Master Planning

Park design starts with the master plan, the theme park master plan that fixes where everything goes. Everything built later follows from it.

The master plan is the blueprint of the park. It fixes where everything goes before construction begins: the entrances, the paths, the rides, the water areas, the food outlets, the theming and the spaces between them. Mast Parks leads park design through master planning, working with the owner so that the plan reflects what the owner wants and what the site allows.

Master Planning is the first service in the Design and Execution stage of the 13 Mast Parks services. It follows Theme Development, because the designers need to know the story and the look before they decide exactly where each element sits. It comes before Architectural Designing, which produces the detailed, construction-level output from the master plan.

Drawings, measurements and sketches

The plan includes architectural drawings, exact measurements and sketches. These show the site as it will be laid out, with every zone, building and path placed to scale. Exact measurements matter because rides, slides and buildings need fixed amounts of space, and the plan must show that they fit.

Crowd movement

The plan covers how guests move through the park. This includes guest circulation, entry and exit points, and zones for different ride types. Good crowd movement means guests can find their way, queues do not block paths, and quieter areas stay quiet. It also means the park can be run safely when it is full.

Rides and attractions

Rides, slides and attractions are selected in collaboration with the client. The selection depends on the concept, the audience and the budget, and on the space each attraction needs. The detailed work of finding vendors then follows in Ride and Attraction Planning.

Theming placement

The plan decides how the theming is carried out and exactly where it appears, including the placement of props and mascots. The theme is not added after the layout is done. It is built into the layout, so that each zone has its story and each entrance, sightline and meeting point supports it.

Revisions for approval

The plan goes through multiple revisions for client approval. The owner sees the plan, comments on it, and the plan is revised until the owner approves it. Only an approved master plan moves on to detailed design.

An owner brings the site, with its survey and any documents about its boundaries and access, together with the theme and the budget agreed in earlier stages. The owner also brings their views on the plan as it develops, since the revisions depend on them.

The owner receives the approved master plan: drawings and sketches of the whole park, the guest circulation plan, the selected rides and attractions and the theming placement.

A theme park master plan is needed before detailed design begins, and again when an existing park wants to expand or diversify.

Master planning 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. See the pages for theme park design, water park design and amusement park design, which explain what changes for each park type.

Mast Parks prepared the master plan for a Mast water park in Rajasthan, an indoor water park and amusement park in Rajasthan, and for an amusement park proposed and designed around an existing food park factory, with architectural drawings and attraction design that includes dark rides.

On a Mast amusement and adventure park in Karnataka, Mast Parks was involved from ground zero and prepared the master layout. The project joins a large cable car to a hilltop deity, a 35-acre amusement and adventure park, a dark ride, a thematic meditation garden, and the main roads, parking and exit.

At Jungle Adventures, master planning and zoning were part of the work on an existing adventure park in a tea estate.

• Where does each zone go? The plan places the zones in relation to each other and to the entrances.
• How do guests move? The plan sets the routes, the queue spaces and the entry and exit points.
• Which rides and attractions fit? The plan checks each against the space it needs and the audience it serves.
• Where does the theme show? The plan places the props, the mascots and the key sights.
• What is built first? Where the park is built in phases, the plan shows how the first phase connects to later ones.

A park that is built piece by piece, without a master plan, tends to end up with awkward routes, crowded corners, rides that do not fit their zones and theming that does not line up. Fixing these after construction is costly. A master plan finds them on paper, where changing the plan costs little.

A master plan cannot predict everything. It does let the owner, the designers and the vendors work from the same drawing, which removes a large source of disagreement.

• Master plan. The blueprint of the park: where everything goes.
• Guest circulation. How guests move through the park.
• Zoning. Dividing the park into areas for different ride types, themes or audiences.
• Dark ride. A ride that carries guests through a story, usually indoors and in low light.
• Phase. A stage of the build. A park can open in one phase or several.

Owners get more from this service 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.

• How much land is available, and is it one piece?
• What park types are you considering, and what has the feasibility work recommended?
• What is the budget range for the first phase?
• Which attractions matter most to your audience?
• Are there features on the site, such as trees, water or slopes, that you want to keep?

Mast Parks organises its work as 13 services in four stages, listed here in the order a project usually follows. Master Planning is shown in bold. An owner can start at any stage, but each stage builds on the one before it.

• Concept and Planning. Feasibility Studies, Financial Planning, Concept Creation, Theme Development.
• Design and Execution. Master Planning, Architectural Designing, Project Management Consultancy.
• Rides, People and Operations. Ride and Attraction Planning, Team Hiring and Training, Operations Planning.
• Launch and Growth. Marketing and Branding, Merchandising, Content and Events.

Most owners use several of these services together, and some use the full set from idea to opening. See all 13 on the services 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.