Project Spotlight Special Edition: A Tour of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi

Most of us will never have the opportunity to feel the power, speed and excitement that accompanies riding within the world’s finest racecars. All of that changes today, 30 November 2010, when Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest indoor theme park, has its grand opening in the United Arab Emirates. Tens of thousands of guests have visited the Park in its soft opening period and were among the first to experience the 86,000-square-meter facility’s unique array of rides, attractions, stores and restaurants.

The theme park is the anchor attraction of Yas Island, a mixed-use leisure destination and residential development being developed by ALDAR Properties PJSC. JRA provided conceptualization, planning, design, executive media production and project management of the theme park’s overall attraction program while the building’s unique architecture was designed by Benoy.

Highlights of the park include the world’s fastest rollercoaster, a state-of-the-art 4D experience, motion simulators, a unique shot-tower experience that takes guests outside of the facility’s signature building, a children’s driving school, a dueling coaster, a Ferrari-themed carousel, a Ferrari Hall of Fame and so much more.


“The park that just four years ago was a project, an idea, maybe even a too ambitious idea, is now a fantastic reality,” said Luca di Montezemolo, President of Ferrari. “Everyone at Ferrari is grateful to the people who have worked without rest for the last two years to make it happen. Abu Dhabi is a great city that constantly looks to the future, and we are very proud of our partners who share with Ferrari the same passion, the same vision, the same will to go beyond.”

Said JRA Owner/CEO Keith James, “The Park really is unbelievable and we appreciate ALDAR allowing us to be part of such a special project. I’m very proud of our team here in Abu Dhabi, as well as those back in Cincinnati, who have dedicated the last few years of their lives to the project. We also had the opportunity to work with some of the best consultants and suppliers in the leisure business, which is certainly reflected in the guest experience.”

Over the next two weeks, JRA + blog will be showcasing each of the unique attractions at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. In the meantime, we invite you to check out this profile of Ferrari World in the Official Ferrari Magazine, featuring an interview with JRA Senior Project Director, Randy Smith.


For more information, please visit www.ferrariworldabudhabi.com.

Meet our Newest Team Member!

Introducing...


William (Will) Isaac Johns, son of JRA Designer, Teresa Johns.

Will was born November 12th at 1:59 p.m. Mom, Dad and baby are doing great, and we're sure Will will be creating stunning [finger paint] graphic designs in no time! Congratulations!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As you have seen from our blog posts this year, Jack Rouse Associates has a lot of people and projects to be thankful for. Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving and a fun and relaxing beginning to the holiday season!

- Your Friends at Jack Rouse Associates

IAAPA 2010

Another IAAPA has come and gone, and this one proved to be one of the busier expos in recent memory. "We were busy the whole time," said Jack Rouse Associates CEO/Owner Keith James, "and Friday was busier than any last day I can remember. While it will be 3-4 months before we know whether IAAPA Expo 2010 results in any real work, I can tell you that the leads we received were from real projects - serious stuff from all over the world." James also said that the emotional attitude was good through the entire Convention Center: "the sentiment was that, just maybe, we're coming out of this mess."

To celebrate Ferrari World, Jack Rouse Associates and ProFun hosted a reception at the JRA booth last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, complete with Italian wines, prosecco and chocolates. Here's a look at some of the folks who stopped by:

JRA CEO/Owner Keith James with incoming IAAPA Chair, Bob Rippy, and his wife Jenny.
Bob and Jenny run the Jungle Rapids Family Fun Park in Wilmington, NC.

JRA Senior Project Designer Jeff Lichtenberg and Project Coordinator Dana Moore.

Keith James with IAAPA Asia Executive Director, Andrew Lee.

JRA Senior Project Director, Randy Smith (center)
with Torsten Schmidt and Ralf Reifferscheidt of Mauer-Sohne, creators of the Fiorano GT Challenge.

For more party pics, check out our Facebook page!

Just a Thought by Keith James: "It Really is a Small World After All"

One of the perks of being in the experiential design industry is that it is actually an important part of my life to make sure that I see as many theme parks, attractions and museums as I can during my travels.

