July 7, 2025 • 31 mins
Hallmark is back with its Kansas City “Christmas Experience,” aiming to top last year’s 100,000-guest debut by doubling down on comfort-food tradition—workshops, red-carpet movie premieres, and even themed Marriott suites. Philip and Scott unpack how leaning into safe, repeatable rituals can turn a pop-up into a pilgrimage. Next, Meow Wolf launches Phenomenomaly, a summer-long loop of live dance, puppetry, and guest interaction inside its Las Vegas and Denver exhibitions—proof that adding performers keeps ticket-buyers coming back for a second trip, rather than treating the art as a one-and-done selfie stop. Finally, Chicago’s big museums roll out a multisensory slate—projection-mapped Himalayan “ghosts,” a Monet-Hokusai mash-up, Mars-rover missions, and 21-plus stargazing nights—showing how after-hours programming can drive per-cap growth without requiring permanent capital expenditures. Takeaway: Whether it’s Christmas nostalgia, locally led art, or adult evening events, operators have fresh levers to boost replayability and spend beyond peak season. Listen to weekly BONUS episodes on our Patreon.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
From our studios in Los Angeles and Tampa. Yeah, that's
where we are. This is green Tag to Theme Park
and thirty. I'm Philip. I'm joined as always on my
co host Scott Twinston of Scott Twinson's creative Development. On
Green Tag, we normally break down the latest news from
each week and explain why it matters to business professionals.
But we are recording this early because Scott is in
(00:21):
China this time. Last time I was in China, but
now Scott's in China working on a project that we
can't talk about. But we're going to do a little
Christmas in July for you all and talk about the
Hallmark Christmas Experience returning and Scott's an expert on Christmas
you literally have.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And other engaging gifts that the industry will be providing
us in the future. That was a stretch, but yeah,
it was starting. Yeah, so let's start. Let's start with
let's start with this Hallmark thing. So what's Hallmark doing, Philip, He.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Says, So, this is the second year of this experience.
It's called the Hallmark Christmas Experience. It's I'm going to
rehear from article from Impark magazine in Park also did
a great feature about the development of the first event,
which went out in their last issue, So reading here
about this year's event from in Park, they say, Hallmark
(01:12):
Christmas Experience, the destination for holiday celebration, returns this season
to the home of Hallmark's headquarters in Kansas City. Following
last year's and I'll go run, this year's Hallmark Christmas
Experience will deliver even more joy, wonder and cherished memories
every weekend from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Hallmark announced the Hallmark
Star lineup already, which is below, and the event scheduled
to help plan. To help fans start planning tickets, Fans
(01:36):
at this experience can step into the world of Hallmark
Christmas with activities like created learn workshops with Hallmark artists,
photo opportunities with Hallmark stars, signature dining experiences, and more.
As for what the Hallmark supermovie fans have all been
waiting for countdown to Christmas, enthusiasts can get a sneak
peek behind the curtain and catch their beloved Hallmark actors
in stars on stage productions including holiday spirit inspired games
(02:00):
and competitions, fu'ltipe, panel discussions, and movie screenings, guests can
visit the event website to learn more and choose their adventure,
so then they have the list here of who is
showing up. But this is interesting again. I think we
talked about it a few weeks ago when we talked
about the whole idea of Netflix going vertical, and I
think this is a very similar with Netflix Houses and
(02:21):
their fec thing, and this is similar ish in the vein.
But I just I like it because I am not
a Hallmark Christmas person, but my mom was a Hallmark
Christis person, and I do know that like it's a brand.
The Hallmark Christmas thing is a brand that they have
been able to really create a great fan base around
and then basically extending that into an experience, and especially
(02:44):
because they already have access to all of the people
and the actual actors and the stages and all that,
and to be able to bring fans into an environment
where they get to do the activities they see in
the movie, but then also meet the movie people. I
think that is a great combo. And you know, I
(03:04):
think It's the year two is good. I can I
even liked it they started it in their headquarters because
it's a lot you can control the environment when you
do it in those cities. Plus, the whole idea of
the Hallmark movies is they always have that like element
of mid kind of like I don't know, want to
say mid America, but like small town or that, the
concept of American towns. But Scott is the Christmas expert. Scott,
(03:26):
what do you know, They're.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Loaded with Christmas Americana, which I think is great. So no,
I've always said that, you know, Halloween, Halloween is is
for the adventurer, and Christmas is for the heart. You've
got to touch people on an emotional level. And the
say what you will about Hallmark Christmas movies, the fan
(03:48):
base that they have is incredibly devoted. There is, I
mean so much so that on Roku there is a
channel that is just Hallmark Christmas Movies that you can
watch year round. So there are there are, there is
a very strong fan base for this. And like you
you know, you mentioned the Netflix and the next Netflix
house and that kind of thing, but this is even
(04:10):
I think one step closer. What this kind of reminds
me of is what Disney Hollywood Studios used to do
years and years ago for soap opera weekends, they'd bring
in sets from from the soap operas that they that
were on their networks, and they would bring in the
stars to do cavalcades and parades and autograph signings and
(04:31):
photo ops and all that kind of thing. And then
this is taking that and then adding on top of
it the the the beauty and the joy of Christmas.
You know, some of the visuals that were in the
link that was in the in the magazine article. The
in Park magazine article was they looked a lot like
(04:53):
in Chant. I thought was interesting. Now, I don't know
whether in Chant is still going on anywhere else, but
in Chant is dead here and Florida, so it's maybe
they sold their stuff. I don't know, but it was.
It's one of those situations where you're going into you're
going into the world of these Christmas movies. You're going
(05:14):
into this environment, this experience to meet the real people.
So there's actually something kind of I don't know, meta
about the whole thing, because you're going into a fantasy
world to meet the real people. Now, if it's like
if it's like the soap opera festivals they used to
do at theme parks, it's quite possible that they won't
(05:37):
realize that these aren't the characters that they've been watching.
They you know, they rarely separate the character from the person,
but you know, they get a chance to meet them.
They get a chance to live the movie, you know,
which I think is really wonderful. I agree with you
one hundred percent that doing it at their headquarters provides
them with a ton of control. It also reinforces the
(05:58):
brand and when you've got when you've got a fan
base like this that just will watch Sorry, in my opinion,
basically the same movie over and over again with different people,
set in a slightly different location, and the people have
slightly different vocations but very similar storylines that are heartwarming
(06:21):
and that make people feel good. So I can't be
too judgmental about them, because if they make people feel
good at Christmas, that's awesome. That means that they're hitting
the nail on the head. So I think I think
it's interesting that that. I mean, clearly it did something
right because they're bringing it back for a second year.
