Amusement Parks

An amusement park is a park of rides and attractions planned around a clear guest flow. Mast Parks designs and themes amusement parks, from new builds to the re-theming of existing parks. Its amusement park projects include Nicco Park, Fun World and Dreamasia.

This page introduces the work: what makes an amusement park different to plan, which projects Mast Parks has covered and where to read further.

An amusement park is judged by how its rides, zones and theme fit together. Rides take space, draw queues and have their own safety needs. They suit different ages and tastes. A park with too many of one kind of ride leaves some guests waiting, and a park with no clear route leaves guests lost.

This is why Mast Parks begins with the guest flow: how guests enter, which zones they meet first, where they queue and where they rest. Mast Parks offers amusement park design and amusement park consultants for the first steps.

What an owner must decide first is answered by the feasibility study. Each feasibility study covers resource availability, similar offerings in the market and, most importantly, the local demand for the park and the weather conditions. On guest flow, Mast Parks checks the popularity of each ride, its capacity for throughput and, often, a thematic decision about how the story should unfold through the park experience.

• The concept. The mix of rides, the audience and the theme.
• The layout. Zones, routes, queues, entry and exit points.
• The rides. Selection of vendors, customisation and dark rides.
• The theme. Mascots, look and story, carried into every zone.
• The operation. Safety, procedures, staffing and training.
• The income. Tickets, food, merchandise, events and other streams.

Dark rides deserve a note. A dark ride carries guests through a story, usually indoors and in low light, and it needs content as well as engineering. Mast Parks designed dark rides at Dreamasia, a Mast amusement and adventure park in Karnataka and Fun World.

Mast Parks organises its work as 13 services in four stages. For an amusement park, the services work as follows. An owner can start at any stage, and many owners use the full set from idea to opening.

• Concept and Planning. Feasibility Studies decide whether and what to build. Financial Planning tests the return on investment. Concept Creation and Theme Development give the park its idea, story, look and mascots.
• Design and Execution. Master Planning is the blueprint, and for this park type it is offered as amusement park design. Architectural Designing produces the construction-level drawings, and Project Management Consultancy oversees the build.
• Rides, People and Operations. Ride and Attraction Planning selects vendors. Team Hiring and Training prepares the team. Operations Planning sets the procedures and safety.
• Launch and Growth. Marketing and Branding, Merchandising and Content and Events bring guests in and keep them coming back.

See all 13 on the services page.

An amusement park project. Mast Parks proposed and designed the amusement park around an existing food park factory, including master planning, architectural drawings, thematic design and attraction design with dark rides, and it provided project management consultancy with on-site personnel. One amusement park project.

Nicco Park. Mast Parks designed eight mascots and the merchandise for the park, opening merchandising, photo op and themed event possibilities. The park has eight zones: seven continent-themed zones and the snow park, with a mascot for each. See the project.

Fun World. The park was re-themed so its amusement park, water park, aquarium and snow park sit under one theme, with new merchandising options and a dark ride. See the project.

Dreamasia. An operating park re-themed around its name, with zones representing Asian countries and a dark ride with original content. See the project.

See all amusement park projects.

Amusement parks are commissioned by private landowners, existing park owners, family businesses, government and tourism bodies, and temples and religious trusts. Some owners start from land. Some, like the owner of start from an existing business and add a park around it. Some own a park that already runs and want to re-theme it.

Owners get more from the first conversation when they arrive with answers, or at least with a view, on the points below. None of them needs to be settled in advance, and Mast Parks can help to settle them.

• Is the park new, or is an existing park to be changed?
• Who is the main audience, and what ages?
• What is the total land, and is any of it already built?
• Which rides do you already have in mind?
• What is your budget range, and over what period?

Read how to start an amusement park in India, amusement park operations and the amusement park business plan guide. For feasibility, read the amusement park feasibility study guide. To discuss a park for your site, use the contact page.

Mast Parks works with the owner at each step. The owner approves the work before it moves to the next stage, and revisions are part of the process. The owner knows the site, the region and the ambition. Mast Parks brings experience of designing and delivering parks across eight park types. The best results come when the two work as one team, with decisions made quickly and in the open.

To start a conversation, use the contact page. Mast Parks will ask about the site, the park you have in mind and where you are in the project.

A good amusement park offers rides for different ages and appetites for thrill, so that a visiting family finds something for everyone. The balance depends on the audience the feasibility study identifies. Mast Parks selects the rides together with the client, so that the mix reflects the park's real guests rather than a catalogue.

An amusement park built ride by ride can become a set of attractions that do not relate to each other. Queues may block paths, family areas may sit next to thrill areas and the theme may appear in some zones and not others. A master plan avoids these problems by drawing the whole park at once. Written operating procedures and staffing levels based on ride type and risk keep it safe once it opens.

Many amusement parks in India are already open and already earning. For them, the question is not how to build, but how to renew. Re-theming can give such a park a new story, new mascots and new merchandise while it keeps running. Mast Parks has done this at Fun World, Dreamasia and Nicco Park, and the work includes the content and marketing that tell guests the park has changed.

• Amusement park. A park of rides and attractions planned around a clear guest flow.
• Guest flow. How guests move through the park.
• Dark ride. A ride that carries guests through a story, usually indoors and in low light.
• Re-theming. Giving an existing park a new theme.
• Vendor. A company that supplies rides and attractions.