Introduction: The Experience Economy
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the idea of the guest experience not having to do with the slides specifically the actual rides is also
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something new and so it’s really just like adapting these kind of new more modernized ideologies and then two also
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just like I think just keeping an open mind and seeing what’s out in the industry what are the other parks doing
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I think if you’re involved in the industry I feel like you can learn a lot from other operators and and from what their winnings and what’s not working
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for them and even just, you know, water park day is a great example of that at IPO. Well, and you said something that was
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interesting. They’re promoting on the Weather Channel, but that’s not necessarily where their
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customer is, right? Like, who watches the Weather Channel anymore, right? Welcome to Live with Sandre. We are officially living in the experience
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economy. It’s no longer enough to build something big. It has to be immersive,
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emotional, sharable, cinematic, and measurable. The destinations that
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understand this shift, they’re defining the next decade of entertainment and attractions. Today, we’re talking about
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what happens when visibility, strategy, infrastructure, and revenue collide, and
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how that collision is reshaping the attractions around the world. And there’s no better person to have this
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conversation with than Alex O’H. Alex is one of the most recognized creators in
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experiential entertainment. When the world’s boldest waterparks open, his
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lens is the first to capture the story. He’s a Forbes 30 under 30
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honore and a Timeund creator, shaping how global audiences discover
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destinations. But what makes Alex different isn’t just reach, it’s his operational
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understanding. He’s not just filming thrills. He’s analyzing guest behavior,
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revenue flow, emotional impact, and long-term positioning. Welcome, Alex, to
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Live with Sandre. Well, hey, Alex. How’s it going? It’s going good. Welcome to the show.
Meeting Alex Ojeda
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Thank you for being here. Yeah, thank you for having me. Yeah, I’m excited to have you here today. And one of the uh things I’d like
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to start with today just because I think maybe there’s a little mystery around like who you are and what you do. And
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for me, because I’ve I’ve been binge watching, okay, since we met at the Ayaba waterpark day,
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okay, but I think the biggest question I have for you, just as somebody who’s watched watched what you’ve been producing and
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what you’ve been doing is that origin story, like how did you get started in
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this? Why why water parks? Why attractions? Why this industry? You
The Origin Story
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know, that’s one of my favorite questions I always like to ask guests when I first get started with them because I feel like so many people have
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a really cool story on how they got here. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um I think in the industry too, like everybody has their
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cool like why like where the passion spawns from. So it when I was a kid, I
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obviously was I was born in Mexico City and my parents I have four uh three brothers so there’s four of us. They
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came to Austin, Texas to study at the University of Texas and coming from a new country, you know, also having, you
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know, three other kids in while in college, we never really went on like big vacations or anything. I think
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really we just go back home or um there was no like all the crazy stuff you see on my channels now. And when my father
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first started working, he won a raffle for a cruise. It was like $5,000. And so we did like a three-ight cruise. We flew
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to Orlando and that was our very first like experience. And obviously on the cruise ship we did like water slides and
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we went to do all the thrilling excursions and all the beach clubs and all that fun. And so from that my
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parents saw how much fun we had on that trip and um it kind of like inspired their American dream because they’re
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like, “Oh, this is not cheap and we want to work hard to um basically give our
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kids these experiences.” And so, um, we ended up doing like 15 cruises from the
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age of like when I was 12 to like when I turned 18. Yeah. So, it’s just always
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been a part of the family. So, industry-wise, like that’s where the love spawns from is is really from seeing my parents like um and what that
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did for our family, having those shared experiences. And so, now everything I do on social media is kind of like to
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inspire other families to kind of have that same experience. I love that. I love that because that’s kind of how I started, too. And in some
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ways, my mother was um she was a tour guide for exchange students.
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So they they couldn’t really afford a ticket to Disneyland, but her boss used to be like, “You can take the kids with
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you.” And so we would go and
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I just knew as a young kid like I love this. This these were my greatest and
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best memories I had with my family. So I love that part of your story. I know when we were kind of talking before you
Grandma’s Viral Sensation
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came on, your grandmother is a big part of your motivation,
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inspiration. Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, when my grandfather
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passed away, my grandma moved from Mexico in with us. And at the same time, the game Fortnite was trending like
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crazy. And my brothers would spend hours playing mindlessly. And I would go to them like, “Hey, look at all these
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streamers that are doing social media and in streaming. you should go and do this. And um you know, being little
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spoiled kids, they were just like, “No, we’re just they didn’t really care.” But my brother would send the gameplay because he was really good at it to his
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friends, like if he won the game or something. And so I don’t know why, but at the time I was also very fascinated
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by the meme pages because those are very trendy on Instagram. Sure. And I was just fascinated by like, hey, there’s someone creating the memes and creating
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the account and running it and growing all these followers. And so that interested me. And so then I was like,
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maybe I’ll create my own meme page. And so I saw an opportunity to like um cuz there were people making Fortnite memes.
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I was like, what if I took my grandma, put a headset on her, and you know, edited the video to make it look like she was playing it. So I would get my
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brother’s gameplay, take my grandma and have her commentate over it. And there was no one really doing this. This is
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before, like this is on Instagram before reals was a thing. You could post video, but it wasn’t called reals. And so um we
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started posting. That first video got like 200,000 views. Um Wow. and was like trendy at that time,
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reposted the video tagging her. And so I basically just started making more memes of my grandma, you know, doing Fortnite
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dances, everything Fortnite. And then I saw ads for Tik Tok. When Tik Tok came out, threw the videos up there. And um
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it was like another overnight virality on Tik Tok. And then I was like, okay, well now I can make my own page. So I
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did the same thing just doing trends, lip singing, dancing u with my grandma.
