Smartphones and amusement parks

I was thinking about a question asked on a group on LinkedIn and I thought I would go into some detail here.

The question was about designing a new amusement park rides, or modifying current rides.  Well, for me, modifying would be boring, so that was quickly discarded, but new rides have some possibilities, especially if you start with the assumption that everyone has a smartphone, and that could be used in an amusement park.


For example, to help move up faster in line, perhaps have trivia questions about the park, or famous people in the town, and if you get it right, you and two friends can move up to the front, but, each time you get it right, the next question is harder.

Or, have a roller coaster that isn't too scary, but in the center there are remote controlled vehicles (helicopters or boats) that you use to accomplish some task. If you can do that task you win some prize, but use the smartphone to control the vehicle, perhaps having a picture of what is going on on the phone so you don't have to physically see the vehicle, remembering that everyone on the ride may be trying to accomplish the task.