Over the past forty years, I’ve had the opportunity to literally see hundreds of visitor experiences, from Walt Disney World in Orlando to Lotte World in Seoul, from the National Science Center in Georgia to the National Science Centre in India (as well as every leisure destination that I have come across in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and beyond). And while I certainly take note of all the various design and production techniques being used in the latest rides, shows and exhibits, I spend an equal, if not greater, amount of time watching guests as they explore these leisure destinations with friends and family.

What I’ve come to learn as I’ve traveled around the planet visiting attractions and observing the various people who visit them, is that despite the fact that each of us are all very different and live in very different places with very different cultures, we are also all very similar. We all want to escape a bit from our day-to-day lives; to spend quality time with friends and family; to experience new things; to learn, to laugh, to be engaged; to create new memories.

And what is perhaps the most gratifying part for all of us who are fortunate enough to work in this business is that each of us has a small role in providing the environments in which those memories are created –– whether it be a contemplative art museum or a chaotic water park.

This point was driven home to me a few weeks ago, as I was visiting one of our industry’s newer theme parks with a colleague of mine. She had just finished riding the latest hi-tech rollercoaster and, as we sat down to plan the rest of our day’s visit, we watched all of her fellow riders as they exited the ride. What we saw were smiles, squeals of excitement and breathless laughter spread across a sea of diverse nationalities, socio-economic backgrounds, ages, genders and languages. For the past 2½ minutes, they had all shared an experience that extended beyond the boundaries, classifications and stereotypes that we often use to define ourselves. Instead, for that brief moment in time, the experience had defined them.

It was at that moment that I realized, just as Walt’s legendary ride began telling us through song starting back in 1964, that it really is a very small world after all.

Meet the Team: Colin Cronin

For today’s Meet the Team segment, we profile Designer, Colin Cronin.

Since joining JRA in 2008, Colin Cronin has worked on a variety of museum, attraction and theme park projects, bringing to each his unique design style, youthful perspective and enthusiasm.

Colin graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design. Colin interned with Hasbro Inc. and Disney Stores, where he designed vehicles, action figures and other toys that are currently on store shelves around the world.

Colin has provided planning and design for most of JRA’s recent children’s museum projects, including Magic Bean House – Beijing Children’s Museum, Oslo Barnemuseum, Children’s Museum of Siouxland, Imagine It! Atlanta Children’s Museum and C’MON – Children’s Museum of Naples. Colin has also provided design support on many of JRA’s other projects, including Go For Broke National Education Center and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi.

Outside the Studio: 5 Reasons Why We Love the IAAPA Expo

Today we thought we'd take a little break from our Ferrari World blog series to preview an annual event that is the highlight of the JRA calendar - the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo. With IAAPA 2010 just around the corner, we asked Chief Operating Officer Dan Schultz to share 5 reasons why he loves the Expo. Here’s what he had to say:

1. Get to see good friends and past colleagues.

2. Get to compare how much I've aged in one year compared to those good friends and colleagues.

3. Get to be reminded about how unique, strange and fun our industry is...from plush animals to steel coasters; haunted house creatures to 4-D technology. All represented at IAAPA. It still amazes me every year.

4. Where else can you get free samples of ice cream, pizza and other amusement park delicacies for free?

5. Get to see what manufacturer, supplier or vendor has the latest and greatest whatever, and see if it has any applications in our projects. Are there still new ways to have fun?

Thanks, Dan! Stay tuned for a full IAAPA Expo Report a week from Monday. This Monday, we'll meet another member of the JRA design team.

Outside the Studio: Streetscapes

For our next Outside the Studio segment, Senior Project Director Randy Smith combines art with community engagement.

Each fall, my neighborhood celebrates creativity by sponsoring Streetscapes, which allows local artist teams to re-create masterworks in chalk on Telford Avenue. The pieces are amazing and ephemeral, fading away over a few weeks time.

This year, Jan Brown Checco, a Clifton resident, Cincinnati booster and former colleague, recruited 10 neighborhood artists and designers to also do something a little different. On the adjacent Ludlow Plaza, Jan reserved 10, four by six foot concrete rectangles as canvases. And, rather than re-create a masterwork, Jan asked each of her crew to create an original piece. Our technique was a little different also. Instead of using only a wax-based chalk, we used a milk-based fixative approach that sealed the chalk into the surface. Our pieces will still fade away over time, but by using the milk and water ingredients, we should see our work last into the new year.

