Research Paper on:
Industry Overview of Theme Parks

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
parks. While theme parks are generally thought of as amusement parks, that is not necessarily the case. At the same time, it is true that many amusement parks are themed  (Byrman, 1999). Because of this, one tends to hear a great deal more about theme parks than about amusement parks (1999). For example, Knotts Berry Farm, a park that predates  Disneyland, has acquired the trappings of theme parks (1999). In fact, there is a great deal of evidence of a growing use of theming, and interestingly, to that end,  Gottdiener (1997 as cited in Byrman, 1999) writes about the concept of the theming of America. Questions continue to erupt in this area of disussion. For exmple, what was  the thinking behind the theming of Disneyland? After all, the best example of a theme park is Disney World or Disney Land. Of course, Disney began as a mere  artistic endeavor. Mickey Mouse would be born before the Disney company would get off the ground. Legend has it that Mickey was dreamed up while Walt was on a  train trip after a heated battle with a studio over an artists contract; Mickey was modeled after a pet mouse that used to hang around Walts drawing board (Thomas,  1976). In 1931, just three years after the creation of the famous character, Mickey Mouse was well known throughout the world and the Mickey Mouse Club had a million members  (1976). One might say that the theme had to do with animals as from there, in addition to mice, there would be dogs and ducks and other humanized animals to  greet guests. Today, theme parks are more than just what Walt Disney dreamed up. Still, he set the pace. By creating coherence to rides and emphasizing thematic elements as opposed