jo Ram was quoted, “Perhaps what sets Avatron apart is the highly individualized experience we are creating for the end user. Our interactive platforms cannot be replicated to scale inside the home. The goal is to deliver the most technologically advanced and real-time socially engaged, entertainment experience.”
One misconception is that Avatron Park will be the “Hunger Games” Theme Park. Hunger Games is indeed the marquee announced attraction. However, it would be akin to calling Universal Studios Orlando Resort the “Harry Potter Theme Park” which it simply is not. Details will continue to emerge as we approach its current target opening date of 2019.
• Andy Guinigundo is the author of the Out of The Loop column in “Orlando Attractions Magazine”. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife and three daughters. He grew up frequenting theme parks around Ohio and making trips to Orlando with his family. While for most of the year, he’s out of the Orlando loop, he tries to visit Florida at least once a year. You can follow Andy on Twitter at @AttractionsOOTL.
