In honor of the theme park and its creators, after three years of running in Southern California, the Black Tie Awards ceremony will be held next year in Orlando. Announced by The Theaed Entertainment Association, Thea Awards unveiled recognition of outstanding achievements in categories such as theme parklands, immersive technology, and spectacular shows.
“They’re like an Academy Award for theme parks, attractions and destinations around the world,” said Tea CEO Melissa Oviedo.
This change reflects trends in attraction development.
“Orlando is truly becoming a near new epicenter of attractions and entertainment developments,” Oviedo said. “We want to be able to celebrate all the great work that’s going on in the area.”
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The award ceremony is a cap for the organization’s TEA Inspire Week programming. This includes sessions on the creative process, success and challenges of recipients, Oviedo said. These events will also shift to Orlando in 2026.
The move was announced Saturday night at the awards ceremony. In 2026, Tea Inspire Week will start from April 29th to May 1st, and the organization’s 32nd Annual Sea Awards Gala will be held on May 2nd at JW Marriott Grand Lakes.
The event usually attracts 700 participants in Southern California, Oviedo said, but Orlando has twice as many hosts.
“Traking this into Orlando is a way to see how to make this program a little more accessible, so we can bring more teams to celebrate success together,” she said.
Based in Burbank, California, the themed Entertainment Association is a nonprofit organization with members of the creative side of the attraction. There are over 1,600 member companies. One project is a collaboration that globally indexes theme parks and museums and estimates annual attendance.
The winners of this year’s Thea were announced at the IAAPA Expo in Orlando in November, so Disney’s BDX droids were included in the Star Wars: The Galaxy Edge (for technological innovation) and the new Zootopia area of Tokyo Disney’s Shangai Disney and Fantasy Springs in the theme parkland category.
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Spider-Man Ride’s amazing adventures in the Universal Adventure Islands won the Sea Classic Award. It debuted at a theme park in 1999.
Spider-Man attractions were “groundbreaking, innovative, very innovative in the time of development, and stood the test of time when they were redefine what a dark ride experience is and is,” Oviedo said.
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