IAAPA announces 2019 Brass Ring Award winners

IAAPA, the global association for the attractions industry, presented the 2019 IAAPA Brass Ring Awards on Wednesday, 20 November during IAAPA Expo 2019 in Orlando, Florida. The annual awards recognise amusement parks, water parks, zoos, aquariums, museums, family entertainment centers (FECs), and suppliers from around the world for excellence in food and beverage, games and retail, human resources, live entertainment, marketing, new products, and exhibits.

The tradition of the brass ring, a term now synonymous with spectacular achievement, dates back to the 1800s when rings were hung on carousels to pose a fun challenge for riders. Successfully grabbing a ring while riding the carousel often earned riders prizes, often including an additional free ride. Most rings were made of iron, but a few were made of brass, so grabbing the brass ring was a coveted and celebrated treat.

The IAAPA Brass Ring Awards honor this tradition by celebrating achievements of excellence throughout the global attractions industry. The IAAPA Brass Ring Awards are considered one of the global attractions industry’s most prestigious honours.

The 2019 IAAPA Brass Ring Award winners are:

Top Family Entertainment Center (FEC) of the World: Cinergy Entertainment Amarillo, Amarillo, Texas, United States

Food and Beverage Excellence:

Best New Menu Item – Annual Attendance Less than 1 Million: “Unicorn Cotton Candy Tacos,” Jake’s Unlimited, Mesa, Arizona, United States

Best New Menu Item – Annual Attendance More than 1 Million: “BLT Panzzanella Bowl,” San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California, United States

Games and Retail Excellence:

Best Plush: “Porg,” Disney Parks, Lake Buena Vista, Florida and Anaheim, California, United States

Best Apparel: “Children’s Shaun the Sheep Hooded Sweat,” Paradise Country – Gold Coast Australia,

Best Hard Goods Item: “Savi’s Workshop – Handbuilt Lightsabers,” Disney Parks, Lake Buena Vista, Florida and Anaheim, California, United States

Best Visual Merchandising: “Droid Depot: Custom Astromech Units,” Disney Parks, Lake Buena Vista, Florida and Anaheim, California, United States

Best Midway Game Operation: “Morey’s Piers Game Operation,” Morey’s Piers and Beachfront Water Parks, Wildwood, New Jersey, United States

Judges Award: Best Plush Item – “Little Ndaba,” Naples Zoo, Naples, Florida, United States

Human Resources Excellence Best Employee Engagement Initiative – Annual Attendance Less than 1 Million: Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Best Employee Engagement Initiative – Annual Attendance More than 1 Million: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, California, United States

Best Employee Reward and Recognition Programme – Annual Attendance More than 1 Million: Europa-Park, Rust, Germany

Best Innovation in a Training Programme – Annual Attendance Less than 1 Million: Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, pne.ca/ Best Innovation in a Training Program – Annual Attendance More than 1 Million: Whiting’s Foods on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, California, United States

Live Entertainment Excellence

Best Atmosphere/Street Show Performance/Act: “Green Army Drum Corps,” Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney Parks Live Entertainment, Orlando, Florida, United States

Best Performer: Annie Huckaba, Dollywood Theme Park, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, United States,

Best Live “Edutainment” Show: “Hershey’s Unwrapped,” Hershey’s Chocolate World, Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States

Best Theatrical Production: Annual Attendance More than 1 Million:“Legend of Camel Bells,” Huaxia Cultural Resort – Xi’an, Shanxi Province, China

Most Creative Christmas Show: “Up on the Rooftop,” Hersheypark, Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States,

Most Creative Halloween Haunt, Show, or Experience: “Below,” Walibi Holland, Biddinghuizen, Netherlands

Most Creative Multimedia Spectacular: “Dancing Islands,” Fantawild International Limited, Shenzhen, China

Most Creative Property-wide Event: Annual Attendance Less than 1 Million: “Winterfest,” Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Most Creative Property-wide Event: Annual Attendance More than 1 Million: “SeaWorld Christmas Celebration,” SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando, Florida, United States

Most Creative Show Featuring Animals: “Sea Lions Tonite,” SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando, Florida, United States

Most Creative Sports/Stunt Show: “Paddington on Ice – the Grand Voyage,” Europa-Park, Rust, Germany

Spirit Award

The Spirit Award is given to the most outstanding person who works behind-the-scenes to support high-quality entertainment value of the nominating attraction. This year’s Spirit Award went to Katja Mack, Europa-Park, Rust, Germany

Excellence in Marketing

Best Digital Marketing Campaign: “Snake,” Gröna Lund, Stockholm, Sweden

Best Integrated Marketing Campaign: “Skin Exhibit Integrate Campaign,” California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, United States, calacademy.org/

Best Outdoor Advertisement: “2018 San Diego Zoo Jungle Bells Campaign,” San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, California, United States, sdzsafaripark.org/

Best Public Relations Campaign: “Six Flags St. Louis – Coffin Challenge,” Six Flags St. Louis, Eureka, Missouri, United States, sixflags.com/stlouis

Best Radio or Streaming Audio Commercial: “Dino Roar Valley,” Dino Roar Valley, Lake George, New York, United States

Best Social Media Campaign: “You Can’t Do This At Home Campaign,” Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri, United States, silverdollarcity.com

