ORLANDO, Fla. — Universal, Walt Disney World and Sea World are ramping up construction on new rides and attractions at an unprecedented rate, but the real winner might be the theme park industry.
It's not just the tourists benefiting; it's the local companies who supply the theme parks that are growing like never before.
The newest roller coaster to come to SeaWorld was designed and built at Skyline Attractions in downtown Orlando.
SeaWorld is changing by moving away from animal attractions and instead turning to rides.
And for a local company such as Skyline Attractions, that's more opportunity to sell a multimillion-dollar coaster that's made up of local parts from local companies.
On top of that, when Skyline sells a roller coaster to SeaWorld, that encourages other theme parks overseas to follow suit which means Orlando is not just designing and building coasters, it’s exporting them.
And the boom is big. Disney and Universal are ramping up like never before.
Disney is midway through its 50-by-50 plan--50 new rides, attractions and renovations by its 50th birthday in 2021.
Universal is expanding onto nearly 500 acres of new land near Lockheed Martin.
That means more work for Orlando's new wave of theme park ride design companies, such as Dynamic Attractions in Orlando, which designs many of the big parks’ biggest rides.
The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, or IAAPA, will open its national headquarters in Orlando next year, because as a lobbying agency representing 5,300 companies across 100 countries, it wanted to be closer to core members who make their living on rides and attractions.
Over the last three years, companies such as Skyline have doubled in size and that means high-wage work for engineers, designers and programmers.
There are 178 theme park design and engineering job openings in Orlando on LinkedIn.com