From IP to IRL: Location-Based Experiences

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but if you get married at Taco Bell’s flagship Cantina in Las Vegas, where “marriage is on the menu,” your memories may last forever. For a lucky $777, couples receive custom matrimonial merchandise and an intimate 30-minute ceremony with an ordained officiant in an attached chapel. The reception, which can accommodate up to 25 guests in a private area, includes a Taco Party Pack and a Cinnabon Delights cake. A Taco Bell Sauce Packet bouquet is also available to borrow for a walk down the aisle. Not so long ago  couples had to create their own immersive, hot-sauce-inspired experience from scratch. Not anymore: What can be licensed can be a location-based experience (LBE).

Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time. And now, families can go offline through the touring Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue. The experience, which takes groups of 25 people through different biomes of the Minecraft universe to rescue villagers, first opened in Dallas in 2024 and opened this month in Rosemont, Illinois; additional venues include Toronto, London, Riyadh, Denmark, Mexico, and Singapore. 

Olivier Goulet, Founder and CEO of Supply + Demand and Co-Manager and Investor of Experience MOD, the production company behind the experience, calls Minecraft “one of the rare games that I allow my kids to play without supervision.”

Developing the Minecraft IP made sense for Goulet and his team. “We see it almost as an evergreen,” he explains, noting the game’s depth of material. “It’s an augmented version of our world, which is really amazing.” 

For Goulet, a touring experience provides more flexibility than a permanent exhibit. “We keep reinvesting and augmenting the show,” he elaborates, teasing the possibility of an enhanced experience in Chicago in the future. “The touring allows us to reach more people and to come back multiple times if we want to.”

The biggest challenge, Goulet says, is bringing an authentic experience to gamers. “We decided to embrace authenticity in the game more than the discovery aspect of it,” he says. The experience is about crafting, building, and fighting. As the tour continues, the experience evolves, “We are launching a new product targeted towards exploration,” he shares, “in a totally different format.”

Mattel has taken its properties from the playroom to a variety of venues, offering families and kids of all ages numerous opportunities to enjoy Mattel’s suite of brands in new ways. Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live, Day Out with Thomas, and the Malibu Barbie Café are just three examples.

“Toys are just one of the many ways fans engage with our IP,” says Mattel’s Chief Consumer Products and Experiences Officer, Natalia Premovic.

Little conductors ride a life-size Thomas the Tank Engine on heritage railways nationwide, including Baltimore’s B&O Railroad and Felton, Colorado’s Roaring Camp Railroads, where Percy also joins the steam-powered fun. “What we’re building now are experiences where families and fans of all ages can step into the brand, share it, and create forever memories around it,” Premovic explains. Day Out with Thomas has toured for more than 30 years, bringing families back to the railroad year after year for rides.

The Malibu Barbie Café is an immersive pop-up dining experience with a Barbie-inspired menu and bright decor. The Cafés abound with photo opportunities for anyone who wishes they could step inside Barbie’s Dreamhouse. The experience opened in New York City in 2023 and has been on tour since, feeling closer to fine in Chicago, Mall of America, Miami, and Houston; Melbourne closes soon, while the last chance to stop by for a giant blowout party in Boston with all the Barbies and planned choreography and a bespoke original song is in July. Fans can purchase exclusive merchandise, and select locations have a roller-skating rink. 

“These are all very different formats but rooted in the same idea,” Premovic explains: “Meet fans where they are and give them a way to engage beyond a product.” Mattel does that through a range of live experiences. 

Soon, the company will open Mattel Adventure Parks in Glendale, Arizona and Kansas City, Kansas, and Mattel Wonder Indoor Waterparks in Orlando, Florida, Bradley, Illinois, and Bellevue, Nebraska. The Nebraska park will be 100,000 square feet, and the parks are developed in partnership with Martin Aquatic and American Resort Management and in collaboration with I-dentity Group. 

“If we do it right, a Mattel experience will be just a drive away to most people across the U.S.,” Premovic says.

For Mattel, the experience connects fully with consumers. “What we’ve learned is that our brands are incredibly strong when they move into physical space,” Premovic says. “It hits differently than something you buy or watch.” Mattel sees that with its Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live and Hot Wheels Legends Tours, which fill arenas and parking lots, respectively. The El Segundo stop for the Legends Tour welcomed 20,000 people to Mattel headquarters.

“These experiences aren’t just extensions of the brand — they deepen fandom,” she says. As a result, Mattel sees repeat engagement, new audiences, and an emotional connection that “enhances the core play business.”

At the end of the day — or the top of the water slide — Mattel aims to bring properties and experiences where people already are. “It’s about taking our brands out of the toy aisle and putting them into the real world in a way that people can actually live,” Premovic shares.

Miraculous Corp is opening multiple experiences this year. “At Miraculous Corp, we see LBEs as one of the most important drivers of our global business,” shares Roz Nowicki, Global Head of Consumer Products, Miraculous Corp. The company will launch Miraculous Live Stage Spectacular later this year and opened Miraculous Experience: Superhero Training in Paris earlier this year.

The worldwide stage tour offers a new, original story starring Ladybug and Cat Noir with technology, songs, aerial arts, illusion, dance, comedy, puppetry, and more. In Paris, families can explore a five-level, 1,500-square-foot space for immersive storytelling and installations. “Paris was the natural place to debut the concept given the city’s central role in the series,” Nowicki explains. The Paris experience is the first of several planned immersive destinations, however. 

“The moment we can engage our audiences in an environment where they can truly immerse themselves in our brand,” Nowicki explains, “we create a fan for life.”

The future is bright for LBEs. Miraculous Corp plans to open its Ground Control attraction at the Mall of Qatar this summer. At the same time, gamers can build a lighthouse when Minecraft Experience: Moonlight Trail, a more than half-mile evening hike outside, opens later this year in Argentina.

“Our philosophy is rooted in the idea that everyone can ‘live like a hero,’ and immersive experiences allow fans to step directly into that mindset,” says Nowicki. 

Meanwhile, Mattel continues its touring experiences. Thomas is chugging across the country through October, while the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, now in its ninth year, visits 20 countries worldwide and has virtual stops, too. Premovic calls experiential licensing a core part of Mattel’s strategy. “There’s real demand to engage with these brands in the real world,” she says.

“Overall, the focus is simple: more scalable formats, more locations, and more ways for fans and families across the U.S. to engage with Mattel brands in real life.”

Licensing isn’t just about traditional play anymore; it’s about living and immersing in the full character experience.

A version of this feature first appeared in The Toy Book‘s 2026 Licensing & Entertainment Issue, featuring The Licensing Book. Read the full issue here!

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