Announcing the upcoming release of Theme Park Design & The Art of Themed Entertainment – a new book aiming to be the most in-depth look at theme park design ever written.
Across almost six hundred pages, the book guides the reader through everything from the design process and business models of the industry, to land design, show set design, story design, roller coaster design, and more.
Based on more than two thousand quotes from historic and brand new interviews with accomplished designers from Walt Disney Imagineering, Merlin Entertainments, Universal Creative, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, and more, author David Younger (right) describes it as a handbook for the practicing designer, a textbook for the aspiring student, and a behind the scenes guidebook for the theme park fan.
The book’s Foreword is written by celebrated theme park designer, Disney Legend, and Themed Entertainment Association Lifetime Achievement Award winner Tony Baxter, whose lead project roles have included Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Disneyland, 1979), Journey Into Imagination (Epcot, 1983), Star Tours (Disneyland, 1987) and Disneyland Paris (1992). Tony writes:
“I can’t imagine a person contemplating a role in themed entertainment not coming out of this immersive experience inside David Younger’s mind without the equivalent of a Master’s Degree in the psychology of the themed experience. Add to that the good fortune to have a large reserve of inbred talent, and they should be fully charged to make a major leap towards discovering that elusive next big thing!”
"A Landmark in our Intellectual Space"
The book is concluded with an Afterword written by famed theme park designer and Themed Entertainment 
Association Lifetime Award winner Joe Rohde, whose lead project roles have included Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain (Disney’s Animal Kingdom, 2006), Aulani – A Disney Resort & Spa (2011), Pandora – The World of Avatar (Disney’s Animal Kingdom, 2017), and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park (1998). Joe writes:
“Expertise is real, and, at least in part, quantifiable, as David Younger’s magnum opus demonstrates. By amassing the communal knowledge of this disparate and diverse group into a single opus, David Younger has provided us all with a landmark in our intellectual space from which we may navigate to further possibility.”
The book can be pre-ordered immediately at www.ThemeParkDesignBook.com for a March 28th 2016 release, in either a $69.95 Hardback Color Edition or $49.95 Paperback Black & White Edition, and will be available through bookshops and Amazon a month later.
