Nature makes theme parks better, here's why

[@sharongaal4948]

I love seeing the Efteling used as an example, as this is the theme park I used to go to as a kid. I totally agree that they use nature very well to enhance theming.

[@jarmoliebrand2005]

It’s really an instrumental part of why I hold the park so dear. It’s just nice to be there, whether you’re on a ride or not.

[@5MadMovieMakers]

I've heard that the trees and plants at zoos are sometimes more expensive than the animals, but it pays off!

[@jarmoliebrand2005]

A zoo with little greenery just does feel a bit devoid of… well, nature. And you go there for the animals, which are of course, inherently natural. One of my favourite places in a zoo is the Berenbos in Ouwehands Dierenpark in Rhenen, Netherlands. It’s a natural forest which you can walk over via a wooden bridge. And down below, there are wolves and bears who have been rescued from horrible conditions (being circus animals or locked in small cages and whatnot). And I also really liked the Leipzig zoo. It didn’t feel at all like a zoo in the middle of a city.

[@JamesonThomas24]

This makes me want to place 500 trees on roller coaster tycoon 2.

[@jamesferguson448]

You play it

[@jamesferguson448]

You play it 🎉🎉🎉

[@coasterbot]

That's how you win, don't you know! 🤣

[@davidfrischknecht8261]

My favorite amusement park is Knoebels Amusement Resort. That park is chock full of nature. When they built the park or expanded it, they only removed as few trees as necessary.

[@MattMcIrvin]

This is a way that smaller parks can retain an atmosphere that a giant chain park often doesn't have just by making sure there's a lot of greenery. Canobie Lake Park is great about this--they don't have huge thrill rides but they can make it pleasant just to be there by having good landscaping and lots of trees, and nice views of the lake in some areas.

[@ErikWestcot]

I work in the Horticulture department at a large theme park resort in Orlando. Its nice seeing a video featuring something I work with on a daily basis :)

[@coasterbot]

That's awesome, thanks for making the parks more presentable!

[@michaellinton4743]

One of my favorite theme parks that I have been to is Busch Gardens Virginia. It has been named the world's most beautiful park for the past 33 years in a row. It is packed with a lot of vegetation.

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

So a park named BUSCH and Gardens has bushes and gardens? Nice. Hate it when the name is misleading. Magic Mountain? Ha! I don't think so.

[@FranklinNRW]

Doesn’t really deserve that Titel to be honest I mean just look at every park in Europe

[@KazDM]

​​@@FranklinNRWmaybe you should visit Bush Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia. The park is nestled in thick forest, and the theming is all about European cultures. Its hard to find a better combo of fantastic rides and peaceful environment.

[@michaellinton4743]

@FranklinNRW if you disagree, you can always take it up with the Golden Ticket Awards and the National Amusement Park Historical Association since they're the groups awarding Busch Gardens Virginia as the most beautiful park, not me.

[@FranklinNRW]

@@michaellinton4743 I know that it wins that Titel but it doesn’t really deserve it look at other theme parks like Universal Europapark Phantasialand all of them are better

[@jarmoliebrand2005]

I was at Efteling a few days ago and it’s really just nice to walk around. The park is big and green. And dense greenery also makes the park look bigger than it actually is. The weather was good. The foliage was amazing. The flowers around the park looked well kept and were brightly coloured. At one point, I just sat next to Fata Morgana for a minute or 20, with some food, because it was just nice to do so. I love that Efteling made it so that 90% of the surface area needs to be nature. And when new rides are built, nature doesn’t have to suffer for it. Big, old trees get a new place to call home and new plants are included in the budget for a new attraction. After a few years, it’ll start looking great near that specific attraction. The rockwork at Symbolica, the greenery on the Ton van de Ven square (that’s where Dreamflight and Villa Volta are), the dunes near Vliegende Hollander, Aquanura and Fata Morgana next to one another. It all makes for such a nice place to just be in, rather than being there just for the rides. It can be nice to just be somewhere in the park and see, nor hear, any rides. And when you’re in the fairy tale forest, or anywhere else, basically, you can just have fun spotting ducks, pigeons, crowd, jackdaws and occasionally squirrels and such. I think the natural setting, intrinsic to the Efteling, combined with the architectural tone, set by Anton Pieck, are probably the two most defining features of Efteling. And there’s of course the music too, as well as the storytelling. Ah, it’s so nice to just walk around with music in the background. The iconic mushrooms might be the prime example of it.

