Theme parks are full of thrills and surprises – but behind the scenes, a lot of thought goes into keeping visitors safe and operations running smoothly. One unsung hero of theme park safety is specialised adhesive tape. Heskins, a leading tape manufacturer, produces a range of tapes that can enhance safety and visitor experience in creative ways. From anti-slip tapes that keep our footing secure on rides and ramps, to glow-in-the-dark and reflective tapes that guide us through dark attractions, these products quietly do their job in every corner of a park. In this blog, we explore imaginative and practical applications of Heskins tapes – including Conformable Anti-Slip Tape, standard Safety-Grip anti-slip tape, Glow-in-the-Dark Tape, Reflective Tape, and Lean Marking Tape – across rides, walkways, queues, food stalls, and even maintenance areas.

Rides and Attractions: Anti-Slip at Every Turn

Rides are the heart of any theme park, and ensuring passenger safety on them is paramount. Many ride platforms and steps are made of metal with raised patterns (like chequer plate or diamond tread), which look slip-resistant but can actually become extremely slippery when wet. Heskins Conformable Anti-Slip Tape is ideal here. Its aluminium foil backing allows it to mold into the grooves of textured metal surfaces, creating a near-permanent bond on irregular surfaces like chequer plates. For example, Conformable Anti-Slip Tape can be applied to ensure firm footing on a Ferris wheel’s loading platform or the rung of a maintenance ladder on a coaster. Even if morning dew or rain makes the metal damp, the tape’s abrasive surface maintains high grip and helps prevent slips.

Other attractions with high foot traffic benefit from Heskins Safety-Grip tape, the classic anti-slip solution. Safety-Grip is a quick and durable fix that instantly creates a slip-resistant surface on most materials. Imagine the wooden steps up to a classic carousel or the ramp leading into a pirate ship ride – by adding strips of Safety-Grip tape along each step or ramp, the park ensures visitors have secure footing as they climb aboard. This tape is water-resistant and suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, so it works just as well on a log flume’s wet boarding platform as on a dry, sunny coaster deck. Available in various colours and even hazard stripe patterns, Safety-Grip can blend into the ride’s aesthetics or highlight the edge of steps for extra visibility. In all cases, these anti-slip tapes keep the thrills coming from the rides – not from an unexpected fall.

Dark Rides and Nighttime Safety: Glow-in-the-Dark and Reflective Tapes

Not all theme park adventures happen under bright sunshine – some of the most exciting experiences are in the dark! Whether it’s an indoor haunted mansion ride or simply the park after sunset, Heskins tapes can light the way. Glow-in-the-Dark tape (photoluminescent tape) is a brilliant addition to any dark ride or dimly lit area. After “charging up” under daylight or artificial light, this tape emits a strong green glow in darkness. Park operators can line the edges of steps and walkways inside a ghost train or planetarium with glow-in-the-dark anti-slip tape so that when the lights go out, the outlines of each step or ramp magically illuminate. This not only adds an eerie thematic effect but also provides vital guidance for guests’ footing. In an emergency or power outage, photoluminescent markings on floors and door frames can help people navigate out safely without any electricity. For instance, the stairs leading down from a simulator ride could have glow-in-the-dark strips on each nosing, ensuring that guests see where to step even in complete darkness.

Outside on the pathways and large outdoor rides, Reflective Tape plays a key safety role once the sun sets. Reflective tape is a simple self-adhesive high-visibility tape for marking hazards; it’s effective in virtually any environment and applies in minutes. Around a theme park, reflective strips can be applied to safety gates, fences, and ride vehicles. Imagine a nighttime train ride that circles the park – putting reflective tape on the edges of the train’s steps or along the boarding platform means that when lights from the train or ambient sources hit those areas, they shine bright, alerting riders to watch their step. On tall thrill rides, operators could mark any low-hanging beams or overhead bars with reflective hazard tape so they’re visible in low light (preventing an unwary maintenance worker or even a rider in an elevated seat from bumping their head). Even parade floats or service carts moving after dark can be outlined with reflective tape to catch the eye. By day these markings are subtle, but by night they “come alive” under lights to ensure no one misses a step or hazard.

