AttractionPros Podcast

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Ben Thompson is the CEO of Storyland Locations. With a career spanning Mars, The Walt Disney Company, and Merlin Entertainments, Ben has built a strong foundation in brand development, storytelling, and attraction design before launching his own ventures within the Storyland ecosystem. His work focuses on creating immersive, story-driven experiences by bridging intellectual property, operators, and locations. In this interview, Ben talks about story-led experiences, connecting IP to operators, and being a lifelong learner.

Story-led experiences
“Story is how we make sense of the world.”

Ben frames story as more than entertainment or escapism. He sees it as a fundamental way humans interpret reality, made up of character, setting, and plot. This philosophy drives his approach to experience design, where attractions are not just physical spaces but narratives that transport guests and help them connect with different perspectives. By anchoring experiences in meaningful storytelling, he believes attractions can foster empathy, connection, and shared understanding.

He also emphasizes that story exists on a spectrum. Some experiences are deeply immersive, while others are lighter and more socially driven. The key is intentionality. Whether designing a highly themed environment or a more casual interactive space, the goal is to create something that resonates emotionally and delivers a clear narrative purpose.

Connecting IP to operators
“There’s enough brilliant IP and locations who want to create beautiful spaces that we can bring both creativity and the rigor to bring these things to life.”

Ben explains that Storyland Locations serves as a bridge between intellectual property owners, real estate developers, and operators. Each group plays a critical role, but aligning them requires both creative vision and analytical discipline. His process begins with defining the “why” behind a project, followed by evaluating market opportunities, benchmarking competitors, and modeling feasibility.

He highlights that success depends not just on the strength of the IP, but on the people behind it. Strong relationships, trust, and collaboration are essential to bringing concepts to life. Operators must see value beyond licensing costs, while IP holders need flexibility in how their stories are adapted. Ultimately, connecting these pieces is an iterative process that blends storytelling, business strategy, and relationship management.

Being a lifelong learner
“I am always going to be dissatisfied with how much I know… in a relatively healthy way.”

Ben credits much of his growth to continuous learning. Early in his career, he consumed a wide range of business books, and today he supplements that with podcasts and project-specific research. He views learning as both a personal driver and a professional necessity, especially as he frequently steps into new challenges where he only “knows enough to be dangerous.”

This mindset fuels his willingness to experiment, adapt, and improve. Whether refining his leadership approach, exploring new creative concepts, or leveraging tools like AI, Ben sees learning as an ongoing process. His curiosity extends beyond the attractions industry, drawing insights from history, architecture, and business to inform his work and keep his perspective evolving.

 

Ben can be reached on LinkedIn, where he actively engages with industry peers. To learn more about Storyland Locations, visit www.storylandstudios.com.

This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:

 

Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas

 

To connect with AttractionPros:

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Marc Dixon is the managing director and co-founder USA of Study Academy USA. He got his start in the attractions industry in the mid-90s at Lagoon in Utah, then spent about two decades with Kodak in event imaging solutions before moving into other attraction tech businesses and, ultimately, e-learning. Today, Study Academy USA partners with organizations like IAAPA to build learning management systems and convert proven training content into trackable, scalable online courses for attractions. In this interview, Marc talks about technology in attractions, AI’s purpose in the industry, and learning to take risks.

Technology in attractions
“We get to provide smiles and great experiences and memories.”

Marc frames attraction technology as a means to capture, enhance, and scale what guests come for in the first place. He walks through the evolution of on-ride and experiential photography, from analog systems to digital, and from green screens to background removal and image enhancement. Even with smartphones everywhere, he argues the souvenir imaging business hasn’t disappeared because guests still want content they cannot create themselves, especially on rides and in curated photo moments.

He also connects that same “tech serves the experience” mindset to his current work with Study Academy USA. By building modern LMS tools and e-learning content for attraction operators and associations, the goal is to give attractions another practical way to train at scale while still supporting the on-the-job behaviors that make guest experiences great.

AI’s purpose in the industry
“I’ve heard the statement that AI is not going to replace your job, but people using AI will.”