[@coasterbot]

The Efteling is just an incredible place, it's easily one of my favourite theme parks

[@MattMcIrvin]

Now that I think about it, this is also how Universal's Islands of Adventure has a generally superior vibe to Universal Studios Florida: much more (often ersatz) nature in the layout. I suppose the "studio park" theme tends to work against nature because it emphasizes the artificiality of what you're seeing, that you're peeking behind the scenes. As the old studio parks pivot away from that, it becomes less of an issue--Galaxy's Edge at Hollywood Studios is themed with a lot of rockwork and foliage.

[@Robert-vw3od]

This was one of the first things I learned at Alton Towers when I was eight years old, my grandad had worked for British ropeways. i’ve heard it expressed in many ways. you need stories, legends myths nature water.

[@josephmorris7447]

interesting how Universal emphasizes about their upcoming Epic Universe park that they are putting "the park back into theme park" coincidence?

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

Six Flags Magic Mountain in CA has never learned this lesson. All the money they spend on air misters instead of real trees. Ok.

[@MattMcIrvin]

Six Flags in general never learned this lesson. Even if they've got some nice-looking areas there always seem to be some zones of coasters on an asphalt slab.

[@njdotson]

Yeah I feel like even though that park had really good rollercoasters, I feel like it really missed landscaping in a lot of areas. I also ended up liking the rides that involve the landscape more, like full throttle and the whatever revolution ride

[@markbisson6166]

@@MattMcIrvinI would also argue that cedar fair parks are the same way. Its so disappointing

[@YannBK1608]

I did not expect this video to get so existential, and I’m all here for it! As someone who creates theme parks in Planet Coaster on my KZbin channel, I totally agree with all the points you brought up about nature. I cannot create a park without thinking of its natural perks, for instance, my latest is literally called Serene Gardens because it celebrates three types of natural spaces around the world: European, Mediterranean and Japanese! I love that you used shots of Bellewaerde among the nature heavy parks because that’s always the one I think of when I think about a park set in nature. It’s one that heavily inspires me 🥰

[@Spiderific]

Great video. I totally agree.

[@coasterbot]

Thanks for watching!

[@aliteralcabbage]

One of my favorite theme park areas with nature is Camp Snoopy at Knotts Berry Farm! The whole area is full of trees, a river, and man-made waterfall. The whole park is nice in design, yet Camp Snoopy has the most plants. I also enjoy Alton Towers a lot as all the rides work together with the environment. Thanks for another amazing video!

[@RollerbazAndCoasterDad]

Nature is high up in what we comment on in our vlogs, but our Claire did once work for Kew Gardens. Nice to see it recognised.

[@thameslinkrail4038]

Then there's the nature that frustrates us all, wasps. I remember Legoland Windsor especially had a battle with them which escalated to BBC Watchdog (consumer programme) interviewing the park manager.

[@markbisson6166]

I had a wasp (or yellow jacket?) fly up my shorts while I was on a B&M floorless coaster. It stung me around 20 times in an unfortunate area of my body.

[@zacg_]

I totally agree. Even more traditional amusement parks with minimal theming give you a great feeling if they either feature great natural settings or they simply include great landscaping. In the USA, Cedar Point, Knoebels and Glenwood Caverns are only loosely themed in a handful of attractions but their settings really make the experience even better. And parks like Silver Dollar City, Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Dollywood all have great natural settings that work to amplify the effect of their top notch theming. And like you said, shade really can make or break a park experience when it gets hot. I've only been to one European park but I'm hoping to make it to parks like Efteling, Alton Towers and Erlebnispark Tripsdrill for exactly the reasons your talking about.

