Research Post: Amusement Parks

Research for Coherent Worlds. I will be looking into the history of amusement parks and how they inspire digital games and their creative process.

The Evolution of theme parks:

http://web.themeparkincorporated.co.uk/2015/04/11/the-evolution-of-theme-parks/

"The amusement park evolved from three earlier traditions. The oldest of these traditions, was the periodic fair of the Middle Ages in which one of the earliest was the Bartholomew Fair in England, which began in 1133. By the 18th and 19th century, they had evolved into places of entertainment for the masses, where the public could view freak shows, acrobatics,conjuring and juggling, take part in competitions and walk through menageries."

General public parks for entertainment have been in our culture a very long time it seems, having evolved overtime.

"A wave of innovation in the 1860s and 1870s created mechanical rides, such as the steam-powered carousel (built by Thomas Bradshaw, at the Aylsham Fair)"

It seems by the mid 1800s amusement parks were on there way to becoming very mechanical.

"The second influence was the pleasure garden. One of the earliest gardens was the Vauxhall Gardens, founded in 1661 in London...Although the gardens were originally designed for the elites, they soon became places of great social diversity."

Games have generally been a rather accessible medium, I suppose you could say that in recent years it costs a lot more to buy a games console, making it slightly less accessible to the working class to do it's flux in popularity, causing the price to also become higher.

"The first permanent enclosed entertainment area, regulated by a single company, was founded in Coney Island in 1895: Sea Lion Park at Coney Island in Brooklyn. This park was one of the first to charge admission to get into the park in addition to sell tickets for rides within the park."

It seems as a form of entertainment grows, it is further monetized to abuse it's popularity, this can be seen happening currently with countless DLC and add-ons while also being over charged for a lot of items in the first place.

Quotes:

Designing Disney’s theme parks - The Architecture of Reassurance - Edited by Karal Ann Marling

“Disneyland is so much a part of the American Landscape that it’s hard to imagine a time when the park wasn’t there” - Imagineering the disney theme park”

Analysis - Disneyland is now a cornerstone of culture, it is deep rooted so that It will be around, forcing it’s influence on modern culture for many years to come, similarly with where it found it’s influence, it has now become an influential bible for today’s works, especially in games.

Walt Disney Company 

“Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” 

Analysis - A quote from Disney, it suggests that as long as people can imagine and this imagination is coherent to the current world of Disney, there will always be space to grow this magnificent world.

Leslie Le Mon, The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014 - Disneyland: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Place on Earth

“Disneyland was one perfect answer. It provided, an almost sacred space where it is permissible and safe to let one's guard down, take a risk, rediscover imagination, have fun, express emotion, play and deepen family ties. This is powerful stuff even today, in our nation of workaholics and two-working-parent households, and it was certainly powerful in the anxious 1950's.” 

Analysis - An interesting quote, this suggests that Disneyland has an affect on people where they can almost become a child again and let loose with their imagination allowing themselves to once again completely believe the well crafted world around them is alive. Due to the amount people work in today's culture it's hard to find such an affective getaway. Games have a similar charm to them, allowing people to easily escape reality and become whatever they want even in the comfort of their own home.