The next question is will they be able to expand
it to go to other locations.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Oh that's interesting, I think in what you're saying there
makes me realize like I was thinking. I also looked
at the visuals, and I think what I was thinking
about when I looked at the visuals was how generic
the event looked like that, as in, like I've seen
the Christmas pop up experiences that look very much like that.
(07:04):
But I think what you're kind of in a way,
what you're saying, or at least what I was thinking
about when you're saying, is that like the movies as
a whole are pretty generic. It is literally like they're
just almost cookie cutter plots and they're put in, you know,
with handsome actors in and it's like what you're saying,
Christmas is tradition, Like you don't need necessarily to have
(07:26):
a new thing, you know it effectively it can be
the same giant, you know, ornament thing that you have
in your town and we see other places and you
just be here because that's kind of what it's a
Christmas in America sort of is it's like people putting
up the same putting up decorations in the same place
every year, and people just showing up and making you know,
I always go down to that or that's always where
(07:47):
the gingerbread house is or whatever and and so in
that way, you know, it doesn't need to be custom
fabricated stuff for Hallmark. It could just be regular stuff
because that's authentic to the brand of.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
The that's what they've used in the movies.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
That's what they need the movies exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah, you know, but you're absolutely right. And like for example,
in four with one of my one of my former clients,
which is the Indianapolis Zoo, in their event, they have
a two dimensional lighting display of a peacock that they
have had for years and years and years and years
and years, and I can't tell you how many families
(08:23):
would come up have there. We actually had to move
it to a specific location so that it could have
a queue to get families to come up and take
their picture in front of the peacock, because they've been
doing it ever since Little Tommy was born. And little
Tommy just got married and so now it's little Tommy
and his wife and mom and dad, and then the
next photo will be hit him little Tommy holding his
son or his daughter. So it's that sense of tradition
(08:50):
is essential, you know. Growing up in Chicago, for example,
to me, the Christmas season always meant having lunched the
Walnut Room at Marsha Fields because it was this lovely
restaurant that we would never go to the rest of
the year, but to go in there for Christmas and
have lunch because they had a three story Christmas tree
in the middle of it. It was a giant, very tall
(09:11):
restaurant in the middle of a Marshall Fields department store
on State Street in Chicago. So that was that was
the Christmas tradition. And it was exactly the same every
single time. And if it had changed, we would have
been furious. You know. That's that's the thing that you
know when you say that's it's almost generic, but it's
(09:33):
also safe, you know it is. We don't this this audience,
This audience does not and I'm not even going to
put I was going to put like an age and
a gender and a but this audience, and you know
who you are, you Hallmark Christmas watchers. You this audience
(09:53):
doesn't need zombie Christmas dinosaurs. They want comfort food. They
want the comfort food for the holidays that just simply
makes them feel good. And based on what they're talking
about and what they're offering here, at least from what
I've seen, looks like they understand their audience. They know
(10:14):
that it doesn't have to be big and flashy and
all new and all different. No, it's come in. Get
a chance to live in a Hallmark movie with the
people you've seen in these Hallmark movies, with the decor
you've seen in these Hallmark movies, having special dining experiences,
participating in specific game shows. I'm guessing there's a trivia
(10:35):
somewhere in there. Yeah, and that's amazing. You know.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
I was going to share some statistics that I didn't
mention because it was in the original article from the
first year, but it sounds like they drew over one
hundred thousand people for their first year event, so last
year and from all fifty states and twenty countries attended
for this event. So like you're saying, and then you know,
(11:01):
they partnered with a lot of big folks, including BMP
to make this and the events. Yeah, it sounds like
that they did do a lot of different items like that.
But basically they tried to be able to last year
at least to be able to recreate some things you
could do, so like finding your favorite Christmas card and
you know, getting this ornament signed and doing some of
(11:22):
sort of things that happen in the movies basically, but
then you can do them there. And then they also
did red carpet events there. So they did an outdoor
red carpet event at the at the Town Center celebrating
the premiere of Holiday Touchdown and Chiefs Love Story, and
so they had fans tends were encouraged to show up
in their chief Scear favorite Christmas sweater and later shop
(11:43):
the merchandise tie ins at the Holiday Holiday Market. So
I think we assume that they're going to continue with
these ideas of like you know, bringing some of the
premiere people there and celebrating the new movies to add
to the collection and bringing those stars out, but also
making sure you still have activities that people can do.
And then they also did like themed hotel room tie ins,
(12:06):
which is also fun because they worked there at the
Marriott that's on there and so they have like themed
rooms that you can buy room packages as well.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah, you know, we often talk about there's there are
markets out there that are very dedicated, relatively significantly larger
than we anticipate them being. You know, don't it's clear
that you know, if you've got if in their first
year they had visitation from every one of the fifty states. Yeah,
(12:34):
and from outside the US. You know, Philip, you're more
of an expert on this area than I am when
it comes to pop up events. Who would which pop
up event? Wouldn't give their right arm to be able
to say we had attendees in our first year, we
had this number of attendants, and we had attendees from
all over the world or all over the United States
and the world.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
That's that's huge. Yeah, that's huge. That's yeah, it's crazy.
So yeah, they said one hundred thousand to Crown Center
in Kansas City over four consecutive weekends and the underscoring
Hallmart's close relationship with its customer fan base and paving
the way for future endeavors. Those tens of thousands of
people made their way to the Crown Center on some
(13:14):
of the most festive days of the year to stroll
and shop in the Christmas market, gather around the one
hundred foot led tree, connect with their favorite Hallmark stars
and artists, make new friends, and sang souvenirs. Many travel
significant distances, arriving from all fifty US states and over
twenty countries. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I love the fact that they included make new friends.
They're not trying to make this thing super, super slick.
They wanted to feel homespun. They wanted to feel like
they're building a community and that these people are part
of a community, because again, that's what every single one
(13:49):
of these movies are about. Yeah. Yeah, so building community
around the holidays.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
It's interesting. I'm when you mentioned expansion. I mean, I'm
not sure. Basically, I don't. I don't No one's talked
about the expansion or how that would work, or any
of those those kind of things, because then you may
lose some of you know, it's a give and take,
and they have to have a headquarters to be able
to bring all the stars to and all these elements
work together for this.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So but but wouldn't it be cool for this to
go on tour? Yeah, so that you do? You know,
you finish up in you finish up in Kansas City.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah yeah, well, and so again I know that Christmas
in July. But you know, Scott, you teach classes all
the time, and I think we're looking at some of
the best practices here. Right. It's like leaning in too, nostalgia.
