Theme park noob needs some resources and tips

Swjosdotschka

Swjosdotschka
So, hello y'all!

I'm Linda and I'm a very weak person when it comes to impulse buy control for creative games and a sucker for vintage rides. So I pre-ordered the deluxe edition of Planet Coaster 2. I did buy Planet Coaster 1 when it came out, but never really played, because the truth of the matter is: I am a zoo girl with all my heart, not a theme park girl and I haven't been to theme parks in over 20 years.

The reason I bought this game (besides being weak) is:

  • I want to get a headstart with new features for a potential Planet Zoo 2.
  • I actually do love the visual of theme parks and I am a passionate story teller, so this game could be a perfect tool for that.

But... I know absolutely nothing about theme parks. And for money reasons and mobility reasons I am not planning on visiting one again, soon.

So I'm faithfully turning to you theme park nerds to kindly ask for some resources to get in the groove of theme parks. YouTube Channels with real theme park reviews, sources to learn more about coasters and flat rides, decoration ideas... whatever could help me. I appreciate all you can throw at me.

Thank you in advance :)
 

MDPCFan

M
Swjosdotschka said:
So, hello y'all!

I'm Linda and I'm a very weak person when it comes to impulse buy control for creative games and a sucker for vintage rides. So I pre-ordered the deluxe edition of Planet Coaster 2. I did buy Planet Coaster 1 when it came out, but never really played, because the truth of the matter is: I am a zoo girl with all my heart, not a theme park girl and I haven't been to theme parks in over 20 years.

The reason I bought this game (besides being weak) is:

  • I want to get a headstart with new features for a potential Planet Zoo 2.
  • I actually do love the visual of theme parks and I am a passionate story teller, so this game could be a perfect tool for that.

But... I know absolutely nothing about theme parks. And for money reasons and mobility reasons I am not planning on visiting one again, soon.

So I'm faithfully turning to you theme park nerds to kindly ask for some resources to get in the groove of theme parks. YouTube Channels with real theme park reviews, sources to learn more about coasters and flat rides, decoration ideas... whatever could help me. I appreciate all you can throw at me.

Thank you in advance :)
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I'm sort of a noob, myself in that I'm not any good at building parks (I suck at it, actually), even though I'm a big fan of theme parks and have been playing these types of games since RCT1. I also have similar reasons for not being able to go to any parks since 2010. :(

One thing I think might help both of us in terms of building realistic parks in Planet Coaster 2, is satellite images (like Google Maps) of theme parks so you can see their layouts from above. Also, most parks (at least they used to) have their own maps on their websites (like the ones you'd use while in the park). So, you could use the park's map that shows what each area/ride is and the satellite image at the same time if you wanted to "duplicate" a real-life park or at least make one whose layout was realistic. If that makes any sense?
 

WingardiumLevicoaster

Volunteer Moderator
WingardiumLevicoaster
Hey!

I've always been a themepark girl, but I learnt most of what I know since being in the Planet Coaster community

YouTube is a great resource as others have said. There are endless themepark vlogs for ideas about specific parks or if you are interested in a history (Expedition Themepark is fun).

I actually learnt a lot of what I know from talking to others about rides, and also because I am a coaster counter.. through roller coaster database as linked above.

Also. The creations in Planet Coaster itself are wonderful. You don't always have to be realistic. So many wonderful creations in the original game.
 

Swjosdotschka

Swjosdotschka
@Nemmie Awww, thank you so much for your encouraging words, I really appreciate them 💙

@WingardiumLevicoaster and @Inspector G. Vlogs sound great, which ones are your favourites to start with?

@MDPCFan Park Maps might really help me to get a clue how Theme parks spread their attractions - like where are the coasters, where are the rides, what areas do they have etc. Google Maps is what others usually use for their realistic zoos, but tbh, if I try to recreate or copy a park, I lose my patience pretty fast because I feel restricted or like I'm told what to do. :D It's a stubborn me thing.
What are your favourite theme parks to take a look at online?

Thank you all for the warm welcome and lovely help!
 

MDPCFan

M
Swjosdotschka said:
@Nemmie Awww, thank you so much for your encouraging words, I really appreciate them 💙

@WingardiumLevicoaster and @Inspector G. Vlogs sound great, which ones are your favourites to start with?

