Theme park design

Theme park design is the planning of a park whose zones, rides, food and merchandise follow one story. Mast Parks is a theme park design company. Every Mast Parks project is themed, from Dreamasia to Jungle Adventures.

Mast Parks offers theme park design as part of Master Planning, its design service. The master plan is the blueprint of the park: architectural drawings, crowd movement, ride and attraction selection, theming placement and revisions until the client approves it.

This page explains what theme park design involves, where Mast Parks has done this kind of work and what an owner should settle before starting. It stays at the level of what the work is for. The detailed method is part of Mast Parks' professional practice and is not published here.

See the park type hub: Theme Parks. Before design, a feasibility study decides which park or concept suits the site. After the master plan, Architectural Designing produces the construction-level drawings.

A theme gives a park one idea to be remembered by. Without it, a park is a set of rides. With it, the rides, the food, the signs, the staff and the merchandise all say the same thing, and a guest can describe the park in a sentence. A theme also gives the park something competitors cannot copy easily: its own story.

A story is what makes a theme park uniquely themed and designed, compared with a park that only installs rides. When the whole park follows one theme, guests get an immersive and consistent experience, and the food and merchandise connect to the theme and stay relevant within the park. A theme is an option, not a rule: Mast Parks also builds parks without a theme if the client asks, and a feasibility study decides which suits the site.

Guest flow

When one theme runs through the park, the route is part of the story. The master plan decides which zone a guest meets first, how the story unfolds from one zone to the next and where the park rests between them. A single theme gives guests an immersive and consistent experience and connects the food and merchandise to the park's story. Theming also helps a park stand apart from others.

Attractions

Rides and attractions are selected to serve the story as well as the audience. A ride that fits the theme strengthens the zone around it. Mast Parks selects them together with the client, and the choice is carried out through Ride and Attraction Planning.

Theming

Theming is placed deliberately. The master plan decides how the theme is carried out and exactly where it appears, including prop and mascot placement. The theme comes from Theme Development: the story, the look and the mascots.

Drawings and revisions

The master plan for a theme park is drawn as architectural drawings and sketches with exact measurements. The client reviews the plan, asks for changes and sees it revised until it is approved. Nothing moves to the construction-level drawings until the plan is approved.

Fun World. The park was re-themed so its amusement park, water park, aquarium and snow park sit under one theme. See the project.

Nicco Park, Dreamasia, Jungle Adventures and a Mast water park in Rajasthan. At Nicco Park, eight mascots and merchandise were designed for an operating park with eight zones: seven continent-themed zones and the snow park. Dreamasia was re-themed around its name. Jungle Adventures is an adventure park themed on the Jungle Book using open IP. A Mast water park in Rajasthan is an indoor water park with peacock feather and curd pot motifs.

See all theme park projects.

An owner brings the site, with its survey and any documents about its boundaries and access, together with the budget and the concept 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 for the theme park.

Theme park design is used by private landowners, existing park owners, family businesses, government and tourism bodies, and temples and religious trusts. Some start from land and an idea. Others own a park that already runs and want a theme to hold it together.

The master plan gives the owner a clear answer to these questions before any building starts:

• Whether the park should be themed at all.
• The story, and the zones that belong to it.
• The route that lets the story unfold.
• Where the mascots, props and landmarks sit.
• How food and merchandise connect to the theme.

A theme park built ride by ride, with the theme added afterwards, tends to look like a set of rides with decoration. Zones may tell different stories, the route may not carry the story, and the food and merchandise may feel unrelated. A master plan drawn around the theme from the start avoids this.

A theme can come from mythology, nature, a region, a culture or an original idea. Mast Parks works from the site and the audience, so the theme belongs to its place. At Jungle Adventures the idea is the Jungle Book, at Dreamasia it is Asia, and at a Mast water park in Rajasthan it is the motifs of the region. The idea comes first, and the design follows from it.

A theme park layout is the arrangement of zones, routes, queues and rest areas around the story. A layout can be built around a central landmark, a sequence of themed lands or a journey from entry to exit. The right choice depends on the site and the audience, and the feasibility study and the concept come before it. The master plan fixes the layout and the theme placement together.

A theme does not need a blank site. Many parks start without one and find, over time, that they need something to set them apart. Re-theming gives an existing park a new story and look without rebuilding from nothing. Mast Parks re-themed Fun World and Dreamasia, and themed Nicco Park throughout.

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 has the feasibility work recommended for the theme park?
• What is the budget range for the first phase?
• Which attractions matter most to your audience?
• Do you want a theme, and do you have an idea for it yet?
• Are there features on the site, such as trees, water or slopes, that you want to keep?

• 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 kinds of attraction, theme or audience.
• Theme. The story, look and mascots that tie the park together.
• Open IP. A story or character free to use without a licence from a rights holder.

Mast Parks organises its work as 13 services in four stages, listed here in the order a project usually follows. Theme park design (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. For a theme park, 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.