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And um then that turned into like getting my teachers involved and my uh friends at school or my parents or
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siblings. And at the time like Tik Tok, you know, as the start of short form video, I feel like and so it was took
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off a ton because there was not as many creators as you see now. Um and so I just started on Tik Tok. Uh really just
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growing my audience there. That’s super cool. I mean I love I love that this industry is so much about family like you mentioned. Yeah. And
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then what you’ve done and been able to accomplish was so much about family, you
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know, and and and you mentioned you you have what? Four brothers. Yeah. Three three brothers. Three brothers. So four of you all
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together. I come from a family of three girls or four girls. Oh, nice. A girl the complete opposite. Complete opposite. Yeah.
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But that’s awesome. That’s awesome that your grandma let you do that. Yeah. Yeah. It was a lot of fun. I feel like she was, you know, had nothing
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really else to do, so she, you know, and I think she enjoyed it, too. It kept her a little bit. That’s awesome.
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Occupied. But yeah, so it was really cool experience with her. And then obviously getting to see that virality
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was a lot of fun. And then I learned a lot from running her stuff that I applied to to my content. And so I was able to, you know, understand like how
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to make a viral video like very early on. And that’s really cool. Well, speaking of viral videos, because I know that like
Debunking Influencer Myths
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there’s some pretty maybe common misconceptions about what you do in
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attractions because it’s not just about writing slides, right? Right. because there’s a science to what
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you do for sure. And you know, I’m curious
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maybe what the biggest misconception maybe that you want to challenge for the industry with regards to what you do and
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how you do it would be. Is that does that question make sense? Yeah. Yeah, I think a little bit. I mean, obviously the off the bat the most
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like I guess stereotypical one is like that it’s just like oh an influencer getting all these free trips and just
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kind of living on vacation which obviously I I genuinely love the industry and I love like all the places
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I get to go to but at the same time it is like it’s it’s a lot of work and um
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it just so happens that the work is fun, right? Yeah. Um, so I I nerd out about content
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creation and then I nerd out about like specifically the water parks, but also attractions as a whole. Um, and then I
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love the impact I get to make, right? Um, inspiring others. And so, um, really
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it’s it’s just that, you know, that it’s it’s a lot whole lot more than just like, hey, I’m on vacation or you see me
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traveling the world. Like, yes, it is actually that epic and it is a lot of fun, but it’s not that I’m just like
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living on vacation essentially. I mean, I get that because I also travel to a
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lot of places and when I leave my kids at home, they’re always like, “You said you were working, but I saw you on a roller coaster.”
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It’s like, well, yeah, that’s part of the job, right? Yeah. That’s the perk of the job that we get
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to do. But, you know, one of the things that I really think is interesting cuz we met at APA’s Waterpark Day, the first
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one that happened this last year, and you got on stage and talked a lot about
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marketing. which is a big part of what you do, right? Helping these parks not only
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understand how to better market them, but also you have the skill of of making sure that they can get the most
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visibility. you know, what is some maybe and I’m just jumping right in because I
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I think the audience that watches this, they’re operators, they’re people who want to learn from you, you know, what
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would you say is like one thing that they could consider doing today, if not
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working with you, right? Right. That uh that would help them to get more
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of that exposure online to be more visible to the audiences that they want
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to reach. Because I think like even for my business that’s a really difficult thing to know that right audience.
The Power of Shareability
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Yeah. I I think it’s it’s understanding number one that everybody in the world
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it doesn’t matter if you’re the most busy person or you’re just like lazy at home. Everybody’s swiping. Um so if you
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think in like the industry, right, even the GM who’s like super busy running the parks and running around in the summer,
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he’s still at night swiping reels and you know sending it to a friend. And I’m
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sure you’ve even today probably gotten reels that your friends have sent you or or Tik Toks or videos. And so it’s it’s
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really just understanding that that is the number one way for share like sharability is so big. Um not only that
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people are swiping but they’re they’re also swiping they’re seeing something and they’re sharing it. So as long as you understand that and you have an
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importance on that then it’s like okay now I need to figure out a plan to actually do that every single day. And
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it’s like every single day that you’re not sharing something is a missed opportunity for someone to watch a piece of content and share it to a friend. And
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so when it comes to like a water park or attractions business, it’s like that’s a missed opportunity for me to see a video
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on a place and then send it to a friend like, “Hey, we need to go there, right?” Or some someone in your audience or your
11:41
target demographic or even if they’re somewhere else, they may know somebody or hey, we need to check this place out and they’re going to send it to a
11:46
friend. And so it’s really just like, hey, once you understand that, what plan? what can you do already without
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doing any drastic change? Like maybe there’s someone internally that can start creating content. Um even if it’s
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not good, it’s better to have something than to have nothing. 100%. And I love what you said about everybody
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swiping because it’s so true. I actually just yesterday I had somebody asked me, they said, “Want to send you this reel, but I
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didn’t want, you know, I didn’t want you to think I was sending too many reels.” I’m like, “Reals are my love language.”
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Yeah. Yeah. And I think a lot of people feel that way, right? They’re like, “Send me the reals.” So, 100% you’re creating content for
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these attractions that is going to be sharable, first of all. I mean, they if they’re creating it,
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they want it to be something that can be sharable. Right. Right. And even uh I even shared one of yours. I was afraid you’re going to make
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me do a uh what was it? A brain rot challenge. You me hitting the button on the first try
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on the first question with me. But I did share that because I thought that was pretty funny. you know, something shared
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that with my my family and and I thought that was pretty funny that that you are doing all these very creative things
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like even the uh we were talking in the car on the way here, the video of the hideand-seek.
