Concept Creation

Attraction design starts with the concept: the idea of the park, its rides and its themes, before any drawing is made.

Concept creation turns a site and an audience into an idea for the park, before the theme is fixed. Mast Parks starts attraction design here. We brainstorm from four inputs: the location, the target audience, the potential rides, and regional or cultural themes. The aim is a park that offers diverse, quality experiences for all age groups.

Concept Creation is the third service in the Concept and Planning stage of the 13 Mast Parks services. It follows Financial Planning, so the concept is shaped inside a budget the owner has already tested. The next service is Theme Development, which turns the concept into a physical theme.

Location

The site and its surroundings suggest what the park could be. A park near a pilgrimage route, a hill, a forest, a tea estate or a city has different natural stories to draw on. The concept starts from the place rather than from a catalogue of rides.

Target audience

The concept is built for the guests the park will serve. The audience decides how much of the park is for young children, how much is for teenagers and adults, and how much is for the whole family together. The concept aims at all age groups, so that a family can spend a day together without part of the group waiting.

Potential rides

The concept considers the attractions the park could carry: rides, slides, dark rides, adventure activities and other experiences. This is an early look at what is possible and what fits. The final selection of rides happens later, in Master Planning and Ride and Attraction Planning.

Regional or cultural themes

The concept looks for themes that belong to the park's place and people. A regional story, a cultural tradition or a local landscape can make a park feel rooted rather than imported. It can also give a park something that competitors do not have.

An owner brings the site, the feasibility and financial work, and a view of what they want the park to stand for. Owners often bring references too: parks they admire, stories from their region, or ideas that have stayed with them for years. These are useful starting points.

The owner receives a clear concept: what the park is, who it is for, what experiences it offers and what makes it belong to its place.

Attraction design is needed at the start of a park, and again when an existing park wants to add or change attractions.

Concept creation is used by private landowners, existing park owners, family businesses, government and tourism bodies, and temples and religious trusts. It applies to all eight park types: theme parks, water parks, amusement parks, adventure parks, themed family entertainment centres, ecological parks, experience centres and spiritual parks. An existing park can also use it to decide what to add or to change.

At a Mast water park in Rajasthan, a new integrated indoor water park and amusement park in Rajasthan, the theme uses the motifs of the peacock feather and the curd pot. These connect the park to nearby religious places without making it overtly religious. This is an example of a regional and cultural input shaping a concept.

At Fun World in Bangalore, the concept was to re-theme and redesign the second oldest park in India, in Bangalore, for a modern, cosmopolitan crowd, bringing its amusement park, water park, aquarium and snow park under one theme. At Dreamasia, an existing amusement and water park was re-themed from its own name, with zones representing Asian countries.

Concept creation takes its direction from Feasibility Studies and Financial Planning. Its output goes to Theme Development, where the idea becomes a story, a look and mascots. From there, Master Planning fixes where everything goes.

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

A concept sets the course for everything that follows. These are the decisions the service helps an owner settle.

• What is this park about? The concept states the idea in plain words, so the owner, the designers and the team all work to the same one.
• Who is it for? The concept names the audience and shows how the park serves each part of it.
• What will guests do? The concept sets the mix of experiences: rides, slides, dark rides, adventure activities, shows, food and quiet spaces.
• What makes it ours? The concept finds the regional or cultural input that makes the park belong to its place.
• What stays out? A concept is also a set of things the park will not do. Leaving ideas out keeps the park focused and the budget in control.

Parks that start with a list of rides, without a concept, tend to become collections of unrelated attractions. Guests find it hard to say what the park is about, and designers find it hard to decide what belongs. A clear concept prevents this by giving every later decision something to be checked against.

A concept is not fixed forever. It can change as the work develops. What matters is that there is one, and that changes are made on purpose.

At a Mast water park in Rajasthan, the owner wanted a park that gave families shelter from the heat. That shaped the concept: a primarily indoor water park, the first of its kind in India, with an integrated amusement park. The site then suggested its own stories. Rajasthan has religious places nearby, so the concept took the peacock feather and the curd pot as motifs, subtle links to the setting that do not make the park overtly religious.

The example shows how the four inputs work together. The location gave the climate and the stories. The audience gave the need for shelter and family entertainment. The rides followed from both. The cultural theme made the park belong to Rajasthan.

• Concept. The idea for the park, before the theme is fixed.
• Theme. The concept made physical: its story, look and mascots.
• Attraction. Anything a guest can ride, watch, play or explore in the park.
• Dark ride. A ride that carries guests through a story, usually indoors and in low light.
• Regional or cultural theme. A story, tradition or landscape from the park's own place.