中文/En
- 中文
- English

Call to Action

Home page

Innovative Practices in Child-Friendly Theme Parks

Source:

Author:

Release time:

2024-08-15

Click to view details

Recommended Recent Key Events in the Tourism Industry

(Click the image above for details)

▲

Author | Yang Yuanyuan

Editor-in-chief | Yang Ming

Editor | Jing Xiangyuan

Modern children are increasingly participating in family travel activities. Big data reports show that in the domestic tourism market in 2023, family trips with children accounted for 42% of the tourist population, a 10.5% increase compared to 2019. More and more families are inclined to use travel as a way to spend their holidays with their children, especially during the summer holidays. The popularity of museums and study tours, with tickets often hard to come by, is a common phenomenon. This reflects not only the importance modern parents place on their children's social education but also the increasingly important role children play in family travel decisions.

Children's Increasing Participation in Tourism Activities

In the theme park sector, due to its inherent family-friendly nature, it has always been at the forefront of family travel rankings. After more than 20 years of development, China Dinosaur Park has established two major customer groups: families with children and young adults, with families with children accounting for over 60% of the customer base.

This article will discuss how to embody child-friendliness in theme parks from the following aspects.

Firstly, in the selection of experience projects, we strive to balance age group distribution, meet the needs of young children, and improve children's participation. In the early years, domestic theme parks launched amusement projects with little consideration for the needs of children, mostly focusing on large-scale amusement equipment that prioritized thrills. Around 2010, China Dinosaur Park re-examined the park's experience projects and facilities, conducting an overall planning revision to guide future development. New concepts were introduced into the planning, including the establishment of a dedicated children's theme area, while also incorporating suitable family-friendly projects in other areas to achieve a reasonable balance in the age distribution of project participants.

The "Dream Manor" children's theme area draws inspiration from the three original animated works of the Dinosaur Park Tourism Group: "Dinosaur Baby Dragon God Warrior," "Mido Dragon," and "Xiaolong Dessert Workshop." It innovatively integrates cartoon IP images into the offline physical park, bringing some scenes from the cartoons into the theme park. After the area was completed, it added more than a dozen projects suitable for families with children, greatly enriching children's play options. The play rate for children over 90 centimeters tall reaches over 80%, and almost all children over 1.2 meters tall can participate. The exterior of the buildings and the theme environment adopt elements of cream cakes and candies, which are deeply loved by children, as well as a cartoon steampunk style with a touch of adventure.

China Dinosaur Park Dream Manor opened in 2014

“Dinosaur Baby Dragon God Warrior”, “Xiaolong Dessert Workshop”, “Mido Dragon”

On the other hand, older parks can only regain vitality through continuous improvement and updates. Upgrades and iterations must be made from the perspective of tourists, grasping the characteristics of the main customer group and meeting the needs of families with children. In the survey feedback, tourists expressed a desire to experience more Jurassic dinosaur world scenes in China Dinosaur Park, so the Dinosaur Park Tourism Group began developing an immersive Jurassic real-scene experience base, restoring the dinosaurs and plants and animals of the Jurassic period. The Dinosaur Gene Research Center, officially opened in September 2019, covers an area of 23,000 square meters and has a total investment of approximately 200 million yuan. After its opening, the project immediately became the most popular experience project in China Dinosaur Park, with a cumulative participation of 1 million tourists within half a year of its opening. The project mainly uses vehicle exploration as its main experience form, suitable for all ages, with children over 90 centimeters tall able to participate. Professional tour guides provide explanations on board, making the entire project both educational and entertaining.

Dinosaur Gene Research Center opened in September 2019

The Gene Research Center project has extended into a study tour experience project. This is the "one project, multiple uses" approach advocated in the planning and design, utilizing the same project scene to create two or more experience forms, resulting in multiple returns on a single investment. In the early stages of the project design, a pedestrian exploration passage was set up using the existing landscape scenes of the project. Later, the operation incorporated science and education functions, with instructors leading children on rainforest expeditions, passing through several classrooms focusing on the outdoors, insects, and dinosaurs. This allows children to learn about wilderness survival skills, prehistoric insects, dinosaurs, and other related knowledge, training their observation skills, fostering communication and cooperation with peers, and improving their ability to adapt to the environment, respond to crises, and think independently. The project has received positive feedback after its launch.

