Bluey’s Backyard Is A Home Run For Camp, The Immersive, Experiential Store For Kids And Their Parents

Camp, the interactive, experiential store for kids and their parents, is launching a new experience today based on the runaway Australian hit cartoon series, Bluey’s House. Bluey X Camp: Bluey’s Backyard incorporates some of the favorite activities of the lovable blue heeler dog and her sister, Bingo, including scavenger hunts, mud pizza pie-making and dance parties, to name a few, said Jenica Myszkowski, CEO of Camp.

Following the record-breaking success of Bluey X Camp: Bluey’s House, the immersive backyard adventure is now live in New York, Houston, Boston and Philadelphia, following successful runs in Chicago and Los Angeles. Camp said today it will unveil the all-new immersive play date experience and unwrap a new look for Bluey’s House in time for Christmas in the Boston, Houston, Philadelphia and New York locations.

The reimagined House experience will feature seasonal games, festive crafts, and yuletide surprises, including the making of Bluey-themed Christmas ornaments, a cozy setting for a storytime with Bluey that’s interrupted by Unicorse, the cheekiest and most annoying unicorn, who shows up playing loud music at the most inopportune times.

There’s also mud pizza making, a favorite of Bluey and friends – yum! Kids can also an play an obstacle course inspired by the Verandah Santa episode just like Bluey, and meet and greet their favorite characters, Bluey and Bingo in a special holiday meet and greet session. The ticketed adventure ranges in price from $20 to $40.

Across all Bluey X Camp locations, families can also shop an exclusive co-branded selection of Bluey toys and merch, including sweatshirts and T-shirts for the whole family. Myszkowski said giftable favorites include the Bluey X Camp Heeler Family Car Doodler, Bluey Ring Tower Wooden Stacker, and Bluey and Bingo Ears headbands. It’s not unusual to see parents and kids sporting the ears at Bluey experiences on any given day, Myszkowski said.

“Dads especially, I find super-endearing,” Myszkowski said, adding that Bluey episodes create deep emotional connections with parents and children because they offer low-key life lessons like problem-solving and practical parenting advice. “We’ve had this really amazing partnership with BBC Studios and the show’s Emmy Award-winning producers, Ludo Studio, for the last two years where we’ve captivated young fans and also parents,” Myszkowski said. “So when we were deciding what would be the new world that we bring to life, we went back to one of our favorite characters, Bluey. We felt that we could bring a different show to life with different games.”

Myszkowski said Bluey’s Backyard, a 4,000-square-foot space, is an example of what Camp does best – bringing a beloved character to life and getting kids and families engaged in the fun. Bluey’s Backyard is different than Bluey’s House, she said, noting that it features a different setting and different games. For example, there’s the game Pizza Girls, a fan favorite in Bluey’s Backyard. Kids phone in a pizza order and it travels to the other side of the experience where kids make mud pizzas and pack them in custom pizza delivery boxes.

There are also two iconic moments within Bluey’s Backyard; one is the Backyard Tree and the other is Rug Island. “It’s strikingly similar to what they do in the cartoon, so playing on Rug Island and completing an obstacle course and immersing yourself in Bluey’s backyard games is something we’re really excited about,” Myszkowski said.

Kids can also hunt for hidden Leaf Bugs and Long Dogs throughout the Backyard, get creative with a hands-on crafts inspired by the show and join in a surprise Dance Mode with Bluey herself.

“We really built this adventure [Bluey’s Backyard] to be activated seasonally so there will be something for families to do that evolves throughout the year,” said Myszkowski. “That’s a pivot for us as well. We’re leaning into learnings that we’ve had over the last few years that we’re excited about.”

“We’re happy to team up with Camp again to bring even more fun to Bluey fans nationwide,” said Stephen Davies, senior vice president of global licensing at BBC Studios said in a statement. “Bluey X Camp: Bluey’s Backyard is a joyful new touring playdate, and Bluey’s House continues to win hearts everywhere.”

Camp is expanding rapidly since launching in 2018. The company chooses locations by focusing on “high density nodes where there’s a high density of families with kids aged 2 to 12,” Myszkowski said. “That’s led us to a one-store per market approach. We see a really remarkable amount of drive time.”

Each location has customers travelling up to 45 to 60 minutes to Camp for an outing, Myszkowski said, noting that the company switched its strategy from opening multiple locations in cities to operating one large flagship in each city. “Over the last couple of years we’ve opened more mall locations because we like to be near other amenities for families,” she explained, noting that visitors can plan their day around the store’s many features, from signature shows to making art to shopping.

“We know that the Beyond Magic Door show is a 60-minute experience,” Myszkowski said. “You can obviously extend your day with our other arts and crafts experiences. We know you need food nearby, so being in malls near co-tenants and amenities for families has been a strategic move of ours.” Camp is opening new stores at Minneapolis’ Southdale Center on Nov. 22 and Aventura Mall in Miami on Dec. 12, Myszkowski said.

Custom birthday parties are another revenue-generating play for Camp. The company’s tag line is, “You bring the guest list. We bring the magic.” Parties include show parties for kids who want to play behind the Magic Door, starting at $150 for the room rental fee on weekdays. It jumps to $250 on weekends. Pricing per guest varies from $35 to $40.

Camp’s $50 million annual revenue is heavily skewed toward ticket sales. “Our business is about 65% tickets, depending on the time of year,” Myszkowski said. “We’re very focused on tickets especially when kids are out of school on vacation. We’re about 20% to 25% merchandise, depending on time of year and the balance is corporate sponsorships, birthday parties and things of that nature. That’s been a major change in the last couple of years. When I started three years ago, we had one location with an experience, and now every location that we have has a behind the Magic Door adventure.”

Camp has launched high-octaine experiences before. The retailer in 2022 partnered with the ne plus ultra of animation brands and characters, none other than Disney and Mickey Mouse, the latter of which, Camp’s cofounder and former CEO, Ben Kaufman, called “the most iconic character on the planet.

“Every time we launch a theme we always think it’s the best thing,” Kaufman added. “The beauty of what we’re doing with Disney, is we’re also simultaneously working on several other themes that will launch later this year. They will also be pretty amazing.

“This is just the start of a multi-year partnership with [Disney] – and there are multiple stories that we’ll be bringing to life. We’ll be moving from store to store with other Camp stores getting the experience,” Kaufman said. “We have eight stores and will be opening our ninth in a few weeks.”

It’s no wonder that Disney wanted to partner with Camp. The brand’s signature Beyond the Magic Door experience typically hosts 100 parents and kids interacting with characters and staff, called counselors, of course. Camp is the brainchild of Kaufman, a sleepaway camp enthusiast and serial entrepreneur.

A self-described kid who never grew up, Kaufman said Camp is counting on fans to travel to New York from across the U.S. to see Camp shows and interact with characters. “Everybody will have a show in their market,” Kaufman said, noting that the company operates a store at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles.