Ask the Experts / A few pointers.....

Can I just have a few tips on park entrences?

Mine suck basiclly, probebly because i start other parts of the park first. Bad Idea me thinks. So yeah, pointers please.

Well, a lot of people make entrances as part of a theme. For example, the Legends West entrance is mexican. I quite like this style of entrance because it separates it from its surroundings but also makes it an experience in itself. Kind of like the Mediterranian entrance at Port Aventura in Barcelona - draws you in before you go to your first themed area.

Others actually include the entrance in a full blown area. For example, Fatha' made his entrance part of the Avalon area in Tropico Horizons, along with a large and astonishingly good coaster (Paladin). Schuessler did that with his entrance to Moonlight Magic, too - it's a part of Alexandria. The thing with this style is that although the entrance may actually be a part of a larger area, it is still discernable, still 'obvious' as an entrance. Look at TH - the entrance is obvious with its large building spanning a large pathed area, with ticket offices and surrounding guest relations etc. The entrance to Moonlight Magic has the Moonlight Square. I think this style is a little bit more complex than the first one I described - both share the expanded pathed area style, with small areas of gardens/shrubs, but this style relies on the entrance being able to melt INTO a full area. I've never tried this myself, and I have a feeling it'd be harder than the first style.

Of course, if you're going for realism, then you need to look at entrances by Aero and the like. They generally seem to be tarmac-ed plazas surrounded by cool themed buildings with a couple of fountains and maybe an observation tower or something. I like this type of entrance too, but I often find them to be a little 'characterless'. However, I have seen some examples which are done very well with expertly themed buildings made up for the slight lack of 'theme'.

Whichever you decide to use is often dependent on what the rest of the park is going to be like, IMO. Realism demands realism, of course. If you're going to make a park with obvious themed areas (ie with little continuity between areas, eg womb) then I'd say go with the first type of entrance. But, I still find the second type cool, and i'm always quite impressed by entrances that are combined with an area...always suggests some level of planning and continuity.

Looking back i'm not sure a lot of that made sense. Just quickly, i'd say some of these entrances might be of inspiration:

Sea World Atlanta by RRP
Harakiri's Islands of Adventure by Harakirii
Tropico Horizons by Fatha' Grinch
Universal's Outrage by X-Sector
Legends West by sacoasterfreak
Masters Isle by NE
Forbidden Falls by RCTMasters (Kurlas will never be forgotten!)


As for parking lots, frankly I think they suck. What's the point? Bah, why have cars polluting your park when you can have pretty trees, water and rocks? Or, even better, more rides and buildings! But, if realism's what you want... i'm a bit dissapointed at the proponence of parking lots in rct parks, but I guess people like to show off their pathing skills and whatnot...they could at least make them interesting, like with multilevels and obstacle courses...or even themed car parks with big sculptures and caves! COME ON PEOPLE, TARMAC EXPANSES ARE FOR LOSERS. GET THAT LANDSCAPING TOOL AND WAKE THE FUCK UP. The first person to build an obstacle-car-park with pitfalls and fire-traps wins.


And finally these are the things i'd expect to see in any entrance:

Ticket Offices.
Be it ticket 'takers', as seen in IOAH by Schuessler, or the classic Information Desks under cover, as seen in most parks you'd care to look at, these are pretty staple.

Water/Garden features.
The classic plaza with single/double tiled gardens and trees surrounded by fences and benches is a great formula that should live on in RCT. Nothing like a good sit down and some colourful foliage. Or a cool fountain.

Surrounding Buildings.
Things like Guest Relations, cafes and the odd toilet are always a good thing. I'd say HIOA by Harakirii has the best selection of these sorts of things

Something special.
Entrances shouldn't be boring, that's for sure. Often people add a merry-go-round or a ferris wheel or something. I'd rather there was a cool sculpture (PoD in Outrage) or a tower (IOA parks).



Hope this helps. I think the main key is just learn from others. Find something you like and try and emulate it. Copy it, if you want, because through copying you can begin to develop your own twist on things, and that's one of the first steps to building things that both you and other people can enjoy.

Well there isn't much else to say after that. Even if you save the entrance for last, it doesn't take a lot of pre-planning to leave a modest space for an entry area. Believe it or not, there was a time when RCT parks didn't have entry areas. Not as we know them now anyway. I remember SACoasterFreak always had an impressive entry area which almost always had an elaborate building acting as a gate. Obviously park recreations had entrance areas as well though they were usually just ticket gates and a small plaza. Today people tend to combine the realistic entrance concept with SACF's attention getting entrance and work that into a little minitheme.

You don't have to devote a whole section of your park to the entrance though. Just have the entrance plaza lead into another themed section. This is basically what Fatha' did with Tropico Horizons. He had the theme of this entrance plaza remain consistent with the Avalon area it led into which worked out really well without taking up a lot of space.