Creating Theme Park Scents: AromaPrime

For the past 40 years, AromaPrime has created many unique, exciting scents for theme parks and their attractions that you might recognise. We spoke to Liam Findlay, Attractions Consultant and Head of Marketing at AromaPrime, about the creative process behind their scents and why it’s important to have scents in theme park attractions.

For those who might not know, what is AromaPrime and what do you do?

AromaPrime is a themed smell company. We create atmospheric, luxury, enticing, fun and educational aromas for theme parks, museums, zoos, shops, hotels, aquariums and more! People may recognise our pongs from attractions such as Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Sea Life, The Dungeons, Madame Tussauds, Legoland, Bobbejaanland and even the Natural History Museum!

Vortex Scent Machine (photo by AromaPrime)

What are some of your favourite scents you’ve created for theme parks in the past?

AromaPrime was founded in the 1980s (it's our 40th anniversary this year!), so we've worked with countless theme parks. One of our earliest theme park projects was to create a custom Dragon's Breath scent for Camelot Theme Park, and we still sell it today.

We love the Halloween period, because that's when the scare attractions open, and our most unpleasant aromas come into play! Thorpe Park and Alton Towers' scare mazes, such as The Attic and Creek Freak Massacre, use our scents to create a visceral intensity. Smell triggers emotions in your brain like no other sense, which is why it's so powerful in scare attractions.

We recently collaborated with Thorpe Park to launch the Theme Park Fan Collection, where fans can buy the real scents used in the scare mazes! We'll be adding more official theme park smells over the months.

Thorpe Park Resort - ‘Platform 15’ (photo by Thorpe Park)

What does your creative process look like for a scent made for a theme park or attraction?

We work closely with theme park designers to ensure an attraction's scents tie in perfectly to the storytelling. Sometimes, this will require research, in order to achieve authenticity, and we'll sniff all sorts of interesting substances! If a park wanted the smell of something fictional - let's say a demon - we would research demons, the things demons are associated with, and then we'd experiment with the stinks that might arise from such a creature.

How did you go about designing the scent for Wicker Man at Alton Towers?

We have a variety of fiery aromas in our library, and Woodsmoke was the perfect pick for Wicker Man's smoky wood theming! Because AromaPrime has over 400 scents, sometimes we won't have to design something new, as was the case with Woodsmoke. A ride having a 'signature smell' like Woodsmoke is not only important for creating atmosphere, as it can also help an attraction to stick in people's minds. If guests smell burning wood outside of Alton Towers, they may be transported back to a time they were riding Wicker Man. That's a powerful thing, and it's why so many fans like to own theme park scents at home.

Mini Dispenser & Scents (photo by AromaPrime)

Are the scents used in scare mazes custom made for each attraction?

Rotting Flesh reminds people of their own mortality, Musty makes people feel uncomfortable, Dungeon makes people feel claustrophobic and Vomit makes people feel sick! Having familiar scents with specific functions like this is valuable to scare mazes, and you can see why there isn't often a need to create anything new for them. If we do create something new for a scare maze, it will often involve combining existing aromas for a double-pronged attack!

Do parks use more than one scent for each ride or attraction?

Some rides will only use one aroma, like with Wicker Man, helping to make it recognisable. Others will use multiple aromas to help tell a varied story, whether it is to emphasise scene changes (like at Dungeon attractions) or it is for entertainment (like in Chessington's sweet-scented Bubbleworks dark ride). Dark rides and walk-through attractions are where multiple scents are more common, while a roller coaster or retail/hospitality space is more likely to have a signature scent.

Vortex Midi Scent Machine (photo by AromaPrime)

Is the creative process different when you’re creating a scent for a theme park compared with another venue (e.g. a museum)?

Theme park scents can occasionally be more fantastical than a museum scent, where historical accuracy tends to be imperative. Despite this, our research process will be the same in both cases. When we created a t-rex odour for the Natural History Museum, we researched t-rex behaviour and spoke to relevant experts, finding that t-rexs would have smelt of dirt and rotting meat, stuck between their teeth!

Why do you think theme park scents are so important?

Scents affect your mind like nothing else, helping to spark memories, behaviour and emotions. They can make you happy, scared, nostalgic or hungry. One attraction even uses our Flatulence aroma to influence guest flow! There are many tricks to be played with scent, and each of them adds something of great value to the guest experience. AromaPrime's scents and scent machines are deeply rooted in the histories of theme parks around the world, and we continue to innovate as new rides and experiences are created each year.

We bought the scent ‘woodsmoke’ from AromaPrime and absolutely love it. It’s so great to have access to our favourite theme park smells!

If you want to learn more about AromaPrime or get your hands on some of their amazing scents, go to aromaprime.com.

Huge thanks to Liam for answering our questions!

What’s your favourite AromaPrime theme park scent?

- Zoe