Theme Park Design: Behind the Scenes with an Engineer

Steve did it again. You do not typically find technical people with the artistic ability to write so eloquently. Great job Steve. Really appreciate you.

I was expecting more detailed information about the process of designing theme parks. For example, discuss how land is selected for the location, any involvement with governing agencies, community support, and pitfalls you come across. Also information about the financial investments, where does that much capital come from? Park layouts and why they are arranged how they are. Why? Details and deep dives into the biggest engineering projects like how the Magic Kingdom Utilidor (tunnel system to us) was built: permits, who to design it, who to do the earth moving, what had to be built first or did the buildings on Main Street have to be built before, during, or after the tunnel digging happened? Who does one go to in order to buy or build a monorail and it’s track?

This book is fun as it goes into different types of rides in the industry, like dark rides, sims, iron rides, etc... that only those in the world of theme park design would know. But it also provides a wonderful set of behind the scenes and historical photos from attractions we grew up visiting. My favorite section in this tome is Part 3, where it discusses the different types of roles one can perform in themepark design and implementation. Although the book is focused on Engineering for themeparks, this section gives a broad slice of the entire team, from Engineers, to Designers, to Producers, etc...

Great insight behind what goes into the making of a park from en engineering perspective. Fun stories and real world applications from someone who helped build the greatest park in the world.