Behind the Scenes
13:01
Oh yeah. Yeah. you know, do you mind if I ask like how did you come up with that
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idea and and and if there’s any way that somebody who’s running an operation or marketing
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a park could maybe do something similar with regards to what was the biggest impact that it had for that park that
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was pictured in this video, right? Yeah. So obviously like at this my content strategy has always been like
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I’m kind of the weatherman reviewing a destination or like showcasing you the weather, but in this case it’s like I’m
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showing you these awesome places and there so there’s a lot of trust in me as an authority in that space. And I think
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as as I evolve, I want to test out different content formats and things like that. And so um it just happens
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that on YouTube challenges are very popular. So if you look at like the number one creator, Mr. Beast, right? Sure.
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He’s always doing some fun challenge whether it’s could be a hideand-seek. he’s done those a few times or just
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going above and beyond and doing some crazy challenges. And so I was like, okay, thinking of like out of the box
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ideas kind of like you brought up the brain rock quiz or or sometimes I’m miked up as a lifeguard like those are things that are not necessarily Alex
14:04
O’Hada showcasing a destination. And so seeing that hide-and-seek was a popular uh format on YouTube and a lot of
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creators are doing that. I was like, “Okay, how can I take that and build something that my audience would still
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resonate with and that’s also super entertaining?” And so I was like, “Okay, I have some friends that are open. they they live in in the Vegas area and so
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they were like, “Yeah, let’s let’s we get a group together and film this hide-and-seek.” And so, yeah, really I I
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have great relations with the people at the park and um let them know like, “Hey, I have this idea. Would love to do it.” It actually was right uh before WWA
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uh which was really fun and so we we filmed it. Obviously, it’s a great great entertaining piece. It’s less like,
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“Hey, check out this water park you could come visit. Here’s everything you need to know before you visit.” It’s more like u here’s an entertaining piece
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of content. And so it’s more that the park is kind of more the set. So it’s not necessarily like the greatest like,
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hey, people are watching this now, they want to visit the park, but anyone who does watch that that can go to the park
14:59
is probably going to go visit now. And then two, it’s also something great anytime someone searches up the park, um
15:05
that video pops up and now they’re seeing like, hey, this big established creator is is visiting this park. So it
15:11
brings a level of credibility to the park. And then um two, it obviously that
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was a very fun video. So, it makes it look like this is a lot of fun. Obviously, we’re not trying to promote like, hey, go play hide-and-seek in this water park.
15:22
Sure. Um, but it’s great. It’s It’s actually a great tool for their recurring guests or
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their season pass holders who are big fans of the brand. They’re now watching or content on the park. They see that
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they it’s it’s a lot of fun to see how the park’s involved in in something like that. And I do feel like the park was showcased in that video, right? because
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you get to see so many different parts of the park. Parts you’re not even spending a lot of
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time in this particular video for sure. You’re in the ride. Yeah. People are hiding in some of the the
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tallest towers, right? So, I felt like it was really cool cuz you kind of got that behind the scenes look that you don’t necessarily get.
15:57
Definitely. Um as somebody who’s just going to parks and as a a guest or a visitor. So, I
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thought that was really a creative and really cool part of of that video. And
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then even like the storage closets, you know. Yeah. Yeah. There was that one the one gal that you
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couldn’t find. I don’t know. I knew she was going. Really? Okay. Well, when she started packing all the
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stuff in. Yeah. Yeah. They were they were really hidden. That was a lot of fun to to film. Definitely, too. It took me a lot
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longer to find everybody. You would think that I was like, “Oh, I’m a water park pro. Like, I I’ll find everybody.” But it was
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I think we budgeted like I was like, “Oh, I’m going to find everybody in the first 30 minutes.” minutes, but I think it ended up taking like way longer. So,
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we were there in the heat, like running up and down the slides, Las Vegas heat. Yeah. Yeah. So, it was a lot of fun to
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film. Yeah, that’s that’s that’s a really cool one. And I think like what you said is that if if parks can get creative so
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that there’s a piece that nurtures their and entertains their season passholders.
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I love that. And also being able to have just this content that’s creative, you know. I
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love that you’re you’re modeling and mimicking after things that are working like Mr. Beast.
17:09
Yeah. And then anybody can do this really. Right. Right. It’s just they should do it with you.
17:16
For sure. For sure. Yeah. I think the the two biggest like especially when I’m working with parks is like we have two
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different main content angles. Like one is how are we making the park look like the greatest travel destination ever.
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Whether it’s like a small mom and pop or a more established uh water park. We’re we’re trying to make it look like you know the Maldes influencer like tropical
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like wow. So you’re sharing that video with the intention like this place looks so like desirable I want to go visit.
