Imagine hiring out all of Luna Park for your family, extended family and friends to run around in and have a rocking good time! Melbourne Victory Football Club (MVFC) did just this to host its full network and it was a raving success.
Full park hire is great for promotional events
“The 2019 MVFC Family FUN Day at Luna Park was a hit amongst our network this season because it was a chance for us to give back to our members and fans. We opened the event up to fans so that they could come free of charge” says Match Operations Coordinator for Melbourne Victory, says Tyson Wiegold.
“We also decided on having this day event off the back of a Melbourne Derby the night before which provided a great opportunity to promote this event.”
“Just like MVFC’s special day, Luna Park has seen plenty of groups, businesses or organisations taking advantage of booking all of the Park, so they can invite up to 2500 people comfortably,” says Sean Brettle Events Executive at Luna Park. “All of the Park grounds can also be used to set-up different activation areas as MVFC did to house different sponsors.”
Plenty of room for activations
At its event, MVFC’s popular activation spots featured sponsor Dulux (where the famous Dulux Dog gave out cuddles) player autograph signings and team merchandise.
“MVFC also set up a children’s area with face-painting to keep the younger guests entertained,” says Sean.
MVFC invited approximately 1000 guests/fans and set-up a well-organised player autograph signing area.
“This is always a tricky element of the day to get right,” says Tyson. “However, this season was the most effective by far. We managed to have almost 300 fans get through the line resulting in less people missing out on signings and an overall positive take on the activation compared to other club events.”
For other groups hiring the full park for a day event that include a lot of children as guests, Luna Park Events can organise roaming performers, an animal farm, a petting zoo and other child-friendly entertainment zones.
Rides add to the excitement!
Full park hire can also include elements to take a large event up a notch in the excitement stakes. The Park has more than 20 rides to choose from to hire, with staff members, for a certain number of hours.
Tyson says that this year MVFC chose to open 12 rides which would enable shorter line-ups and less waiting times for their guests.
“This gave us the ability to cover rides that weren’t being used with other activations. Our sponsors were very pleased with the overall result of the day as they were placed effectively throughout the Park. This way we were able to give them the best exposure to fans and members during the entire event. It was really great!”
Extra time to set-up
Because many of the Family Fun Days like the MVFC’s event happen on the weekend, Luna Park has an option to hire the Park 9am to 11am prior to the park opening.
“This is a good option for a fixed price to allow groups time for a less hurried set-up,” says Sean. “If guests want to stay on after the Park is open to the public, they can for just an extra fixed-price per head.”
Full park hire is a good choice at Christmas time
Many groups choose the full park hire for end-of-year Christmas-themed Family Fun Days so that Santa can have his own grotto, and areas where snow machines can generate hourly snow falls.
“Full park hire is popular at Christmas time.”
“We have all the Santa props and snow machines here at the Park to set-up for an end-of-year party. Hosts can bring in their own Christmas music and use our system to play music right throughout the park, or we have Christmas playlists galore!”
“Food options can include a full Christmas buffet food which is very popular. Or if carnival food is the order of the day, we can print vouchers for all guests, who can then redeem these at different kiosks around the Park and get a carton with a hotdog and chips, or popcorn and an ice-cream and so forth.”
“Let’s not forget the all-popular show bags that we pack for guests. No one leaves the Park without a themed-show bag. Our hosts just request what goes into them and again we organise it. I’m sure guests not only take away show bags but also fond memories from our Full Park Hire events,” says Sean.
Flexible staff
The flexibility of the Luna Park staff to accommodate sponsor activations and the requests from clubs like MVFC plays a vital role in ensuring full park hire events are as successful as they can possibly be.
“The Luna Park Events team was excellent, providing extra furniture as well as having all the staff from the Park appropriately briefed and across all elements of the day, made the whole operation of our event as seamless as possible,” says Tyson
