THEME PARKS: BUILT FOR THE WORLD’S BIGGEST AUDIENCES
From Mickey ears to wands in Hogsmeade, park merchandise isn’t just a souvenir; it’s proof that a once-in-a-lifetime trip really happened.
Families carry home plushies, pins, and apparel as badges of belonging. Yet most SKUs peak inside the gates and fade once guests leave, slipping into drawers or gray-market resales that drain billions in value.
The world’s top 25 theme parks welcomed ≈ 244.6M visits in 2023 (TEA/AECOM 2024), a 23% rise from 2022, signaling a full industry recovery. Disney Experiences earned $34.15B in FY 2024, with per-capita spend +40% vs. 2019, but much of that value still leaks post-visit. Globally, the theme-park and attractions industry represents ≈ $63B in annual revenue (Grand View Research 2024).
Fanlayer turns keepsakes into living assets, UID-enabled, royalty-ready products that authenticate, engage, and keep earning long after families go home.
Because every memory deserves to keep glowing long after the fireworks fade.
Global standards like the EU Digital Product Passport and Asia’s traceability mandates are accelerating the shift toward authenticated, identity-linked products.
WHY IT MATTERS
Themed entertainment thrives on emotion, moments families want to keep forever. From plush mascots and animal ears to magic wands, souvenirs are emotional artifacts, yet most lose power when guests exit the gates.
Tomorrow’s operators are extending that magic home through connected merchandise. Fanlayer bridges park-to-home continuity.
Each UID-tagged plushie, wand, or wearable verifies authenticity, powers digital unlocks or loyalty perks, and routes royalties back to licensors at verified resale (subject to license terms).
Guests keep engaging; brands keep earning, the story never ends.
Fanlayer makes magic measurable, preserving both memory and margin. That’s what makes Fanlayer the framework for park-to-home connection that never ends.
THE FUTURE OF GUEST ENGAGEMENT
The way visitors expect to connect with their favorite worlds is evolving fast, and theme parks are leading the shift. Guests no longer consume; they expect to participate.
From mobile check-ins to verified merch drops, they want souvenirs that recognize them back. Fanlayer enables that future, making every verified wand, plushie, or wearable a living touchpoint that carries the magic forward.
Across categories, products are evolving into interactive identity layers, not just keepsakes, but living proof of participation.
Guests now expect what they buy to recognize them, carry data forward, and create continuity between the physical park and the digital world.
WHERE THE MARKET IS GOING
Themed entertainment is becoming the blueprint for the global experience economy. Visitors already treat park merchandise, digital passes, and memberships as proof of identity, and they’re paying premiums for rarity, authenticity, and proximity.
As physical and digital merge, that behavior is spreading across industries.
Phygital adoption is expanding: roughly 13M NFC-enabled garments were shipped in 2023, with an average engagement of ~40% (Market Reports World 2024).
Global licensed retail sales are ≈ $370 B, with entertainment and experiential sectors among the fastest-growing (Licensing International 2024).
Always-on connection is now expected: “Audiences now want to participate in the worlds they love actively” (License Global 2025).
244.6 M park visits (TEA/AECOM 2024) prove the scale of emotion-driven commerce.
Together, these shifts point to one reality: the next era of merchandise isn’t about transactions, it’s about relationships that persist.
IMAGINE THE NEW ERA OF MERCHANDISE
For guests, the trip is the pinnacle, but the emotional high fades too quickly. The next generation of park magic is about connection that endures.
Families already line up overnight for plushies and limited drops. Fanlayer structures that passion into authenticated, licensed revenue, turning seasonal sales into living ecosystems of engagement and verified ownership.
Illustrative Scenarios
Ears & Plushies: Retrofitted for $1.50–$3 per unit, adding verified resale royalties and measurable uplift.
Smart Charms: Unlock holiday clips, character messages, or exclusive content.
Collectibles & Wands: Designed for verified resale and anniversary unlocks, souvenirs that keep earning.
Wearables & AI Family Hubs: Connect families year-round through trip anniversaries and shared light-show rituals.
Each trigger builds incremental revenue through product upgrades, verified resale, or premium SKUs, transforming keepsakes into living proof of belonging.
(All figures and examples are illustrative; subject to license terms.)
Prototypes shown are conceptual. We have held exploratory calls with Avery Dennison about UID components, encasement options across form factors, indicative lead times, and potential OEM introductions. No affiliation or endorsement is implied.
THE TRUSTED STANDARD
Every major industry depends on an invisible foundation: Dolby for sound, Qualcomm for wireless, and Visa for transactions. Fanlayer is built to be that foundation for verified, experience-driven products.
As GS1 Digital Link and DPP frameworks converge, Fanlayer extends compliance into emotion, making authentication the new signal of belonging.
Through its patent-pending UID Lifecycle Framework, each product can:
Verify provenance instantly
Unlock engagement triggers (content, rewards, seasonal drops)
Support royalty logic at verified resale
Carry identity across owners, so the value never vanishes after purchase
“I built Fanlayer so products don’t stop connecting, or earning, after checkout.” — Brian Wilson, Founder
Patent pending; non-provisional filing in progress with Sterne Kessler for global standardization.