It's about creating traditions in this case is like it
seems like they're what they're doing is using a tradition
they know that their fans already have, which is watching
(14:47):
the home or movies, and they're finding way to tap
into that tradition. But we always talk about Christmas is tradition.
You know, Christmas about tradition, it's about family, it's and
I also like the idea that they have interactive elements
because I think, while I'm sure you can do Christmas
events without interactive elements, I do think that is back
to the value thing we've been talking about. People need
(15:09):
to feel like they have value at the event, and
it's not just showing up and waiting a line to
look at the thing and then leaving. Right, It's about
there needs to be a little bit more to it.
So I like that they have the idea. They have
these little stations, there's learning areas here, there's all sorts
of activities people can do. But again they're all coming
from the already traditions I already have with their families.
(15:32):
But again we've seen this before with ice, Right, I
had all the gingerbread kits and cookie deck grading. I
mean there's so many like American traditions, I think you
could pull from them. But are there any other best
practices you want to mention?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And I think the most important one, I think the
most important one to mention, and I think we've kind
of danced around it, but I think the most important
one to mention is know what your audience wants. Yeah, no,
they they clearly understand who their audience is. And they've
probably done this through market research in order to figure
out what are we going to do for our next
Hallmark Christmas movie? You know what what resonates, what locations resonate,
(16:09):
what occupations resonate, what deckcor did people like, what clothing
did people like when they wore them? And to be
able to take all of that, the fact that you
know Christmas market, the fact that the shopping element is
such an important part of it. It's and and gathering around,
the gathering around the tree. Even the way they phrase it,
you know, gathering around the tree. It's it's not come
(16:31):
and look at the lights, it's gather around the tree
and make new friends. It's it is basically bringing to
life what the films represent. And so if if you
can do that with your brand, for a Christmas event.
You know, there's the takeaway right there. What do your
what do? What do your guests want for Christmas? You know,
(16:54):
Halloween is an opportunity, and spring and sometimes summer is
an opportunity to reach out and grab more market share.
But Christmas is a time to reward your most loyal
guests by giving them a way to celebrate Christmas that
is unique to your location. This sounds like and again
I haven't experienced it, but it sounds like they've done
(17:14):
pretty much that very very well.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
So you know, see, if you can figure out ask
yourself those questions, what would our what would our core
audience like as far as a Christmas celebration and try
to bring that to life. Not what you want to do,
not what you want, not what you want to superimpose
on your brand, build, build your brand loyalty off of
celebrating Christmas. So that would be my most important takeaway.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Okay, all right, So we have a few other stories
we didn't get to talk about in previous weeks but
that I think are related to this in a way.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I think more grifts, more immersive gifts in our Sure,
I'm going to stretch this as long as I can.
If I can make it work, eventually I will.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
So the next story is about how Mao Wolf is
debuting a new immersive performance at Vegas and Denver. Inspired
by the world of immersive theater and dance. Male Wolf
is introducing the spectacle of phenomenally.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Phenomenonally phenomenomenal mam lam, Yeah, phenomenon maale phenomenomally phenomenonmally phenomenomally
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I don't know. Well, if it's not right, somebody it's
not right, somebody from will contact us and yeah. So
it's a new interactive performance layer unfolding on a continuous
loop inside Meowulf'slas Vegas and Denver exhibitions. It runs from
June twenty first through August ninth, so it's already running
by the time that you all are listening to this.
It's an immersive performance that blends life, theater, dance, puppetry,
(18:52):
interactive moments into the fabric of the multiverse. After years
of Captain genre painting festivals filled with interactive characters unforgetable moments,
Mano Wolf is bringing that same energy inside of their exhibitions.
Phenomenona and Minimimony is part of it's part of Mercy Theater,
part art party, and part glow worm migration naturally. So overall,
(19:18):
here's the thing. This really goes back to, like thinking
about what you're actually you guests want, I think in
a way, So I think overall, as a strategy, I
think this is really good. And it's because I always
question this about Vegas. You know, I know that they've
received a THEA and everybody is always oh my goodness
about it. I think the replayability in Vegas is pretty low,
(19:42):
like for me personally and also for everyone I've ever taken.
So I've gone there multiple three or four times with
different groups of people, and nobody wants to go back,
and I kind of definitely don't want to go back,
and for the first time, I'm like, oh, I might
want to go back, right, I mean, this is a
thing where you're like, oh. I always think that that's
(20:03):
the weird line with immersive that I've talked about before,
where ultimately, if it's too immersive, it's not interesting because
the whole reason we have entertainment is because our day
lives are not interesting. And so if it's true immersive
and you're you know, being an immersive office worker, like
(20:23):
that's boring because that's already what I am. So I
don't why would I want to go also be an
office worker now, but like in a alien factory, like
that's that's I mean to me. I think there's there's
a fine line there where there needs to be some
inherent entertainment. I think some aspect of it that in
an immersive theater, because if it's going to be entertainment,
you just be entertaining. It's not like, you know, I
(20:44):
could just stand outside on my own balcony. Why do
I need to do it? You know, an immersive environment
like that. So I like the concept of adding a
little bit more entertainment into where it still fits the
world thematically because it's a glow migration, but it also
is something that people can actually watch and actually kind
(21:05):
of maybe participate in or enjoy in some way. It's
on a loop, that's fine, but it's the same thing.
I went to Ghost kind of Live recently, and it's
the same concept of it, where there is a beginning,
a middle, end, and end right and everything that the
people are doing during the day is culminates at the
hoedown at four point thirty every day, and that's when
(21:25):
you learn who won the challenges and who did this
and who did that, and that adds again that element
of entertainment to the immersive experience, so that you know,
because again, if you're just walking through a town on
a regular Wednesday, that's not really very entertaining. So anyway,
I know Scott probably has a much different take on it,
but that's my take.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
No, it's funny because for now I've not been to
the Denver location, but I have been to Omegamart and
when I went to Omega mart i was there. I've
only been once and I would probably go again simply
because there's some things that I didn't discover. But I
(22:06):
realized that as I was just walking around without actually
participating activating, it gets old really really fast. Yes, but
the moment you start engaging and picking up things and
listening to phone calls and asking questions over the computer
and watching the videos that are tucked away in the
corner that nobody's looking at, and then you realize, oh, okay,
(22:29):
there's more here. But what I felt was here is
they've built this remarkably bizarre multiverse world that is completely uninhabited.