Rainforest Adventure Expansion Base

In recent years, with the rise of surrounding tours and mini-vacations, local and nearby markets have accounted for the majority of the customer base, and the repeat visitation rate in the local market is relatively high. Therefore, continuous innovation in the park is crucial. In recent years, non-powered amusement parks have become quite popular, and young children are particularly fond of digging in the sand, so the Bao Bao Adventure Camp project was added. Targeting the play characteristics of young children, the indoor children's amusement park, Yisali Ka Cheng, was launched, offering sun protection, temperature control, and enhanced safety. Children's projects all incorporate the company's own Dinosaur Baby IP, and safety is a key consideration in the design. All equipment and facilities are soft-packaged to avoid sharp corners. The air conditioning and ventilation systems in old buildings have been simultaneously renovated to provide a more comfortable experience for children. Lighting design has also undergone repeated testing of illuminance and color temperature to avoid eye damage from indoor lighting.

Bao Bao Adventure Camp

Yisali Ka Cheng

The second major system is the establishment of themed study tour projects. Leveraging resource advantages, science and education activities are made both educational and entertaining, making knowledge vivid and informative. Animal, marine, and dinosaur themes have natural advantages in the theme park industry because children have an innate curiosity to explore life and nature. Research shows that after the age of 2-4, children enter a period of intense interest, showing a craze for certain types of items. Among all items, the top three most popular among children are: vehicles, machines, and dinosaurs. In terms of age group, children aged 3-8 are the most fascinated by dinosaurs. The Dinosaur Park Tourism Group has been engaged in the dinosaur industry for over 20 years, and science and education has become a very important core competitiveness, and it spares no effort in science education.

Within the China Dinosaur Park, science education activities for children are offered in several forms: themed exhibition halls, science classrooms, and research study tours. The first form, themed exhibition halls, is best represented by the China Dinosaur Museum. The museum is the origin of the entire Dinosaur Park resort, marking a significant achievement. The museum showcases over 50 dinosaur fossil exhibits, with the Huaxiaornis, Gigantspinosaurus, and Lufengosaurus huenei as its three most prized exhibits. Although it has been open for over two decades, the logic of its exhibits and display methods remain at a high level. With the advent of modern display methods, renovations and updates to the dinosaur museum are regularly conducted, such as adding interactive multimedia facilities. The height of the facilities, content, and interactive forms are all designed from a child's perspective. This year during the Spring Festival, a CAVE cinema offering an immersive parent-child experience was added, increasing fun and interactivity, and becoming a typical example of technology empowering the tourism industry.

Exterior view of the China Dinosaur Museum

Three prized exhibits of the China Dinosaur Museum

The second form is science classrooms. There are fixed-point science classrooms, such as those within the Dinosaur Museum, utilizing existing exhibition space. Specialized science teachers lead children in learning about life, the ocean, dinosaurs, and other related knowledge. Sometimes, children participate as junior science educators. There are also mobile science classrooms, combining several classroom types through a storyline for a coherent and connected experience. The aforementioned rainforest adventure expansion base based on the dinosaur gene research center is an example of a mobile science classroom.

Fixed-point classroom in the China Dinosaur Museum

The third form is research study tours. This form relies more on on-site operational planning. For example, the Dinosaur Park Tourism Group was among the first to utilize the "Museum Wonderful Night" concept, setting up tents in the largest exhibition hall of the Dinosaur Museum, offering children overnight services in the museum, and regularly organizing one-night or two-night independent camps for children aged 6-15. Children participate independently, fostering independence, teamwork, and self-reliance.

Research study tour in the China Dinosaur Museum

In the field of science education, the Dinosaur Park Tourism Group has received numerous national honors, including the National Science Education Base, the National Advanced Collective for Science Popularization, and the National Youth Science and Technology Education Base.

The third major system is themed performances. The performances are designed to suit children's psychological characteristics, enhancing storytelling, fun, and interactivity, and spreading positive energy. Themed park performances include theatrical performances, live-action performances, street shows, parades, and installation performances. There are no age or physical condition restrictions for watching performances, and they have large capacities and flexible adjustments, making them a powerful tool for park operation. In the arrangement of performances, costume design, language expression, and interactive elements are all carefully considered to suit children's psychological characteristics, avoiding negative effects and spreading positive energy.

Themed performances at China Dinosaur Park

For child participation, China Dinosaur Park offers unique experiences for its young clientele: children can book participation in the float parade on their birthdays, wearing birthday clothes and riding in the first birthday float, leading the parade. This is a very happy experience for children.

