IAAPA, the global association for the attractions industry, has announced the finalists for the 2022 IAAPA Brass Ring Awards. Winners will be announced during IAAPA Expo 2022 in Orlando, Florida. This year’s ceremony will mark the return of the in-person celebration for the first time since 2019.
The annual awards recognize amusement parks, waterparks, 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.
View Part 1 of InPark’s preview to what’s on the show floor for IAAPA Expo 2022.
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 honors.
The finalists are:
Top Family Entertainment Center of the World
- Timezone & Zone Bowling Surfers Paradise, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia
- Wild Island Coconut Bowl, Sparks, Nevada, USA
- Kingpin, Queenstown, New Zealand
Live Entertainment Excellence
Most Creative Property-Wide Event, Amusement Parks and Attractions, Including Water Parks, Annual Attendance More Than 1 million
Most Creative Sports/Stunt Show
- SeaWorld San Antonio
- Global Village – Harbour Force
- Fantasy Village
Most Creative Multimedia Spectacular
- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
- Disneyland Paris
- Walt Disney World Resort
Most Creative Halloween Haunt, Show, or Experience
Most Creative Christmas/Holiday Show
- Europa-Park
- Busch Gardens Tampa
- Disneyland Paris
Best Theatrical Production, Amusement Parks and Attractions, Including Water Parks, With Annual Attendance Less Than 1 Million
- El Sueño de Toledo – Puy du Fou España
- El Último Cantar – Puy du Fou España
- A Pluma y Espada – Puy du Fou España
Best Theatrical Production, Amusement Parks and Attractions, Including Water Parks, With Annual Attendance More Than 1 Million
Best Live Edutainment Performance Act
- Science Museum Oklahoma
- Daydream Forest
- SeaWorld Orlando
Best Atmosphere/Street Show Performance Act
- Disneyland Paris
- Tivoli Gröna Lund
- Universal Studios Japan
Human Resources Excellence
Best Employee Engagement Initiative
Best Employee Reward and Recognition Program
Best Innovation in a Training Program
- TEEG – The Entertainment and Education Group
- Hesheypark
- Universal Beijing Resort
Marketing Excellence
Best Digital Marketing Campaign
- Fantasy Valley, Fantasy Valley Digital Marketing
- Cowabunga Vegas Waterpark, TWO PARKS, ONE SEASON PASS!
- Schaefer Advertising Co., Fort Worth Zoo: Membership Campaign
Best Integrated Marketing Campaign
- Dubai Parks & Resorts, Dubai Parks & Resorts: THE FASTEST, THE FIRST, THE ONLY Campaign
- California Academy of Sciences, Bugs Exhibit Advertising Campaign
- Tobomusik – Beach Park, Tobomusik: the first waterslide in Latin America to combine music and visual effects is the new Beach Park’s attraction created in partnership with the hitmaker Alok
Best Outdoor Advertisement
- Morey’s Piers and Resorts, Summer Jobs @ Moreys
- Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach, 25 Years of Memories – Sea Turtle
- Baha Bay, Baha Bay Digital Billboard – NYC Times Square
Best Public Relations Campaign
- Typhoon Texas Waterpark, Answer For Beating Triple-Digit Heat in Texas! Cool Down!
- Liseberg, House of Cards
- Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Ripley’s Assists in Making History with Kim Kardashian at Met Gala
Best Social Media Campaign
- Dolphin Discovery, Sharing Dolphin DNA
- Liseberg, House of Cards
- Doha Quest, Quest’s First Year Anniversary
Best Television or Digital Video Commercial, Annual Attendance More Than 1 Million
- Morey’s Piers & Beachfront Water Parks, This is Where We Summer
- Great Wolf Resorts, Strengthen the Pack Marketing Campaign
- Schaefer Advertising Co., Fort Worth Zoo: Elephant Springs
Best Television or Digital Video Commercial, Annual Attendance 250,000-1 Million
- Liseberg, LunaPark
- Liseberg, Where joy lives
- Typhoon Texas Waterpark, Stay and Play Package – Staycation!
