Theme Park Design & The Art of Themed Entertainment

Fantastic book. There's a heavy influence on examples for the Disney parks but also attention given to parks worldwide such as Legoland, Windsor and Universal Studios, Hollywood.Everything you could possibly want to know and more is here from queue management techniques to track and vehicle design. Ever wondered how the Indiana Jone's ride works? How they get the Idol to disappear in The Tower of Terror pre-show over in Tokyo Disney? Why the Haunted Mansion became a ride instead of a walk-through attraction?The who, what's and why's are all here in abundance with quotes from Disney Imagineers and ride designers. You'll find a few of your old favourites mentioned here too plus brand new rides are touched on as well such as Jimmy Fallon in Universal Studios, Orlando.It'll take me a while to read cover to cover but I like to pick it up and read bits here and there.There are no pictures in this book - it's not a picture book. This is not a fault in the book, it is more of a text book and there are some diagrams included. If you've been on a ride you can visualse it but if you haven't you may want to YouTube the ride so you can get an idea of some of what the book describes. I'll be reading and referring to this book for many years to come.

What a fantastic book. Took me six months to read from cover to cover but it was worth the journey. This is a text book which goes into incredible detail about all elements of design for a theme park. This is not a book about how specific coasters are made or behind the scenes secrets of your fave rides. However it is a conprensive, well thought out book to every element that goes into the design and artitecture of a theme park. Their are no pictures, but it does reference back to parks and rides - which I did use google to get any visual references. it is a little heavy on Disney references but I think this was more for familiarity reasons. Excellent reference book for anyone who is studying design of parks or like me has a fascination for how theme parks work. I would highly reccomend.

Very interesting book but be aware this is definitely a textbook. It's goes into excruciating detail about things other people might not find that exciting unless you're obsessed with theme parks. The printing quality isn't fantastic but we've given it 4 stars just for the sheer amount of information we've never seen anywhere else.

Absolutely fantastic as a reference book and for reading cover to cover. i'm currently doing the latter but it will take me a few years still!

Really good.

This book is like a masters course in themed design. If you work in the industry or want to someday, or just love theme parks, you have to read it!Part encyclopaedia, part history book, part manual - it covers everything from Audio Animatronics to Zoological Gardens with tremendous depth, real life examples and insights from industry legends.

Ignore the negative reviews, I think the people who gave the book a negative were expecting something different than what was presented on the can. Sure the book doesn't contain many images but it is still an incredible readI'm no industry expert (yet) but I really do enjoy most things "theme" park related. Whenever I visit a park whether it be Thorpe Park or Disneyland I always ask myself lots of question; "I wonder what went into designing that". If you too have ever asked similar questions or are just interested in learning a little bit more about themed entertainment then this book will be a Bible to you! This book is by far my favourite book on the subject, I have many books on the history of theme parks and the design that goes into them but no book goes into such detail as this one does. It is a comprehensible and an enjoyable read, I have not turned a single page without learning something new and I can guarantee that you will learn at least 1 new thing if not more.The book covers these following chapters;"Chapter 1: Medium defines what themed design, themedentertainment, and theme parks are, exploring their history, theirproduct, and the reasons designers choose to theme their work.""Chapter 2: Business explores the business model of the themedentertainment industry, with the view that to design a good themedattraction is to design something that can be financially sustained.""Chapter 3: Process describes the full design process for a themedproject from blue sky design to post-opening, and the individualsinvolved at each stage.""Chapter 4: Theme explores the difference between the manifestationtheme and dramatic theme, and physical theming itself: its styles, itscontent, and its use across the different scales of design.""Chapter 5: Story looks at crafting a story for the themed experience:incorporating the guest as a character, structuring the experience,incorporating content, adapting Intellectual Property, writing, and thestory techniques used to communicate with guests.""Chapter 6: Design defines the techniques that apply to themed designregardless of scale, from the styles of theme park design that aredominant, to techniques such as Forced Perspective, Intrusions, andDoubly Duty, alongside a number of key design disciplines.""Chapter 7: Theme Park Design looks at the widest scale of themeddesign: theme park archetypes, park layouts, how to coordinate aneffective attraction mix, and exploring park-wide concepts such asemployees, marketing, and park maps.""Chapter 8: Land Design focuses on designing a themed area containingmultiple stories: land layouts, transition zones, designing thelandscape and buildings, and what goes in them, such as restaurants,shops, and restrooms. It also include shows, parades, fireworks, andother spectaculars.""Chapter 9: Attraction Design explores the design of singular storyexperiences, beginning with their ride type and ride system, andcarrying on into attraction layout, ride vehicles, show scene design,and more."If this hasn't wet your appetite and your still debating whether or not to purchase this book you can check out a preview on David's website:[...]

This is a fantastic book for Theme Park enthusiasts. It has so much detail on all aspects of Theme Parks. Everything you would ever want to know its brilliant