INCREASE YOUR REVENUE POTENTIAL
Keep the Magic Earning. Strengthen Guest Loyalty. Fanlayer creates value on both sides of the experience.
For operators and licensors, it extends lifetime revenue through verified SKUs, royalties, and guest analytics.
For families and guests, it deepens connection, souvenirs that recognize, reward, and remember the trip long after the gates close.
The top 25 global parks welcomed 244.6M+ visitors in 2024 (TEA/AECOM), generating $34.15B at Disney Experiences alone. Yet most of that value fades once families leave. Fanlayer keeps the story alive, verified, measurable, and repeatable.
Integrating Fanlayer technology into your existing SKUs can deliver a +10–15% uplift in Year One. Launching new connected categories, smart charms, wearables, and AI family hubs can multiply portfolio revenue into the multi-billion-dollar range.
Illustrative ROI Examples (Existing SKUs)
Plushies @ $30 × 4M units = $120M baseline → +$12–18M uplift (+10–15%).
Ears @ $40 × 5M units = $200M baseline → +$20–30M uplift.
New Fanlayer Categories (Connected SKUs)
Smart charms @ $39 × 5% of 20M guests ≈ $39M gross.
AI family hubs @ $299 × 10% ≈ $598M gross.
Portfolio Math (illustrative)
New attraction (≈2M visitors): Charms @ 5% = $3.9M / 20% = $15.6M.
Flagship park (≈20M visitors): Wearables @ 10% = $258M.
Global portfolio (multi-operator aggregate): ≈ $2.5–4.5 B conservative / $6–8 B mid-case.
Even a 3–5% adoption rate covers Year-One integration costs; expansion compounds into continuous, royalty-based returns.
(All figures illustrative; subject to license terms.)
EASY TO INTEGRATE
Fanlayer is built for fast, low-friction deployment. Licensees can retrofit existing SKUs or launch new ones without retooling supply chains.
Typical Feasibility: Retrofit ≈ $1.50 – $3.00 per unit (UID tag + registry + dashboard slice)
Integration window ≈ 8–16 weeks
Full support: provisioning docs, SDK/API access, OEM pathways
Products activate at the point of sale, verify authenticity, and automatically apply engagement or royalty logic.
Even a 1–3% attach rate often covers integration costs within the first season.
Start Small, Scale Fast
Retrofit Existing SKUs (e.g., $30 plush retrofit → +$3–4.5M uplift in Year One)
Add 1–2 New Categories (charms, wearables, AI hubs)
Scale to Portfolios (flagship parks unlock nine-figure returns)
Once UID-enabled souvenirs become the standard, portfolios scale automatically. The Dolby/Qualcomm path for parks.
LIVING OWNERSHIP IN ACTION
A park day may end at sundown, but Fanlayer keeps the wonder glowing at home. Every verified keepsake, ears, wands, or plush becomes a living memory that remembers your visit and celebrates it again and again.
Imagine this:
At home, your verified plushie unlocks a recorded greeting from a beloved character on your trip’s anniversary.
On the go, your smart charm lights up when the park announces a new ride or film tie-in.
During a stream, your wearable syncs with a parade replay, relighting in rhythm with the fireworks you saw in person.
That evening, your AI family hub replays trip highlights, recommends seasonal offers, and drops a new collectible to mark your visit.
Months later, your wand or pin triggers a “return visit” offer timed to next year’s park season.
Each moment rekindles the magic and transforms souvenirs into lasting relationships, proof that every visit can keep earning, connecting, and shining long after families leave the gates.
(All examples illustrative; subject to license terms.)
ALWAYS-ON CONNECTION
Visits may be annual, but belonging is constant. Fanlayer enables 365-day recognition through small touchpoints that build loyalty and repeat value.
Examples:
Seasonal check-ins → exclusive offers
Trip anniversaries → digital greetings
Franchise tie-ins → content drops (Frozen, Marvel, Potter)
Verified resale → royalty return
Even a 5% monthly scan rate compounds into sustained revenue and verified engagement loops. This is how family memory becomes living identity, continuous, measurable, and built to last.
PARTNER WITH US
Fanlayer is now in the non-provisional patent phase with Sterne Kessler, one of the leading IP firms in the U.S. We’re inviting select agencies and brands to explore early-stage collaboration ahead of pilot readiness.
What partners receive
ROI preview on 1–2 SKUs
Attach-rate modeling and integration brief
OEM-ready prototype validation
NDA-based discovery session with the founder
Join the first wave, defining what connection feels like after the gates close.
Secure Your Pilot Path
Request NDA + ROI Pack
brian@fanlayer.io
Includes attach-rate modeling on your top SKUs, feasibility window, and OEM pathways.
Let’s explore your first verified SKU, a low-lift pilot that shows measurable lift before full licensing begins.