Desiging an amusement Park

If you were just using photshop to design signage than your not designing functional signage. Adobe Illustrator with CAD Tools is the way to go. Illustrator allows artistic freedom but also serves functional purpses as well. Photoshop would only be used for complex digital graphics, if that were to be a part of the signage. And using the type tool in Photoshop? Oiy!

But yeah, LMH hit the nail on the head. Theming and signage is an amazing amount of work. But that's just one element. Making a brand oriented cohesive system of signage and graphics has roots that run deeper than a Sequoia.

I have just gotten cad 2005 from a source and I will also be getting solidworks, 3-D studio max and whatever else I can get my hands on. I curently do not have a comouter at home, but I will by the 25th cause that is my b-day and my dad just got finished building it. So as soon as I get that I will have all the computer programs I need plus more. As for models we will just have to see how that goes. I am sure there is a way to work things out. Well if everyone who is interested can put their info in my guestbook it would help me so much. Talk to you again soon.

You can always do what I and a few others have done. There are a few colleges that offer Theme Park Design/layout. I took it at Pittsburgh Art Institute, and then went on to get my Mech. Eng. Degree at the University of Akron.

One thing I would STRONGLY suggest is that you own the programs you use (AutoCAD, 3DStudioMax, etc.) I can tell you if you design something in them and don't own them, if you show them to someone else or want to use them...You can be in for a WORLD of hurt from MANY lawyers.

My best advice for anyone wanting to purchase these programs is to get into a good college and have them give them to you as a gift or use their student discounts to get them. It will save you around $3000+ doing so.

But yes, there are MANY classes that teach you layouts, design, model building, funding, etc. Everything you ever wanted to know about how to run an amusement park can be learned if you go to the right college(s).

Enjoy and hav fun! *** Edited 8/17/2004 6:21:00 PM UTC by RollerCoasterGod***

True, but she's doing this for fun, not to sell it to some park execs.

This is for fun right now but as time developes and the people who are designing this with me, especially because of all of the talent we have here, it may go further. One can only hope that we can make all of our dreams come true.

Right now networking and creating and learning are the things that are important right now. There is so much to learn and so much fun to have. I can only go one step at a time.

So we will see where this all will go.

By the way Rayne,
I have some information I can give you but do not want to disclose what it is on here. Just instant message me or email me when you have the time and I'll tell you what it is. It will help out big time.

Your bandwidth is exceeded. If your going to be doing this park, you better get a proffesional site, or get someone to host it. By the way, I am in. Here is a list again of what I do: CADScale Models3D AnimationGraphic DesignMovie EditingThemingAnd something else that I will email you about when you drop me a line some time.

Rayne

I've signed your guestbook earlier, I use SolidWorks Daily designing racecar parts.

I'm a coaster fan and it would be fun to draw some CAD models for a project like this, mail me or something and I'll see what I can do for you. The technical stuff would be good for me, that's what I know and I'm sticking with it!!!

Later

I designed hundreds of parks for fun when I was between the ages of 5 and somewhere around 20 years old. I would spend hours per day after school sitting at my desk drawing things that I daydreamed about all day. I still have a few but I have lost almost all of them. I was always searching for posterboard or large white paper. My favorite park that I designed took over a year to compleatly draw on paper.

It was well planned out with many themed areas; Main street (with waterfall gardens on one side and a few attractions on the other), Amazon, Wild West, Circus/Carnival, Kids area, Rock (music) City, Future city, and a large outdoor Mall/Bazarre. I drew it from a complete overhead perspective, like house plans or outdoor garden plans. My coasters layouts where without hills, just striaghts and turns. Loops looked like zig-zags.

Durring that year, I bought maybe 50 kneadable erasers. I drew most complex ride plans on paper first to figure the exact layout of the ride I was working on that day. When looking at it now, I can tell that the park layout would work; no bottleknecks or deadends. The path design has a main street and severial loops. I remember it being inspired by PKI, CP, and SFMM.

