Before & After: A Competitor's Installation Gone Wrong

March 2, 2015 - PRLog -- The Wilderness at the Smokies is a family entertainment center that is an all around wonderland. With indoor waterparks, arcades, mini golf, laser tag, and much more, there is always something to do for every family member. “Dating back to the late 1800’s, Oliver “OP” Helland recognized the family vacation potential of the Dells’ area and was instrumental in organizing seasonal sightseeing boat tours along the Wisconsin River – founding the Riverview Boat Line in 1920. Soon after, the Wisconsin Dells became recognized as a popular vacation destination. Over the past 12 years the Lucke’s and Helland’s continued to develop premier water park resorts." (Wilderness, 2015). The Wilderness at the Smokies is the 4th development created by Wilderness located in Sevierville, TN. With their ever changing and expanding resorts, they sought out a company to add laser tag and mini golf attractions to their growing entertainment destination.

For the first round of installations, Wilderness chose a competitor of ours. Unfortunately the work that was done couldn't have been more discouraging. With just a little under a year with the previous supplier, they knew they needed a change in both the laser tag and golf attractions. They began discussions with our team after being introduced by a mutual acquaintance that has done several projects with Creative Works. We made several trips to the location to listen to their concerns and review the attraction conditions. In the mini golf attraction, we observed loose bricks and broken props from the original install.  We also noted that the course was not 100% ADA compliant and the paint work within the course was lackluster. In the laser tag arena there were loose barriers and broken props.  The arena was designed with too many openings and not enough hiding spots. There were sharp corners, exposed screws, and dulled paint without an immersive feel throughout the playing field.

With much consideration to the project and with the current state of the attractions in mind, Creative Works went through an in-depth design process. Our team spent a lot of time and effort on how to revamp and update the attractions without breaking the budget or starting from scratch again. This design was followed by an approval process to ensure the attractions were executed this time around with practicality, safety and the WOW effect they desired from the start.  “This is part of our normal design process to ensure quality and satisfaction for every project,” commented Nancy Rockhill from Creative Works, the lead contact for this project.  “We’ve seen time and time again that some clients get caught up with grand ideas or lower pricing presented by other suppliers where the materials they use and what they deliver don't meet expectations.  With our 20 years of experience, design expertise and strong project management processes, we make it a point to do things right the first time, and always stand behind our attractions.”

Once the design was approved, our production team spent several months in our theme factory creating new props and pieces for both attractions. The mini golf course received a brand new final hole with interactive sound and lights. The course was adjusted for ADA compliance and new themed props were placed throughout as well as an updated paint job covering half of the prior mural work.  A brand new front entry was created with a giant moonshine still, and there were course adjustments to make the play more challenging and fun. On the laser tag side, the arena received a completely new paint job as everything was blacked out and we started from scratch. Nearly 50% or more props and barriers were added to the empty floor space for better strategic play including a redesign of existing prop pieces to new locations for added hiding spaces for players. Additional lighting effects were implemented in the arena as well as a complete repaint of the exterior of the laser tag to make it more authentic.  This was almost a complete renovation of the laser tag to bring it up to the level where it could compete with other arenas in the area and to improve its safety, visibility and play value.

“Our number one goal in all projects is to deliver the WOW effect and produce results for our clients.  When you have to go back in and redo something that wasn’t done right the first time – that’s tough for anyone.  We listened to their concerns, went to work, solved problems, used our experience, and delivered something that was far better than what they had.” commented Jeff Schilling, owner of Creative Works.  “This is a great testament to the fact that not all apples in the orchard are the same.”

If you’re interested in having us look at renovating your facility or adding an attraction; connect with us today.