Walkways and Pathways: Keeping Crowds on Track

Between the attractions, theme parks have countless walkways, bridges, and ramps that see heavy foot traffic. Here, the goal is to maintain safe footing and guide the flow of people. On inclined paths or footbridges (for example, a bridge over a river in the park), applying strips of abrasive Safety-Grip tape provides visitors extra traction, especially on rainy days. Even smooth concrete can get slick when wet – a few strategically placed anti-slip strips on the pavement can significantly reduce slip incidents by adding grip underfoot. Because Heskins Safety-Grip comes in colours including transparent or gray, a park can add these safety measures without spoiling the look of decorative paving; guests might not even notice the tape, but it’s there giving them confidence with each step.

Walkways are also places where guidance and crowd control are important. This is where Lean Marking Tape comes into play. Heskins lean floor marking tapes (such as the PermaLean range) are extremely tough, industrial-grade tapes used to create lines and shapes on floors. In a theme park setting, management could use bright yellow or white marking tape to define the edges of a path or to create lanes during special events. For example, during a parade or fireworks show, tape lines on the ground might indicate how far visitors can advance or where strollers should be parked. Because these tapes are designed for factories and warehouses, they can withstand thousands of pedestrian footsteps (and even the occasional service vehicle) without peeling or fading. They effectively provide visual cues: a bold line on the ground can subtly keep visitors to one side, leading them toward an attraction entrance, or mark a safe walkway through a busy intersection in the park. With the ability to produce tape in many colours and even custom shapes, a park could get creative – imagine footprints or arrows on the ground made from durable tape, leading kids toward the next adventure!

Queue Zones: Organised and Efficient Waiting

Theme parks are experts at turning waiting lines into part of the fun – but they also have to keep those queues orderly and safe. Floor marking tape is the perfect tool to organise queues. Heskins Lean Marking Tape can be used to create clear, coloured lines on the ground that delineate each switchback in a queue maze or mark out designated waiting spots. In fact, these tapes allow the creation of all sorts of shapes and signs on the floor, from simple lines to arrows or numbered spots, all in vibrant colours that catch the eye. A creative application might be using die-cut shapes: for a kiddie ride, the queue could have stick-on footprints leading up to the boarding point, making waiting more interactive for children. Meanwhile, adults appreciate clear markers like “Stand behind this line” at a loading area, achieved by a strip of bright tape on the floor. Because the tape is so durable, it won’t be scraped off by constant foot traffic or scuffed by strollers – it’s made to endure the punishment of busy environments and keep on looking sharp.

Queues can also benefit from anti-slip treatments. Many queue lines at water rides or outdoor theaters include some steps or inclined sections. Adding a few pieces of Safety-Grip anti-slip tape on those wooden or concrete queue steps is an easy way to prevent slips as excited guests shuffle forward. And if the queue is partially indoors or dark (think of a haunted house line winding into a dimly lit hallway), combining glow-in-the-dark strips along the floor edges or on step nosings ensures people see the elevation changes even in low light. In these ways, Heskins tapes make queueing safer and more organised, which in turn helps the line move efficiently – a benefit for both guests and operators.

Food Stalls and Dining Areas: Slip-Proof Snacking Spots

From popcorn carts to burger shacks, food stalls and dining areas are high-traffic spots that present their own challenges. Spilled drinks or a bit of ice cream on the ground can turn a lovely snack break into a slip hazard. Parks can combat this by applying anti-slip tape in key areas: on the floor behind service counters (to protect staff from slipping on spills) and at the customer side where people might drop food or step away from a counter with full hands. Heskins Safety-Grip tape with a mild abrasive surface can be ideal here – it provides grip even if a bit of liquid is on the surface, and it’s easy to replace a strip if it gets worn or dirty over time. You might notice a black or yellow strip at the edge of a food kiosk’s step up, or on the threshold of an outdoor dining patio. Those little details are deliberately placed to prevent accidents by increasing friction underfoot.

