Amusement park feasibility study

An amusement park feasibility study answers one question before money is spent: should this park be built on this site for this audience, and in what form? It studies the space, the location and the target audience, then determines the most suitable park or concept for the area.

This guide explains what a feasibility study is for, what kind of questions it settles and how owners use the answer. The detailed method, the data sources and the format of the report are part of Mast Parks' professional practice and are not published here.

A feasibility study is the first formal step of a park project. It is done before design, and its purpose is to give the owner a reasoned answer about whether, and how, to proceed. A good study can end in three ways: build the park as imagined, build a different park, or do not build.

All three outcomes are useful. The third is the cheapest of all, because it saves the owner from an investment that would not have worked. See Mast Parks' feasibility studies service.

• Does the site suit a park, and what kind?
• Is there an audience for the park in this location?
• What concept is the best fit for the space and the audience?
• Does the investment look worth making, at the level of a first view?
• What should the owner do next?

Each question is answered with evidence and not with opinion. The study is independent: it is there to tell the owner what is true, not what the owner hopes.

Design costs money, and design that starts from the wrong idea costs more. A park drawn for an audience that is not there, or a site that cannot hold it, will either be redrawn or built and underused. A feasibility study is much cheaper than either.

Owners who already own the land sometimes feel the study is unnecessary. The reverse is true. Owning the land fixes where the park goes. It does not fix what the park should be.

A site decides what can physically be built. A location decides who can reach the park. The audience decides who will come, and how often. A study looks at the three together because each one limits the others. A fine site in a poor location serves nobody, and a strong audience without a suitable site cannot be served.

The result is a concept that fits all three. That concept is the park the rest of the project is built around.

The study is the first of Mast Parks' 13 services and it feeds the others. Financial planning tests the numbers for the concept the study recommends. Concept creation and theme development shape it. Master planning draws it.

A study that stops at a report is wasted. Its value is that every later decision can refer back to it.

Anyone planning to build or expand a park benefits. That includes owners with land and no plan, businesses adding a park to an existing property, developers considering a park within a larger project and operators planning a new site. See amusement park design for what follows the study.

A good study gives the owner a clear recommendation, the reasons for it and a sense of the risks. It does not promise success. It shows the owner what is likely, what is uncertain and what to watch. The owner then decides with open eyes.

Mast Parks does not publish the contents or format of its reports. They are the result of its research and expertise, and they are provided to the client.

Some studies are written to support a decision that has already been made. They read well and help nobody. A useful study is one the owner could not have written alone: it tells the owner something the owner did not know, or confirms something with evidence where there was only hope.

The test of a good study is whether it changes a decision or sharpens one. If an owner reads it and would have done exactly the same without it, the study has not done its job. Mast Parks approaches each study as an independent view, and tells the owner what is true even when it is not what the owner hoped.

A park is a large and long commitment. The study protects the owner in three ways. It lowers the risk of building the wrong park. It gives the owner a reasoned case to show partners, lenders and family. And it sets the direction for every later stage, so that design, planning and operations pull the same way.

None of this guarantees success, and no honest study promises it. What it does is replace guesswork with a reasoned start.

As early as possible, and always before design. Owners who commission a study when they have only a plot and an idea get the most from it, because every option is still open. Owners who commission it after the design is drawn can still learn from it, but the cost of changing course is higher.

A study is also useful when an existing park is considering a major change, such as adding a water park, an indoor area or a new zone. See how to start an amusement park in India for the full sequence.

When the study is delivered, the owner should be able to say in one sentence what it recommends and why. If the recommendation cannot be said plainly, the study has not finished its work. The owner then takes the recommendation into the next stages, which are the financial plan and the concept.

The cost of a park depends on the project and the effort it needs: the park type, the size of the site and the services chosen. It is not a fixed number, and a figure quoted without knowing the site would mislead. Mast Parks scopes each project with the owner, so the owner pays for the work that project needs.

To discuss a study for your site, use the contact page.

How long a park takes depends on the project: the size of the site, the park type and the scope of the work. Mast Parks agrees a timeline with each owner at the start, so the owner can plan funding, approvals and the opening around it.

• Commissioning a study to confirm a decision already made.
• Skipping the study because the land is owned.
• Treating the study as a formality rather than a decision tool.
• Starting design before the study is finished.
• Expecting the study to guarantee results.

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.

A Mast water park in Rajasthan. An indoor water park with an integrated amusement park, designed to give guests shelter from the heat. Mast Parks handled theming, naming, master planning, architectural design, project management, operations, hiring and training. See the project.

FEC Ahmedabad. A themed FEC with go-karting. Mast Parks delivered all services from scratch. See the project.

To start with the feasibility question, see feasibility studies.