Welcome readers, and due to the sheer anticipation of the sporting event that stops the world, I'm deciding to bring up another Attractions Toolkit, this time, for another hands on exhibit. You may remember in the previous article, it covered Sensory Funhouse and the many ideas that would have made it far more memorable.
Fitness Fairgrounds was one of Wonders of Life's hands-on offerings, and being a big hit in its prime, the exhibit area consisted of two sections - the iconic WonderCycles, and the Coach's Corner testing booth. For those who have no idea what are these exhibits are, here's a crash course:
- The WonderCycles were a hands on staple, and it was an interactive take on the exercise bike with a touch screen. Guests can cycle through one of three locations, especially Disneyland in Anaheim, and even in a miniaturised-point-of-view (and you thought Body Wars was the only attraction to involve miniturisation)
- Coach's Corner was a netted/caged booth in which guests can try out three sports: baseball, golf and tennis - this simulation was designed to analyse guests' swing, with celebrity athletes giving them tips on achieving the most ideal swing for great game performance.
While it's only a minute section of the exhibit, I would as well have to blame the single-floor layout for limiting the choices (*sigh* because Epcot... no scorn intended.) But assuming that the plan was to only put together the highlights (and the innovative) aspects of fitness, that kind of served as the Achilles heel in two ways - the technology being outdated, and that this is only the fingerprint aspect of fitness. Perhaps, as this aspect is straightforward, here is the sketch for a reference:
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| The above floorplan, on how Fitness Fairgrounds would like to be expanded |
From the above referential conceptual floorplan, it would be particularly wise to consider covering the major aspects of fitness as possible. In this case, we may keep the two attractions, but the main goal would be expansion. The key areas that might be of interest might be the jogging track simulation, the treadmill wheels, the rock walls, and the fitness ability test booths. Let's give a brief description of each attraction section, and how it would have been improved, or just set up.
