THEMED ENTERTAINMENT PORTFOLIO
TABLE OF CONTENTS
IMMERSIVE DINING
ATMOSPHERIC DARK RIDE
INTERACTIVE ATTRACTION
INTERACTIVE DARK RIDE ABOUT ME
IMMERSIVE DINING
SUBTERRANE
DESIGNED WITH JJ MILLER
Designed in spring 2022, Subterrane is an intimate and atmospheric dining experience. We were briefed with creating a unique dining space with seating for 20 guests.
Our main precedent was a cafeteria inside Carlsbad Caverns National Park. In an artificial environment, we were able to imagine the booth seating as carved out of the cavern walls. The organic shape of the cavern environment was done through a subtractive volume process in order to preserve the natural look of the stone walls.
We aimed to capture the surreality of placing such a normal thing in a very unique environment. Once this was achieved, linear lighting fixtures were added at consistent heights to replicate the lack of overhead lighting in a cave tour setting.
3D PERSPECTIVAL SECTION
ATMOSPHERIC DARK RIDE
ISLAND
QUEST
DESIGNED
WITH IAN
HOGELAND, JOEL ERICKSON, & ELLIOT STARLIN-HINTZ
Island Quest is a modified version of an attraction designed for a competition in November 2022. Island Quest is atmospheric attraction experience. The focus of the design was on creating striking and lush environments to evoke an emotional response from riders; without relying on a story driven experience. The environments of the attraction are loosely inspired by the National Park of the American Samoa.
figures of exotic wildlife bordering fantasy and reality. Among those encountered are birds, monkeys, reptiles, and even crystalline structures of the caverns that communicate in their own special way.
Guests experience this beautiful island at the end of the day, as their ride vehicles venture towards the volcano as night begins to fall. Island quest features environments of caverns, canyons, rainforests, mountains, and even volcanic areas. These areas are filled with animated
Island Quest is a unique concept because of the experience driven nature of the attraction and its re-rideability. The trackless navigator vehicles, inspired by the VW bus, travel a mixture of routes capable of producing 729 unique ride experiences. Among these experiences are several rooms where vehicles park and view an extended scene of a special environment while witnessing the raw power of nature before their very eyes.
JUNGLE
CANYON VOLCANO SUMMIT MAGMA CHAMBER
MOUNTAIN BASE
LUMO CHAMBER
INTERACTIVE ATTRACTION
AWAATI BATTLE THEMING PACKAGE
DESIGNED & FABRICATED WITH JOEL ERICKSON ET AL
Starting in September 2022, I led the UNL Theme Park Design Group through preliminary design stages for a full theming package for the Awaati Battle splash battle style attraction at the Lost Island Theme Park in Waterloo, Iowa.
This all encompassing proposal included interactive targets, thematic rockwork pieces, and even a nighttime light package. The interactivity solution I engineered had zero moving parts and used a type of proximity sensor to detect water from the riders squirt guns through the target’s weather-proof themed enclosures. I am currently in the process of filing a utility patent for this system. After a site visit to present our designs and demonstrate the target at the park, we began the bidding process.
In January 2023, we bid on the project and were awarded the opportunity to do a theming and interactivity system install which we budgeted at 10,000 usd. This project was completed by myself and Joel Erickson, with limited fabrication help from UNL theme park design group.
The conceptual designs and renders for the entire project were done by myself. In designing the
two programming languages, basic electrical engineering, scenic prop sourcing, and various project management skills. I was able to install the set pieces and targets in late March, and prepared everything for electic and water hookup in May 2023.
This installation was an extremely challenging project to complete. All work was done a 4.5 hour drive away from the site, as well as being completed while taking 16 credit hours. Key project details such as the surface we were buidling on, electrical, and plumbing connections were highly dynamic and changed almost every time we had check-in meetings with the client.
Challenges and setbacks aside, this project was completed for only 35% of the quoted budget. The attraction saw a boost in ridership throughout the 2023 season due to the enhanced theming. I advanced my creative design, project management, and leadership skills throughout this entire project and am very fortunate for the opportunity to have my own designs in a theme park at this stage in my career.
INTERACTIVE DARK RIDE
GUNSLINGER: A WILD WEST ADVENTURE
Gunslinger was first conceptualized in May 2020. It is an interactive shooting dark ride inspired by the countless attractions of its kind I have experienced over the years. The attraction was first designed as an exercise for me to practice designing attractions inside the set dimensions of a show building. Gunslinger features a very lose story to tie the experience all together.
In Gunslinger, riders become the outlaws. After escaping from the town jail through the sheriff’s office, guests set course for the open west in a stolen wagon. After blasting out all the windows in the town of Holster, the band flees to Revolver Ranch to lay low for a bit and end up hiding out inside the Ol’ Musket Mine. After a few errant shots trigger a collapse, riders harrowingly escape out another mineshaft back out into town. The wagon then rolls up to the Shotgun Saloon, where the outlaws bust every bottle in town. Causing a commotion, the band hides from the long arm of the law in the mine’s old dynamite shed. Here one stray bullet can blow not only the roof off the building, but also their cover! After doing just that
the outlaws are once again brought back to the jail, but not after seeing how many points they scored, and looking at their mugshots.
Gunslinger quickly evolved from an afternoon project into something that I find myself modifying and updating time and time again. Ride vehicles are capable of 360 rotation and do so to angle riders towards the show set and the targets. Everything in the attraction was painstakingly designed by me before being modeled, and then converted into a ridable and playable model in 2021. Other additions I have added have included enhancing every target so that each one triggers a practical effect, the addition of more pyrotechnics in the final scene, and even show lighting for the entire attraction.
RIDE BOX PERSPECTIVE
SCENE 03: OL’ MUSKET MINE
SCENE 04: SHOTGUN SALOON
SCENE 05: DYNAMITE SHED
LOAD / UNLOAD
SCENE 01: TOWN OF HOLSTER
SCENE 02: REVOLVER RANCH
ABOUT ME
Designing theme parks and attractions has been my lifelong dream according to every single person I know. In summer 2023 I realized that dream when I interned with Universal Creative as a project show set designer on the Epic Universe project. Work never felt like work, and that’s when I knew I had found my calling.
I am halfway through my senior year of college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where I am studying for a B.S. in Architecture. UNL’s program has a heavy emphasis on 3d modeling, which has helped me excel at representing my creative ideas in a clear manner. In spring of 2024 I will also be testing for my CAPM. I believe that project management skills are beneficial in any role to improve my leadership and discipline on creative design projects.
Upon completing my degree, I will be relocating to Orlando in June 2024 to begin my career in the themed entertainment industry and am currently searching for a creative design / planning role in the area.
I am currently working on a design and masterplan for a theme park entitled CHRONOLOGICA themed to different time periods and the legends they hold. I can’t wait to add it to this portfolio as it is the highest quality work I have ever produced. Thank you for taking the time to look at a sample of my themed entertainment work! Please feel free to view my architectural designs too!