So, on a beautiful fall Saturday morning, with panniers loaded with supplies, I rode my bike the few blocks to Ludlow Plaza to start work. The inspiration for my piece was an unusual winter sky that I photographed from my back deck. The resulting work is titled Stained Glass Sky. It was a great experience, it was fun, I learned a new technique, and I met some new neighbors. I should add that my wife, Elaine, and my daughter, Lydia also got in on the fun. We all left some public art behind. I think its important to share with our communities; volunteering in different ways, its also nice to have some new public art in our neighborhood.


Next time you’re in Clifton, get some ice cream at Graeter’s, then cross the street to the Ludlow Plaza and take a stroll through our little public art gallery. Enjoy!

Meet the Team: JRA Malaysia

We are going to take this Meet the Team segment way off campus and visit husband-and-wife team Shahryn Azmi and Zarina Rafique in our JRA Malaysia office in Kuala Lumpur.

Shahryn Azmi

In the early 90’s, JRA was asked to participate in an exploration of an opportunity for planning a new leisure destination in Bogor, Indonesia, about 80 kilometers south of Jakarta. That was when Shah Azmi first met Keith James, the strategic planning consultant and the veteran theme park specialist.

Almost 10 years later, Jack Rouse Associates (Southeast Asia) Sdn Bhd opened in Kuala Lumpur as the country and region started down a path of rapid growth in the development of the attractions market. JRA was ahead of the curve and fully set now to take advantage of Malaysia's blossoming interest in boosting leisure and tourism options.

Shah has been a strategic planner for the past 25 years, cycling through the IT industry, defense, oil and gas and eventually consulting. He has worked and lived in six countries with project and venture feasibility as the cornerstone of his work in Asia, Europe and the US.

Though it is not a skill as exciting as the actual design of attractions, having a view as to the viability of potential projects is certainly part of the overall JRA bank of expertise.

Shah went to high school in England, did his BA in New Jersey and finished his education with a graduate degree out of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Harvard Business School.

Zarina Rafique

Essentially a person curious about the consumer mind, Zarina has spent the better part of her professional life as a qualitative market researcher, talking to thousands of people in Southeast Asia to understand what makes consumers tick and what it takes for brands, concepts, products and services to resonate with them. The depth of her consumer knowledge has allowed her to understand how one Asian’s meat can be another Asian’s poison!

On a more personal note, the knowledge accumulated over the last 20 years has allowed Zarina to not just better understand other people, but has triggered much self-reflection! Enjoyment comes in the more simple things in life…among them the sound of her children’s laughter as she walks into her home, her husband trying to share her interest in yoga but snoring through their sessions instead, a good hot cup of Malaysian ‘teh tarik’ and rain!

Zarina was born in Penang, Malaysia and received her early education in Kuala Lumpur. She then completed her BA in Linguistics at University of Northern Iowa and MA in Applied Linguistics at Michigan State University before returning to KL to work.

On Friday, Senior Project Director Randy Smith combines art and community engagement to beautify a Cincinnati neighborhood.

Project Spotlight: Goodbye Expo

Yesterday marked the final day of the Shanghai World Expo, which blasted through its attendance goal and welcomed over 73 million guests. We had the opportunity to check out the JRA-designed and produced Coca-Cola Pavilion (which welcomed 1 million guests of its own). It was wonderful to see guests laughing at the films, enjoying their Superchilled Coca-Cola and getting their picture taken in front of a variety of graphics and 3D sets. Here's a sampling of what we saw:

The crowds gathered early to get into the Pavilion - this was at 9:45 a.m.!

This 3D set was a popular photo op spot.

The audience anxiously awaits the start of the main film...

Guests queue up for their Super-chilled Coca-Cola.

The Happiness Factory, from which the Pavilion was themed,
is one of the most successful campaigns in Coca-Cola's history.

Guests enjoyed taking a little piece of Coca-Cola home with them at the retail store.

And VIPs could relax in the lounge.

This was the wait time by 10:15 a.m. - in hours - yes, really!

For more Pavilion pics, check out our Facebook Page, and congrats to all our designers and project managers who helped make the Coca-Cola Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo a success!