Alcorn McBride
Encyclopedia
Alcorn McBride is a manufacturer of show control, audio and video equipment for the theme park industry. Their equipment is also used in museums, restaurants, visitor centers, retail stores, kiosks, and trade shows.
Alcorn McBride was founded in Southern California in 1986 by Steve Alcorn
, an engineer who worked on Epcot
and served as vice president of engineering for Linn Electronics, an electronic musical instrument manufacturer. As the company grew, Steve gradually brought in other engineers who had worked for him in the past. Most had Disney experience, and many had also worked in the electronic music industry.
Alcorn McBride moved their corporate office from Southern California to Florida in 1989. In 1992 the company purchased an office building in Orlando. The firm also owns a warehouse near the airport. A subsidiary owns offices in France, near Disneyland Resort Paris
.
Alcorn McBride equipment is used in nearly all of the world’s theme parks. Prior to the 1990s, theme parks were reliant on magnetic tape
or synchronized laserdiscs for multitrack playback. This entailed a high cost of preventative maintenance, with multitrack tape machines needing nightly lubrication, and laserdiscs requiring frequent dusting. Even with these preventative activities, down times were frequent, leading to guest dissatisfaction. By replacing the moving components in these audio and video sources with CompactFlash
media, theme park down times caused by media problems have been dramatically reduced.
Alcorn McBride has been named an Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company for 2010, and received the Florida Governor’s Award for best new product for its high definition video player.
(1) The Alcorn McBride Story
Alcorn McBride was founded in Southern California in 1986 by Steve Alcorn
Steve Alcorn
Steve Alcorn is an American entrepreneur, engineer, inventor, author and teacher best known for his involvement in the theme park industry...
, an engineer who worked on Epcot
Epcot
Epcot is a theme park in the Walt Disney World Resort, located near Orlando, Florida. The park is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely international culture and technological innovation. The second park built at the resort, it opened on October 1, 1982 and was initially named...
and served as vice president of engineering for Linn Electronics, an electronic musical instrument manufacturer. As the company grew, Steve gradually brought in other engineers who had worked for him in the past. Most had Disney experience, and many had also worked in the electronic music industry.
Alcorn McBride moved their corporate office from Southern California to Florida in 1989. In 1992 the company purchased an office building in Orlando. The firm also owns a warehouse near the airport. A subsidiary owns offices in France, near Disneyland Resort Paris
Disneyland Resort Paris
Disneyland Paris is a holiday and recreation resort in Marne-la-Vallée, a new town in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. The complex is located from the centre of Paris and lies for the most part within the commune of Chessy, Seine-et-Marne....
.
Alcorn McBride equipment is used in nearly all of the world’s theme parks. Prior to the 1990s, theme parks were reliant on magnetic tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
or synchronized laserdiscs for multitrack playback. This entailed a high cost of preventative maintenance, with multitrack tape machines needing nightly lubrication, and laserdiscs requiring frequent dusting. Even with these preventative activities, down times were frequent, leading to guest dissatisfaction. By replacing the moving components in these audio and video sources with CompactFlash
CompactFlash
CompactFlash is a mass storage device format used in portable electronic devices. Most CompactFlash devices contain flash memory in a standardized enclosure. The format was first specified and produced by SanDisk in 1994...
media, theme park down times caused by media problems have been dramatically reduced.
Alcorn McBride has been named an Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company for 2010, and received the Florida Governor’s Award for best new product for its high definition video player.
(1) The Alcorn McBride Story