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That’s when you’re saying it to a friend and then we’re also making content that’s more entertainment driven that’s like hey this place looks so fun we need
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to go visit. Um and it’s not only affecting now like we need to go visit. It’s also like hey this place looks so cool I want to go work there or this
17:55
place the culture looks so fun I want to go work there. So it also aids with like staffing. Yes. Um also the internal culture uh both
18:03
like you mentioned like the recurring guests that you know people come year over year or people who haven’t been in a while but they have
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been to they’re fans of the park. Um they now have stuff that they can engage with, they can share and so we’re
18:14
building like this um like it’s just an avenue for the park to have sharability
18:21
which without posting there’s no there’s no sharability. Right. Yeah. Right. Well, you know, I’m curious
18:27
with regards to not just the sharability, but this content that’s being created. If if a park’s creating
18:33
this content or they’re working with you to create create the content, you know, what are
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what are some of the unique ways that you see them using it besides just posting? I mean, are they sending this
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out to because we talked about nurturing the guests that are already there, but also I know that we’re seeing a shift
18:54
where people are starting to search for their tra where they’re going to travel
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to, which parks they’re going to go to. Yeah. Um and and I know YouTube especially is
YouTube SEO for Attractions
19:06
probably I mean, isn’t search for on YouTube greater than that of Google for
19:11
these things? For sure. Yeah. And then it’s actually the number one like any attraction business there. It’s the number one like
19:19
no one’s on YouTube. they’re always on like Tik Tok or Instagram if and Facebook’s obviously number one,
19:24
especially in water parks, right? Everybody has a Facebook page, but YouTube is often always overlooked
19:29
and um SEO has grown so much, especially now even Tik Tok’s integrated with Google and obviously YouTube’s always
19:35
always been a thing. And so yeah, this posting this amount of content aids so much because now when people if you have
19:42
no content, you search the park, the website may come up or some trip advisor link will come up. But um now sharing
19:48
this amount of content, people are searching. Now you’re seeing Tik Tok videos, you’re seeing YouTube videos um
19:54
especially YouTube shorts is a big thing now. And so um that’s even coming up in searches. So So now if I’m searching up
20:00
like, hey, I want to go to Xwater Park. Now I’m seeing these videos that come up where the park looks either one like
20:05
this insane travel destination or two like the most fun place on earth. And so
20:11
guests are now clicking on that. They’re watching the content. They’re making their decision. now their buying power
20:16
is like heavily dependent on are other influencers sharing or is the park sharing content and um you know you can
20:22
only get so much on a website. Um so it’s it’s definitely been it’s it’s a
20:27
huge transformation especially for a lot of these parks that you know they were never on YouTube now we get them on YouTube um and now there’s so much more
20:34
like SEO anytime they’re searching on any on any browser. I love that. I do have one question.
20:41
Yeah. when you’re on the ride and you’re like recording yourself.
20:48
And I’m sorry, this is just something that I was thinking about the other night. I’m like, how are you holding a camera or is it a drone? I don’t know. I
20:56
maybe you can’t tell me that. If that’s a secret, if that’s a trade secret, you can’t tell me. But like I spent the
21:02
entire evening going, “How is this happening?” Yeah, I get that question a lot. It’s this 360 camera. So, um, you know, the
21:09
lenses are like on each side and then the selfie sticks in the middle. So, whether I extend the selfie stick or
21:14
not, because the camera lenses are like fisheyed on each side, you can’t actually see the selfie stick. It’s like
21:20
perfectly stitched out, but it looks like a drone is following me. Yeah. But it’s really Yes, I am holding a holding a camera.
21:26
Okay. Cuz I was like, how is this happening? And sometimes I’m doing going down multiple times with different angles, so then people are like, wait, how is this
21:34
filmed? Like, it almost looks unreal. But yeah, it’s it’s really just, you know, the AI edits out the selfie stick
21:39
and Yeah. Well, what’s cool, too, is, you know, um
21:44
it’s very cinematic when you have those different angles and you’re telling the story. You have all of this information
21:53
that you’re getting from the camera and from what’s happening cuz you’re on the ride, you’re having a good time. Sometimes it’s scary.
21:59
You know what? I really I I I really appreciate like that authenticity of you being on the rides and having the
22:06
experience that people are going to have when they’re there. And I think that kind of brings me to one of my next
22:13
questions, which is around, you know, you’re doing this very, for lack of a
22:18
better word, cinematic approach to what it’s going to be like when you’re visiting these parks. But within the
22:25
parks, what are they doing? because I know operations is something that you’ve gotten yourself really deep into the
22:32
park operations because of the work that you’re doing. You know, you are uh you’re helping them in many ways with
22:38
their marketing and their operations. So, I guess what I what I’m curious
22:43
about is what are you seeing being done differently in the parks that are maybe doing this this type of marketing?
Brand Partner Spotlight
22:50
Are we seeing any changes in how parks are being developed to accommodate this for people like you or just families
22:57
that want to also capture the moments in this way? We’re going to take a quick moment because conversations like this
23:03
just don’t happen by accident. Our Live with Sandre series brand partner Water
23:08
Technology Inc. is helping operators around the world turn vision into fully realized aquatic experiences.
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From early concept to master planning to design, engineering and project
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execution, their team brings together architects, engineers, designers to
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build environments that are intentional, immersive, and built to perform. What I
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love about WTI is this. They don’t just design water parks. They design how
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people experience them. Every detail is thought through. From guest flow to water quality to the emotional
23:44
connection a space creates. Because great experiences don’t happen by accident. They’re engineered. So whether
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unforgettable. You can learn more about WTI at wtiworld.com.
