Theme parks are places of wonder, where one can explore fabulously decorated lands, spend hours admiring the pieces of themeing, and ride thrilling attractions immersed in the setting. Even restaurants and queue lines can sometimes take you out of everyday mundanity and into a fairy tale world.
However, first and foremost they are places of business, and it takes a lot of logistics to keep parks running. Shops need to be restocked, coasters need somewhere to store and repair trains, garbage bins must be emptied, staff needs routes to go on and off duty, indoor rides are often way too big to fit inside the neat-looking facade building, and the amount of things you need to transport into and out of a restaurant every day is staggering. In order to keep guests immersed in their experiences, all this needs to happen in ways that aren't completely obvious to them. Or at the very least, not in the way of park operations.
These necessities lead some park designers to be very creative. What is your favourite example of logistics being hidden from guests, but at the same time close enough to the action to be convenient for staff?
I don't think it's controversial to say that Disney employs the undisputed masters of this kind of design. You could have entire threads solely dedicated to their cunning (and if I remember correctly, we have had such threads in the past). And since I'm unoriginal, I'm going to open this thread with one of their examples:
This is Tokyo DisneySea. That area outlined in red is a maintenance road that nearly bisects the park. A wide road built for trucks that goes smack into the middle of the park, widens out so the trucks can comfortably turn around, unload and drive out again, above ground the whole time, without guests ever noticing.
Here is a picture taken ten meters away from the road, looking right at it. It might as well not have been there, all you see is pretty rockwork and a tunnel taking you to the other side of the park.
This is the closest you get to a direct picture of the road. I think. I sure wouldn't have known if I hadn't known about it beforehand. Looks like just another rock arch.
This 360 picture is taken in an area basically on top of the maintenance area. Here is what it looks like from the air:
That area of the park might as well have been in the middle of an industrial complex, but from the ground, it still looks like the happiest place on Earth where things happen as if by magic. I call that really clever design.
In another Disney park, there is this gem (courtesy of Cracked.com):
What are your favourite examples?
However, first and foremost they are places of business, and it takes a lot of logistics to keep parks running. Shops need to be restocked, coasters need somewhere to store and repair trains, garbage bins must be emptied, staff needs routes to go on and off duty, indoor rides are often way too big to fit inside the neat-looking facade building, and the amount of things you need to transport into and out of a restaurant every day is staggering. In order to keep guests immersed in their experiences, all this needs to happen in ways that aren't completely obvious to them. Or at the very least, not in the way of park operations.
These necessities lead some park designers to be very creative. What is your favourite example of logistics being hidden from guests, but at the same time close enough to the action to be convenient for staff?
I don't think it's controversial to say that Disney employs the undisputed masters of this kind of design. You could have entire threads solely dedicated to their cunning (and if I remember correctly, we have had such threads in the past). And since I'm unoriginal, I'm going to open this thread with one of their examples:
This is Tokyo DisneySea. That area outlined in red is a maintenance road that nearly bisects the park. A wide road built for trucks that goes smack into the middle of the park, widens out so the trucks can comfortably turn around, unload and drive out again, above ground the whole time, without guests ever noticing.
Here is a picture taken ten meters away from the road, looking right at it. It might as well not have been there, all you see is pretty rockwork and a tunnel taking you to the other side of the park.
This is the closest you get to a direct picture of the road. I think. I sure wouldn't have known if I hadn't known about it beforehand. Looks like just another rock arch.
This 360 picture is taken in an area basically on top of the maintenance area. Here is what it looks like from the air:
That area of the park might as well have been in the middle of an industrial complex, but from the ground, it still looks like the happiest place on Earth where things happen as if by magic. I call that really clever design.
In another Disney park, there is this gem (courtesy of Cracked.com):
What are your favourite examples?
