Themed Entertainment

Swamp Thrills – Starport

For Swamp Thrills 2026, we designed Starport: Intergalactic Delivery Training, a story-driven trackless dark ride where a 16-passenger spacecraft is split by a giant nudibranch and sent through two parallel missions: Crustallos (diamond storm) and Incendium (collapsing star), before reuniting for the final delivery.

The attraction spans three floors with paired lifts/converter transfers, immersive audio in a wormhole-inspired chamber, projection/hologram effects, and a modeled hourly throughput of 560 riders. Explore the full Starport workbook.

Team: Kyla Apara, Marina Castilla-Liu, Mia Jong, Sophia Mitsuoka

Our Swamp Thrills team came in second place and was awarded Distinction in Attraction Overview, Schematics and Models, Attraction Story, and Concept Visuals.

Parkitecture – Pilot Knob Lava Loop

For Parkitecture, I designed Pilot Knob Lava Loop as a solo entry — a fully accessible boardwalk loop at Morgan's Wonderland that drops guests into an extreme volcanic biome — a basaltic lava field of vents, tubes, and fractured "magma" crust — with interactive interpretive stations (lava-texture exhibits, pressure-vent experiments, and a seismic activation canopy) that turn Central Texas volcanic geology into hands-on play.

The design leads with inclusion + safety (one continuous accessible loop, multi-height interactives, calm zones, high-contrast wayfinding), research + education (tactile rock textures, "how lava forms" stations, Pilot Knob story node), and immersion (tectonic entry portal, tube passage, magma-crack lighting, nighttime projections).

See the full concept in the Lava Loop design deck.

I won the Innovation and Adventure Design Award for Lava Loop.

An annual haunted attraction design competition challenging teams to create immersive horror experiences with innovative scares and storytelling.

Coming soon: Our team's haunted attraction concept.

Talking Maxwell

Turned a Bottango animatronic kit into a fully interactive character. Hooked the mechatronic skull into the OpenAI API for real-time conversational responses and layered in smart servo control so the jaw, eyes, and head movements stay in sync with speech — guests can walk up and have an actual back-and-forth with Maxwell.

Built with: Bottango, OpenAI API, smart servos, custom audio/servo synchronization.

Boba Bounce

Designed a themed kiosk experience and arcade-style game for Stanford's Chun Yang Tea, turning a simple storefront visit into a mini attraction. Guests step up to the store's existing kiosk, play Boba Bounce, and the themed visuals, characters, and audio all work together to pull foot traffic in and give the store a signature moment.

To theme the in-store kiosk, I modeled and 3D-printed a set of custom characters that sit on top of and hang off the unit — turning an off-the-shelf kiosk into a themed attraction piece.

Built with my brother, Zane St John.

Scope: Attraction concept, 3D-modeled/printed character theming, game design, and in-store guest experience for Chun Yang Tea at Stanford.