What is IAAPA?

I live in Central Florida.  Theme Park capital of the WORLD!  Orlando is also a huge conference destination and I’ve been able to attend many technical conferences here.  Most recently, MS IGNITE 2019.  

But this weekend, I had the awesome privilege of checking out IAAPA.  The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

This is a MASSIVE industry only conference and trade show dedicated to everything that makes your favorite theme parks go round.  From roller coaster manufacturers to non-slip flooring to greaseless fried Oreos.  Everything you would find at an Amusement park (big or small) was represented here at the Orange County Convention Center.   For the industry insiders (and me), it was a chance to ride all the rides, play all the carnival and video games and taste all the food.  I honestly loved all of the inside baseball type stuff here and a chance to peek into the future technology that these park manufacturers and designers are thinking up.  By far, the most fun conference I’ve ever been to!

This year, there were a TON of VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) rides on display.   I was only at the trade show for a single day (thanks Steve for the hook-up!) but could have easily spent the full 4 days on the show floor just exploring all it had to offer.

The trade show took up all of the South Conference Hall as well as the outside parking lot area.  The outside area had some of the largest rides, tenting and inflatable attractions on display.

and yeah, since this was an industry conference, you could buy the attractions right off the show floor.

If you have the time and opportunity to attend an IAAPA conference, I would highly recommend it.

Hope you had a great weekend!
–CARLO