Food venues also need clear markings to manage lines during peak hours. Lean Marking Tape can be used around stalls to create orderly lanes: for instance, a self-service drink kiosk could have one line to the left and one to the right, indicated by coloured tape arrows or lanes on the ground. In front of popular food counters, taped footprints or queue lines can show guests where to stand while ordering, keeping the crowd organised. Because these tapes are available in many colours, a park could even match the tape colour to the eatery’s theme or logo (imagine a pizza stand using red and white checker tape to evoke a classic pizzeria vibe!). These simple applications of tape keep queue chaos at bay and reduce the chance of slips and trips in busy eating areas – all while being subtle enough that most guests won’t even realise they’re there.

Maintenance and Backstage: Streamlined Safety Behind the Scenes

Not all tape applications are visible to the public – backstage and maintenance areas in theme parks rely on them heavily too. The staff-only zones, from workshops to ride control rooms, must be kept safe and well-organised so that employees can do their jobs efficiently. Heskins Lean Marking Tape is often used in industrial settings to mark safe walkways, storage zones, and hazard areas, and a theme park’s maintenance bay is no different. On the floor of a ride maintenance garage, coloured tape lines might outline where each piece of equipment belongs, or mark lanes where forklifts or service carts drive. This creates a 5S-style organised workspace: tools and parts are stored in designated taped-off squares, and employees know to keep clear of taped paths when heavy equipment is moving. The toughness of Heskins floor marking tape means even vehicle traffic or dragging heavy ride components won’t easily damage it. With a quick glance, technicians can see the visual order – for example, yellow boxes on the floor marking “keep clear” areas near a roller coaster’s track section, or red-and-white taped lines around an electrical panel indicating a hazard zone.

Maintenance teams also take advantage of Conformable Anti-Slip Tape and Safety-Grip tape on the facilities themselves. Many backstage stairways and platforms are made of metal grating or diamond plate for durability, but as mentioned earlier, those can be dangerously slick. By applying conformable anti-slip strips on the rungs of a service ladder or the edges of a metal catwalk high inside a coaster support structure, the park provides workers steady footing in all conditions. This is especially important when technicians are performing inspections early in the morning when condensation might be on surfaces. Similarly, access doors and utility areas often have a single step up or down; putting a piece of anti-slip tape there is a cheap insurance policy to prevent a staff injury.

Finally, Reflective Tape finds plenty of backstage uses too. Park staff working at night or in dim ride interiors will mark low pipes, ceiling beams, or protruding equipment with reflective warning tape so they don’t knock into them. Emergency shutoff switches or fire extinguishers might be outlined with a glow-in-the-dark or reflective tape border to make them easy to find in a pinch. Even the edges of large maintenance vehicles or storage crates can get reflective strips so they’re spotted in dark warehouses. These little applications ensure that even behind the scenes, safety is illuminated. With the right tapes in place, park employees can focus on their tasks without worrying about missteps or unseen hazards.

Where Safety Meets Imagination

From the top of the Ferris wheel to the depths of a dark ride, and from bustling food courts to hidden maintenance hallways, Heskins tapes prove that a safer park can also be a more enjoyable park. By creatively using products like Conformable Anti-Slip Tape, Safety Grip, Glow-in-the-Dark and Reflective Tapes, and Lean Marking Tape, theme park operators can enhance safety, guide visitors, and even add a touch of visual flair to their venues. The best part is that these solutions are largely invisible to guests – they simply experience a park that feels secure, well-organised, and magical all at once.

If you’re a theme park owner or operator looking to take your park’s safety and guest experience to the next level, consider the innovative tape solutions Heskins has to offer. The ideas above are just the start – there are countless ways to apply these products to fit the unique needs and themes of your park. Don’t wait for an accident to happen to realize the value of these small improvements. Contact Heskins today to discuss how anti-slip and marking tapes can become the secret ingredient in keeping your theme park both safe and sensational for every guest who walks through your gates.