Waiting as Part of the Fun: Interactive Gaming in Theme Park Queues

People visiting theme parks intend to have a day of fun. Yet a larger part of the time is spent queuing for rides rather than in the actual rides, which does not contribute to the intended fun experience. Current efforts therefore either make the queue as bearable as possible or try to get rid of it altogether. In this paper we propose a vision in which we see the queue as an opportunity to become part of the fun experience of visiting a theme park. To realize this vision, we propose the use of interactive gaming platforms interwoven in queue, on which people in line can play a game that is based on several psychological principles to shorten the perceived waiting time. We present a design-case; ‘the Dream Chamber’ as an example of our vision. Evaluations of this system indicate potential for this class of systems and our proposed visio