[@sherilcarey7100]

Oooh, 100% agree! And I loved listening to all this. You made me remember so many good vibes. It's very odd but I have very few memories of specific rides at the park we went to the most when I was young (up till I was 11 or so), but I remember the vibe and I've never been to another park that was as good or as beautiful. I think this is why. I think I do have a specific memory of walking paths through trees. And BTW, I also got to go to Disney several times while I was growing up, which was really great back then. Although I wouldn't go now that I live close to Disney it was fantastic way back when. The fun and relaxation and happiness were real at Disney back then. It was a great vacation destination in the 70s and 80s. And I do have many specific memories of the Magic Kingdom rides I loved. But my more visited and still truly well loved park that I'd love to go back in a heartbeat was Kings Dominion in Virginia. I haven't been since my family moved away from Virginia in 1982. I think the natural beauty was one of the huge positives about that park back then. Huh, come to think of it, I do also remember a little bit about the lovely woods at a little park, in Maryland, that my family went to when I was only 4 or 5. Alas that park is long gone. When we lived near Atlanta in my teens I went to Six Flags over GA a lot and although I always had fun there, I'm hyper aware that my view of the Six Flags company is not nearly as positive as my view of Kings Dominion. I would say teens can have a lot of fun there but the vibe isn't much to write home about and definitely not of interest to me to go much beyond my teen years. I went once with my kids in the late aughts. It felt dirty and trashy that day. *shrug* I dream of better parks than what hardly any of them are these days. I live 15 minutes from Legoland in Florida and I hardly ever go there anymore. I have no interest in Merlin as a company given the crapfest they've made of "taking care of" the gardens at the back that they told the locals they would maintain. Honestly I can't get excited about any Merlin park possibility even when I hear great things about their parks that would include international travel for me. That's what poor ethics and crumbling infrastructure will do to a company's reputation. I'm forming a list in my head. I'd like to go see Dollywood again. Kings Dominion would definitely be great to see if it is still as beautiful and nice as it used to be for me in the 70s and in 1980 and '81. I'd like to see Holiday World and maybe Knoebel's from the things I've heard recently about both being very customer focused. I'll try to go see American Heartland when it opens. If I get to plan a trip to Europe and it can include theme parks I'd definitely include the Efteling at the top of the list, Phantasialand and I think probably Europa park, although there are several others too that sound lovely and more... hmm... more what? I think it may be "family run" that I should lean into to find which ones I most want to visit. I appreciate all kinds of rides. I appreciate nature. I appreciate a great vibe or great theming.

[@MattMcIrvin]

Hersheypark was great about this back in the 1970s, but they may have developed to the point that they get less out of the natural landscape than they used to. The Busch Gardens parks can get away with less theming than they would probably optimally have just because they still make a lot of use of natural landscape and vegetation. Another park that gets a lot out of natural setting is Lake Compounce--the mountain looming over everything and the lake adjoining the waterpark add a lot of appeal. Boulder Dash, the flume, and, formerly, the skyride all make use of the natural mountain slope and foliage in their design.

[@forzaguy1252]

Ironically, at one point hershey owned lake compounce

[@jarmoliebrand2005]

I love the Efteling for the fact they ‘restrict’ themselves by allowing only 10% of the surface area to be rides, shops, etc. They hold themselves to the standard of maintaining that 90% nature percentage.

[@StepsOfStPhilips]

I’ve just come back from five days at Efteling. I go there because it is cheaper to drive to Netherlands than to spend five days in a UK CenterParcs. That there are rides there is a bonus. But it’s basically a nice place to take a holiday. We took a day out to visit Toverland. It was okay. We enjoyed Fenix and Troy (but the logflume and bobsleigh were the surprising highlights). But, compared with Efteling, it felt like a theme park built on a logistics centre, rather than a nature park with a theme park within.

