Epcot’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride won a Thea Award for outstanding achievement as an attraction, one of several honors announced by the Themed Entertainment Association during the IAAPA Expo.
Cosmic Rewind, which opened this spring, is an indoor roller coaster with a storyline that swings through outer space and is set to a pop-music soundtrack. Bermuda Storm, a motion-simulator attraction at Chimelong Spaceship theme park in Zhuhai, China, also was recognized in the attraction division.
SeaWorld’s Yas Island in Abu Dhabi won in the indoor marine park category.
Other outstanding achievement winners were Disney Encanto x CAMP in New York (retail experience, limited budget), Mussikkfabrikken Hunderfossen at Hunderfossen Eventyrpark in Norway (attraction, limited budget), Geneva Journey of Switzerland (live spectacular), Deutschlandmuseum of Berlin (museum attraction, limited budget), “Le Mime et L’Etoile” at Puy De Fou in France (live show), Titanic Belfast of Northern Ireland (visitor experience re-envisioned, limited budget), Johnnie Walker Princes Street in Edinburgh, Scotland (brand experience), Aura: The Forest at the Edge of the Sky in Haikou, China (immersive mall experience), Peaky Blinders: The Rise at Camden Stables Market of London (live interactive experience), Colored (Noire) of Centre Georges in Paris (extended reality exhibit) and Eatrenalin of Europa-Park in Germany (experiential dining attraction).
Individuals recognized include Su Zhigang, chairman and CEO of Chimelong Group, for the Buzz Price Award; Paul C. Hutton, principal and director of Regenerative Design at Cuningham for the Thea Catalyst Award, and David Green and Lisa Passamonte Green of Visual Terrain for the Peter Chernack Distinguished Service Award.
Liseberg, an amusement park in Gothenburg, Sweden, received the Thea Classic Award.
Winners will be honored at a gala in Hollywood, California, in March. IAAPA Expo at Orange County Convention Center continues through Friday.