Marc’s view is that AI should primarily enhance work, not replace it outright. In imaging, he points to AI-driven improvements like background replacement and photo cleanup that reduce friction and raise quality, even when small mistakes happen in capture. In training, he sees AI as a way to make learning data more useful by pulling insights from LMS results and highlighting where teams are struggling, so leaders can coach more precisely.

He’s also clear about responsible use. Marc says he would never copy and paste AI output without reviewing it because it still needs to reflect his voice and intent. His biggest concern is people trusting AI blindly instead of treating it as a tool that speeds up work while still requiring human judgment.

Learning to take risks
“Learn to take risks, man, go for it. If there’s something you’re really passionate about and you want to try, what’s the worst that can happen?”

When Marc describes choosing entrepreneurship over a comfortable corporate role, he makes it clear that the risk is real and not always glamorous. There are good days and bad days, and some paths do not work out the way you expect. But he emphasizes persistence and adaptability, saying the wins come from believing it will work and being willing to pivot until you find the path that does.

His advice to younger professionals is direct: take the risk, try the thing, and treat missteps as learning opportunities rather than permanent failures. That mindset, he says, is what keeps founders moving forward when uncertainty shows up.

 

Marc can be reached on LinkedIn, as well as by email at [email protected]. To learn more about Study Academy USA, visit www.studyacademyusa.com.

This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:

 

Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas

 

To connect with AttractionPros:

AttractionPros.com

[email protected]

AttractionPros on Facebook

AttractionPros on LinkedIn

AttractionPros on Instagram

AttractionPros on Twitter (X)

Looking for daily inspiration?  Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.

 

What’s your guest experience strategy?  You probably have a marketing strategy, recruitment strategy, and sales strategy, but what about intentionally turning first-time visitors into loyal advocates?  Liebman Leisure Group helps attractions do exactly that.  From creating a culture of “wow” moments to empowering staff to recover from service failures, great experiences don’t happen by chance.

 

To schedule a consultation call, visit www.liebmanleisure.com/attractionpros.  Don’t leave your guest experience to chance.  You should be known for creating memorable experiences… on purpose.

 

Anthony Sabo is the Vice President of Zoombezi Bay and Guest Services at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. He started in the attractions industry as a teenager at Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh, moved into seasonal rides maintenance, and then built his career by gaining experience in both maintenance and operations, including time at the Columbus Zoo and at Universal Orlando. Today, he helps lead a uniquely large, mission-driven organization that includes the zoo, a major water park, and expansive conservation efforts. In this interview, Anthony talks about maintenance and operations, figuring out the nuts and bolts, and dad-based leadership.

Maintenance and operations
“You don’t understand operations until you work in operations… You don’t understand maintenance until you work in maintenance.”

Anthony explains that both teams ultimately want the same outcome: safe guests who have a great day. The friction shows up when each department views the same situation through a different lens, especially in the rare moments when something feels unfamiliar even if it is technically fine. His solution centers on clarity and trust: explain the why, bring the other team into the visuals, and use the moment as a teaching opportunity so the relationship gets stronger long after the issue is resolved.

He also notes that collaboration matters even more in a decentralized structure, where influence relies less on titles and more on relationships. When leaders invest in communication and cross-department understanding, hard conversations become productive instead of personal, and the operation gets better for everyone.

Figuring out the nuts and bolts
“What I really learned was I loved understanding the nuts and bolts of how the park operated.”

Anthony traces his growth back to saying yes to unfamiliar opportunities, including jumping into rides maintenance with “zero mechanical aptitude” and learning by doing. That curiosity carried him from Kennywood to the Columbus Zoo, where he discovered it was “much, much more than just a zoo,” including 16 amusement rides and the 23-acre Zoombezi Bay water park. He shares how the organization has learned to align those experiences with the zoo’s conservation mission, from naming and interpreting attractions like Conservation Tower to tying ride storytelling back to animal care and conservation messaging.

He emphasizes balancing guest feedback with operational realities. Guests may ask for deals or more to do, while leaders must also manage real costs and capacity pressures. His examples show how the best solutions solve multiple needs at once, improving the guest experience while strengthening the operation behind the scenes.

Dad-based leadership
“That ‘dad’ is the type of manager that best resonates for me.”

Anthony describes how his leadership evolved as he moved from maintenance management into an operations environment where coaching and conversation were more effective than blunt correction. The lightbulb moment was finding a style that fit him and served his teams, making even difficult conversations easier because they come from support, not ego.

