Theme Park Smells, a quirky ‘top trumps’ style game, has been launched to celebrate the popular aromas used to make rides more immersive.
Creator Liam R. Findlay works as a Theme Park Scent Consultant, helping design smells to make roller coasters more thrilling and Halloween scare mazes more frightening. Liam’s employer AromaPrime has a library of over 400 smells, including the likes of Pirate Ship, Burning Rome, Alien Nest and Egyptian Mummy.
Through his job, Liam noticed the incredible, global popularity of theme park smells. Fans would buy stinks used in Alton Towers’ haunted house ride to diffuse at home and spark nostalgia. There are also candle companies dedicated to recreating the smells of Disneyland’s popcorn carts and even the smell of the water in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Efteling, aware of the demand, sells the smells of its rides in its gift shops! This intense yet niche popularity inspired Liam to immortalise the most well known types of theme park smells in a fun, illustrated card game.
Players might recognise smells inspired by the likes of Universal Studios, Chessington World of Adventures, EPCOT, Knott’s Berry Farm and Halloween Horror Nights, to name a few. The popular pongs range from Orange Groves to Bubble Factory, and Bodily Waste to Pirate Water! Each card includes a fun fact about the smell.
The game was launched on International Themed Smell Day (11th July), when themed attractions and their fans celebrated their favourite immersive smells on social media. The occasion continues throughout July, with the huge Using Smells in Museums online conference coming up on 25th, hosted by Liam, the Olfactory Contractor and the Fragrance Alliance Network.
Liam hopes that as people play Theme Park Smells, recognising certain aromas will bring back memories of special vacations and days out. The game can be ordered here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4445008646/theme-park-smells-illustrated-trumps?ref=share _v4_lx
‘Theme park guests might not realise it, but smells hold incredible power over their memories and emotions. I know how much work goes into themed smells by perfumers, scent consultants, technologists and theme park designers over many months at a time. I wanted to do my bit to shine a spotlight on this unique, often overlooked craft!
‘I spend a lot of time researching the history of this fascinating area, from the invention of the Smellitzer scent cannon to the careful creation of the Soarin’ ocean scent (which involved dipping a sock in the sea)! It was brilliant fun to make the Theme Park Smells game, and I am incredibly proud of how the illustrations came out—no stinking AI used!’
Image: Theme Park Smells
