Category: THRILL

Ride accident reporting still piecemeal, June 2026

A court in Greece has reportedly sentenced owners and liable personnel over a fatal injury in August 2024. The owner of a Halkidiki amusement park was sentenced to life in prison, with his co-owner/wife sentenced to 9 years for complicity, the certifying engineer to 13 years, and the ride operator to 6 years.

This post revisits an earlier topic of piecemeal reporting on ride accidents, and the impact on the general public who do not have time to scour the internet, laws, regulations, standards, and ride catalogs for more information.

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World’s Largest Swimming Lesson

2026 edition – June 25
locations worldwide!

Since 2010, “Team WLSL” from the aquatics industry has produced a worldwide day of swimming lessons. Taking place 2026 June 25, many local host locations including waterparks and other aquatic facilities will have learn-to-swim and water safety skills events. Tens of thousands of people will participate around the world. Look for an event near you.

Find a local event

Swimming lessons save lives.

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Student theme park clubs

University theme-park clubs are becoming more common. Amusement rides and theme-park-going is a familiar activity for most students. To tell stories or deliver immersive experiences begins with the crafting of the story or theme itself, and numerous creative disciplines contribute to the project execution, including architecture, landscape architecture, environmental graphics, interior design, set design to tell those stories in compelling places. They also contain a variety of technologies, from structures and mechanisms to digital media to deliver the immersive storytelling. The choice of which stories and experiences will be presented is based on strategic decisions, extensive economic analysis, and business analytics. Theme parks also contain the management of operational processes from guest-facing hospitality and service delivery to team-facing management and support of diversified employee cohorts, including entertainment and creative fields.

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Early birds

One month before the Open Qualifying round registration deadline, we have 18 teams registered, with a few additional teams starting to fill in the individual and team registration forms. Promotion of the competition is by word of mouth; we don’t use a website and advertising. Any university theme park design club can contact me to inquire. Inquiries after April 30 will receive the 2026 announcement.

The contact person must be a student or a student club. The competition involves a NDA process, which means that competition work cannot be submitted for academic credit or recycled in a portfolio, as faculty, staff, professional mentors, and family cannot see the challenges or help with the solutions.

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TMU Thrill Club history

An enjoyable walk down memory lane preceded my visit to the Thrill Club meeting on 2025 February 5, visiting campus from my sabbatical away. I presented about the history and past activities of the club since its precursor (student research assistants in the THRILL Lab) and establishment as a formal club, and had a chance to think about the great careers that have emerged from the club.

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