So it was like visiting a ghost town.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
It was like it's like, wait, where, but where are
the inhabitants of this realm? Where where are the people
who live here? The creatures or the entities that live here?
Where where are they? And why are they?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
A great point because even every time, I think, in
the four times I've went, right, only seen actors in
the first room, the actual Omega mart and not in
any of the other sections. And only the first time,
which was when they opened, did the actors even engage me.
But I went with multiple groups the three other times
I went, and no actor ever engaged them. And that
(23:20):
you're right, You're exactly right. That was like the hardest
part because it was literally me being like, hey, you're
missing the whole experience. Come read this thing, or come
do that. Like I was pulling the people to try
and get them into the story because an actor wasn't
doing it. There was nobody there, and they like didn't
want to because they again they were just like you know,
I mean, but to your point, if it had been
like an actor who had in character I think come
(23:42):
up and been like have you heard about the glower
migration that's happening?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
You know precisely, and to be you know, nobody wants
to say, hey, let's go to this art installation and
read stuff. No exactly, No, you know, get the and
from what this sounds like is that they're not just
putting atmospheric actors to help further the story. They're actually
creating using puppets and dance, and they're they're creating a
(24:08):
different language.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
It's part of the reason that that Sleep No More
worked so well for so many years is because the
performance aspect brings the area to life. If you just
walked around the set of Sleep No More, it's boring,
it's just dull and it and and the scenic is
is fine, but it's not the it's not the star
(24:33):
of the show. And with with Miao Wolf. When you
get there, once you once you leave Omega Mart and
find your way back through the cooler or however you
enter the the realm, it is stunning. It's it's beautifully installed,
it's it's visually quite impactful, but it's uninhabited. And that's
(25:00):
the problem I have with it. You know, you say,
it's not that it's not that interesting to just be
an office worker in an alien world, but The reason
it's not interesting is because you're there on a Sunday
when there's no other office workers there. That's true, you
don't have co workers, right, yeah, So if you had,
you know, say, for example, you were going to be
you were going to be cast as the guest. You know,
your your role as the guest is to play an
(25:22):
office worker in this this multi dimensional office. To have
these whacked out office workers working side by side would
be entertaining as hell.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, it would be.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
It would help convey the story.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, yeah, you're right. Yeah, that place is just there's.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
A story there. There's a story there, and you must
and and I understand a lot of their their thought
process in you know, you you get out what you
you get out of it, what you put into it.
I get that. I get that. But I think that
by leaving, by leaving the space empty, you're not because
real real worlds have inabitants, you know, and unless your
(26:03):
goal is to create a real world that is in
the middle of nowhere that you let guests in three
at a time, you know, put inhabitants there, give the world,
Give the world people who live there, people who can
share the stories, or people who want to get out
of there, or people who want to you know, draw
(26:25):
more people, I don't know, give it that human element
so that the world comes to life. And it sounds
like that's what they're doing here. And you know, even
if it's just even if it's just seasonal. It's funny
that you mentioned ghost Town Alive because you know how
much I love that. I just think ghost Town Alive
(26:46):
is so much fun. And you're right, it has a beginning,
of middle and an end, but you don't realize it
until you get through the whole experience.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And you also don't realize it necessarily until you decide
to engage with the characters. Now, I will say the
times that I've been, they work really hard to engage
with getting they do. Yeah, So you have to actively
say no in order to not be part of that experience.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yeah, which I think is again it's just me again.
I think it's way better of that approach than the
Omega Mart where I get it, because they're like, it's
immersive and so they're busy working the you know, they're
they're doing their jobs in that their you know, their
actor job is to be a clerk in this, you know,
(27:30):
mar and a clerk wouldn't ask a customer for help,
like I get that right again, No, I understand.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
The clerk could turn to a guest and say, oh,
you must be the replacement. Can you come over here
for a second please and type this letter for it?
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Right?
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Right?
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah, it's really.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
To you as part of the story. You're now not
just a you're not just an observer.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, I but yeah, I like the ghost Town of
Live where they do bring you're right, I mean every
time you walk through there, it's relatively I mean, I
don't want to say it's aggressive, but it's like.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
They do like make the effort not passive. Yeah, yes,
it's proactive versus reactive.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yeah. Like then they have roles that fit in the
story where they are actively like do you have a paper?
Here's the paper? Like there's a paper boy right that's
giving you a paper and being like have you read
the news? Have you read this? Have you read that?
Like there they have in world ways of on ramping
people into the story in the easy way, and it
might be you know, it's a theme park, yeah, and
they have other things. It's just one part of the
(28:28):
theme park, so you know that that could be part
of it. Their throughput is inherently a different issue there.
But yeah, and then it has the culmination everyone talks
about it, Well, you have to be here for the hoeedown,
you have to be here for the parade, and you
have to be here. We'll find out, you know. So
they're they're leading you to an event already inherently.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Again using this pretty much the same model as Sleep
No More. You know, you were you were herded physically
in Sleep No More. You're heard it psychologically in in
Ghost Town Alive. Yeah. Yeah, So I'm excited. I think
this has This has great, but I'm hoping that it
becomes more commonplace and not just a seasonal pop up.
(29:06):
But to your point, I think it's also a great
way to get people for return visitation.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
There needs to be something. I mean, like I was,
I was thinking about the same thing thing with Epic
and just very very briefly, we're gonna say that for
the Pagron show.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
But I was CUsing, you did Epic and you're ready
to share your thoughts.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yeah, but I just want to really very quickly just
draw the parallel. Right, So, there are new shows at EPIC,
but there are also new shows at Hollywood Studios and
at the Villain's Show in Hollywood Studios. We talked about
this last time, but it's this idea of replayability. You know,
the audience has a role to play in the show.
They're not deserre to watch the show. You're there to
listen to the villain's petitions and to decide which one
(29:51):
you think has been the most unfairly treated. And you
you have a role, and you're given you know, you
have a job, you have a role, you have a
thing to do. You know, you participate in that and
the show does change.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
It does.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
People say it doesn't, but it does. I've seen it.