[@jarmoliebrand2005]

I was just at Efteling two days ago (I go there at least once a year) and it’s really fun to just wander about the fairy tale forest, or just take a seat someplace nice and eat your food in peace. And the theming, rides, storytelling and music and all are great aspects too. It all enhances one another.

[@coasterbot]

The Efteling is beautiful. That's a great top tip, Efteling over Centre Parks!

[@njdotson]

I usually go to a pumpkin patch that's adding rides and growing as a theme park. I feel like when I go there, 50% of the reason is because it looks so cool visually. The landscaping blends in with the theme and is a big part of the rides. There's also decorations around the paths based on the section it's in and it makes the place fun to be at

[@mynameiskrysta]

TLDR touch grass

[@MattMcIrvin]

I did find myself thinking that most of us can experience some nature much more cheaply than by going to a theme park. But it's true that the best theme parks use it as part of the setting.

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

Too Long Didn't Ride - Touched real grass instead. Very clever.

[@xguitarist_]

Does the grass give me airtime tho… checkmate grass enthusiasts

[@me-myself-i787]

This is one reason Siam Park is so much better than Aqualand. The nature makes the park way nicer, and it means I don't burn my feet whenever I take my shoes off. Having queuelines made of stone rather than metal also helps. Feels like Aqualand is just trying to get us to buy their water shoes (which are the only shoes you're allowed to wear on the rides, and by extension in the queueline, since there's no way to go back to the top and get your shoes once you've finished the ride). Whereas at Siam Park, I could walk around barefooted with no problem.

[@streetster20]

I find it amusing that there's b-roll of Thorpe Park at 04:25, as out of the UK parks they could really do with more shade (trees) in sections of the park and queue lines!

[@ParasocialCatgirl]

When I went in March, most of the shade-providing plants and such in the Sunken Garden behind Stealth were completely gone 😔

[@sellophanesun]

As someone who has made their living for the last 25 years by planting stuff (and visiting theme parks when I wasn't), I have to agree with every single sentence you uttered in this wonderfully argued monologue, especially when you said 'And we'll see you next time'...thanks!

[@coasterbot]

Thanks for watching and for enjoying my rambling rant ha ha ☺️

[@technoandrew]

This is the reason I much preferred Six Flags St Louis over Six Flags Great America during my 2022 US trip. Despite the vastly inferior coaster collection, St Louis has far more tree coverage, shade and vegetation. Not to mention actual landscaping. It was a much nicer place to be.

[@coasterbot]

It makes such a big impact!

[@EveryoneIsFamily]

Excellent Subject Of Discussion!!!

[@jeffslote9671]

Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri does this the best. It’s a theme park built over a natural cave.

[@coasterbot]

SDC looks like a beautiful theme park

[@TTHBLOX_]

Efteling mentioned🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@jarmoliebrand2005]

Victory!

[@Jetliner]

This is unironically why I had a better experience at Kings Island over Cedar Point in the same trip

[@coasterbot]

Is Kings Island better presented than Cedar Point? I wouldn't have guessed that.

[@rushtest4echo737]

Cedar Fair please take note

[@MaylaWaterlelie]

The Efteling is one of my favorite parks because of the nature (and music) two of their most famous fairy tales are the tree you showed called the fairytale tree who tell all kinds of stories about fairytale characters and the mushrooms 🍄 they’re mushrooms who play an iconic tune They also have an attraction using wild pigeons that they used to dye them to connect better to the fairytale but they stopped that They also have aqanoura, you showed a little bit of that fountain show but it’s huge and looks better at night

[@tobybricks1]

The Efteling area must consist of a minimal of 90% nature. if they build something, they have to plant more plants somewhere. there is even an island where they don't change anything. so that birds can live in a natural environment.