Best Television or Digital Video Commercial, Annual Attendance Less Than 250,000
- The Funplex, The Funplex Marketing Excellence Application
- Quassy Amusement & Waterpark, Water Coaster opens at Quassy Amusement & Waterpark
- Xavage by Xcaret, XAVAGE: A NEW WAY OF ADVENTURE
Games and Merchandise Excellence
Best Apparel Item
- Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, The Walk – “Original Boardwalk Apparel”,
- Luna Park Sydney, Luna Park Sydney Denim Jacket Collection
- Disney Global Product Creation, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Cassette Player Shoulder Bag
Best Hard Good Item
- Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari: 75 Years of America’s First Theme Park (75th Anniversary Book)
- Disney Global Product Creation, Halcyon Starcruiser Training Lightsaber Hilt
- Meow Wolf, Omega Mart Milk Carton Mug
Best Plush Item
- Morey’s Piers and Water Parks, Sunny the Seagull
- Meow Wolf, Convergence Station Pizza Pals Za Plush
- Disney Global Product Creation, Groot Scented Plush
Best Visual Merchandising
- Skånes Djurpark, The Dig Site Retail Store
- Dollywood Parks & Resorts, Dollywood Emporium Remodel
- Meow Wolf, Convergence Station Transit Gift Shop
Food & Beverage Excellence
Best New Menu Item, Annual Attendance Less Than 1 Million
- Boomers Parks, Caribbean Island Salad with Grilled Jerk Chicken
- TELUS Spark Science Centre, The James Webb
- Skånes Djurpark, The Wild Breakfast Basket
Best New Menu Item, Annual Attendance More Than 1 Million
- Dollywood Parks & Resorts, Three Little Pigs Sandwich
- Futuroscope, Bar des Pilotes
- The Ganachey at Disney Springs, Chocolate Mighty Thor’s Hammer
Best New Product
Major Ride/Attraction, Product cost of more than US$5 million
- Premier Rides, Epiq Coaster
- Sally Dark Rides, VOLKANU — Quest for the Golden Idol
- Intamin, LSM Vertical Launch Coaster “Storm Coaster”
- Dynamic Attractions, Dynamic Motion Theater
Major Ride/Attraction, Product cost of US$2 to US$5 million
- Triotech, Double Walkthrough “Hive Break”
- DOF Robotics, Digital Park: Mission Space
Major Ride/Attraction, Product cost of less than US$2 million
- WhiteWater West, Boomerango Squeeze
- ABC Rides Switzerland, C3
- Great Coasters International, Inc., Titan Track
- Josef Wiegand Gmbh & Co. KG, U-Drop Dry Slide
Family Ride/Attraction
- Intamin, Flume Ride / Biberburg
- ALTITUDE RIDES And ATTRACTIONS LLC, Get Hammered Tower Ride
- Sela Group S.r.l., Jumbo
- Zamperla Group, Big WaveZ
Water Park Ride/Attraction, Product cost of more than US$2 million
- WhiteWater West, Blasterango Battle
- Polin Group, Extraventure
- Wiegand.Waterrides GmbH, 4-passenger Fusion Slide of “BigBang” and “Lotus”
- Polin Waterparks, Rally Racer
Water Park Ride/Attraction, Product cost of US$2 million or less
- ProSlide Technology, Inc., SwitchBACK
- Polin Group, Naja
- Vortex Aquatic Structures International, Dream Tunnel
- Polin Waterparks, Rift
Patron Participation Ride/Attraction
- Eldorado Climbing, Kinetix Action Towers
- The Trekking Group, UPLA
- Game of 1000 Boxes, Game of 1000 Boxes
- Ka’ana Wave Co, CM7 Series – Deep Water Surf Machines
Product or Service used by Consumers
- Smarte Carte Inc., Dual Sided Locker
- ROLLER, Guest Experience Score
- VAR LIVE International Limited, VAR BOX Esports Mobile App
- Vantage, Virtual Pass Processing
Product or Service used by Facilities
- Amusement Products LLC, VirTech™ Virtual Technician
- Embed, Embed KIOSK+
- VideoSlick, Inc., AI-Powered Professional Automatic Video/Photo Service&Systems
- Avius, Optimus Artificial Intelligence Powered Agent Assist
Prizes, Plush, and Retail and Food Products
- A&A Global, Dubble Bubble® Motion Lamp 13in
- Penny Press Factory LLC, Gem Penny Press
- NXT Capture, NXT PicturePass
- Fiesta, Sammy the Seagull
Games and Devices
- Team Play Inc., Photomotion
- Elaut Group USA, Prize-O-Matic
- UNIS Technology Ltd., Wicked Tuna 4P
- Coastal Amusements, Inc., Break the Plate
Virtual and Augmented Reality
- Creative Works, Limitless VR
- Exploring Digital, Megaverse VR Theater
- Valo Motion, ValoArena
- Sega Amusements International Ltd, VR Agent
Exhibitions, Shows/Productions, Theatrical Equipment & Supplies, Displays & Sets
- Billings Productions, Triceratops
- Zigong Lantern Group, Ancient Egyptian Illumination & Sphinx Tunnel of Hieroglyphics of Light / Example of a Themed Masterpiece, handcrafted illuminating lantern art, custom designed toward any theme imaginable
- LightUpToys.com, LLC, LightUp Disco Display Cart
Services, Equipment, and Supplies
- Semnox Solutions, LuminOS – Next Generation LinuxOS based Debit Card Readers
- Semnox Solutions, Kinetick – Self-service Wristband Dispensing Ticketing Kiosks
- Aquify Systems, Aquify Fiberglass Regenerative Media Filter
- Extreme Engineering, Flex Shade System
- Best New Product Concept Award, Attraction
- EUROGAMES, OVERLANDER
- Extreme Engineering, Parkour Around
- Inowize, QBIX
- Triotech, Qube
Best New Product Concept Award, Major Ride or Water Park Ride
- Wibit Sports GmbH, Wibit Peakz
- Zamperla Group, Double Heart Coaster
- Polin Group, Cosmos
- Simworx, Pegasus Flying Theatre
Other Product/Service
- HAWE Micro Fluid GmbH, Hydraulic Locking Unit (HLU) for passenger restraint systems in amusement rides
- VITO Fryfilter, VITO VL oil filter system
- VGS, XPI Cross Platforms Integration
- ZED Digital, ZIG