A husband-and-wife team from Dorset beat off competition from more than 30 countries to win a £20,000 prize – for designing a theme park ride.
Richard and Amy Hale were flown to Florida to collect the award from Storyland Studios, a global experience design and strategy firm.
The couple only decided to get into the theme park business after Richard, 55, nearly died from bowel cancer last year and was cared for by Amy, a nurse.
Spotting the competition they decided to ‘go big’ and Amy gave up her career to help Richard design Portal Riders.
The experience combines a thrilling dark water ride with a seamless immersive and interactive digital experience, taking riders to unique fantasy and adventure landscapes.
It utilises the latest VR tech, AI and huge LED screens to create other worlds which the riders travel through on a boat. The competition organisers praised the ride for its ‘bold vision and imaginative storytelling’ and added that it ‘sets a new standard for the future of location-based entertainment experiences’.
Richard and Amy live in Crossways near Weymouth and are hoping that the ride will be built in the UK. Richard said:
“Although I’m in my mid-fifties there is a part of me that has never grown up. I describe myself as unemployable due to my dyslexia, but I am incredibly creative. After leaving school my first job was to help build Christmas grottos."
“Since then I have done a variety of things including creating war-gaming terrain for Warhammer games, designing Sea Life Centres, model-making and painting murals."
“I also design the exhibits for the multi award-winning Tank Museum near to me through my company Inspiring Heritage, which is just me and my wife."
“Last year I almost died from bowel cancer and after recovering Amy and I decided to try something a bit bigger, so we entered the Storyland competition. We were up against 81 other entrants from more than 30 countries and were absolutely stunned when we won."
“I have pitched for much smaller things and haven’t had much luck – but in the US they really understood our vision. The judging panel was made up of industry heavyweights from around the world – including people from Disneyland. We were flown out to Orlando to receive the award and a cheque for $25,000 and got to meet some hugely influential people – none of whom had heard of Dorset."
“We are now to collaborate with Storyland Studios to develop the concept into a product for the location-based entertainment sector. Where the ride might end up being installed we have no idea but are hoping it’s in the UK - it is terrifically exciting.”
The theme park industry in the UK is worth well over £1bn and a new attraction is set to open after Universal Studios bought a 476-acre site near Bedford.
The US giant is investing huge sums in the park that could be open by 2030.