March 17, 2025

Martin Aquatic Celebrates TEA INSPIRE Week & Thea Award Winning Project

As part of the weeklong educational program, Martin Aquatic team members were on hand at TEA INSPIRE to celebrate innovation in the themed entertainment industry alongside winners of the Thea Awards.

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Some of the themed entertainment industry’s biggest projects of the year took center stage during the 31st annual Thea Awards Gala, including Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea. As the largest expansion in the theme park’s history, Fantasy Springs won the Thea for the category of Theme Park Land, naming Martin Aquatic as one of the project team collaborators. This is Martin Aquatic’s first time being recognized on the team of a Thea award winning project.

“Collaborating with the entire team responsible for making Fantasy Springs a reality was an incredible undertaking to bring three iconic Disney stories to life,” said Josh Martin, president & creative director of Martin Aquatic.

Not only was Fantasy Springs recognized during the Thea Awards Gala on Saturday night, but it also garnered industry attention through the special case study educational session presented during the INSPIRE conference. A panel of Walt Disney Imagineers demonstrated the amazing details and big effects that went into the three realms that make up Fantasy Springs: Frozen Kingdom, Peter Pan's Neverland and Rapunzel's Forest. Across 26 acres, the new “port” includes four brand-new signature attractions as well as three themed dining locations, a retail outlet and the new 475-room Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel.

The panel of Imagineers explained the great lengths they took to enrich the built environment with special moments of story and surprise, including the magical water that constantly sprouts from multiple springs in the land. Together with lighting and audio, different water effects help bring the entire land to life, as favorite characters are depicted throughout. This case study presentation helped celebrate the technical achievements of the full project team and what they accomplished over five years of development.

During INSPIRE Week, members of the Themed Entertainment Association delved into case studies of 17 other Thea Award winning projects. Martin Aquatic’s own creative director Chris Grap served as a moderator for a panel about Aquascope, a next-generation indoor waterpark that is being billed as Europe’s first aquatic cinema. Projects such as these demonstrate the outstanding achievements of the attractions industry and help highlight the creative ideas that are inspiring tomorrow’s experiences.