Exline Design - Entertainment Design

Theme parks were a natural evolution out of the American motion picture industry. Walt Disney is greatly credited with having brought the notion of “theme park” to contemporary culture. As Mr. Disney walked the extravagant Hollywood movie sets of the 1930’s and 40’s, he realized just how completely engaging, immersive, and visually exciting the experience was. He imagined giving a movie audience the opportunity to

“leave their seats” and virtually walk into the fantasy world that they were viewing on the screen! He could sense the commercial potential of creating such a venue for a mass audience, one that would allow the general public to interact with this kind of immersive themed environment. He envisioned that his “themed park” would offer MUCH more than the carnivals, fairs, and seedy amusements familiar to most Americans of the day.

Of course, today’s major theme parks and related themed entertainment projects have swept the nation and many parts of the world. They have become virtual icons of western culture, symbols of the “good life” en–mass, almost synonymous with the very notion of American capitalism and success. Themed entertainment concepts have been applied to the restaurant industry, the retail industry, and even to some degree the residential development industry. Though at times controversial, theme parks and themed entertainment projects are indisputably popular, and almost always fun!

Over the last 20 years, Exline Design has enjoyed the opportunity to explore the notion of “theme park” as a planning and design challenge. As a problem to be solved, they ARE creative & fun, yet surprisingly challenging and complex. This section of the portfolio presents the firm’s involvement with a number of full–scale theme park concepts and development efforts.

MAGIC WORLD – A five hundred million–dollar theme park concept generated for a creek side property in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

FU HUA AMUSEMENT PARK – An amusement park boasting more than one million visits during its first year of operation in Weifang, China

NAKAYAMA NEW WORLD – Ten enclosed acres incorporating traditional rides within a heavily themed sound stage for Sendai, Japan

LUSOLANDIA – A 50–acre theme park celebrating Portugal’s rich heritage and “Golden Age of Discovery” just outside of Lisbon

WESTERN GARDENS – An internationally themed park combining year–round festive retail with seasonal attractions for Melbourne, Australia