Birthday float at China Dinosaur Park

The fourth major system is supporting facilities, fully considering children's physiological characteristics, enhancing safety, convenience, and comfort, and demonstrating child-friendliness.

Regarding children's restrooms, China Dinosaur Park considered the awkwardness of parents of the opposite sex taking children to the restroom alone, and set up a third restroom. Considering the characteristics of children using restrooms, the density of restrooms in the park is high, especially in children's areas. The proportion of children's sinks and toilets is high, considering the number of child visitors. The decoration style is more vibrant, colorful, and cute.

Children's restroom in Dreamland Manor

The design of queue railings, which visitors will come into close contact with, has largely become standardized, mainly using vertical railings with a spacing of less than 11 centimeters to minimize children's climbing. Railing decoration should be simple and easy to avoid safety hazards. To alleviate children's fatigue while queuing, rest seats are provided next to the railings. Shade and rain protection, as well as heating and cooling facilities, are essential. Queue areas are covered and equipped with shade and rain protection. At the entrance and exit of the rainforest adventure base, considering outdoor activities, handwashing and footwashing facilities are provided.

Simple and themed railings

Outdoor rest seats are essential, with a large number of seats, especially in areas with many children. A standard has been established: seats are equipped with parasols, and trash cans are placed nearby. At landscape nodes, themed seats are provided to enhance interest and photo opportunities. Rounded edges are used to avoid sharp corners.

Themed rest seats

The park provides baby rooms, mainly offering indoor space for visitors to breastfeed, change diapers, and rest temporarily. They are generally located near the visitor center or medical room, and near restrooms. Baby rooms near the visitor center or medical room have a minimum area of 20 square meters; those paired with restrooms have an area of 4-10 square meters. The interior decoration style of baby rooms is warm and childlike, matching the park's theme.

Considering the limited stamina of young children, the park provides stroller services, with sufficient space and convenient accessibility in the planning and design. Vehicles are themed and brightly colored.

Themed vehicles

In other aspects, such as setting up interesting signs. Dinosaur science trivia is posted on the back of restroom doors, so you often hear people discussing the trivia on their stall.

Friendly service facilities

In the development of themed food and beverage, a variety of choices are provided to meet the needs of children of different ages and genders, creating a child-friendly environment. The operations department has a professional product and food R&D team, developing a large number of themed products and food based on dinosaur themes and proprietary IPs, providing diverse choices for visitors of different ages. In commercial services, themed dinosaur vending carts, cartoon vending carts, dinosaur-themed sinks in restaurants, dinosaur-themed children's meals, dinosaur-themed beverage cups, etc., all aim to provide children with an educational, fun, and attractive themed environment. For numerous student groups during spring and autumn outings, special dinosaur-themed souvenirs priced at ten or twenty yuan are developed, such as headwear, small toys, and learning supplies, giving children ample choices.

Themed commercial facilities

Themed Food and Beverage

In a themed environment, some activities will be used to solicit children's works, which will be used to decorate the environmental space in the scenic area. The cartoon lantern sets displayed during the Spring Festival at the Dino Water Town in China Dinosaur Park Resort are full of imagination and childlike creativity. They were created by collecting children's drawings and transforming them into physical lanterns, greatly enhancing the emotional connection between children and the scenic area.

Children's Drawing Lanterns

With the development of sightseeing tours to resort tours, most family tours tend to stay around the scenic area for at least one night. The official hotel of Dinosaur Park Culture and Tourism Group is based on the dinosaur theme IP, creating the atmosphere of Mr. D's Private Dinosaur Museum and presenting the prehistoric Jurassic rainforest landscape. The rooms are designed with various themes such as caves, pterosaur nests, archaeological tents, nautical exploration, and primitive tribes. Children's beds in the rooms have various options such as bunk beds, tents, nests, ships, and capsules. In addition, the hotel's public areas have museums, AR interactions, and wall interactions, offering many interesting ways to play. The hotel also regularly launches children's courses or parent-child handicraft activities, allowing children to play all day long in the hotel.

Dinosaur People Club Hotel Scene

Dinosaur People Club Hotel Children's Beds

The themed hotel takes into account the needs of children everywhere, creating a child-friendly space from the details. Daily operations include bathrobes, slippers, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and toiletries for children. Considering safety protection, the furniture in the room mainly uses rounded corners, and sharp corners are treated with anti-collision measures to provide a safe and healthy play environment for children.

