Thrillz High Flying Adventure Parks is a group of three indoor family entertainment centers on the East Coast of the US, featuring virtual reality experiences, arcade games, super-sized slides, laser tag, and more. They are known for their unique obstacle course concept that challenges guests to complete an elevated course without falling onto giant inflatable airbags.
After initially using LilYPad, Thrillz switched to ROLLER’s venue management platform because of its integrated payments functionality and user-friendly interface. They also considered CenterEdge, but ROLLER’s cutting-edge technology was better suited to support their growth ambitions.
Caroline Cannon, VP of Strategic Growth at Thrillz, joined her parents in the family business in 2023 and is focused on delivering on the business’ hypergrowth strategy with the support of ROLLER.
If another venue is considering ROLLER, I would tell them you can't really go wrong because it's so customizable to whatever your needs are. Whether your offering is super simple or super complex, ROLLER is the destination for you.
Caroline Cannon
VP of Strategic Growth
Customization is key
The flexibility of ROLLER aligns perfectly with the dynamic nature of Thrillz, allowing it to offer a wide range of attractions and navigate the changing needs of its multiple venues effortlessly. “What I love about ROLLER is that I can have three different parks even though it's all under one business. We have distinct locations with different amenities, obstacles, bundles, and deals. I'm able to customize my ROLLER instance to each of them," says Caroline.
It’s five times faster than if we didn’t have a digital platform to work off.
Caroline Cannon
VP of Strategic Growth
Family entertainment centers like Thrillz must constantly evolve to meet guest demand and capitalize on consumer trends, so having a venue management platform that offers a high level of customization is critical for operators like Caroline. “I need to be able to edit different product types, add products, take away products. For example, we had a VR arena that we ended up taking down, and we're replacing that with a new indoor ride.”
Whether introducing a new attraction, removing an old one, or updating their price points, Caroline finds peace of mind in ROLLER's simple and flexible product configuration. “We’re always changing, but I never have to panic about changing a price or the name of a product,” she says.
The ease of making these changes in the back end of ROLLER has saved Caroline significant time, enabling her to focus on supercharging business growth. "It’s five times faster than if we didn’t have a digital platform to work off,” she notes.
Providing a white glove guest experience
In addition to saving Caroline time, ROLLER’s industry-leading online technology also enables her to deliver an exceptional guest experience. Whether it’s quickly refunding a customer, editing the order of products at the point of sale to speed up check-in, or adding a new product to the online checkout, ROLLER helps Thrillz quickly respond to the needs of its guests.
“ROLLER enables us to deliver a white glove customer service because everything is so easy and intuitive,” says Caroline. As a result, Thrillz provides a frictionless end-to-end experience for guests, from when they first book a ticket online, to when they arrive at the front counter, to after they leave the venue.
Caroline also places a strong focus on the post-visit guest experience. Thrillz uses ROLLER’s Guest Experience Score, a guest feedback tool that automatically sends a survey to guests after they visit, allowing operators to easily pulse-check venue performance and identify key areas for improvement. As a result, Thrillz has made some important operational improvements. “We were getting constant reviews about how the girls' bathroom needs to be cleaner. That enabled me to work with my managers to ensure the bathrooms are checked more often,” adds Caroline.
Caroline highlights how critical the guest experience is for sustaining profitability, especially given the overheads required to staff and operate a venue of their size. “Our Danbury park is 70,000 square feet. We need to do a lot of volume in order to pay our rent, pay our payroll, and make money. The more we can deliver a seamless experience for our customers, the more customers will keep coming back,” she says.
Responsive customer support
Having a dedicated account manager and a 24/7 global support team alleviates a lot of stress for Caroline. Anytime she has a question, the ROLLER team can advise her on the best way to use the platform to achieve her goals. She notes, "Anything is possible, and I never feel alone. That is the white glove service that I need to feel secure."
Reliable and dependable support is particularly critical for attractions businesses, who do their peak trading over the weekend. “Since we’re a weekend business, knowing that if something goes wrong, I can put in a support ticket and I'll almost immediately hear back - it gives confidence that I can do what I need to do at the park, and not worry about our back end system,” states Caroline.
Caroline appreciates the passion and enthusiasm of the ROLLER team, who make seeking support, a normally stressful situation, enjoyable. She notes, “The ROLLER team is very enthusiastic about the company and the product, which makes it a happier overall experience.”
Anything is possible, and I never feel alone. That is the white glove service that I need to feel secure.
Caroline Cannon
VP of Strategic Growth
Measuring return on investment from ROLLER
ROLLER has also played a significant role in helping Thrillz run a profitable operation. Caroline notes that moving party bookings online with party booking software has reduced the number of hours their party planner spends coordinating party bookings, thus saving on labor costs. "We’ve been able to offload some of those hours because we're not manually booking 35 birthday parties in a weekend. That’s helped us cut staffing costs," she comments.
Thrillz has also seen a big uptick in revenue from the promotional offers they can configure in ROLLER. Caroline can easily build custom discount codes to drive sales over the holiday period. She says, “I created a discount code for 20% off gift cards, and we saw a huge ROI. We did over $20,000 of gift cards over the holidays this year.”
Caroline encourages other operators to switch to ROLLER to take advantage of these benefits. ‘If another venue is considering ROLLER, I would tell them you can't really go wrong because it's so customizable to whatever your needs are. Whether your offering is super simple or super complex, ROLLER is the destination for you,” comments Caroline.
I created a discount code for 20% off gift cards, and we saw a huge ROI. We did over $20,000 of gift cards over the holidays this year.
Caroline Cannon
VP of Strategic Growth
Looking ahead, expansion is a top priority for Thrillz, with two new venues coming soon. Caroline says they’re “fearlessly diving in” to this process because they know ROLLER will grow with them while making the process seamless and stress-free.
To find out more about how ROLLER can help you expand your business, get in touch.
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