24:04
All right, let’s get back into it. For sure. Yeah. the the coolest thing is
Reshaping Park Operations
24:09
that um you know social media is now going hand inhand with the guest experience in the biggest way is like in
24:16
setting guest expectations. So a lot of the times parks will have a lot of pain points of their guests like negative
24:22
feedback from guests and a lot of the times that comes from a guest thinking they’re going to get one thing when they show up and then when they get there
24:29
it’s completely different. Um, and so social media allows us to set those expectations beforehand. So they know
24:35
exactly what the experience is going to be like before they even arrive. So then we’re seeing a lot more uh a lot of that
24:41
kind of go away. And then on top of that too, it also acts as a great kind of case study builder where now we’re able
24:48
to read hundreds of comments of people’s experiences or hey, if we’re posting about a specific ride or specific food
24:54
item, we’re now able to see like, hey, this is what these are people’s real thoughts and we can tell that they’re
24:59
real. clicking on the profile and we’re seeing hey this is someone locally who’s been to the park or they’re commenting like I was just there last week and I
25:06
tried the new elote fries or whatever it is and um you know I thought the portions were smaller or whatever it
25:12
might be right and so then the park’s able to take that um and build it in to build a better guest experience. So,
25:18
that’s been like the biggest impact. And sometimes it’s like like an example of this is I I have I work with a park that
25:23
was just recently acquired and they’d always allowed you to bring a cooler in. Like that was the the rule since it
25:29
opened and uh the new ownership group came in and was like, “Yeah, you know, if you have a season pass, you can bring a small cooler, but they don’t allow
25:35
those big coolers anymore.” And so I was like, “Okay, maybe we need to address this on social media.” Because there was
25:40
a lot of of kind of hate comments floating around in Facebook groups and online. And so, uh, we, you know, we we
25:46
shared content being like, “Hey, you can’t bring this in, but look how the food and beverage has been elevated.” And so, it did kind of two things. It
25:52
obviously educated the guests like, “Hey, this is a new policy.” It did upset a lot of people, but now the
25:58
guests weren’t showing up and and being like with their coolers and, “Hey, you can’t bring that in. It’s a new rule.”
26:03
Um, you know, we’re able to set the the president beforehand and that expectation. Um, and and showcase here
26:10
here’s here are all the changes. for example, um new ownership. This is this is everything that’s changed or here here’s what’s new in 2025 or 2026. Um to
26:18
kind of align the guest experience um so you’re not having any of that u miscommunication or that expectation of
26:26
the guest. That’s No, I love that because then that becomes also part of your marketing, right? Yeah.
26:31
You can address the guest concern. So, so somebody could probably even just like go through all of the reviews and
26:37
get all of the ideas for things that they would need from that alone, right? Yeah. Just just looking at,
26:44
you know, what do your guests want to know? What are they upset about? Sometimes those things that be I I say this to my parts all the time.
26:50
What your guest is saying is a gift. For sure. Right. Especially if you take it and use
26:55
it the way that you’re using it. Yeah. 100%. And it also allows like for education. So like um this goes hand
27:02
inhand with like building like um in park revenue or like opportunities for guests to spend money. Like a lot of
27:09
times maybe they didn’t even know that this new food item existed or they didn’t know that this specific family
27:14
fourpack that you’re offering existed. Now we’re creating content on it. Um and they’re learning about these things or
27:19
specific events or really anything within the park that we’re promoting. It usually goes I’ll get a list from the
27:25
leadership team that like lists out like here here’s everything we’re looking to promote in our marketing this year. And a lot of times it’s new food items, new
27:31
events, you know, new cabanas or whatever they’re whatever’s new that year and we’re now able to educate the
27:36
guests um before they come like, hey, here’s stuff that’s new and now that puts in their brain and they can go
27:41
spend more money. So, and and actually another park that also does allow outside food that I work with, it was
27:47
the same thing. Their their food and beverage is so good because they have to compete with people bringing in their own food, but the guests don’t know
27:53
that. So, only the guests that spend money and they try the food, they’re like, “Okay, this is actually really good.” good. Even when I was there, I was like,
27:58
“Whoa, this is incredible.” And so, what do we do? We shot content now educating
28:04
the guests like, “Hey, because we allow you guys to bring your food in. This is actually really good because we have to compete with you.” And, you know, it’s
28:10
it’s stuff that like, you know, when I heard the owner tell me that, I was like, if I’m a guest and I hear that,
28:15
I’m going to go spend money and go buy the food now. I’m not going to bring my own food because you just sold me on your food from that little comment. So,
28:22
we’re able to do a lot of things like that and educate the guests and and bring to life like what the leadership
28:29
team is very proud of in their park. Um, just like when I go through like the initial starting process of asking all
28:34
these questions to learn like what are they really proud of, what is their, you know, best ride, what the food, whatever, the best part of their
28:41
experience and we’re able to kind of exploit that on social media and bring it to to everybody. I love that. Well, you know, I I I I
28:49
know that this next generation, I’ve been in this industry a long time. This next generation is very much about the
28:56
experience be not just the rides, but the food being part of the experience. And we’re seeing more and more the
29:02
demand for like elevated levels of that experience, especially with food. For sure.