He connects that approach to leadership development, too. His goal is to give rising leaders the tools to succeed anywhere by teaching the parts of the business they may not naturally see, including attraction development and financial fundamentals. In his view, long-term success comes from listening, relationship-building, and sharing knowledge so the next generation can step in prepared.

 

Anthony can be reached on LinkedIn, and to learn more about the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, visit www.columbuszoo.org. To learn more about Zoombezi Bay, visit www.zoombezibay.com.

This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:

 

Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas

 

To connect with AttractionPros:

AttractionPros.com

[email protected]

AttractionPros on Facebook

AttractionPros on LinkedIn

AttractionPros on Instagram

AttractionPros on Twitter (X)

Looking for daily inspiration?  Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.

 

What’s your guest experience strategy?  You probably have a marketing strategy, recruitment strategy, and sales strategy, but what about intentionally turning first-time visitors into loyal advocates?  Liebman Leisure Group helps attractions do exactly that.  From creating a culture of “wow” moments to empowering staff to recover from service failures, great experiences don’t happen by chance.

 

To schedule a consultation call, visit www.liebmanleisure.com/attractionpros.  Don’t leave your guest experience to chance.  You should be known for creating memorable experiences… on purpose.

 

Elizabeth Lugo is the executive director of parks, tours, and the sailing company at Grupo Xcaret. Originally from Mexico City, she moved to the Cancun area for what was supposed to be a short project and ended up building a 30-year career rooted in operations, guest experience, safety, logistics, and leadership. Today, she helps lead a fast-growing portfolio that includes parks, tours, ferries, catamarans, and yachts, all designed to celebrate Mexican culture, connect visitors with nature, and deliver a seamless vacation experience. In this interview, Elizabeth talks about tourism in Mexico, creating a culture of learning, and 18,000 collaborators.

Tourism in Mexico
“Grupo Xcaret is located in the Mexican Caribbean near Cancun area.”

Elizabeth explains how the company grew from two iconic parks into a full tourism ecosystem that touches nearly every part of a visitor’s trip. Beyond parks and tours, Grupo Xcaret expanded into hotels with an “all fun inclusive” concept that bundles transportation, access to parks and tours, and a complete vacation experience into one package.

She also shares how their tour operations focus on details that shape comfort and satisfaction, like designing their Chichen Itza buses with two bathrooms instead of one. Across parks, nature-based experiences, cultural celebrations, and transportation on land and sea, Elizabeth positions Grupo Xcaret as both a destination and a major driver within the broader tourism landscape in Mexico.

Creating a culture of learning
“What can we do more impressively? Not just for the visitors, but also for our people.”

When asked about being recognized as a top place to work, Elizabeth goes back to the earliest “seeds” of the company’s culture. She describes how Grupo Xcaret invested in education by providing teachers and class time during working hours so team members could complete elementary school and later high school, creating ripple effects that elevated families and communities over generations.

That learning mindset continues today through constant improvement, listening systems, and leadership behaviors that stay grounded in real guest and employee experiences. Elizabeth emphasizes that the company doesn’t treat learning as a one-time training event, it’s part of how they evolve with new generations, new technology, and rapid expansion while still trying to protect what made the culture special in the first place.

18,000 collaborators
“The challenge with that is that opening operations and going from 350 people to 18,000 collaborators is how you permeate that culture.”

Elizabeth describes the scale of growth, from a small operation of a few hundred people to a massive organization, and the challenge of keeping the culture consistent as new parks, hotels, and business lines launch. She explains that one tactic is ensuring that at least 30% of the team in a new operation comes from established parts of the organization, so the “DNA” carries forward and helps onboard new people into the purpose and pride of the company.

She also explains why they use the term “collaborators” instead of employees; it reflects the belief that everyone contributes ideas and value, from frontline roles to leadership. Through tools like “Cafe con Liz,” quality circles, surveys, transparent postings, and career paths, Elizabeth outlines how they try to keep communication open, trust strong, and collaboration real across a workforce of 18,000.

 

Elizabeth can be reached on LinkedIn, as well as by email at [email protected]. To learn more about Grupo Xcaret, visit www.xcaret.com.

