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“This is the most thorough book on theme park design I have ever seen. One that quotes real designers with priceless knowledge.”
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“This book captures in one document the greatest collection of turning points, philosophies, and ground rules that have sprung to life since the birth of the theme park. I can’t imagine a person contemplating a role in themed entertainment not coming out of this immersive experience inside David Younger’s mind without the equivalent of a Master’s Degree in the psychology of the themed experience.”
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“What a fantastic, very comprehensive, book. I’m a forty year veteran of the themed entertainment industry and I still learned a few things! I would recommend this to aspiring theme park designers, and to my colleagues as well.”
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Peter Alexander
Lead Designer
Universal Studios Florida
(1990)
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Tony Baxter
Lead Designer
Disneyland Paris
(1992)
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Jon Binkowski
Lead Designer
Hard Rock Park
(2005)
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“It's the kind of book our young industry has never really had before - equal parts academic, celebratory, and archival, with the Herculean and noble goal of trying to summarize and quantify a half-century sprawl of disparate, disconnected design techniques, achieving it admirably.”
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“The most comprehensive book in experiential design! David Younger’s in-depth research and collection of comments from the most influential theme park designers in the world will make this book the gold standard for the themed design industry.”
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“An invaluable reference for both the practicing designer and for anyone who wants to learn this art form.”
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Dave Cobb
Lead Designer
Men in Black: Alien Attack
(Universal Studios Florida, 2000)
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Tim Delaney
Lead Designer
Space Mountain: De la Terre a la Lune
(Disneyland Paris, 1995)
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Anthony Esparza
Chief Creative Officer
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
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“You have in your hands David Younger's Theme Park Design, a colossal compendium of the best guidance that has been collected from the best in the business. Theme Park Design covers all the bases. I speak from experience. I'm one of Walt Disney's original eighteen 1954 Imagineers. We started the whole theme park industry, an unending trial and error saga. All the hard earned lessons of the past sixty years are now offered in Theme Park Design to guide YOU.”
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“A comprehensive textbook that codifies theme park design in a way that no single book has achieved before it.”
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“David Younger has distilled the theme park design and production process from a vast cloud of pixie dust into a thoroughly-researched and incredibly detailed account of how dreams are made. It’s the perfect balance of pull-back-the-curtain magic and intelligent discussion of theme parks from concept to completion.”
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Bob Gurr
Lead Designer
Disneyland Monorail
(Disneyland, 1959)
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Craig Hanna
Chief Creative Officer
The Thinkwell Group
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Garner Holt
Chief Executive Officer
Garner Holt Productions
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"David Younger has created one of the finest studies of the themed entertainment industry ever attempted. It is a comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of every aspect of this most complex design discipline from the micro to the macro levels without once becoming heavy handed. Congratulations on providing both the novice and the grizzled veteran with this wonderful compendium!”
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“I have never seen such an exhaustive, thoroughly researched treatment of this subject, anywhere; well organized and extremely readable. If I were teaching a course in theme park theory and design, I would want this as my standard text.”
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“Authoritative, entertaining, and fascinating, Theme Park Design is a themed entertainment aficionado’s dream. David Younger has created a one-of-a-kind work that is both a scrupulously researched reference and a jolly good read; an excellent encyclopedia on its subject, and a 'bathtub book’ one can open to any page and have a wonderful time exploring.”
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Steve Kirk
Lead Designer
Tokyo DisneySea
(2001)
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Tim Kirk
Lead Designer
Muppet*Vision 3D
(Disney's Hollywood Studios, 1991)
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Jeff Kurtti
Lead Designer
The Walt Disney Family Museum
(2009)
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“Probably the most comprehensive summation of themed design committed to print. David Younger has really pulled it all together, in one very readable package.”
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“Theme Park Design is an amazing compendium of theme park and themed entertainment knowledge. This book covers the who, what, where, and why of creating themed entertainment projects and includes personal insights from the top thought leaders and designers who have shaped the theme park industry over the last sixty years. This is a must read for anyone interested in this highly creative and technical industry.”
