A family entertainment center (or center ), often abbreviated FEC in the entertainment industry, (also known as indoor amusement park or indoor amusement park ) is a small amusement park marketed for families with young to teens, and often entirely indoors or associated with larger operations such as a playground. They typically serve "sub-regional markets of larger metropolitan areas." FECs are generally small compared to full-scale amusement parks, with fewer attractions, lower cost per person per hour to consumers than traditional amusement parks, and are usually not the main sights, but are sustained by the area's customer base. Many are owned and operated locally, although there are a number of chains and franchises in the field. FEC is sometimes called the family entertainment center , play zone , family fun center , or just fun center . Some non-traditional FEC, called the urban entertainment center ( UEC s), with more tailored and branded attractions and retail outlets, is associated with major entertainment companies and possibly tourist destinations. Others, sometimes operated by Nonprofit organizations as Children's Museums or Science Centers, tend to be directed to the edutainment experience rather than simply entertainment. FEC may also be an addition to a full-scale amusement park.
Video Family entertainment center
History
FEC is basically the result of the development of themed restaurants that are increasingly developing entertainment features in their homes, small-scale amusement parks that require more offerings than just a few rides and middle games, and diversify previously one-attraction attractions (water parks, parks skate, billiards room, bowling alley, and so on). All three categories have migrated for decades in a sustainable way toward stocks, popular entertainment solutions supplied by third-party vendors. Among the earliest themed restaurants known more for family entertainment than food is Chuck E. Cheese's, a pizzeria founded in 1977 in San Jose, California.
Maps Family entertainment center
Attractions
Most FECs have at least five major attractions or "anchors", to provide a variety of protective (often in bulk) at least one to two hours of entertainment, to encourage repeat visits, and to reduce the time spent waiting for each given attraction. Some of the more common attractions include (depending on size, climate, etc.):
The most common anchor activities are mini golf, kart racing, arcade and redemption games, and food & amp; drinks, according to industry specialist StoneCreek Partners. FEC rarely uses specially constructed places, because of the costs involved, rather than installing off-the-shelf systems provided and maintained by industrial equipment vendors.
Any given FEC may be more inclined to outdoor activities, arcade games, or entertainment and passive feeding. Each can serve different age ranges, over time, or during certain hours, such as children and entire families during the day, and teenagers to young adults in the evenings, with special promotional programs to attract different market segments at different times.
Business model
FEC tends to serve "sub-regional markets", such as small towns, quadrants or boroughs of big cities, and large suburbs outside the city. Their busiest time is late afternoon on weekends and Thursday to Saturday nights.
Since most attractions are essentially the same from FEC to FEC, the two most important factors in a particular center that distinguish itself from potential customers is the very visible location (difficult to obtain because other uses for the land are often more competitive), and themes developed and promoted consistently appealing to the target market segment, "the fun factor in overall decoration".
Parental concerns are also important. While the children themselves rarely think about it, the main factor in the attractiveness of the FEC for parents is safety and security in place, as adults can lower older children in such places to entertain themselves. An increasingly important factor for success is high quality food and beverages to attract parents' spending as well as family meals.
Non-traditional FEC
Major brands of media and entertainment, including Disney, Lego, NASCAR, Sega, Sony, United Artists/Regal and Viacom, have been attached to family entertainment centers, often much more "traditional" than local FECs and chains, with custom-built, unique, usually very branded, and most commonly located in major metropolitan areas. The first such as urban entertainment center (UEC) is Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles, California, which opened in 1993, linked several Universal properties. Including various retail outlets, restaurants and attractions, CityWalk created many "sustainable buzz" in the retail real estate industry, which began "embracing the idea that Universal Studios, Sony, Disney and other entertainment companies can create new anchors and entertainment programs for the center shopping ". Another significant UEC is Sony Metreon in San Francisco, California (1999-2006).
Some nonprofits, educational installations, such as the Exploratorium in San Francisco, also have FEC aspects in format and atmosphere, but with activities that are geared toward learning and experiencing, not simple entertainment. Some non-profit companies also use this model, or combine edutainment with simpler entertainment attractions.
Industrial organization
The main international industry associations supporting the FEC are the International Association of Amusement and Attractions Parks (IAAPA), which joined and absorbed the membership of the International Association for the Entertainment and Entertainment Industry (IALEI) in October 2009. IAAPA maintains addresses in Virginia, Hong Kong, Brussels, Belgium , and Mexico City. The International Laser Tag Association (ILTA) also remains active (and wider than its name). ILTA is based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. For many smaller smaller communities, FEC and owners/operators who can not always make the IAAPA exhibition, the IAAO Entertainment Association International Association [1] is an online resource for family entertainment center operators and startups.
In Canada
The Canadian FECs are called "family entertainment centers" or "fun centers", because of the English-style spelling conventions in Canadian English.
- Chuck E. Cheese (US property)
- Playdium
In Mexico
- KidZania (Mexico City, 1999)
- American Incredible Pizza Company (Monterrey, USA)
In the United States
The main national industry group in the US is the National Family Funnels Association (NAFEC), which is perhaps a blend of the International Laser Tag Association (ILTA).
Some US-based companies also have places in Canada (mentioned above), but this is rare due to legal/political difficulties involved in cross-border companies.
FEC America varies wildly in theme, size and features. Some of the larger businesses in this category include:
In the United Kingdom
- The Living Rainforest
- Water World, Stoke-on-Trent
- London Life Sea Aquarium
- Madame Tussauds
In other countries
- Entertainment City (Manila Bay, Philippines)
- Happy City (Colombia)
- Round1 (Japan)
- Sega Republic (Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2009, Japan)
- Universal CityWalk (part of Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, US owned)
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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