It does change in depends on what happens. And I
think that is again, is what we're talking about. Does
the guests have a role? Do they have an impact
on the consequences to their actions? And is an easy
way to roll that even into entertainment like a stage show.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yep, absolutely well, Speaking of repeatability, hopefully we'll see you
again next week because we're done for this week. And
also when it comes to repeatability, hopefully you will join
us if you haven't already, for Unhinged, which is our
Patreon show, and in this Unhinged. This coming up, coming
up Unhinged, which is hard to say. We're going to
hear Phillips review on Epic and I'm going to try
(30:41):
to keep him from being too snarky. I don't know,
it's just say it's.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
We got a little spicy on this a little spicy
on this show.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
I see it all get a little spicy on unhinged.
But we'll just say keep a moderate level of spice
for this show. And we will see you all next
week right here on Green Tagged Theme Park in thirty
From our studios in Los Angeles and Tampa. Yeah, that's
where we are. This is green Tag to Theme Park
and thirty. I'm Philip. I'm joined as always on my
co host Scott Twinston of Scott Twinson's creative Development. On
Green Tag, we normally break down the latest news from
each week and explain why it matters to business professionals.
But we are recording this early because Scott is in
(00:21):
China this time. Last time I was in China, but
now Scott's in China working on a project that we
can't talk about. But we're going to do a little
Christmas in July for you all and talk about the
Hallmark Christmas Experience returning and Scott's an expert on Christmas
you literally have.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And other engaging gifts that the industry will be providing
us in the future. That was a stretch, but yeah,
it was starting. Yeah, so let's start. Let's start with
let's start with this Hallmark thing. So what's Hallmark doing, Philip, He.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Says, So, this is the second year of this experience.
It's called the Hallmark Christmas Experience. It's I'm going to
rehear from article from Impark magazine in Park also did
a great feature about the development of the first event,
which went out in their last issue, So reading here
about this year's event from in Park, they say, Hallmark
(01:12):
Christmas Experience, the destination for holiday celebration, returns this season
to the home of Hallmark's headquarters in Kansas City. Following
last year's and I'll go run, this year's Hallmark Christmas
Experience will deliver even more joy, wonder and cherished memories
every weekend from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Hallmark announced the Hallmark
Star lineup already, which is below, and the event scheduled
to help plan. To help fans start planning tickets, Fans
(01:36):
at this experience can step into the world of Hallmark
Christmas with activities like created learn workshops with Hallmark artists,
photo opportunities with Hallmark stars, signature dining experiences, and more.
As for what the Hallmark supermovie fans have all been
waiting for countdown to Christmas, enthusiasts can get a sneak
peek behind the curtain and catch their beloved Hallmark actors
in stars on stage productions including holiday spirit inspired games
(02:00):
and competitions, fu'ltipe, panel discussions, and movie screenings, guests can
visit the event website to learn more and choose their adventure,
so then they have the list here of who is
showing up. But this is interesting again. I think we
talked about it a few weeks ago when we talked
about the whole idea of Netflix going vertical, and I
think this is a very similar with Netflix Houses and
(02:21):
their fec thing, and this is similar ish in the vein.
But I just I like it because I am not
a Hallmark Christmas person, but my mom was a Hallmark
Christis person, and I do know that like it's a brand.
The Hallmark Christmas thing is a brand that they have
been able to really create a great fan base around
and then basically extending that into an experience, and especially
(02:44):
because they already have access to all of the people
and the actual actors and the stages and all that,
and to be able to bring fans into an environment
where they get to do the activities they see in
the movie, but then also meet the movie people. I
think that is a great combo. And you know, I
(03:04):
think It's the year two is good. I can I
even liked it they started it in their headquarters because
it's a lot you can control the environment when you
do it in those cities. Plus, the whole idea of
the Hallmark movies is they always have that like element
of mid kind of like I don't know, want to
say mid America, but like small town or that, the
concept of American towns. But Scott is the Christmas expert. Scott,
(03:26):
what do you know, They're.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Loaded with Christmas Americana, which I think is great. So no,
I've always said that, you know, Halloween, Halloween is is
for the adventurer, and Christmas is for the heart. You've
got to touch people on an emotional level. And the
say what you will about Hallmark Christmas movies, the fan
(03:48):
base that they have is incredibly devoted. There is, I
mean so much so that on Roku there is a
channel that is just Hallmark Christmas Movies that you can
watch year round. So there are there are, there is
a very strong fan base for this. And like you
you know, you mentioned the Netflix and the next Netflix
house and that kind of thing, but this is even
(04:10):
I think one step closer. What this kind of reminds
me of is what Disney Hollywood Studios used to do
years and years ago for soap opera weekends, they'd bring
in sets from from the soap operas that they that
were on their networks, and they would bring in the
stars to do cavalcades and parades and autograph signings and
(04:31):
photo ops and all that kind of thing. And then
this is taking that and then adding on top of
it the the the beauty and the joy of Christmas.
You know, some of the visuals that were in the
link that was in the in the magazine article. The
in Park magazine article was they looked a lot like
(04:53):
in Chant. I thought was interesting. Now, I don't know
whether in Chant is still going on anywhere else, but
in Chant is dead here and Florida, so it's maybe
they sold their stuff. I don't know, but it was.
It's one of those situations where you're going into you're
going into the world of these Christmas movies. You're going
(05:14):
into this environment, this experience to meet the real people.
So there's actually something kind of I don't know, meta
about the whole thing, because you're going into a fantasy
world to meet the real people. Now, if it's like
if it's like the soap opera festivals they used to
do at theme parks, it's quite possible that they won't
(05:37):
realize that these aren't the characters that they've been watching.
They you know, they rarely separate the character from the person,
but you know, they get a chance to meet them.
They get a chance to live the movie, you know,
which I think is really wonderful. I agree with you
one hundred percent that doing it at their headquarters provides
them with a ton of control. It also reinforces the
(05:58):
brand and when you've got when you've got a fan
base like this that just will watch Sorry, in my opinion,
basically the same movie over and over again with different people,
set in a slightly different location, and the people have
slightly different vocations but very similar storylines that are heartwarming
(06:21):
and that make people feel good. So I can't be
too judgmental about them, because if they make people feel
good at Christmas, that's awesome. That means that they're hitting
the nail on the head. So I think I think
it's interesting that that. I mean, clearly it did something
right because they're bringing it back for a second year.
The next question is will they be able to expand
it to go to other locations.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Oh that's interesting, I think in what you're saying there
makes me realize like I was thinking. I also looked
at the visuals, and I think what I was thinking
about when I looked at the visuals was how generic
the event looked like that, as in, like I've seen
the Christmas pop up experiences that look very much like that.