It had something like 20 coasters, most of which I thought of as not being built at first, rather being planned future attractions to be built after opening.

Mine was all on paper; no models. It was a great hobbie that gave me a chance to dream. Everyone who knew me knew that I wanted to open my own amusement park, they just didn't know that I had been working on designing my park since I was 5 years old.

But than I got old and realized that my true destiny wasn't to open a park afterall, but something a little different.

If you got this far, thanks for reading another of my pointless and longwinded posts about how cool I think I am. Have fun designing.

OK

Are you ready to get started?

Here is how it is going to work,

My friend felix is going to be helping me with some forum topics on my site. He is from holland, so if you ever cant understand his english, just ask him.

First we are going to need to decide how many themed areas we are going to have

Then we will need to decide what kind of themes they are going to have

Then we will discuss the layout of the park and where things will be placed in each land

Then we will decide on what rides we will put in each land

These are very generalized topics, they are just a little more involved then how I am writting them, but you understand where I am going, I hope.

After that we will get into the ride specifics. This will be very fun. We will definantly have to do alot of brainstorming and research.

I am going to be needed some of your e-mail addresses. I would appreciate it if you could e-mail me or sign in my guestbook. That way I will be able to keep track of everyone who is involved.

ok here we go.

millrace, are all of your rides in the park functional (ie. do they run by themselves)?

-SS

Hey guys they site that I am working off of is a free site and my bandwidth got full. I made some of my pics smaller so hopefully tomorrow you will be able to go on ok.

If you need to contact me in the mean time just e-mail me.

Swoosh - Yes and no. The only ride that currently operates is the train (it's built on an 'N' scale diesel loco chassis). The others can move but aren't yet motorized, it is in the master plan though. I'm still testing out various motors and ways to link them to the ride. Some rides are easier than others!

All that is taking a back seat to a more exciting project at the moment; a wooden roller coaster!

Millrace,

Have you ever built a rollercoaster out of k'nex? I did once it was a lot of fun. Anyways they have a motor for pulling the coaster up the lift you may want to check it out.

My site is working today so visit my forum to discuss the topic for our park.

For those of you who are going to be involved in the designing of the amusement park. There is some very important e-mails to read. You can check out the Theme Park Page to view them.

Very cool,
Read all of his emails, and he sounded very interested in us helping him out. It would be awesome if we got really really deep into the project, and my company I work for (Midwest Models) would be able to build a full scale model of the park as well as a 3D animation (probably hired out to 3DVIP) to help show the investors what is going on here.

I am currently, in my free time, working on a scale model of one of the 87ft. S&S Power Towers to show you what I am capable of doing by myself without everyones help at work.

Email me if you have any questions at AJHolmaneight@insightbb.com, or have Dave email me and I can speak with him about what his plans are now.

Thanks,
Lee.

Lee

Wow if you are interested in this, you may be interested in knowing that I met Stan Checketts at magic mountain before I even started school.

I was there on vacation visiting both magic mountain and disney land. At this point in my life I new what I wanted to do but I didnt know which field would be the best for me to go into. So while visiting the parks I asked around. So I was at SF and there was a new ride being built and I saw the guy with the plans and I walkd over to him and said, " who do I need to talk to, to find out what I need to do to design stuff like this." He pointed to a guy in a hat and said, " see that guy in the hat?" and I said, "yeah" and he said, "that is the guy who paid to have this built." I was so excited so I walked over to him and introduced myself, and it was stan checkets he was talking with one of his engineers. So I talked to them for a while and that is when I decided to go to school for cad. He had given me his # at the time and told me to call for info on his business. When I called S&S the girl who answered the phone didnt believe me when I told her stan told me to call. She said, " stan the owner?" and I said yup. Not a very nice girl they had at the front desk, but I talked to a human resources lady once and she was nice. S&S just doesnt do what I want to do. They are very limited on the rides they build. Maybe once we get further into the project and I can give him a call and say hey do you remember that girl at SF. Then I will be like well here I am and look at me now.