Best Television or Digital Video Commercial – Annual Attendance Less than 250,000: “Stupet – Where Heroes are Born,” Rogaland Fritidspark AS – Kongeparken, Ålgård, Norway

Best Television or Digital Video Commercial: Annual Attendance 250,000 – 1 Million: “Be A Kid With Your Kid,” Silverwood Theme Park, Athol, Idaho, United States

Best Television or Digital Video Commercial – Annual Attendance More than 1 Million: “Skin Exhibit Advertising Campaign,” California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, United States

BEST EXHIBIT AWARDS 2019

IMAGE AWARD WINNER: Bob’s Space Racers, Inc., Booth 2615, 2815

Booth Size 100 – 199 Square Feet

First Place: Party Cannon, Booth 4683

Second Place: People VisionFX, Booth 2166

Booth Size 200 – 399 Square Feet

First Place: Imagination Corporation, Booth 671

Second Place: HB Leisure Ltd., Booth 3418

Booth Size 400 – 499 Square Feet

First Place: Backyard X-Scapes Commercial, Booth 3462

Second Place: Laserblast, Booth 4269

Booth Size 500 – 899 Square Feet

First Place: Arihant Water Park Equipment, Booth 1844

Second Place: Splashtacular, LLC, Booth 3254

Booth Size 900 – 1,200 Square Feet

First Place: Tree-Mendous Aerial Adventures, Booth 1354

Second Place: Sandy Creek Mining Company, Booth 3487

Booth Size 1,201 and Larger Square Feet

First Place: Bob’s Space Racers, Inc., Booth 2615, 2815

Second Place: Polin Waterparks, Booth 847

BEST NEW PRODUCT EXHIBITOR AWARDS

Major Ride/Attraction (Product cost of US$5 million or more)

First Place: Intamin Ltd., Booth 3424, Dueling LSM Triple Launch Coaster – Dueling Dragons

Second Place: Dynamic Attractions, Booth 1358, Batman: Knight Flight – Robotic Arm Ride with updated Track Switches

Major Ride/Attraction (Product cost of US$2 to US$5 million)

First Place: WhiteWater Attractions, Booth 2254, Spinning Rapids Ride

Second Place: Zamperla, Booth 2024 and 2031, Super Air Race

Major Ride/Attraction (Product cost less than US$2 million)

First Place: Zamperla, Booth 2024 and 2031, Nebulaz

Second Place: Ride Engineers Switzerland, Booth 3472, Rollerball M

Kiddie Ride/Attraction

First Place: Treetop Trekking, Booth E7421, TreeWalk Village

Second Place: Eurogames SRL, Booth 3869, BIG CAR OUTLANDER

Water Park Ride/Attraction (Product cost of less than US$1 million)

First Place: WhiteWater, Booth 2250, Tailspin

Water Park Ride/Attraction (Product cost of US $1 million or more)

First Place: ProSlide Technology, Inc., Booth 1838 and 2035, Dueling PIPElineBLAST / FlyingSAUCER

Second Place: WhiteWater, Booth 2250

Over/Under Patron Participation Ride/Attraction

First Place: VR Coaster GmbH & Co. KG, Booth 2669, VR Bumper Cars

Second Place: Ice-World International, Booth 2772, IceByk

Technology Applied to Amusements (Product or Service used by Consumers)

First Place: Pool Safe Inc., Booth 3236, PoolSafe

Second Place: Convergence, LLC, Booth 2684, Automatic Itinerary Planner for Handling Timed-ticket Packages in Web/POS/Kiosk

Technology Applied to Amusements (Product or Service used by Facilities)

First Place: Dynamic Attractions, Booth 1358, Loading / Unloading system Second Place: Valo Motion, Booth E7141, Super Stomp

Food Services First Place: VITO Fryfilter, Booth 3956, VITO 80 oil filter system – connect Second Place: VITO Fryfilter, Booth 3956, VITO FT 440 – Frying oil tester

Merchandising & Retail Products

First Place: NXT Capture, Booth 3311, NXT Spinning Video Second Place: Apple Industries, Inc., Booth 1600, MARVEL ADVENTURE LAB by FACE PLACE

Games & Devices (Arcade & Video Games and Equipment)

First Place: Bay Tek Entertainment, Booth 1015, Connect 4 Hoops Second Place: Betson Enterprises, Booth 415, 515, 615, and 815, SuperBikes 3

Games & Devices (Midway Games and Equipment)

First Place: Bob’s Space Racers, Inc., Booth 2615 and 2815, Hang Time

Services, Equipment & Supplies

First Place: Redemption Plus, Booth 224, Redemption Plus Service Packages Second Place: Bouncy Castle Network, Booth 5475, Bouncy Castle Network Booking System

Best New Product Concept Award: Major Ride Attraction

First Place – Wiegand Josef GMBH & Co. KG, Booth 3486, SlideCoaster Second Place: Delta Strike International Ltd, Booth 3815, Genesis Laser Tag Equipment

Best New Product Concept Award: Major Ride/Attraction

First Place: Holovis, Booth 1378, Li-Fly

Second Place: Polin Waterparks, Booth 847, Time Rider

Best New Product Concept Award: Other Product/Service First Place:

Gatemaster Technology Corporation, Booth 3165, ParkTrainer Second Place: Holovis, Booth 1378, HoloTrac

IMPACT AWARD WINNER: ProSlide Technology Inc., Booth 1838, 2035