An industry survey that sought the opinions of theme park guests, has warned of dwindling visitor attention spans that is now impacting the overall guest experience.
In the Theme Park Fans Survey 2024, conducted by internationally-renowned design company Katapult and theme park influencer Parkineer, 72% of respondents said they regularly use their mobile phones in-park – with only 19% agreeing they improve the experience.
While taking photos and wayfinding were the two most popular reasons for using mobile phones, 40% of respondents admitted to engaging in social media, emails and surfing the internet while in the most immersive theme parks in the world.
Speaking on the survey results, Katapult’s Insights Director Robbie Jones said, “This is a really surprising set of results. While we anticipated a high use of mobile phones amongst respondents to capture memories and navigate parks, their mobile phone behaviour doesn’t match the reasons why guests visit in the first place.”
“83% of guests visit theme parks as they want escapism from their everyday lives. This, despite the fact they continue to log onto their phones regularly during their visit to view external content – exiting the worlds and stories they’ve come to experience.”
“Mobile phones play a crucial role in creating a safe and streamlined experience in many parks, as well as providing entertainment in downtimes. While they help cure boredom, phones are killing immersion – and the challenge for the industry is to help guests find a happy balance between the two.”
Ryan Williams from Parkineer added, “Despite queues being more immersive and designed to be looked at, guests are still there for a long time. Because of that, I think no matter what you put into a queue, guests will still be on their phones if there are multiple switchbacks in one portion of the queue.”
The annual survey, which this year focussed on guest technology, also asked respondents for their views on screen-based rides and touch points at theme parks.
Among the results, 52% of respondents said they’d experienced technical difficulties on a screen-based ride or experience at a theme park.
The full report and findings can be downloaded from the Katapult website: https://www.katapult.co.uk/theme-park-fans
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