by Marty Martin, freelance writer for Theme Park Magazine
Over the past decade, theme parks have evolved from collections of thrill rides into richly immersive environments rooted in beloved film and television IPs. Guests are no longer just visitors, they are protagonists, stepping into the worlds they’ve seen on screen, loved in theaters, and revisited on streaming platforms. This transformation marks a new era, where faithfulness to narrative, character, and cinematic design is as crucial as ride engineering.
Three prime examples are Avengers Campus, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and Jurassic World–based attractions. At Avengers Campus, guests move through the Marvel Cinematic Universe, interacting with heroes, watching battles unfold in real time, and participating in their own tech-driven missions. During Jurassic World: The Ride, visitors enter Isla Nublar itself, coming face-to-face with lifelike dinosaurs and cinematic set pieces that feel as real and dangerous as their film counterparts.
The Evolution of Immersive Storytelling
Building a film-based attraction goes far beyond decorating a space with familiar logos or characters. It requires translating the visual and narrative language of cinema into a physical environment. This involves shaping the guest experience with the same intentionality that a filmmaker uses to structure scenes to create dramatic impact.
Avengers Campus takes a similar approach, integrating high-energy stunts and spontaneous interactions that unfold like scripted scenes. The environment is dynamic, with characters appearing unexpectedly or engaging in rehearsed “encounters” that feel spontaneous, keeping the guest experience fresh and aligned with the cinematic spirit.
Creating a movie-based land means more than plastering familiar icons on a building. It’s about translating cinematic language into spatial and emotional design. In Avengers Campus, that means watching Spider-Man leap overhead or Doctor Strange open portals mid-plaza. In Jurassic World: The Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, it means starting in a calm, park-like setting before the tone escalates, just like in the films, as power fails, cages open, and a tyrannosaur heads toward the raft. These aren’t just attractions, they’re experiential set pieces.
Character authenticity extends beyond superheroes and villains to dinosaurs, scientists, and storytelling tone. At Avengers Campus, actors embody MCU heroes with uncanny accuracy. Their costumes, dialogue, and mannerisms are precise, with performances that feel pulled from the silver screen.
Stepping into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is less like entering a theme park land and more like crossing into the canon of a beloved cinematic universe. Set on the remote planet of Batuu, Galaxy’s Edge is meticulously designed to feel authentic to the Star Wars timeline while offering guests agency within its story. Unlike traditional lands based on film franchises, there are no ride hosts in name tags or narrators guiding the experience. Every Cast Member is a “resident of Batuu,” and everything from the in-park language (e.g., “Bright Suns” instead of “Good Morning”) to the signage written in Aurebesh enhances the illusion that guests are part of a living Star Wars story.
Jurassic World takes a different approach, placing dinosaurs as the stars. From the lumbering majesty of the Stegosaurus to the terrifying agility of the Velociraptor, every animatronic and screen-based creature must behave as it does in the films. The level of detail immerses guests in this fictional world that feels real. Even the raptor trainers at Universal Orlando’s Raptor Encounter engage guests with scripted banter and carefully timed “wild” interactions that feel like live footage from an InGen outpost.
Guests as Protagonists: The Power of Participation
IP-based lands now position guests not as passive viewers, but as participants in the unfolding story. At Avengers Campus, you might sling webs or respond to a call from Ant-Man. At Galaxy’s Edge, it’s the land itself that tells the story. In Jurassic World, your raft is the story, starting as a tour and rapidly devolving into an escape mission. Interactive moments include animatronic encounters, real-time effects, and even guest reactions to environmental cues, such as alarms blaring as containment fails. These emotional stakes mirror cinematic tension and encourage repeat visits to re-experience or alter the narrative beat.
Like any great movie, these environments are structured around emotional arcs. The awe of seeing a brachiosaurus for the first time. The thrill of a last-second escape from a charging Indominus Rex on Jurassic World Adventure in Universal Studios Beijing. Parks design these moments to evoke emotional highs and not just sensory thrills. Whether it’s a child clutching a custom-built raptor egg or a teen snapping a slow-motion video during the final drop, these memories create an emotional bond to the brand.
Crafting Authentic Worlds: Beyond Set Decoration
Creating these worlds is a multi-million-dollar endeavor. It takes advanced robotics, synchronized water effects, projection-mapping, and immersive sound design. It also takes bold creative risks. If one piece feels off, like a raptor that doesn’t blink realistically, or signage that feels too modern, the illusion breaks. But when all parts align, the result is a guest experience that elevates the IP beyond screen and script.
But immersion goes beyond architecture and costuming; it’s embedded in how guests interact with the environment. Through the Play Disney Parks app, visitors can hack droids, translate alien languages, scan cargo crates, and choose to align with the Resistance or the First Order. These decisions have consequences, subtly affecting character interactions and unfolding missions throughout the land. At Rise of the Resistance, one of the most technologically ambitious attractions ever built, guests are not just riders, they are recruits in a Resistance operation gone wrong, captured by the First Order and thrust into a daring escape sequence that blends physical sets, animatronics, media, and trackless vehicle technology.
What truly sets Galaxy’s Edge apart is its commitment to original storytelling within an established universe. Rather than retelling familiar film plots, it introduces new characters like Vi Moradi and sets its timeline between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. This creative decision allows guests to feel as though they’re living in a chapter of the Star Wars saga still being written. It’s a bold move that prioritizes emotional investment and personal agency, reinforcing the idea that in this galaxy, the guest isn’t just a tourist, they’re a participant in the fate of the Resistance. Galaxy’s Edge doesn’t recreate Star Wars, it expands it.
The Future of Film-Based Entertainment: Living Franchises
As parks continue expanding their cinematic offerings, they’re beginning to build multi-layered universes, not just single rides or themed zones, but entire ecosystems that function like open-world films. Imagine one day choosing your alignment, an InGen scientist, park guest, or animal rights activist, and experiencing different Jurassic narratives based on that role. Or receiving an in-park alert that a dinosaur has escaped, prompting a chain of interactive events throughout the land. These aren’t just attractions, they’re living franchises in real time.
The art of film-based attractions lies in honoring the soul of the story, not just its surface. It’s about translating cinematic emotion into physical architecture, character interactions, and guest agency. When done well, these attractions don’t just entertain, they transport us into a different world.
Whether you’re dodging a dinosaur, flying the Millennium Falcon, or witnessing Iron Man land beside you, today’s guests don’t want to watch their favorite stories, they want to live them. And in that transformation lies the future of theme park design: storytelling that’s not merely seen but felt and remembered.
Feature Image: A T-Rex eyes its next meal on the Jurassic World ride (photo by Joe Tracy for Theme Park Magazine)
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Marty Martin is a writer and theme park enthusiast with a passion for immersive storytelling and themed entertainment. He is dedicated to highlighting storytelling innovation in theme parks and connecting audiences to the magic behind the magic.
