ICON PARK: “ICONIC” IDEA, OR EPIC FAILURE?
Icon Park is nestled in the heart of the infamous International Drive, home to one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, with approximately 59–75 million visitors from all over the world every single year.
It must be rather challenging, as a smaller-scale attraction, to compete with hundreds of 5-star resorts, several huge shopping and outlet malls, waterparks, and, of course, many of the largest and top-visited theme parks ever to exist in our planet’s history. These ultra-popular, ultra-rich brands seem to be constantly expanding and staying one step ahead of technology’s speed-of-light advancements to maintain their spots at the top of the tourism industry.
However, Icon Park managed to land one of the most desirable locations for an entertainment or tourist-targeted business in Orlando. It was one of the most sought-after hospitality real estate locations in our country, and perhaps, the entire world.
The multi-million dollar vacation hotspot of International Drive spreads for miles in every direction around Icon Park. International Drive, nicknamed I Dr. by locals, continues to attract a huge number of diverse visitors from around the world, but there are two major things that each one has in common.
Firstly, every visitor arrives in Orlando with a heavy, wide-open wallet, prepared to spend enormous amounts of money throughout their trip. Secondly, every visitor, whatever the occasion is for their stay, maintains ultra-high expectations for every experience, establishment, and staff member they encounter. At the end of the day, Orlando’s huge number of guests are prepared to spend as much as necessary to ensure the most memorable and enjoyable trip possible.
To start, a team of contractors, engineers, designers, and lawyers needs to be employed by the park to ensure the safety of guests and employees alike. From the accident-ridden parking garage to the swing ride (that no longer exists after throwing a 14-year-old boy to his death because of the park’s lack of regulations), it should have been common sense to create regulations for each attraction, before even opening to the public. These regulations should require every ride to be regularly tested and maintained by experienced technicians. They can provide the proper height/weight restrictions and force the park to inform the public of those restrictions by clearly posting the information around the park and enforcing them by the properly trained ride operators. Emergency procedures should be created and practiced for each ride as well as updated regularly. This would be a good start in an attempt to save the reputation of the park.
Next, in my opinion, Icon Park leaves a lot to be desired. True, there is a giant Ferris Wheel that can be seen from miles away, soaring over Orlando, sparkling in bright, neon lights against an inky black sky, more exquisite than the stars themselves.
Unfortunately, the Giant Wheel seems to be the only thing even somewhat spectacular about Icon Park.
As previously mentioned, visitors should expect to drop ridiculous amounts of money, even if they only plan to stop by for an hour or two. A brief night of mediocre attractions comes at an enormous cost. The ticket prices are nothing short of ridiculous. A single-rider ticket for the Ferris Wheel is a whopping $34…Over $100 for a family of four! To save a pathetic $5 per person, you can pre-purchase your tickets online. Nice try, Icon. Ticket prices need to change. As of now, it’s simply not worth it.
Icon Park needs a new business plan. It needs to attract a wider spectrum of visitors for longer periods.
If Icon Park were to make an attempt at a change of this magnitude, then the goal cannot be to make a quick buck, as it seems to be at the moment. It must be focused on changing public opinion and the motivation for guests to go, stay, and return to the park, again and again.
To start, Icon Park would greatly benefit from more rides and attractions that cater to small children, teenagers, and adults.
Ideas for new attractions include go-karts, bumper boats, nightly karaoke, a 3D movie theater, face painting, temporary hair color, and braiding, a basketball court and playground for the kids to blow off some steam, a spa/hair/nails salon for Mom, a daycare center for the kids, and even a daily pet hotel. A craft studio that allows guests to paint pottery, stencils for custom greeting cards or postcards, beads for jewelry, and plain t-shirts to tie dye and customize with fabric paint. How about a massage parlor for the more mature crowd to relax and unwind after a long, exhausting day at Disney or Universal? Another cool addition could be a photography studio that offers scheduled, pre-planned, formal types of shoots for honeymooners, family trips, and all other special occasions. The photography studio could adversely offer less expensive, relaxed, in-the-moment shoots that have a more fun type of vibe. These shoots can offer could include a variety of optional silly props- such as feather boas, fake, oversized gold chains, western-style hats, etc.
Another idea would be to replace, or simply add, to the limited number of restaurants. As of now, the majority of eateries at Icon Park can be visited from additional locations even international chains. Adding more unique dining experiences that are native to Orlando, or better yet, to Icon Park, would give tourists another reason to visit Icon Park rather than the long list of restaurants that surround it.
Contrary to popular belief, Icon Park only has 5 stores. The opportunity to include world-class shopping can be done by offering vendors only found inside Icon Park. The ideas are endless: from stands with handmade jewelry to swimwear shops, the shopping at Icon Park has potential.
To conclude, Icon Park could save their reputation and regain the trust of Orlando’s visitors by making simple changes and additions to their infrastructure. There is plenty of room for growth to become one of International Drive’s iconic parks for all, and for years to come.
