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Creative Engineering, Inc. is a company founded and operated by Aaron Fechter. The company was originally founded as a way to produce Fechter's various engineering ideas. Drawn to animatronics, Fechter began designing shows for Orlando-based theme parks when he failed to receive payment from one park for the control system he had built to work a shooting gallery game. The company is most famous for marketing The Rock-afire Explosion.

History[]

Creative Engineering was founded in 1975. It managed 50% of ShowBiz Pizza Place (in the beginning), as well as produced all of the Rock-afire Explosion shows up to March 1986, when ShowBiz thought they would try their own hand at showtape production starting with the Time Machine/Hits 1 Showtape. The corporate-made showtapes used Showbiz employees impersonating the Creative voices, often poorly. This production of showtapes lasted until the New Year's show of 1987.

Three facilities around Orlando, Florida were owned by CEI: the main office at 47 West Jefferson Street, a manufacturing plant on 333 West Michigan Street, and a recording studio/lab at 742 West Amelia Street (which is also where the Colander Telethon was shot in 1984).

In 1985, Aaron Fechter created The Moonrockers as a last ditch effort by Creative Engineering to market the Rock-afire Explosion shortly before it was officially pulled out of Showbiz Pizza following Concept Unification.

After ShowBiz Pizza Place, Creative Engineering would go on to manage Looney Bird's, a short lived restaurant chain with three locations. The test location in Orlando featured The New Rock-afire Explosion while the two other locations in Covington, Louisiana and Jackson, Tennessee had the classic 3-Stage Rock-afire.

Creative Engineering, now run entirely by Fechter himself, is currently programming popular songs into Rock-afire shows.

The Blast[]

On September 26, 2013, there was an explosion at the Creative Engineering headquarters and warehouse at 47 Jefferson St. in Orlando, Florida. A whole back wall collapsed, doors were damaged, ceilings fell, part of the floor was broken, shelves and equipment were knocked over and the basement was flooded. The explosion was caused by a highly flammable experimental fuel Aaron Fechter was working on called "Hydrillium". Since then, Aaron was able to fix most of the major damage and put up a new wall. The blown open Hydrillium tank is a popular sight during the tour of the building.

Tours[]

Aaron offers a special tour of the Creative Engineering facility for a fee depending on the length of the tour. On the tour, Aaron will show and talk about the many animatronics in the building. Aaron will also explain the history of various items and rooms and give a specially selected show of the Rock-afire Explosion. The last tour of the original office was held on June 3rd, 2022, before the headquarters were relocated.[1][2]

References[]

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