One of the best ways to observe and learn from our projects is to attend as a guest. I stand in line and experience the attractions and rides and view the park as a guest does. I can't help but overhear the excited chatter between family members and friends and hear their thoughts on the experience. It doesn't take long to see what works well, and what guests enjoy the most.

Through the summer I have enjoyed taking Phoebe up to Cultus Lake Adventure Park on a regular basis. When we are there I let her determine what we go on and in what order. I experience the park through the eyes of a nine year old and listen carefully to her comments as well. Besides having fun adventures with Phoebe I am also interested in learning so I can build an even better park next time.

Tonight Phoebe and I spent three hours up at the park. It is all very familar now to Phoebe, she knows how the park works, where the shortest lines are and which rides are her favorites. Some we go on once, some many times over. Some we skip altogether. I also watch other guests, observing their traffic patterns through the park. I take note of the demographics of our guests. We aimed for young families and it is working.

One of our big concerns as we designed and built the park was the capacity. How wide did we need to make the walkways? How long did the line cues need to be for each ride? How many washrooms were required? Now with the park in operation the theory meets the real world. It is gratifying to see we achieved all of our goals and that the park can handle many more guests as it becomes more popular in the future..

While I was doing the market research we also managed to have a LOT of fun too!

-grampa dan