A Newer Adventure for an Older Crew
The Goal:
The Recreation Cast at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa wanted to find a cost effective way to organically increase participation in their show.
Preliminary Findings:
First, we conducted research to determine our best target publics. The show is open to ages 4-12, and despite a lower average age per show (5-7 years old), the most enthusiastic individual participants are between 7 and 9 years old, with kids above and below that age enrolling in order to accompany a sibling(s). This gave us a new key performance indicator to track growth: Sibling Referrals.
Show Creation:
With this in mind, we focused on a backstory and clue sets that were geared toward the 7-9 age range with “helper tasks” for the younger children, so that each child could participate at his or her own level.
Children sail across Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake, evading enemies and collecting clues in the form of Compass Directions, Sea Shanties, Poems and Riddles to find their Pirate Treasure hidden at the very port they first sailed from. Older children have more opportunity to decipher the complex clues while younger children are in charge of the physical carrying out of each task to lead the crew to the next port and clue.
With each clue found, the children receive an costume piece or prop, and learn a song or ritual (handshake, pirate salute, etc) that help them to look and feel more like pirates, until they reach the end of the journey. Upon finding the hidden Pirate Treasure, the children's transformation becomes complete as they receive their final costume pieces and their shares of pirate-themed treasure.
Result:
Our final show
- Increased active participation of each member
- Stayed within time and logistical boundaries
- Reduced overhead by 27% while maintaining relationships with current vendors
The new show also met with fast approval from Disney Creative as well as enthusiasm from the guests and was used as the basis for "A Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas" in Disney's Magic Kingdom.
(Disclaimer: All artwork are mockups for concept conveyance purposes only and were not used in the finished project)
The Story of Gasparilla
Over two hundred years ago, all the way on the other side of the ocean in Spain, there lived a boy not much older than you are now: his name was Jose Gaspar. Strong, gallant and a bit of a trouble-maker, Gaspar joined the Royal Naval Academy when he was only 12 years old.
It took only a few years before he became a captain, then an admiral and finally, when he was 27, the Royal Naval Advisor to the King. But because Gaspar was so young to be so important, many members of the Spanish court grew jealous of him. They told the King he had tried to steal the Crown Jewels and framed Gaspar for a thief.
When the King tried to have him arrested, Gaspar quickly commandeered Spain's fastest ship: the Floridablanca. He sailed for Florida and took revenge on his country by becoming a pirate, choosing the new pirate name … Gasparilla.
For 40 years Gasparilla plundered any ship flying the Spanish Flag until he amassed an incredible treasure. When he finally decided to retire, Gasparilla told his crew he would split all the treasure with them after they raided one last ship.
The day of the raid, Gasparilla sailed in quickly to take a British merchant boat but as he closed in, the enemy ship suddenly ran up an American flag and fired a dozen canons at the Floridablanca! As his ship sank, Gasparilla and few of his crew dove into the ocean, swam to shore and disappeared before the Americans could catch them; they were never seen again.
Since then, we know that Gasparilla and his crew buried the treasure and hid the map so that only members of his crew would find it. Everyone thought the map was lost, but Gasparilla had secretly given it to his wife, the Mexican Princess Useppa. They say she's the key to finding his treasure and splitting it properly with his crew. That's her personal flag on the boat! Gasparilla always carried it on his ship.
The Clues to the Treasure
Gasparilla Hand Shake:
Salute the King - Steal his Ring
Escape the Whip - Take a Ship
40 Year - A Buccaneer
American Trap - Useppa's MapGasparilla's Blessing:
Spin around three times and repeat, "Gasparilla's Ghost preserve us!"
Old Sea Song/Shanty:
Shake hands and stay true to old Gasparilla,
Ye pirates, my crew, sail North through the sea,
To chart your last port, look through my Useppa
To get your fair share, her flag is the keyGasparilla Sword Salute:
Draw Gasparilla's 'G' symbol by drawing a large circle counterclockwise in the air with the point of the sword, then draw a horizontal line from left to right, take the hilt in to the chest with the sword held vertically and thrust straight upward and forward into the air.
A flag declaring Gasparilla's vengeance on the Spanish crown as well as his love for his wife, the princess Useppa. His flag is the story of his past and the key to the crew's future.
To help his old crew find their fair share of the treasure, Gasparilla left this map and a set of clues to point the way.
On the back of his map lies a faded moniker - the only remnant of Gasparilla's life in the Spanish Court.
An old Compass Rose is the only tool that Gasparilla left to his crew to solve his riddles. None but his most loyal can decipher its meaning.
But spin the disc of the Compass, and symbols appear beneath it. Find the icons on the map to navigate the dangerous waters.
