We've all been there. The minor panic when you arrive at the gates to a new-for-you park, eager to begin your adventure for the day but nervous that you're going to forget about something or walk straight past a major attraction because the entrance wasn't that well sign-posted. You fumble with the map, but you're not that great at reading these things and the marketing team got a little over-enthusiastic with cartoonifying the park meaning the paths on the map don't quite match up to the ones you're walking on. Crap.
Well, gone are those days my friends! Introducing AmuseGo, a new app available for iOS and Android that promises to eliminate the need for wrestling with theme park maps by condensing the parks down into a smartly designed and easy to read navigation app to help you make your way around theme parks with ease. I tried out the app for the first time today, and here's what I thought!
So, how does it work? Essentially, it's like a condensed version of Google Maps, but for theme parks. Once you're in the park you have two options. Firstly, you can simply open the app and whichever attractions is listed at the top is the one closest too you. Amazing for if you're in a park that you don't really know a lot about and don't care what you ride next. This changes depending on your location and will update accordingly which is a great touch!
Alternatively, just search for the ride you want to go on first. Just type the name of the attraction into the search bar, tap on the ride when it pops up and select to start the route. The app will give you the distance both in time and feet/miles and will also give you an ETA based on your local time. Simple.
So, how is it for navigation? Similarly to other navigation apps, your route is mapped out in front of you in a thick blue line with other points of interest highlighted along the way for reference. One thing I always struggle with with other navigation apps is getting my bearings to start my journey. What's fab about AmuseGO is it literally tells go which direction to head in to start your journey, which is great! The app then gives you turn by turn directions to get you to your final destination as quickly as possible.
One thing I would say is that using this app in a park I know so well like Thorpe, it did feel a bit wrong following a route I wouldn't personally take myself, but hey, the tech knows the quickest way there and it definitely got me to every location I inputted without a hitch. And it's not just attractions you can navigate to, the app also covers off restaurants and shops too, which in my experience are the places less straightforward to locate so definitely something that would come in handy for me personally.
Overall, this is definitely something I feel I will use in the future, especially as I'm always paranoid that I'll miss something! At the mo the app only covers the majority of the Disney Resorts, a selection of major US parks and Thorpe Park, but it would be great to see AmuseGO expand to include some more of the major UK and Europe parks too, especially considering the European parks are usually the ones with the most confusing layouts. In the future it would also be great to see other facilities such as toilets or ATMs covered in the app too, but it is my understanding that the app works by using information available from Google Maps, so hopefully this is something the team can work around to incorporate!
Just a couple of downsides from me. Firstly, a personal issue. Part of the fun of exploring new parks for me is all about not knowing what lies around the corner. I rarely look at park maps and generally just like to wander around, so this maybe isn't something I would use religiously out of fear of spoiling things for myself. But that's obviously a totally personal preference and I know tons of people who meticulously research every inch of a new park they're about to visit who would love this app!
The only technical downside I could see for this was if I changed my mind and wanted to reroute to a different ride, I had to close the app and reload to start a new navigation. But again, a very minor niggle in what is overall a great product. The app is currently undergoing a makeover so there will be lots of new features in the update such as the ability to suggest the location of an attraction and ride rating too.
As stated above, the app is free to download on iOS and Android and it is my understanding that more parks are being rolled out constantly, so keep your eye out for your favourite park to be added soon!
Talk later xoxo,
*This review was done in collaboration with the fab guys at AmuseGO but as always all opinions are my own
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