Step aside, Harry Potter and Mickey Mouse.

Orlando may be the global mecca of amusement parks with mammoth players like Universal Studios and Disney World drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists to the Sunshine State every year, but the giant entertainment companies were hardly mentioned by global theme park industry leaders at an annual industry conference this week.

The future, it seems, isn’t necessarily in Orlando.

A rising middle class in Asia and the Middle East is fueling development of new theme parks overseas. New rides are based on emerging technology, from virtual reality goggles that are synced with the dips and loops of roller coasters to interactive rides where guests use their hands to throw digital snowballs — all of which is hard to do in parks like those in Orlando largely built-out already.

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