Dinosaur Park Culture and Tourism Group has always held firmly to the dinosaur IP, forming a unique and powerful core competitiveness. In 2021, Dinosaur Park Culture and Tourism Group launched a cultural strategic transformation and upgrading, refining the core concept of "closeness to nature, environmental protection, cherishing life, guarding homes, and not letting the dinosaurs' yesterday become the human beings' tomorrow," using this as the group's sustainable development "green vision." This has completed the sublimation of the dinosaur IP from form to spirit. At the same time, Dinosaur Park Culture and Tourism Group has fully entered the safety and emergency education industry, helping to build a complete safety and emergency education system, comprehensively awakening public safety awareness, and effectively improving the national survival ability.

At the end of 2021, Dinosaur Park Culture and Tourism Group established a research and training department specializing in the research and development and market exploration of quality education courses and educational products, practicing the "tourism + education" model. Children are the future of the motherland, and safety education starts with children. Regarding children's safety education, Dinosaur Park Culture and Tourism Group has invested in the construction of a 4,000-square-meter Dinosaur People Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Experience Hall in China Dinosaur Park Resort. The venue uses the popularization of knowledge and skills training in the prevention and avoidance of common natural disasters and public safety incidents as the main line, covering six major themed experience areas: earthquake disasters, meteorological disasters, traffic safety, fire safety, daily safety, and emergency rescue. Through various technological devices and equipment, it vividly simulates various disaster scenarios, creating an immersive disaster experience, systematically interpreting the knowledge and skills of disaster prevention and mitigation, and comprehensively improving the safety awareness and self-rescue and mutual rescue capabilities of trainees. The hall has independently developed 21 emergency safety education courses, relying on the organic combination of popular science, interest, experience, and practicality, integrating education with entertainment and education with fun, bringing a novel safety training experience to visitors of all ages, especially teenagers and children.

While allowing children to "come in" through various methods such as courses, experiences, and training, Dinosaur Park Culture and Tourism Group also actively "sends out" safety education. It has jointly developed a "258" public safety curriculum system for second, fifth, and eighth graders with relevant authorities and experts. In the past two years, it has conducted public safety education training services for 80,000 primary and secondary school students in 89 primary and secondary schools in Changzhou, and established a safety education learning file for each student, achieving the integration of "theoretical teaching + skills training," innovating the Changzhou model of safety education, and giving each child a good "must-take safety lesson in life."

Glimpses of Life, Health, and Emergency Safety Education Courses

There are many more things that Dinosaur Park Culture and Tourism Group is doing and will be doing, using love to light up hope, and letting love make hope eternal!

Author: Yang Yuanyuan, Creative Research Center, Dinosaur Park Culture and Tourism Group Co., Ltd.

▼ Recommended Key Events in the Tourism Industry Recently

(Click the image above for details)

2024 China (Zhengzhou) Tourism, Leisure and Entertainment Industry Expo

(and China Zhengzhou Amusement Facilities and Equipment Expo)

500+ leading cultural and tourism equipment and creative enterprises help you build one-stop,

Upgrade the new scenes and experiences of cultural and entertainment tourism!

(Click the image above for details)

In order to further study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and instructions on tourism work, implement the relevant work arrangements of the National Tourism Development Conference, promote the positive innovation, quality improvement, and efficiency improvement, and deep integration of the tourism, leisure, and entertainment industry, and help the modernization and high-quality development of the tourism, leisure, and entertainment industry, the China Amusement Machine and Amusement Park Association will hold the 2024 China Tourism, Leisure and Entertainment Industry Development Conference in Zhengzhou from October 23-25!

Key words:

CHINA ASSOCIATION OF AMUSEMENT PARKS AND ATTRACTIONS

E-mail:cae@caapa.org

Tel:+86-010-57690332

Address: Room405 Building#5 Gucheng South Street Shijingshan District Beijing China

Official

Account

Expo Official
Account

COOKIES

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize the advertising shown to you and to help you get the best experience on our website. For more information, see our Privacy & Cookie Policy

COOKIES

required

These cookies are necessary for basic functions such as payment. Standard cookies cannot be turned off and do not store any of your information.

analyze

These cookies collect information, such as how many people are using our site or which pages are popular, to help us improve the customer experience. Turning these cookies off will mean we can't collect information to improve your experience.

Feature

These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. They may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, some or all of these services may not function properly.

advertise

These cookies help us understand what you are interested in so that we can show you relevant advertising on other websites. Turning these cookies off will mean we are unable to show you any personalized advertising.

Business License

京公网安备11010702002925号

Power by 300.cn Privacy Policy