The idea that theming in amusement parks helps to tell a particular story or narrative has been embraced by Netherlands-based P&P Projects. With 27 years of experience, the group has been designing, engineering and realising complete projects in theme parks and attractions venues around the world – and the company’s order book continues to grow in 2016.

“Design and theming go hand-in-hand,” said Ifat Caspi, marketing manager for P&P Projects. “Operators know they have to provide more and more engaging content for their visitors. Theming is an essential part of the storyline of a ride or attraction, and makes the overall experience stronger.

“Of course, attractions such as the latest roller coasters provide a great thrill, but the theming is crucial to the lasting experience. The queue for the ride itself provides an opportunity for operators to bring visitors into the story and experience.”

Caspi added: “For younger theme park visitors, theming could have great educational value. Theme parks are not just about thrilling guests for a few seconds, they help children to develop their imagination. Theming immerses guests of all ages into new worlds and helps to inspire them.

“In addition, themed areas in parks – such as the Fairy Tale Forest in the Efteling – brings families closer together. Here, they have a shared experience for a long amount of time. The same can be said for dark rides, which this is something that was started by Disney in the 1950s.”

Stefan van der Putten, project manager for the turnkey theming services provider, said: “Over the past 12 months, business has been very good for P&P Projects. We have realised projects all over the world. A great example is the Star Wars Experience at Madame Tussauds in London, UK, which opened in May 2015. This was a design and build co-operation, which saw us create the sceneries in which the guests can re-enact scenes from the iconic movies alongside characters created by Madame Tussauds.

“Another project we realised in the autumn of last year was a jungle-themed monorail for Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands. For this project we designed and realised the revamp of a 1970s Mack Rides Monorail. This Jungle Express takes guests through the park, including light and sound effects, with a brand new voiceover and overall theme.

“The last project of 2015 was a cooperation for a large themed area with miniature animations for a prominent park in Asia. This project was a combination of outdoor show sets and animations.”

Van der Putten added: “We are currently working on a themed area and family dark ride at Motiongate Dubai, which is part of the larger Dubai Parks and Resorts in the UAE, in which we are helping them to realise the Smurf Village. This is a design-and-build project that features various animations and lots of figures and scenic work.

“There is a very close collaboration between P&P and our clients. Before the design process itself, we sit with our clients for a long time and conduct a lot of research. In the end, everything is developed and realised from scratch for the guest experience first, but we also take the operator’s needs into serious consideration. We very much like to work with operators rather than for them. This helps us to create the best experience for guests, of which both the operator and ourselves can be proud of.

“In addition to working hard on the Smurfs project for Motiongate, we are also working on a new turnkey project in Sweden, which will be a Viking-themed dark ride. This will be an authentic ride based on the real history of the Vikings. We are also working on another project in Scandinavia, which is a park shop based around a popular, internationally well-known IP.

“Although this development is on a smaller scale compared to others we have recently completed, we are really excited about this IP and have put a lot of passion into the theming design.”