Many theme parks seem to be incorporating a scavenger hunt into their potential experiences for guests with even Disney is in on the trend. Many parks have these now with some being permanent, others seasonal and some just for special days. Gamification can bring out the competitive nature of many people as they seek to complete tasks for a modest prize. While waiting in lines or walking around the park these games can provide extra engagement and enjoyment, often with a free souvenir at the end. They can be especially fun for regular guests, season passholders or guests visiting for several days who are looking to enjoy the atmosphere of the park more than rushing to try to ride every attraction.

Disney has two “official” scavenger hunts with the Fab 50 Character Collection across all the parks and the Wilderness Explorers at Animal Kingdom. They also have one “unofficial” scavenger hunt for adults if you count drinking around the World at Epcot! In the Fab 50 Character Collection e on the lookout for gilded sculptures (golden statues) of beloved characters at each theme park. You’ll be searching for  36 golden sculptures (featuring 50 Disney characters) that you’ll “collect” with your MagicBand+ or Play Disney Parks app. With the MagicBand+ just stand in front of the character and move your hand in a circular gesture until your MagicBand+ vibrates and turns multiple colors—letting you know you have collected that character virtually.  In the app you’ll see the characters you collected animate in augmented reality (AR) and earn Achievements when you find them all!

Wilderness Explorers at Animal Kingdom is a hidden gem of this Disney park. This is a robust program that almost has the feeling of scouting as is based on the scout-like program Russell was a part of in the movie Up. Guests are challenged to collect over 25 badges through self-guided activities ranging from animal observation to learning important wilderness skills. You pick up an amazing Wilderness Explorer handbook from headquarters, located on the bridge between the Oasis and Discovery Island, or can also get them at Wilderness Explorer Troop Leader locations in Africa, Rafiki’s Planet Watch, Asia, Dinoland U.S.A. and Pandora (where you can also get the badges you earned). These Troop Leaders are legit awesome and they’ll have hands-on activities for you to do. You could quite literally spend a whole day at the park completing this and walk away totally satisfied with your experience.

Several parks have seasonal scavenger hunts and we did a great one at Kentucky Kingdom during their Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom event. Guests were invited to use their phone to find clues near several attractions to solve for a secret word. This secret word got you the reward of a nice commemorative “Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom” pin.

Kentucky Kingdom’s sister Herschend park, Wild Adventures, has had a scavenger hunt for several years related to their Dinosaur Explore exhibit. The Wild Adventures Safari Seekers Scavenger Hunt works with text messages and a QR codes to also solve a secret word style puzzle.  Once you’ve unlocked all of the secret letters, return to Adventure Emporium and show the cashier the secret word for a small prize.

Island H20 recently had a scavenger hunt centered around Father’s Day. It was a relatively simple printed sheet of paper that was handed to guests on entry to the park on Father’s Day weekend where Fathers looked for surfboards throughout the park. If you accomplished this you got the sweet reward of some free ice cream!

Busch Gardens Tampa had a great scavenger hunt in honor of their 60th anniversary. Busch Gardens used it to tell about their history with information boards throughout the park that provided great history about past attractions and the park in general. These board would provide the answers to trivia questions on a provided sheet which you could then return for a prize.

Scavenger hunts can be a great way to increase guest engagement during their time at a park. It has the potential to get guests out of their regular patterns and perhaps explore areas of the park they might normally bypass. A small token gift (anything free really) also has a way of bringing loyalty. Compared to a new attraction, starting a scavenger hunt costs pennies, but can really add to the guest experience. By allowing guests to use their phones to do it the cost tumbles even more while also reducing waste and littler. I’ve seen a rise in the use of scavenger hunts at parks in the last several years and given their popularity this will only continue as yet another way for guests to be entertained at a theme park.