29:07
And that’s where I’m curious, are you seeing a lot of that in water parks right now, or do you feel like that’s
29:13
something that we need to see more of? A thousand%. I think in the US it’s 100% stuff we need to see more of. I recently
29:20
was in Southeast Asia visiting parks and in Thailand specifically um and in Bali those are big tourist markets. So the
29:26
same way like how I brought up the park has to compete with the people bringing in their own food out there they have to compete with every other tourist
29:33
attraction in the area. So where in the US it may just be a local water park, right? They’re not necessarily competing
29:38
with any local attractions. So, in Thailand, they’re competing with um and in Bali like the beach clubs or the
29:44
super nice hotels or if they’re ziplining or atving or whatever other experiences there are. So, they have to
29:50
make the water park experience so good. So, when people are on vacation, they want to go visit. And so, that’s why
29:55
when you look at like the top water parks in the world when it comes to like Trip Adviser or the the World Rankings
30:00
list, they’re all out there. Um, and so what I realized going to these parks is they don’t necessarily have the tallest,
30:07
longest, biggest record-breaking attraction where in the US it’s very like, hey, let’s build, and specifically
30:13
North America, let’s build the tallest and the biggest from a marketing play. And while that’s awesome, these parks
30:18
have the number one titles out here without having to do that. And so they really focus on that elevated experience
30:24
and and really, you know, I saw some parks, they’re capping attendance because they don’t want the wait times to be too long or um they’re they’re
30:30
really focused on like the layout of the park and and how you know what what’s the experience from when you enter the
30:36
gate to when you leave or or to when you’re on a slide to when you’re just lounging by a pool or if you’re at a
30:41
bar. like they’ve kind of mastered everything and they’re so like genuinely
30:46
like they’re they just nerd out over the guest experience versus in the US I feel like since it was the start of the
30:52
industry over here you know some of these products have just been operating the same way for so long and I think that now what we’re seeing in the US is
30:59
that all these these newer properties that are coming up they’re really succeeding because they’re now building these more resort style and less like
31:07
hey let’s just build the tallest longest towers um which I don’t get I’m a water slide Nerd and I want that. But
31:13
sure, I think there has to be a balance, right? And if you can have both, I think that’s where you win. And I think the US
31:18
could outrank th those those numbers in the middle in Southeast Asia simply because
31:23
they can have the great attraction, but also that great experience. You know, it’s interesting in the in the ticketing space that I’m in, there’s
31:30
this conversation that’s happening right now about we shouldn’t even be charging admission in the US.
31:36
Interesting. which is interesting. But, you know, I I pause a little bit on that because I think from what you’re saying,
31:42
you know, I think part of why they’re having to reduce the prices and do those things is because we’re not go moving in
31:48
that direction. Right. Kind of like we were having a conversation earlier today that there’s some parks like somebody’s going to have to die before that changes, right?
31:55
Which is not how it should be. And this is why we’re having these kind of conversations on this show and and with you. And I
Retiring Old Park Ideologies
32:01
really appreciate you being here cuz you know what is that thing that you think is happening in our parks right now that
32:08
just has to die? Like that idea that’s still there, an old idea
32:13
that’s got to go. Oo. Yeah. I I I think the biggest thing at least with all the parks I work with
32:20
on a consulting front, you know, they I feel like in the industry, the GMs have been around for so long and they’ve been
32:26
running these parks for, you know, maybe it’s 20 plus years, 30 plus years and and they love what they do, right? I the
32:32
GMs that I think are succeeding really well are the ones, and I’m not just saying this because they work with me,
32:38
are the ones that are open to listening to the younger generation um and and saying, “Hey, I understand that that’s
32:44
not my expertise, but I understand that that’s something we need.” And so when
32:50
that’s the case, I see a lot more you see a lot more change in the park. You see a lot more you’re open to more
32:55
ideas. Yeah. Versus some of these older parks that have just been running the same way over and over again. It’s kind of like if
33:01
it’s if it’s not broke, you know, don’t fix it. Like they’re going with that mentality, which is great. I’m sure that
33:07
that may still work. But if we want to see like exponential growth in a property here in the US, like they’re they really do need to um kind
33:13
of just look at it in that lens. I I see the parks that are succeeding even if they are those parks that kind of
33:19
started small and grew throughout the years. They’re now hiring younger talent or fresh, you know, new eyes and and
33:25
they’re open to these these more modernized ideas and they’re not kind of just cookie cutter operating which is
33:30
not I don’t think cookie cutter operating is necessarily bad. Well, there’s a lot of institutional knowledge in that, right? Like that we
33:36
need. It’s like some things shouldn’t be fixed because there’s they’re working really great. But I totally get what
33:42
you’re saying. Yeah. So I I think that that’s that’s a huge that’s what I’m seeing and and
33:48
obviously that does that’s like with social media right maybe before you know the marketing strategy has been like hey
33:53
let’s go spend money I have heard parks that they’re throwing money like to the weather channel to like promote them and
33:59
put them in the commercials and things like that and it’s like that’s great maybe that cookie cutter way still works
34:04
but some of the parks are okay let’s allocate some some of our marketing budget to these more modernized ideas
34:10
okay now we’re reaching different people and we’re able to build these case studies and do do different things. Same
34:16
thing when it comes to like food and beverage or even just in the in the park operation itself like really talking about the the idea of the guest
34:22
experience not having to do with the slides specifically um like the actual rides is is also something new and so
34:29
it’s really just like adapting these these kind of new more modernized ideologies and then two also just like I
34:35
think just keeping an open mind and seeing what’s out in the industry what are the other parks doing I think if you’re involved in the industry I feel
34:41
like you can learn a lot from other operators and and from what their winnings and what’s not working for
34:46
them. And even just, you know, water park day is a great example of that at IAPA, right? Yeah. Literally, everybody
34:51
had great feedback from there because they just came there and they just learn new ideas, right? Um and I think I think if you’re always
34:57
involved in in things like that and you’re open to um new ideas, even if it’s just implementing small changes, I
35:03
think that that’s where the the parks are going to start to succeed more. I think so, too. Well, and you said
35:09
something that was interesting. They’re they’re they’re promoting on the Weather Channel,
35:15
but that’s not necessarily where their customer is, right? Like, who watches the Weather Channel anymore, right? No one. I mean,
35:21
not my generation. Well, I mean, I know some 85year-olds
35:26
that do, but you know what I mean? That’s not where your guest is, right? Right. Your guest is where you’re talking about
35:32
on social media, on YouTube, for sure. and and and and I think that’s
35:37
something I appreciate what you said about the some of the old ways of doing things 100%. You know, I even see that
35:44
in the difference between the parks that we see growing the revenue and the ones that aren’t are innovating.
