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What's your favorite theme?

What's your favorite theme?

  • Generic

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sci-Fi / Future

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • Steam punk

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • Western

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • Pirates

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Ancient civilizations

    Votes: 6 33.3%
  • Americana

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Medieval

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mythical Creatures / land

    Votes: 3 16.7%
  • Dinosaurs

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Scary

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • Animals

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • Country-themed

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • Superheroes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    18

GuyWithAStick

Captain Basic
Most amusement parks have generic theming.

All theme parks have themes.

So, what's your favorite of the many themes? Your thoughts on themes? Unpopular opinions on themes? Share your thoughts!

I personally have a love for Steam punk. It just mesmerizes me with all of the distinctive architecture and style. Not to mention gears. Gotta love gears. <3
 

ThomVD

Giga Poster
There are many themes that I love. I'd say my favourite kind is adventure theming in general, but that can be split in smaller groups. I can't pick one favourite, but I love country, animal, horror, greek/egyptian/norse mythology, tropical, medieval and fantasy to mention a few.

If you count it as a theme, I'm a massive fan of foresty parks.

I really don't like superhero themes.
 

Pink Cadillac

Giga Poster
I LOVE so much horror when it's done right <3
Adventure, fantasy and steampunk also pull my heartstrings.

ThomVD said:
I really don't like superhero themes.

Thank god I'm not the only one. I'm praying Disney don't go too Marvel. :(
 

peep

CF Legend
^Just a matter of time with Disney doing Marvel stuff.

My favourite is adventure theming. More specifically Egyptian theming, which is why OzIris is one of my favourite attractions.
 

TilenB

Strata Poster
I have to say I love the country theming the best. Really love how Europa Park is themed in that regard. Basically, I like the rides to be themed around real-life places or events. I also quite fancy the mythological, historical and super hero theming.
 

CookieCoasters

Giga Poster
I adore African theming in general, whether it be Egyptian, tribal culture, Moroccan etc.

I also like high quality western-themed areas, topical/exotic themes (I.e. Polynesia in PA), vibrant-coloured cartoon areas and any area involving lots of trees and a lake (this could be generic).

I don't like Dinosaur, horror, or crappy looking superhero theming (I like it if it is high quality, i.e. IoA or Parque Warner).
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
My overall favorite themes are simply those that you can suspend belief in - just believable enough for a 4 minute ride.

I am always a sucker for Indiana Jones-type plots - setting out on a general adventure to reach a location or retrieve an object, accident happens that diverts travel, etc.
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
I like mystery/creepy rather than all out horror. Anything supernatural, gothic, or myth-based. I love spooky old houses and castles, crazy mad-scientist laboratories, vampire lairs, cursed dungeons, mystical creatures and fantastical lands. That sort of thing. My favourite examples include Hex, Thirteen, Mystery Castle, Viegende Hollander, The Haunting, Vampire, Spookslot, Mystic Manor, Mystery River rapids at Movie Park, Xpress Platform 13, Anubis, Bla Taget, Fata Morgana, Vogel Roc, Raptor Attack...

The dark, gothic feel is something we Europeans are very good at but the Americans don't seem to get I'm afraid. The only US ride that I can think of that comes close is Curse of DarKastle and even that wasn't as convincing as a story as it was a series of effects. On paper, I should like Disney's haunted mansions but I find them very unrealistic and not spooky at all. My favourite themes are as realistic as possible: the use of a real house/castle in Hex probably makes it my No. 1 flat.

+1 on disliking super hero themes. I find them tacky and a bit of a cop out. If we put some cardboard up, it's themed right? **** Bizarro SFNE - a great ride ruined by a terrible theme. In fact, just **** Six Flags in general.

Also, for me, a great theme almost always means a great soundtrack. Music is, IMO, one on the best ways to add atmosphere to a ride and to create a fully immersive experience.
 

ThomVD

Giga Poster
Mysterious Sue said:
Also, for me, a great theme almost always means a great soundtrack. Music is, IMO, one on the best ways to add atmosphere to a ride and to create a fully immersive experience.

This so much. Music is one of the most important aspects in many things in life. Video games, films and also theme parks. I cannot overstate how important music is to me for an experience at a park. Makes me so sad that some parks just play the latest hits rather than enhancing the atmosphere through music. Music <3
 

caffeine_demon

Strata Poster
I think the Gothic / Medieval thing is my favourite too, followed by wood/forests.

Maybe the Gothic /Med style is one which is harder to do short cuts with

Space themes can age badly, and look tacky - but Paris space mountain, along with the orbitron looks great!
 

Inversion_Te4m

Roller Poster
Mine has got to be Egyptian. Any rollercoaster/ride with egyptian theming is just spectacular! A great example of egyptian theming is Oziris at Parc Astérix. The station is just amazing!
 

mouse

Giga Poster
I don't think there's any particular theme I prefer to others, for me it just depends on the quality. For example I prefer the themeing of Dark Forest at Alton to X Sector because it is generally more immersive, but doesn't mean I prefer creepy/horror themeing to futuristic (or whatever X Sector's supposed to be.)
I think any theme has the potential to be brilliant if executed well.
 

SilverArrow

Certified Ride Geek
Retro space like Tomorrowland! Or steam punk space which overlaps with retro (Paris space mountain, black hole etc). Tomorrowland is by far my favourite area of magic kingdom. Not too bothered about the rest tbh!

Other good themes include: Egyptian, Tropical, Gothic creepy/vampire (but not horror like saw), animal, medieval, Atlantis (SWO), African themes in general (love BGT-particularly the Morroco and Timbuktu/Pantopia areas), Universal's Jaws area and I even like the themeing in the Colossus area at Thorpe but feel like it could do with a bit more depth. Probably forgotten a load of others.

Not a massive fan of the theming for Swarm, Saw, Nemesis and from what I've seen without going- the Smiler. Obviously they're good as they are but just not super interesting to me. Toon lagoon and Dr Seuss land are a bit annoying at IOA. Cartoon lands can be a bit tacky IMO but it's nice to go to a park with a mixture of themes anyhow. Also the London bit of harry potter land is so boring if you're from the UK (or probably anywhere)! Bring back Jaws!

I prefer real places or countries as themes or generic fantasy genre themes rather than IP themes usually.
 
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