The announcement for the 2025 Toronto Metropolitan University Thrill Design Competition went out on 2025 February 25 to every club or school that had previously participated or requested information. 🎉
The competition, presented by Universal Creativeâ„¢, is now in its 10th edition and has come a long way from 20 participants from four schools in 2014 on our campus in Toronto, to 120 students from 22 schools in 2024. We anticipate continued growth in 2025! The event will take place at Universal Orlando Resort 2025 November 13 – 16. Participants will also receive admission to the 2025 IAAPA Expo, just a couple miles down the road, if they are able to stay.
Teams receive their challenge(s) on arrival at the competition, and begin a time pressured creative process that could see them presenting their ideas in as little as 24 hours, and no more than 72 hours. Juries of professionals from Universal Creative, Universal Destinations and Experiences, and valued industry partners give feedback and education to participants after each challenge, helping them move toward their dream careers in theme park engineering and design.
Teams must participate in the Open Qualifying round to qualify for an invitation. Teams with completed OQ registrations by 30 April will receive the OQ challenge by 3 May. Just to sweeten the deal, “early bird” OQ registrations (by 1 April at 6pm Eastern) will receive the challenge on 15 April. OQ teams may consist of an unlimited number of eligible participants, including students who will be ineligible for the Invitational in the Fall. (Also, students who are ineligible to participate on their school’s OQ team but are eligible in the Fall can participate in the Invitational.) The announcement and program guide provide complete guidance about participant eligibility, and university theme park clubs or potential teams can contact me for any clarification about eligibility. Inquiries after 2025 April 30 will be added to our list for 2026 announcement.
Only one team per university can participate, so students at a university with a theme park club, theme park engineering team, TEA NextGen organization, or similar should contact their club leadership to find out if their club is already forming a team, or needs to inquire.
