Our guest speaker last week was Jason Todd who runs a local business that provides serious advice to owners and managers of Theme parks around the world!
Jason started work at the old Australia’s Wonderland which was developed in western Sydney during 1980’s, and became the centre of the universe for many teenaged kids who lived west of Parramatta. Jason picked up rubbish, sold tickets, dressed up in costumes – in fact did a million things to provide pocket money and then keep him going as a young adult at university.
He had great experience that allowed him to understand them parks and what made them tick. He had career experiences with an impressive list of parks running individual rides, running parks, before moving into the management area where he created strategic and start-up plans; developed training programmes and then subsequent testing of employees to make sure the employees understood the rides’ characteristics and emergency detail.
The pre-ride and technical checks for any ride are important for the safety of all customers. Jason discussed the importance of safety and, in answer to a question, offered some comments in relation to the DreamWorld accident that claimed four customers and closed the theme park for a period of time.
His business, AP Attractions International, offers support to theme park owners, operators and builders around the world; they concentrate on getting everything “just right” in a dynamic and ever changing business environment. How did he get to offer the advice …. through hard work at places like Australia Wonderland, Luna Park Melbourne, the Disney organisation, Johore racetrack plus parks in Singapore, Hong Kong, China. His life of global travel and fun now operates from his own central location of Buderim …. right here on the sunshine coast.