This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:

 

Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas

 

To connect with AttractionPros:

AttractionPros.com

[email protected]

AttractionPros on Facebook

AttractionPros on LinkedIn

AttractionPros on Instagram

AttractionPros on Twitter (X)

Looking for daily inspiration?  Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.

 

What’s your guest experience strategy?  You probably have a marketing strategy, recruitment strategy, and sales strategy, but what about intentionally turning first-time visitors into loyal advocates?  Liebman Leisure Group helps attractions do exactly that.  From creating a culture of “wow” moments to empowering staff to recover from service failures, great experiences don’t happen by chance.

 

To schedule a consultation call, visit www.liebmanleisure.com/attractionpros.  Don’t leave your guest experience to chance.  You should be known for creating memorable experiences… on purpose.

Kevin Williams is the Founder of KWP Limited and Publisher of The Stinger Report. A former Disney Imagineer and longtime voice in the immersive entertainment sector, he advises operators, developers, and brands across theme parks, location-based entertainment, and the rapidly growing world of social entertainment. Through his writing and analysis, he’s known for digging into what works, what fails, and why, then translating those lessons into practical guidance for leaders trying to keep pace with changing guest expectations. In this interview, Kevin talks about the next phase of immersive technology, transmedia, and embracing your audience.

Next phase of immersive technology
“What I was talking about seven years ago about the emergence of VR has been superseded by the adoption of XR.”

Kevin frames “immersive” as an elastic term that stretches from Pepper’s Ghost to projection systems to today’s immersive display tech. What’s different now isn’t that immersion suddenly exists, but that audiences expect more agency inside experiences. He points to the rise of social entertainment and competitive socializing, where gamification is being applied to restaurants, bars, and hospitality concepts because people want more than a place to sit. They want something to do together.

He also stresses that the industry is exiting the hype cycle and entering a more disciplined era. The goal is less about chasing shiny tech and more about understanding what works operationally, financially, and emotionally. In his view, the “next phase” is building experiences that hold attention, reduce friction, and create repeat-worthy fun, not just novelty.

Transmedia
“Transmedia means the ability for a brand or a narrative to circumvent multiple delivery platforms.”

Kevin describes transmedia as the movement of a story or brand across formats, from screen to physical place and back again. He points to examples like Netflix House and LEGO Discovery Center as signs that entertainment IP is increasingly becoming something you can step into, not just watch. He also reminds listeners that this isn’t a brand-new strategy, using Walt Disney as an early blueprint for extending storytelling across film, television, and the theme park environment.

At the same time, he cautions against treating IP like a magic upgrade button. A mediocre experience wrapped in a famous brand is still a mediocre experience, and he argues that investors often favor IP because it feels safer, even when the fundamentals aren’t there. The real requirement is a clear guest experience and narrative path people can easily understand and enjoy.

Embracing your audience
“You don't just chuck it in because everybody's doing it. You're going to have to understand your audience.”

Kevin’s bluntest point is that many projects fail because leaders build for trends instead of building for guests. He describes “spaghetti moments” where operators throw technologies into a concept hoping something sticks, then quietly move on when it doesn’t, without extracting lessons. His post-mortem approach is about finding the real causes, including mismatched business models, poor repeat-visit planning, and ignoring frontline feedback.

He also calls out the habit of using technology to mask unresolved fundamentals. If an attraction choice is driven by copying competitors, or if leadership avoids the hard truths in reviews and exit interviews, the problem isn’t a lack of gadgets; it’s a lack of listening. For Kevin, embracing your audience means designing for who they are, how they behave in groups, and what keeps them coming back, then using data to refine the experience rather than passing judgment.

 

Kevin can be reached on LinkedIn, as well as by email at [email protected]. To learn more about his work, including The Stinger Report, visit the LBX Collective and The Stinger Report online.

Additional resources:

Entertainment Social Arena

Wonderverse Closure

LBE Zone

Social Entertainment: Amusements Competitive Edge (Amusement Expo International 2026)

This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:

 

Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas

 

To connect with AttractionPros:

AttractionPros.com

[email protected]

AttractionPros on Facebook

AttractionPros on LinkedIn

AttractionPros on Instagram

AttractionPros on Twitter (X)