@MDPCFan Park Maps might really help me to get a clue how Theme parks spread their attractions - like where are the coasters, where are the rides, what areas do they have etc. Google Maps is what others usually use for their realistic zoos, but tbh, if I try to recreate or copy a park, I lose my patience pretty fast because I feel restricted or like I'm told what to do. :D It's a stubborn me thing.
What are your favourite theme parks to take a look at online?

Thank you all for the warm welcome and lovely help!
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Well, of the parks I've been to, I'd recommend Kings Dominion (Virginia) as a park that was never really heavily themed, and that has sort of grown outward organically from it's original area (they just put new stuff where they have room lol and kept a lot of their old stuff too). They even have an in-park water park area. :)
And, on a side note, it was heavily featured in the movie Rollercoaster back in 1977 when it was still a new park and shows how it used to look back then. Though, I confess watching it probably wouldn't help you (or me) lay out a park in PC2, but it's of particular interest to me since KD was my home park when I was a little kid in the 1970's.

If you want a big (and I mean big) park in a similar vein (old, organic and not too themed), then Six Flags Magic Mountain in California (also heavily featured in Rollercoaster). There's also Knott's Berry Farm, also in California.

For heavily themed parks that started out that way and were probably laid out according to some theme park design theory (for lack of a better way to put it), then, Islands of Adventure, and Busch Gardens (both in Florida). And of course, Disney World, especially if you like the old-fashioned Victorian-esque "Main Street" style theming like I do.
 

WingardiumLevicoaster

Volunteer Moderator
WingardiumLevicoaster
A blog I love is Diary of a Coaster girl. Here. She also posts a lot on Facebook. She doesn't vlog but visits a lot of places and posts a lot of pictures. For vloggers while some people don't like Theme Park Worldwide, it would be a good old to start with purely because they cover so many parks.

Parks that could be inspiration: Phantasialand, Europapark, Parc Asterix, Efteling, Toverland are all heavy on the themeing.
 

Inspector G.

I
Swjosdotschka said:
tbh, if I try to recreate or copy a park, I lose my patience pretty fast because I feel restricted or like I'm told what to do. :D It's a stubborn me thing.
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No, it's not ;) I feel very similar! It is a great idea at first but it is getting boring, very quickly xD Planet Coaster has so much to offer, it would be a shame ro limiting the creative mind. But some reference pictures or videos really help for inspiration!

I want add that many parks have YouTube channels as well and some really cool POVs of theire coasters.
Another source is to search for documentaries. There are a few which also going into detail (there are some in dutch language for example, about efteling rides).
On pinterest are some cool pictures if you search for layouts or theme park concept, etc.

Hope that helps :)
 

Swjosdotschka

Swjosdotschka
Hey there! :)

So, I binge watched the USA Tour 2023 of Themepark Worldwide so far and I can say I really start to get over excited to build a theme park now. November can't come soon enough.

I'm sad we don't have a wild west theme in Planco2, as I just love it personally (also in Zoo, where we now can at least fake it).

Do you guys have any other YT Theme Park Tour Channel recommendations? Long and detailed videos prefered.

I feel my favourite part of building will be comming up with quirky ride names and do signs and theming around it.
 

Aramar

Aramar
Swjosdotschka said:
Do you guys have any other YT Theme Park Tour Channel recommendations? Long and detailed videos prefered.
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The DLP Welcome channel has a list with their tour videos around parks (their main focus is Disneyland Paris but they also have other Disney and non Disney tours too):
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXYGJxjXNQ4&list=PLhdNyIdb9uFs2wM8GSFKZw_oxb29WEKIr&pp=iAQB


Also, if you have a DIsney+ subscription, you could watch the documentary series "The Imagineering Story". It's very interesting.
 

Swjosdotschka

Swjosdotschka
Funnily enough, I haven't watch disney yet because it's so main stream and branded for me 😅 I'm sure I'll give it a go someday (the YT videos I mean), and maybe it's because my uncle was obsessed with Mickey Mouse when I was a kid, but even then just the idea of going to Disneyland was so boring to me.
The general theme park with or without some occasional branded rides interest me much more, if I'm honest.
 

Aramar

Aramar
Not everything in Disney is branded and the theming is out of this world:

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But I understand that we all have different opinions.
 
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