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“This is a seminal tome for our industry. David Younger has compiled and made sense of the incredibly wide range of work and art that our industry has produced. With clear affection, but intelligent discrimination, he examines the successes and failures that have already evolved in the short history of the art form. Many of the issues he tackles have come again and again in my career, and he provides a wonderful compendium of diverse perspectives. I read it with constant fascination.”
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Joe Lanzisero
Lead Designer
Disney Dream
(Disney Cruise Line, 2011)
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Monte Lunde
Founder
Themed Entertainment Association
(TEA)
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Luc Mayrand
Lead Designer
Treasure Cove
(Shanghai Disneyland, 2016)
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"David Younger has created an essential document for those wishing to have a deeper understanding of the theme park industry. Filled with indispensable quotes from industry luminaries, it provides both the layman and the professional with an excellent resource on how theme park attractions are imagined and brought to fruition."
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“The art of theme park design involves more alchemy than it does art or science, and much of the secret sauce resides behind the obvious surface. Perhaps that’s why so little has been written about the subject, let alone anything of practical value. David Younger’s book is the first to break down many of these illusive and temporal theories into distinct, understandable, and enlightening observations.”
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“A great resource! This extensive, well-written guide should be on the desk of any person who wants to understand the business, art, and science of theme parks. Whether you’re new to the themed entertainment industry or an old pro, you’ll find this handy reference an indispensable guide.”
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Chris Merritt
Lead Designer
Far Far Away
(Universal Studios Singapore, 2010)
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Tom Morris
Lead Designer
Hong Kong Disneyland
(2005)
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Paul Osterhout
Lead Designer
Walt Disney Studios
(2002)
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“Expertise is real, and, at least in part, quantifiable, as David Younger’s magnum opus demonstrates. By amassing the communal knowledge of this disparate and diverse group into a single opus, David Younger has provided us all with a landmark in our intellectual space.”
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“David Younger has pulled together an engaging anthology of theme park design information that is vast in its levels of detail and well worth exploring. His book acts much like an Epcot pavilion, providing a grand doorway through which the interested reader can pass to gain insight on a plethora of subject matter, provoked to dig deeper and learn more about the complexities of our industry and the design process by which it is continually enriched.”
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“David Younger has pulled together an engaging anthology of theme park design information that is vast in its levels of detail and well worth exploring. His book acts much like an Epcot pavilion, providing a grand doorway through which the interested reader can pass to gain insight on a plethora of subject matter, provoked to dig deeper and learn more about the complexities of our industry and the design process by which it is continually enriched.”
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Joe Rohde
Lead Designer
Disney's Animal Kingdom
(1998)
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Rick Rothschild
Lead Designer
The American Adventure
(Epcot, 1982)
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Bob Shreve
Lead Designer
Jurassic Park
(Universal's Islands of Adventure, 1999)
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“Walt Disney said it’s fun to do the impossible. David Younger has done just that by capturing an entire industry between two covers. If you want to be a theme park designer, or just love the history and inside jargon, this book is a labor of love - an E Ticket!”
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“Theme Park Design is an exhaustive, in-depth exploration of storytelling in three dimensions. Featured are the words of the creators of this unique art form, as well as David Younger’s well-informed analysis of the history, the business, and the process of creating themed entertainment. The scale and scope of the book is totally unprecedented. For a serious fan, student, or employee, here is the complete story, a real deep dive into the Art of the Show. Indispensable.”
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“In this insightful book, David Younger burrows into the theme park industry in an intelligent and thorough way, analyzing it from the perspective many of us take for granted and never bother to articulate. This book will become the definitive work to guide theme park designers.”
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Eddie Sotto
Lead Designer
Main Street, U.S.A.
(Disneyland Paris, 1992)
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Michael Sprout
Lead Designer
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Disney's Hollywood Studios, 1994)
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John Wardley
Lead Designer
Nemesis
(Alton Towers, 1994)
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Over the past century, theme parks have created worlds where pirates still loot Caribbean towns, where daring adventurers explore booby-trapped temples, and where superheroes swing from New York skyscrapers - and allowed us to step into them too. 
