Off-Brand: Evermore

This week's post is a bit different. I'm not going to talk (much) about Disneyland. Or California Adventure. Or even Disney at all. I'm going...off-brand.

You see, there's something in the works up in Utah that could utterly transform theme parks as we know them. They're calling it Evermore (no relation, presumably, to the video game Secret of Evermore), and based on available information, it's not only unlike any theme park currently operating, at least in the U.S....it's unlike any theme park I ever expected to actually exist.

Evermore does not derive its appeal from the presence of popular mainstream media IP. Evermore makes its guests active participants in whatever stories it presents. Evermore is all about exploration and engagement, not passive absorption. Evermore has no rides...just beautiful scenery to walk through, and characters—not from movies or cartoons—to interact with. Seriously, just...watch the promotional video on the website, and skim through the pages. It's fairly mind-blowing that anyone decided to go ahead and do this.

It's like Legends of Frontierland...but an entire park...and all the time...and in a different genre. A genre much more dear to my heart, as it happens. Roleplaying as a citizen of an Old West town was immense fun, but the prospect of roleplaying as a citizen of a fantasy village is orders of magnitude more appealing on principle.

Also, its thematic emphasis will change with the seasons.

And there will be themed gardens.

And did I mention the Legends of Frontierland-like opportunities for character roleplaying?

This feels like something made especially for me. Or would, if it weren't two states away. But if it finds success, the concept will surely spread. Either we'll see more Evermore parks in more places, or other theme park entrepreneurs will take up the challenge, and that will change the entire landscape of the theme park industry.

This, in short, could be a real game-changer for the way theme parks are designed and operated. Obviously this type of experience won't suit everyone, but for those of us who enjoy it...it could very well surpass the more traditional type of parks that focus on rides and celebrity encounters.*

But how, you might be wondering, could such a place really compete with the big boys, especially in places where Disney, Universal, and Six Flags already hold territory? I can think of at least a couple of reasons:

• It's different. Never underestimate the power of novelty. Curiosity alone will be enough to get plenty of people through the gates at least once, and some of them are bound to find the new thing to their liking.
• Escapism is all the rage these days.** The push for “interactivity” in theme parks these days is in response to demand for more immersive adventures. (See also the increasing popularity of escape rooms.) The existing major players are actually at a disadvantage here—they have to square the circle of adding interactivity to what they already have, without violating their primary mission statement of making guests happy to accept whatever they want to flog them. Evermore and its hypothetical eventual imitators can simply provide that sort of environment from the get-go.
• This sort of concept inherently rewards and incentivizes repeat business. While other parks worry about being good enough to get people to come back, Evermore can confidently inform them that coming back is what makes it good.
• It might actually be less expensive. I don't have the facts and figures in front of me, but I'm willing to bet a huge chunk of a typical theme park's operating costs is tied up in the rides—R&D, construction, staffing, and maintenance. Simply by forgoing rides in favor of attractions with fewer moving parts, Evermore probably stands to save huge amounts of money...and can then pass those savings along to its guests.

So I think Evermore, and the Evermore model in general, has a fighting chance. And that can only be a good thing for theme parks in general. Not only will it diversify the landscape overall, but it will put a new source of pressure on existing theme parks to diversify their own offerings, maybe slowing down or even reversing the ever-increasing trend toward more elaborate thrill rides and more fashionable characters—Spacier Mountains and Mickier Mice, if you will.***

Disney? If you're listening, if your spybots are scanning this blog, pay close attention. If someone else beats you to this idea in Southern California, and if bullet #4 doesn't come to pass and it is expensive enough that I have to choose between you and it, then—and I cannot believe I am typing this—I might very well go with the LARP park. And I very much doubt that I am the only one. You, Disney, are the very best at what you do, but what you do is not necessarily the very best, if you follow.

With Evermore, someone might just have come up with something better.

* Because that, let's face it, is what a character meet-and-greet is.

** And who can blame us?

*** I'm sorry. Who am I kidding, no I'm not.