35:50
Yeah. You know, uh I have one park took on this wild idea and then ended up
35:57
having to build another dozen cabanas and three more food stands, right? because
36:02
they’re innovating and they’re seeing that when they innovate, they’re able to change the way that they’re doing
36:07
business and even grow the business. Cuz I believe all of these parks, even the old ones, they can still grow.
36:13
For sure. We don’t got to eliminate Yeah. admission. One one of my mentors is I don’t know if you know Mark Moore, um he’s in the
36:20
water park industry, but he said something that like really stuck out. He’s like, “We’re going to try something
36:26
one year. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, we’re just going to move on and we don’t try.” But he’s like, “At least
36:31
we’re going to try.” And so when I heard that I was like, “Oh, cool.” So he’s open to all these out of the box crazy
36:37
ideas and he’ll give it a shot. Like it a lot of times I think it’s kind of
36:42
like, “Oh, that’s yeah, maybe we we don’t know.” Like they’re kind of like on the edge of something and then they don’t give it the shot. And so when I
36:48
when I heard that, I was like, “Oh, that’s a very interesting kind of ideology. I think that would work really well if if a lot of parks like started
36:55
kind of adapting that. Obviously, not going overboard or crazy like with what ideas are coming on, but even just even
37:01
if it’s just a small implemental change or or some new idea or even just listening internally to to what the
37:07
staff, you know, is is seeing like talking to your lifeguards, like they’re the ones interacting with the guests the
37:13
most and they’re hearing all this feedback or like sometimes the GM is kind of more of an overview or and maybe
37:19
is not even climbing up the the slide towers. And so I think there’s um I think it’s just like being open uh to
37:26
trying something if it doesn’t work like realize like okay I at least gave it a try right and
37:31
and especially when we when we’re talking how we’re connecting with the guest giving things a try and just try
37:37
it right like it it’s it’s all just on the internet it’s like you said early on do it
37:44
even if it’s not the best thing if it’s better than nothing. Yeah. Right. People can still find you. there
37:50
are going to be people who watch that. That was actually one of the challenges I had when I started this show. My
37:55
mentor said, just go live every day, right? And I’m like, I can’t do that. But he said, even if it’s bad,
38:04
it’ll get better. For sure. And you have to start. Yeah. These parks just have to start.
38:09
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that that’s kind of saying of like just try it regardless. You’ll learn something. I
38:15
feel like that applies everywhere, not only just in in the attractions, but just with everything. And I feel like that’s where where change actually
38:21
happens and and where you learn, right? Yeah. Um and with social media specifically, like what I mentioned before is like
38:28
every day you’re not posting is like a missed opportunity. It’s a missed opportunity and like a lot of opportunity to learn. Like not only,
38:34
hey, did this post work? Should we do this type of content again? But also like, hey, did the guest resonate with
38:39
this? What are the comments? What is the feedback? Like you could be having that feedback every single day if you’re
38:45
sharing content, right? or it’s a missed opportunity for someone to share to a friend like, “Hey, we need a visit.” Or,
38:50
you know, to another employee, “You should come work here.” Whatever it is, right? I think it just it all has to do with just starting just doing something.
38:55
And like I said, it doesn’t have to be great. It can just um it’s better to post something than nothing at all. Yeah. And you’re going to get better at
39:01
it. Yeah, for sure. And I and I and and I think this is such thoughtful and great advice because for me who I am following are
39:10
mom travelers and people who are telling you how you can make the most of these experiences. So we know it works. The
39:18
park doesn’t even have to believe it works. They just have to do it because we know it works because we see it see
39:23
it happening through these other channels. Well, I um I actually have
Rapid Fire Questions
39:28
some rapid fire questions for you. Oh, okay. Yeah. which I think will be fun.
39:34
Yeah. But first, I have to tell you, we have one thing in common that I haven’t mentioned to you. I’ve also been in a
39:41
canine bite suit. Oh, really? Yes. I uh when I was a kid, my friend’s dad
39:49
was like a handler for K9 dogs. I was like 16. He was like, “Hey, Sandre, you want to put the suit on?” It looked like
39:54
it was before people were recording things and putting it on the internet. Really? Okay. Yeah. But I don’t know about your experience. Because I was a 16-year-old,
40:02
I could still feel the pressure of the dot for sure. Could you? No, I honestly could feel nothing.
40:08
Oh, but I was like so scared beforehand. Like the anticipation building up to it. Like I was like
40:14
freaking out. And then when it happened, I was like, “Oh, like okay.” Like with the suit on, you don’t feel it. But
40:20
obviously, like I can imagine like a real scenario. This was a like a a drug dog.
40:27
I don’t know what the technical term is. was like a drug sniffing dog and he had been trained and my uh my friend’s dad had all girls
40:35
too like my dad so I was always at their house and I knew the dog so I thought oh it won’t be a
40:42
big deal and he said you want to put the suit on and I’m sure the suits have improved since the late 90s but I could
40:48
still feel like but I also played paintball oh so I was a little more open you know at
40:54
at that age that’s how I got in the industry I was playing paintball ran a laser tag facility Yeah. Oh, wow.
40:59
In the late ‘9s. That’s a lot of fun. And so for me, I was always up for
41:04
things like that when I was young. So I just thought that was funny. Yeah. Yeah. That I don’t know anybody else who’s ever put a suit on.
