One major chapter of my upcoming regional park history book deals with how these parks lost their original design intent along the way. Decades of ownership turnover, corporate management, current trends for IP overlays, and so on rendered most of […]
Hershey Park in 1907 was a local recreation area developed by Milton Hershey for his employees. The entire little town of Hershey was built around the chocolate factory, with many of the magnificent structures erected during the Great Depression. Before […]
Everyone’s focused on the $150 million dirt pile out front, but Hersheypark didn’t keep us waiting in the meantime. They brought back Sally Corporation and their go-to design partners Raven Sun Creative to reimagine the park’s Reese’s Xtreme Cup Challenge, […]
One of my colleagues who recently retired from the college was a featured soloist in the United States Marine Band for over two decades. He was the youngest-ever member of the group, second only to John Philip Sousa, and he […]
Perhaps it’s largely personal bias. I’ve loved the mountains my whole life, and I’d give pretty much anything to move back someday. But Dollywood absolutely has to be one of the most authentically situated parks anywhere. Whereas many parks try […]
A Milestone Year: The 2018 Global Attractions Attendance Report According to the 2018 TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index released by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and AECOM, theme park attendance has topped half a billion for the first time […]
When reports first started circulating in offices and classrooms that Notre-Dame de Paris was in flames, people around the world seemed to recognize together the sad significance of this calamity. A lot of tragic news passes through the culture […]
As developers and designers of themed entertainment, it is our responsibility to author backstories so rich and believable that our guests never question the worlds we create for them to enjoy. back·story \ˈbak-ˌstȯr-ē noun, plural back·sto·ries. a narrative providing a […]
The world suffers no shortage of theme parks, but few really live up to the name. Simply staging a few old tools in the queue and carving a clever name on the sign doesn’t cut it. A truly thematic experience […]
The Trolley Park may have been America’s first amusement park. These parks started in the 19th century and rose in popularity when Charles J. Van Depoele created an electric trolley pole which could power a trolley car. This new invention […]
Contagious Business Philosophy the “Disney” Way! Once every other decade a company comes around that dares to defy the odds and do things differently. We saw this with Henry Ford in the 1900’s-1920’s, with Walt Disney in the 1930-1960’s, and […]
A Short History of Roller Coasters Today, they are high-tech marvels rising more than one hundred feet in the air with tubular steel tracks, loops, corkscrews and boomerangs. Their riders are hurled through space at 60 miles per hour — […]
Universal Studios Florida Art & Design is the most experienced design house for haunted attraction design in the world. Unlike Universal Creative, charged with producing all of the permanent theme park rides; Art & Design is responsible for designing all […]
We are the world’s most comprehensive site dedicated to theme park design. Started in 1995, we are one of the only places in the world where you can learn about theme park design. What’s unique about this site is that […]
