Cedar Fair, the theme park company behind the famous Cedar Point park and 13 others, is set to trial virtual reality technology on one of the company’s many roller coasters.
During a Q2 2015 earnings conference call, CEO Matt Ouimet spoke to “future growth initiatives” for the company. Alongside projects like park-wide WiFi and mobile apps, virtual reality is seen to have potential to create flexible experiences with less money.
“Current R&D efforts are focused not just on ride based attractions, but other applications which can be applied to every form of entertainment we offer…,” Ouimet said. “This fall we will test a virtual reality application on an existing coaster. I repeat, this is only a test. But it starts to give you a flavor for the opportunities that could happen over time where we could create a compelling, and reprogrammable, experience with less capital. We expect to be in a position shortly to announce other projects of this nature.”
Ouimet didn’t specify the park or roller coaster that would be used as a testbed, nor which VR technology would be employed. During the call the company also reported a $14 million increase in earnings over the same quarter from the prior year.