(07:04):
But I think what you're kind of in a way,
what you're saying, or at least what I was thinking
about when you're saying, is that like the movies as
a whole are pretty generic. It is literally like they're
just almost cookie cutter plots and they're put in, you know,
with handsome actors in and it's like what you're saying,
Christmas is tradition, Like you don't need necessarily to have
(07:26):
a new thing, you know it effectively it can be
the same giant, you know, ornament thing that you have
in your town and we see other places and you
just be here because that's kind of what it's a
Christmas in America sort of is it's like people putting
up the same putting up decorations in the same place
every year, and people just showing up and making you know,
I always go down to that or that's always where
(07:47):
the gingerbread house is or whatever and and so in
that way, you know, it doesn't need to be custom
fabricated stuff for Hallmark. It could just be regular stuff
because that's authentic to the brand of.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
The that's what they've used in the movies.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
That's what they need the movies exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah, you know, but you're absolutely right. And like for example,
in four with one of my one of my former clients,
which is the Indianapolis Zoo, in their event, they have
a two dimensional lighting display of a peacock that they
have had for years and years and years and years
and years, and I can't tell you how many families
(08:23):
would come up have there. We actually had to move
it to a specific location so that it could have
a queue to get families to come up and take
their picture in front of the peacock, because they've been
doing it ever since Little Tommy was born. And little
Tommy just got married and so now it's little Tommy
and his wife and mom and dad, and then the
next photo will be hit him little Tommy holding his
son or his daughter. So it's that sense of tradition
(08:50):
is essential, you know. Growing up in Chicago, for example,
to me, the Christmas season always meant having lunched the
Walnut Room at Marsha Fields because it was this lovely
restaurant that we would never go to the rest of
the year, but to go in there for Christmas and
have lunch because they had a three story Christmas tree
in the middle of it. It was a giant, very tall
(09:11):
restaurant in the middle of a Marshall Fields department store
on State Street in Chicago. So that was that was
the Christmas tradition. And it was exactly the same every
single time. And if it had changed, we would have
been furious. You know. That's that's the thing that you
know when you say that's it's almost generic, but it's
(09:33):
also safe, you know it is. We don't this this audience,
This audience does not and I'm not even going to
put I was going to put like an age and
a gender and a but this audience, and you know
who you are, you Hallmark Christmas watchers. You this audience
(09:53):
doesn't need zombie Christmas dinosaurs. They want comfort food. They
want the comfort food for the holidays that just simply
makes them feel good. And based on what they're talking
about and what they're offering here, at least from what
I've seen, looks like they understand their audience. They know
(10:14):
that it doesn't have to be big and flashy and
all new and all different. No, it's come in. Get
a chance to live in a Hallmark movie with the
people you've seen in these Hallmark movies, with the decor
you've seen in these Hallmark movies, having special dining experiences,
participating in specific game shows. I'm guessing there's a trivia
(10:35):
somewhere in there. Yeah, and that's amazing. You know.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
I was going to share some statistics that I didn't
mention because it was in the original article from the
first year, but it sounds like they drew over one
hundred thousand people for their first year event, so last
year and from all fifty states and twenty countries attended
for this event. So like you're saying, and then you know,
(11:01):
they partnered with a lot of big folks, including BMP
to make this and the events. Yeah, it sounds like
that they did do a lot of different items like that.
But basically they tried to be able to last year
at least to be able to recreate some things you
could do, so like finding your favorite Christmas card and
you know, getting this ornament signed and doing some of
(11:22):
sort of things that happen in the movies basically, but
then you can do them there. And then they also
did red carpet events there. So they did an outdoor
red carpet event at the at the Town Center celebrating
the premiere of Holiday Touchdown and Chiefs Love Story, and
so they had fans tends were encouraged to show up
in their chief Scear favorite Christmas sweater and later shop
(11:43):
the merchandise tie ins at the Holiday Holiday Market. So
I think we assume that they're going to continue with
these ideas of like you know, bringing some of the
premiere people there and celebrating the new movies to add
to the collection and bringing those stars out, but also
making sure you still have activities that people can do.
And then they also did like themed hotel room tie ins,
(12:06):
which is also fun because they worked there at the
Marriott that's on there and so they have like themed
rooms that you can buy room packages as well.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah, you know, we often talk about there's there are
markets out there that are very dedicated, relatively significantly larger
than we anticipate them being. You know, don't it's clear
that you know, if you've got if in their first
year they had visitation from every one of the fifty states. Yeah,
(12:34):
and from outside the US. You know, Philip, you're more
of an expert on this area than I am when
it comes to pop up events. Who would which pop
up event? Wouldn't give their right arm to be able
to say we had attendees in our first year, we
had this number of attendants, and we had attendees from
all over the world or all over the United States
and the world.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
That's that's huge. Yeah, that's huge. That's yeah, it's crazy.
So yeah, they said one hundred thousand to Crown Center
in Kansas City over four consecutive weekends and the underscoring
Hallmart's close relationship with its customer fan base and paving
the way for future endeavors. Those tens of thousands of
people made their way to the Crown Center on some
(13:14):
of the most festive days of the year to stroll
and shop in the Christmas market, gather around the one
hundred foot led tree, connect with their favorite Hallmark stars
and artists, make new friends, and sang souvenirs. Many travel
significant distances, arriving from all fifty US states and over
twenty countries. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I love the fact that they included make new friends.
They're not trying to make this thing super, super slick.
They wanted to feel homespun. They wanted to feel like
they're building a community and that these people are part
of a community, because again, that's what every single one
(13:49):
of these movies are about. Yeah. Yeah, so building community
around the holidays.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
It's interesting. I'm when you mentioned expansion. I mean, I'm
not sure. Basically, I don't. I don't No one's talked
about the expansion or how that would work, or any
of those those kind of things, because then you may
lose some of you know, it's a give and take,
and they have to have a headquarters to be able
to bring all the stars to and all these elements
work together for this.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So but but wouldn't it be cool for this to
go on tour? Yeah, so that you do? You know,
you finish up in you finish up in Kansas City.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah yeah, well, and so again I know that Christmas
in July. But you know, Scott, you teach classes all
the time, and I think we're looking at some of
the best practices here. Right. It's like leaning in too, nostalgia.
It's about creating traditions in this case is like it
seems like they're what they're doing is using a tradition
they know that their fans already have, which is watching
(14:47):
the home or movies, and they're finding way to tap
into that tradition. But we always talk about Christmas is tradition.
