When planning a meeting in a location where there is a theme park – or in our case (Orlando) many theme parks – our clients are conflicted on what to plan for their group. There’s a certain “attraction” to allowing their group to enjoy the theme park. But, they don’t want their attendees to simply scatter to do so. What’s the answer? Host a team building event in the theme park!

Do’s and Don’ts For Team Building at a Theme Park

Some things to consider when doing a theme park team building event include:

• Pick an event that will enhance your attendee’s theme park experience. Something like a treasure hunt or an Amazing Race-themed event allows them to explore the theme park.

• Ensure you’re not disrupting other guests’ visit. Theme parks are busy places and although the theme park is in the amusement business, they will not be amused if you upset others’ enjoyment of the park. Some good rules of thumb are:

….Tell teams you’ll deduct points from their score if they’re spotted running in the park. Although I mentioned we do Amazing Race-themed events in theme parks, we give teams points for completing challenges well rather than for doing them the quickest.

…Don’t create challenges that require attendees to bother others, such as taking photos with or getting items from strangers or employees working in the park.

…Ensure all challenges can be completed in open public areas, rather than inside stores, restaurants or attractions.

…If you aren’t booking private event space through the theme park you’ll want to plan your event kick off and ending off-site. You can kick the event off at your meeting location before transferring your group to the theme park. Allow teams to review team building event materials, such as rules, as they’re being transported. And, end the event by having one person from each team turn in materials at a meeting spot within the theme park, but reveal the results and award prizes later on in your meeting.

• Don’t require teams to ride an attraction. You never know how long the lines will be on the day of your event and some people won’t be able to ride because of motion sickness, a bad back, pregnancy, etc. The last thing you want to do is upset your people.

• Consider hosting an event later in the day, as many theme parks offer discounted tickets after a certain hour.

• Conduct a site visit of the theme park at the time of day you’ll host the event, so you’ll get a sense for what your group’s experience will be. Are the places you want teams to visit open at that time? Will a parade shut down the street just at the time you want materials to be turned in?

Make Sure Your Event Has A Theme

The word “theme” is in “theme park,” so theming the event should be easy! However, with a “wildly different” imagination you can integrate any theme or company information into your team building event! For instance, when we did a hunt for a movie organization, we had them check in with event staff at locations throughout the theme park to get a clue that led them to reveal the name of a movie. Can you figure out what movie this clue related to? The answer is at the end of the next paragraph!

In “short” (hint, hint), a theme park team building event is the ideal way to get your group to connect with one another in a fun way while enjoying all the attraction has to offer. Do it right and it’s sure to be a fun ride! Oh – and the answer to the clue above? It’s The Big Short, of course!