Theme Park Design

Behind the Scenes with an Engineer

By: Steve Alcorn

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Theme Park Design: Behind the Scenes with an Engineer (20th Anniversary Edition)

Have you ever wondered how theme parks create their magic? From soaring roller coasters to immersive dark rides, from spectacular shows to seamless park operations — discover the engineering secrets behind the world's greatest attractions.

Written by Steve Alcorn, who helped design EPCOT Center and founded the leading manufacturer of theme park control systems, this insider's guide takes you behind the scenes of themed entertainment design. Whether you're considering a career in the industry or simply fascinated by how attractions work, you'll gain unprecedented access to the creative and technical processes that bring theme parks to life.

Inside you'll discover:
• The different types of attractions and how they're controlled
• What it takes to design, build, and operate a major theme park
• The creative and technical people who make the magic happen
• Ride control systems, show control, audio, video, and lighting design
• Project management from concept through opening day
• Real stories from EPCOT's construction and other major projects

From Imagineers to maintenance crews, from concept art to opening day chaos, Theme Park Design reveals the rarely seen world of themed entertainment engineering. Perfect for aspiring theme park designers, engineering students, Disney enthusiasts, and anyone curious about how these magical places really work.

About the Author: Steve Alcorn is an entrepreneur, engineer, author and teacher. At Walt Disney Imagineering he helped design Epcot attractions including The American Adventure, Journey Into Imagination, and the park-wide monitoring system. His company, Alcorn McBride Inc., makes the show control, audio, and video equipment used in most major theme parks around the world.

Excellent Overview & Insights

I found this very informational, insightful, and captivating. It just made me love theme parks that much more while appreciating all the behind-the-scenes components and people and visions and technicalities they go into making this a reality.

Love this book

This is the second time I’ve read this book. I have the physical copy on my shelf. I love the overview it gives of technical theme park issues. If you love theme parks, or engineering and have a casual or serious interest in imagineering this is the right book for you

The wizardry behind the curtain

Interesting insights about and peeks behind the scenes at some major theme parks. Describes the various professions that are involved in putting together a park, mixed with anecdotes. It’s written with a fair amount of humor. As an engineer, I would have liked there to be more details about the actual design process.