You know, Christmas about tradition, it's about family, it's and
I also like the idea that they have interactive elements
because I think, while I'm sure you can do Christmas
events without interactive elements, I do think that is back
to the value thing we've been talking about. People need
(15:09):
to feel like they have value at the event, and
it's not just showing up and waiting a line to
look at the thing and then leaving. Right, It's about
there needs to be a little bit more to it.
So I like that they have the idea. They have
these little stations, there's learning areas here, there's all sorts
of activities people can do. But again they're all coming
from the already traditions I already have with their families.
(15:32):
But again we've seen this before with ice, Right, I
had all the gingerbread kits and cookie deck grading. I
mean there's so many like American traditions, I think you
could pull from them. But are there any other best
practices you want to mention?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And I think the most important one, I think the
most important one to mention, and I think we've kind
of danced around it, but I think the most important
one to mention is know what your audience wants. Yeah, no,
they they clearly understand who their audience is. And they've
probably done this through market research in order to figure
out what are we going to do for our next
Hallmark Christmas movie? You know what what resonates, what locations resonate,
(16:09):
what occupations resonate, what deckcor did people like, what clothing
did people like when they wore them? And to be
able to take all of that, the fact that you
know Christmas market, the fact that the shopping element is
such an important part of it. It's and and gathering around,
the gathering around the tree. Even the way they phrase it,
you know, gathering around the tree. It's it's not come
(16:31):
and look at the lights, it's gather around the tree
and make new friends. It's it is basically bringing to
life what the films represent. And so if if you
can do that with your brand, for a Christmas event.
You know, there's the takeaway right there. What do your
what do? What do your guests want for Christmas? You know,
(16:54):
Halloween is an opportunity, and spring and sometimes summer is
an opportunity to reach out and grab more market share.
But Christmas is a time to reward your most loyal
guests by giving them a way to celebrate Christmas that
is unique to your location. This sounds like and again
I haven't experienced it, but it sounds like they've done
(17:14):
pretty much that very very well.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
So you know, see, if you can figure out ask
yourself those questions, what would our what would our core
audience like as far as a Christmas celebration and try
to bring that to life. Not what you want to do,
not what you want, not what you want to superimpose
on your brand, build, build your brand loyalty off of
celebrating Christmas. So that would be my most important takeaway.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Okay, all right, So we have a few other stories
we didn't get to talk about in previous weeks but
that I think are related to this in a way.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I think more grifts, more immersive gifts in our Sure,
I'm going to stretch this as long as I can.
If I can make it work, eventually I will.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
So the next story is about how Mao Wolf is
debuting a new immersive performance at Vegas and Denver. Inspired
by the world of immersive theater and dance. Male Wolf
is introducing the spectacle of phenomenally.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Phenomenonally phenomenomenal mam lam, Yeah, phenomenon maale phenomenomally phenomenonmally phenomenomally
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I don't know. Well, if it's not right, somebody it's
not right, somebody from will contact us and yeah. So
it's a new interactive performance layer unfolding on a continuous
loop inside Meowulf'slas Vegas and Denver exhibitions. It runs from
June twenty first through August ninth, so it's already running
by the time that you all are listening to this.
It's an immersive performance that blends life, theater, dance, puppetry,
(18:52):
interactive moments into the fabric of the multiverse. After years
of Captain genre painting festivals filled with interactive characters unforgetable moments,
Mano Wolf is bringing that same energy inside of their exhibitions.
Phenomenona and Minimimony is part of it's part of Mercy Theater,
part art party, and part glow worm migration naturally. So overall,
(19:18):
here's the thing. This really goes back to, like thinking
about what you're actually you guests want, I think in
a way, So I think overall, as a strategy, I
think this is really good. And it's because I always
question this about Vegas. You know, I know that they've
received a THEA and everybody is always oh my goodness
about it. I think the replayability in Vegas is pretty low,
(19:42):
like for me personally and also for everyone I've ever taken.
So I've gone there multiple three or four times with
different groups of people, and nobody wants to go back,
and I kind of definitely don't want to go back,
and for the first time, I'm like, oh, I might
want to go back, right, I mean, this is a
thing where you're like, oh. I always think that that's
(20:03):
the weird line with immersive that I've talked about before,
where ultimately, if it's too immersive, it's not interesting because
the whole reason we have entertainment is because our day
lives are not interesting. And so if it's true immersive
and you're you know, being an immersive office worker, like
(20:23):
that's boring because that's already what I am. So I
don't why would I want to go also be an
office worker now, but like in a alien factory, like
that's that's I mean to me. I think there's there's
a fine line there where there needs to be some
inherent entertainment. I think some aspect of it that in
an immersive theater, because if it's going to be entertainment,
you just be entertaining. It's not like, you know, I
(20:44):
could just stand outside on my own balcony. Why do
I need to do it? You know, an immersive environment
like that. So I like the concept of adding a
little bit more entertainment into where it still fits the
world thematically because it's a glow migration, but it also
is something that people can actually watch and actually kind
(21:05):
of maybe participate in or enjoy in some way. It's
on a loop, that's fine, but it's the same thing.
I went to Ghost kind of Live recently, and it's
the same concept of it, where there is a beginning,
a middle, end, and end right and everything that the
people are doing during the day is culminates at the
hoedown at four point thirty every day, and that's when
(21:25):
you learn who won the challenges and who did this
and who did that, and that adds again that element
of entertainment to the immersive experience, so that you know,
because again, if you're just walking through a town on
a regular Wednesday, that's not really very entertaining. So anyway,
I know Scott probably has a much different take on it,
but that's my take.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
No, it's funny because for now I've not been to
the Denver location, but I have been to Omegamart and
when I went to Omega mart i was there. I've
only been once and I would probably go again simply
because there's some things that I didn't discover. But I
(22:06):
realized that as I was just walking around without actually
participating activating, it gets old really really fast. Yes, but
the moment you start engaging and picking up things and
listening to phone calls and asking questions over the computer
and watching the videos that are tucked away in the
corner that nobody's looking at, and then you realize, oh, okay,
(22:29):
there's more here. But what I felt was here is
they've built this remarkably bizarre multiverse world that is completely uninhabited.
So it was like visiting a ghost town.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
It was like it's like, wait, where, but where are
the inhabitants of this realm? Where where are the people
who live here? The creatures or the entities that live here?
Where where are they? And why are they?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
A great point because even every time, I think, in
the four times I've went, right, only seen actors in
the first room, the actual Omega mart and not in
any of the other sections. And only the first time,
which was when they opened, did the actors even engage me.
