The IAAPA Expo in Orlando brings the whole themed entertainment industry together. It is the perfect place to present the winners of prestigious awards, such as the Brass Ring Award and the Thea Award. Both are industry awards, with the Brass Ring Awards being awarded by IAAPA and the Thea Awards by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA). Several dark and show rides were rewarded this year with an award.
The Brass Rings Awards for Major Ride/Attraction with a cost over $3 million went to Primordial in Lagoon. The semi-dark ride is a groundbreaking interactive rollercoaster built by Triotech and ART Engineering.
Second place in the category of Family Ride/Attraction was awarded to Alterface‘s Moviemax concept. This portable interactive theatre that can be setup in 3 hours and was called ‘very new and innovative’ by the Brass Ring organization. ETF Ride Systems was awarded for their Dynamic Mover with the second place for Best New Product Concept, Major Ride or Water Park Ride.
For all winners of the Brass Ring Awards, see IAAPA’s website.
Four Thea Awards were awarded to dark rides or dark ride related projects. Disney took home two awards for Outstanding Achievements for a Theme Park Land. Both Zootopia in Shanghai Disneyland and Fantasy Springs in Tokyo DisneySea received an award. The Zootopia-land contains Zootopia: Hot Persuit as its signature attraction and Fantasy Springs contains three major dark rides with Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey, Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure and Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival.
Treasure Hunt: The Ride, the collaboration between Daniels Wood Land and Sally Dark Rides in Monterey, CA, received the TEA Recognition of Merit (a new category for 2025) for an attraction with Limited Budget. Finally, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man at Universal’s Islands of Adventure was honored with the Thea Classic Award, a great recognition for this groundbreaking dark ride that opened in 1999.
For the full list of Thea Awards recepience, see the website of TEA Connect.
