Miral and United Parks & Entertainment partnered to develop SeaWorld Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, a landmark project which opened on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi in May 2023. The marine life park became the first SeaWorld-branded Park to open in 30 years outside of North America.
The next generation park includes the UAE’s first dedicated marine life research, rescue, rehabilitation and return centre. Featuring a unique design offering immersive experiences, the park contains one of the world’s largest and progressive aquariums, as well as educational learning experiences for all local and international visitors to enjoy.
Holovis provided both parkwide interactives & game alongside a full parkwide audio visual solution. This incredible, complex AV project, easily one of the largest in the world, was vast in scope and challenge and Holovis were selected to leverage the engineering, project management and AV design expertise to deliver this exciting landmark theme park project.
AV:
Holovis builds on their long-term relationship with Miral (Holovis worked extensively on Ferrari World, including the landmark Mission Ferrari roller coaster) to aid in the creation of this project. Holovis’ scope included general area development regarding AV, digital displays, digital signage, show audio systems, street theatre AV, and interactives.
The park’s central hub, the One Ocean Hub, boasts one of the world’s largest LED screens as its crown jewel. Fully cylindrical in design, this colossal immersive screen covers an expansive area of over 3,000 square meters, standing 15m high with a circumference of 218m. This bespoke design from Holovis revolutionizes entertainment with its mesmerizing, larger-than-life visuals created by the team at SeaWorld and their partners. Accompanying the LED screen in One Ocean Hub is an impressive LED Globe, measuring 5.4m in diameter, delivering a multi-faceted visual experience, and providing guests with unique and engaging visual content.
Additionally, we partnered with Verity to create an impressive indoor drone show featuring 160 drones. Echoing the flow of ocean currents, the swarm moves in sync with the visual display on the One Ocean LED wall and LED Globe. This innovative blend of technology marks a new frontier in theme park entertainment, offering visitors a memorable visual experience.
The impressive supporting infrastructure of the park includes over 1,800 speakers, 250 digital displays, and 150 back-of-house racks housed in 28 comms rooms, interconnected by over 350,000 meters of cable. This cutting-edge audio-visual setup is primed to provide visitors with an all-encompassing sensory experience. Moreover, the control program is integrated park-wide, synchronizing AV controls, ride door controls, building management, and lighting sequences across attractions throughout the park, thus ensuring a cohesive and immersive experience for all guests.
Parkwide Game:
Holovis was contracted by Miral and SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment to develop a narrative-driven, turnkey parkwide game experience which is seamlessly interwoven and integrated into the park.
The game was created in-house, led in a joint effort by Holovis’ Creative Studio, Art Department, and Software Teams. Guests are invited to join the S·E·A, a long-standing organization that works to protect our planet and One Ocean through advancing science, exploration, and adventure. Guests will enroll in the “S·E·A Guardian Games”, a prestigious series of games held by the S·E·A to prove who will become an “S·E·A Guardian”. Along their journey across the eight realms of the One Ocean, players will take part in over 15 interactive games with over 100 touchpoints and unique media moments that are exclusive to players, as well was embarking on interactive quests, scavenger hunts, and side missions. The narrative is at the core of the game, allowing players to repeat play in different teams and experience different stories on their journey to becoming Guardian, as well as unlocking different collectibles and even retail discounts.
The experience is a world-first approach to parkwide interactivity, with the gameplay being fully integrated into the park experience, rather than taking place solely in a mobile app. The games, quests, and even checking a player’s progress is all done via “heads up” experiences throughout the park, immersing guests in the environment and allowing them to enjoy the experience with friends and family. The park is omni-directional and not linear and the game mimics this. The guests can move around the park, and play the game, in whatever order they would like.
The experience has been designed to drive repeat visitation to the park – it will not be possible to reach the rank of Guardian in just one day, so guests must return to have the full experience. There are even secret pieces of content that are only unlocked by reaching certain levels - but we won’t spoil what those are here!
Ahmed Naseef, Holovis’ Business Development Director for the GCC, commented,
“As the GCC BD Director, I am thrilled to witness the synergistic partnership between SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, Miral, and Holovis and its tremendous benefits to the region. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in our commitment to providing innovative and immersive entertainment experiences while bolstering Abu Dhabi’s leading global tourism hub position.
By integrating Holovis’ state-of-the-art immersive technology, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi will transport guests into captivating and interactive worlds, allowing them to forge a deeper connection with marine life and conservation. This unique blend of entertainment, education, and advanced technology will captivate visitors and ignite a sense of wonder and environmental stewardship, leaving a lasting impact on the region.
I am genuinely excited about the positive impact SeaWorld Abu Dhabi- Miral’s collaboration with Holovis will have on the region. This partnership elevates the tourism industry and showcases our dedication to fostering sustainable growth, promoting conservation, and positioning Abu Dhabi as a world-class entertainment and leisure destination.”