But I went with multiple groups the three other times
I went, and no actor ever engaged them. And that
(23:20):
you're right, You're exactly right. That was like the hardest
part because it was literally me being like, hey, you're
missing the whole experience. Come read this thing, or come
do that. Like I was pulling the people to try
and get them into the story because an actor wasn't
doing it. There was nobody there, and they like didn't
want to because they again they were just like you know,
I mean, but to your point, if it had been
like an actor who had in character I think come
(23:42):
up and been like have you heard about the glower
migration that's happening?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
You know precisely, and to be you know, nobody wants
to say, hey, let's go to this art installation and
read stuff. No exactly, No, you know, get the and
from what this sounds like is that they're not just
putting atmospheric actors to help further the story. They're actually
creating using puppets and dance, and they're they're creating a
(24:08):
different language.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
It's part of the reason that that Sleep No More
worked so well for so many years is because the
performance aspect brings the area to life. If you just
walked around the set of Sleep No More, it's boring,
it's just dull and it and and the scenic is
is fine, but it's not the it's not the star
(24:33):
of the show. And with with Miao Wolf. When you
get there, once you once you leave Omega Mart and
find your way back through the cooler or however you
enter the the realm, it is stunning. It's it's beautifully installed,
it's it's visually quite impactful, but it's uninhabited. And that's
(25:00):
the problem I have with it. You know, you say,
it's not that it's not that interesting to just be
an office worker in an alien world, but The reason
it's not interesting is because you're there on a Sunday
when there's no other office workers there. That's true, you
don't have co workers, right, yeah, So if you had,
you know, say, for example, you were going to be
you were going to be cast as the guest. You know,
your your role as the guest is to play an
(25:22):
office worker in this this multi dimensional office. To have
these whacked out office workers working side by side would
be entertaining as hell.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, it would be.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
It would help convey the story.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, yeah, you're right. Yeah, that place is just there's.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
A story there. There's a story there, and you must
and and I understand a lot of their their thought
process in you know, you you get out what you
you get out of it, what you put into it.
I get that. I get that. But I think that
by leaving, by leaving the space empty, you're not because
real real worlds have inabitants, you know, and unless your
(26:03):
goal is to create a real world that is in
the middle of nowhere that you let guests in three
at a time, you know, put inhabitants there, give the world,
Give the world people who live there, people who can
share the stories, or people who want to get out
of there, or people who want to you know, draw
(26:25):
more people, I don't know, give it that human element
so that the world comes to life. And it sounds
like that's what they're doing here. And you know, even
if it's just even if it's just seasonal. It's funny
that you mentioned ghost Town Alive because you know how
much I love that. I just think ghost Town Alive
(26:46):
is so much fun. And you're right, it has a beginning,
of middle and an end, but you don't realize it
until you get through the whole experience.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And you also don't realize it necessarily until you decide
to engage with the characters. Now, I will say the
times that I've been, they work really hard to engage
with getting they do. Yeah, So you have to actively
say no in order to not be part of that experience.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yeah, which I think is again it's just me again.
I think it's way better of that approach than the
Omega Mart where I get it, because they're like, it's
immersive and so they're busy working the you know, they're
they're doing their jobs in that their you know, their
actor job is to be a clerk in this, you know,
(27:30):
mar and a clerk wouldn't ask a customer for help,
like I get that right again, No, I understand.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
The clerk could turn to a guest and say, oh,
you must be the replacement. Can you come over here
for a second please and type this letter for it?
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Right?
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Right?
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah, it's really.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
To you as part of the story. You're now not
just a you're not just an observer.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, I but yeah, I like the ghost Town of
Live where they do bring you're right, I mean every
time you walk through there, it's relatively I mean, I
don't want to say it's aggressive, but it's like.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
They do like make the effort not passive. Yeah, yes,
it's proactive versus reactive.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yeah. Like then they have roles that fit in the
story where they are actively like do you have a paper?
Here's the paper? Like there's a paper boy right that's
giving you a paper and being like have you read
the news? Have you read this? Have you read that?
Like there they have in world ways of on ramping
people into the story in the easy way, and it
might be you know, it's a theme park, yeah, and
they have other things. It's just one part of the
(28:28):
theme park, so you know that that could be part
of it. Their throughput is inherently a different issue there.
But yeah, and then it has the culmination everyone talks
about it, Well, you have to be here for the hoeedown,
you have to be here for the parade, and you
have to be here. We'll find out, you know. So
they're they're leading you to an event already inherently.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Again using this pretty much the same model as Sleep
No More. You know, you were you were herded physically
in Sleep No More. You're heard it psychologically in in
Ghost Town Alive. Yeah. Yeah, So I'm excited. I think
this has This has great, but I'm hoping that it
becomes more commonplace and not just a seasonal pop up.
(29:06):
But to your point, I think it's also a great
way to get people for return visitation.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
There needs to be something. I mean, like I was,
I was thinking about the same thing thing with Epic
and just very very briefly, we're gonna say that for
the Pagron show.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
But I was CUsing, you did Epic and you're ready
to share your thoughts.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yeah, but I just want to really very quickly just
draw the parallel. Right, So, there are new shows at EPIC,
but there are also new shows at Hollywood Studios and
at the Villain's Show in Hollywood Studios. We talked about
this last time, but it's this idea of replayability. You know,
the audience has a role to play in the show.
They're not deserre to watch the show. You're there to
listen to the villain's petitions and to decide which one
(29:51):
you think has been the most unfairly treated. And you
you have a role, and you're given you know, you
have a job, you have a role, you have a
thing to do. You know, you participate in that and
the show does change.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
It does.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
People say it doesn't, but it does. I've seen it.
It does change in depends on what happens. And I
think that is again, is what we're talking about. Does
the guests have a role? Do they have an impact
on the consequences to their actions? And is an easy
way to roll that even into entertainment like a stage show.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yep, absolutely well, Speaking of repeatability, hopefully we'll see you
again next week because we're done for this week. And
also when it comes to repeatability, hopefully you will join
us if you haven't already, for Unhinged, which is our
Patreon show, and in this Unhinged. This coming up, coming
up Unhinged, which is hard to say. We're going to
hear Phillips review on Epic and I'm going to try
(30:41):
to keep him from being too snarky. I don't know,
it's just say it's.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
We got a little spicy on this a little spicy
on this show.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
I see it all get a little spicy on unhinged.
But we'll just say keep a moderate level of spice
for this show. And we will see you all next
week right here on Green Tagged Theme Park in thirty
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