41:10
Yeah. Honestly, probably one of the most like things I would have never expected to ever do, you know, doing social
41:16
media. And then that opportunity came up. I was like, “Okay, this is cool content, I guess.” But yeah, it was it was uh it was cool to experience that.
41:22
Hey, I watched it. Yeah. And that’s the thing. You never know, right? like what people are going to watch
41:28
for sure and what resonates with them. Right. Right. So, just a couple of quick questions.
41:35
What is like one tool or workflow or something that you cannot live without?
41:43
Oo, I mean obviously like I feel like everybody’s tool right now is ChatBT. Like that’s huge for me. Um that that
41:50
helps out a lot. But in terms of like my physical content creation, like I love the 360 cameras. cuz I love shooting on
41:55
drones. So, really, it’s just like um
42:01
I don’t know. The iPhone is probably like my one like when it comes to shooting. Like I I film a lot of content
42:07
on there. Really? Yeah. So, I’m an Android user, so Oh, no. I have to leave now.
42:13
That’s what everybody says. That’s crazy. It’s 2026. Yeah. I run a tech company.
42:20
Maybe if you had an iPhone. All right. We’re not going to go there.
42:26
Where’s Tiffany when we need her? My sister Tiffany. I don’t know if you met her at Water Park. Yeah, I did. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She’s like a strong advocate for
42:34
Android. So, Oh, we’ll have to tell her you said that. Okay. I’m going to have some debates with her.
42:40
All right. Here’s question number two. Rabbit fire. Flow rider or pickle ball on a stressful day? Which one?
42:47
Oo, I love both, but I’m going to have to go with Flow Rider. Flow Rider. Yeah. I could do that all day every day
42:52
like and never get bored of it. And pickle ball as well, but like I just love being in the water.
42:58
So my husband just said to me last week, he was like, “We should take up pickle ball. Is it really that cool?” Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. And where I
43:04
live in Austin, it’s like the capital of pickle ball. I don’t know if they say in the world or in the US, but it’s a very
43:09
social sport. So it’s a lot of fun. Like especially when I’m working all day, like I’m usually just hibernated like
43:14
Sure. in the co-working place just working. And so then it’s nice to get out and actually see humans and play and be
43:20
competitive and so I come from a tennis background too. I used to play a lot of tennis and so it’s it’s definitely a lot
43:25
of fun. All right, I might have to take that up. It’s a great sport. What is one destination
43:31
that you haven’t filmed yet that you want to film? Oo, I definitely want to go to China. So
43:38
um there’s a park there. It’s called Chim Long Ocean Kingdom and they have some insane water slides that they just
43:44
opened. So, that’s like probably number one on my bucket list. And then there’s also just some crazy parks in mainland
43:49
China that I haven’t uh been to because I’ve been to Hong Kong and Macau, but I’d never gone like deep into like some
43:55
of the crazy stuff. Um, so definitely China’s like up there. Yeah, that’s cool. And who
44:04
needs to be paying the most attention to the shifts that are happening in the industry right now? like some of the
44:10
things we’ve talked about, but who do you think this information is for? Is it
44:15
somebody working inside of these organizations? Is it
44:20
Yeah. I I mean, I think it it comes down to number one the GM of any property or
44:26
or the leadership teams because I think it it’s whoever the decision maker is who’s also the kind of passion driver.
44:33
So the one is like passion driven of like hey I’m here to for the guests and to build this incredible guest experience and realizing that this kind
44:40
of aids that and I was also able to make that decision. So if it’s an owner, if it’s an operator, I think that that’s
44:45
the biggest. It’s not necessarily, hey, the director of marketing or, you know, or anyone in marketing that this
44:50
obviously applies to that. Sure. But I I do think that it’s it’s realizing how this goes handinhand with the guest experience. And so anyone
44:56
who’s directly involved of like making those calls, I feel like is the is the go-to person that should should realize
45:04
both from a from a like a social media standpoint, but also from a guest experience standpoint, like what I
45:09
mentioned, how the experience is now changing less from the water slides and more to the destination as a whole.
45:16
So they’re being very thoughtful about how that entire experience is coming together for the S.
45:23
Well, hey, thank you for being here. Yeah. I know. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Yeah, of course. I really appreciate you coming out here, Sharon. I think this is
45:29
like gold. I appreciate that. And I and I hope that, you know, everybody listening really takes some of
45:35
this and implements it and and and you know, I know you’re available to help in
45:41
the event that they they need insights on how to do that. For sure. Yeah. I appreciate it. This is
45:47
this has been awesome conversation. Yeah. Thanks, Alex. All from Water Park Day. Yeah. All from Water Park Day. I like it. Yeah.
45:52
And everybody should go. Yeah. I don’t I think so. I think it was awesome. It was a great day for sure.
45:58
All right. Well, I’ll see you soon. See you soon. Thank you. Thank you. We’re entering a new era. An
46:03
era where destinations are designed for emotion, engineered for scale, measured for revenue, and amplified globally. The
46:11
parks at Thrive won’t be the loudest. They’ll be the most intentional. Because experience is no longer a decoration.
46:17
It’s a strategy. And strategy doesn’t stop at marketing. It extends into infrastructure, into engineering, into
46:25
partners that help you choose what’s possible to build. That’s why conversations like today and firms like
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Water Technology Inc. who are engineering the next generation of aquatic experiences matter. The future
46:38
isn’t just filmed. It’s built to every operator, engineer, marketer, and
46:45
visionary watching. The next decade of the industry is being designed right
46:51
now. Make sure you’re building it on purpose. I’m Sandra and this is Live. If
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this conversation resonated with you, subscribe to Live with Sandra. We bring
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