About a month ago, a new game was introduced at Icon Park in Orlando which allowed guests to shoot “laser guns” at targets from their observation wheel. After some backlash online, Icon Park is pausing the game and will redesign the shooting devices before relaunching the game.
For $5.95 extra per person, guests could play the Bullseye Blast game to see how many targets they could shoot while riding The Wheel at Icon Park. Each guest received a “laser gun” to shoot infrared beams at targets along the rooftops, parking lots, and all around Icon Park.
Although some online felt it was just like any other shooting game such as Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, others felt it was in bad taste, not only because of the gun violence in America, but because it’s so visible in an area too similar to real shootings.
Holy crap, this is a bad idea. There are gun/shooting ranges if you want to practice your marksmanship. Do we really need to target practice in ways eerily familiar of so many deadly incidents?
— Angie Wanner (@angielynn10) July 16, 2022
Icon Park released a statement saying “… the Bullseye Blast game satisfied guests who enjoy gaming, arcades, and virtual reality. From capsules, guests use a toy infrared device to compete and hit round, colorful targets on rooftops. The experience was thoroughly tested and well received by guests during a process spanning many months.
“Some non-guests and community members expressed that they considered the toy shooting device used to be insensitive. The attractions industry has many similar games which use similar shooting devices, so that is what we were limited to when exploring the game. However, we believe that a device can and should be designed which does not offend anyone in the community. We look forward to leading this new innovation.”
Lance Hart, owner of the theme park website Screamscape, suggested the “guns’ could be redesigned to look like cameras, something guests on The Wheel are already pointing and shooting with.
Just a thought but @iconparkorlando could have avoided all the fuss about the new Bullseye attraction by changing the theme of the devices from guns with target scopes to cameras with telephoto lens. Same electronics just a different shaped container.
— Screamscape (@screamscape) July 16, 2022
For now, the game is no longer available. Icon Park’s statement went on to say, “During the design process, we will pause the current version of the game. Just like all electronic games are improved over time, we will pursue a new design that will deliver the same level of customized fun for guests, in a way that the entire community can embrace.”
Here’s a look at the first version of the game and our original interview with an Icon Park spokesman. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