[@jarmoliebrand2005]

It’s great, I love it. That island in the Siervijver is a breeding ground for birds and its great.

[@adamdurbin6895]

Great work loved this. Just find it interesting you didn't mention Busch Gardens Williamsburg with all its golden tickets for the most beautiful theme park in the world. Its literally in the woods with rolling hills and water features.

[@coasterbot]

There's too many great parks to mention honestly! All of the ones I reference I've been to and have experienced first hand. That helps in telling the story and having my own footage of the parks. I'm visiting BGW later this year, so expect it to appear in videos towards the end of the year. ☺️

[@schagerbaantje]

Fun fact: Efteling has Nature so high as a value that they keep a max percentage of the park that may be build. To make sure that the nature stays a rich part of the park. If i'm correct 30% may be build and 70% of the park has to be natural. So if they remove greenery for a new ride, they will bring it back at a different part or around the new ride as fas as possible. Baron 1898 is a good example of this, here they themed the que line to a lumber forest, using it to bring back alot of trees.

[@coasterbot]

That is really awesome and it definitely adds to the park

[@Codangerz]

As an avid gardener and a roller coaster enthusiast, love this video.

[@coasterbot]

Hell yeah 😎

[@jarmoliebrand2005]

I was at Efteling a few days ago and it was nice to see the foliage being well kept as always. There were these really bright yellow and red tulips at the Vliegende Hollander and Fata Morgana. So pretty.

[@rjoyhelvie]

"Nature is an attraction" indeed! The theme park Silver Dollar City only exists because it was built as something for guests to do while waiting to tour Marvel Cave. Now the park surrounds it. I'm not 100% sure, but it's the only theme park I know of (at least in America) that has a real-life natural giant show cave as an actual attraction (tours are included in park admission; you can a bit extra if you want to take a tour using just lanterns, like they did in "the old days").

[@rjoyhelvie]

And Mary Herschend was super, SUPER protective of the trees, only allowing them to be removed if it was absolutely necessary due to safety/distance from rides. The Herschends have an entire tree farm now, where they plant several for every one taken out of the park for development.

[@CoasterConnection]

What a very thought-provoking video! Thanks for making it. I definitely agree with all of your observations. What are your thoughts on entity indoor theme parks? Do you think they will ever be able to recreate the natural aesthetic that so many outdoor parks have already perfected? 👀

[@me-myself-i787]

Tropical Islands has done quite a good job of it. Although, being owned by Parques Renuidos, it will probably get worse.

[@coasterbot]

Thanks for watching! Indoor theme parks are a tricky one. I think they probably can be done well, but you'll never be able to match that feeling. What could work are indoor water parks where the humidity is high, allowing tropical plant life to grow and create jungle-like areas.

[@1ronEntertainment]

Mann this is what uni Hollywood needs

[@petermc7098]

Hi Harry, a great analysis and a decent Video, thank you for sharing your thoughts about this simple but truly brilliant key feature of Theme Parks and beyond throughout. Cheers Peter :⁠-⁠)

[@coasterbot]

Hi Peter, thanks for the very kind words ☺️

[@petermc7098]

@@coasterbot You're welcome, it's well deserved!

[@shanesandwich]

Good video as usual Harry👍

[@coasterbot]

Thanks!

[@ann18o96]

First thing I though when I saw the title was "theming". Fair enough, waterfalls, stones, trees and plants are a main part of that - I think it wouldn't look as impressive without nature. Probably depressing to look at.

[@xguitarist_]

Pretty much all of this has become a hotly debated topic in city design/urban planning, in that we probably shouldn’t make huge swaths of low density areas that need asphalt everywhere with barely any nature anywhere to counteract the heat it causes

[@coasterbot]

Exactly

[@jarmoliebrand2005]

Our good friend Langnek in the thumbnail.

[@coasterbot]

Hell yeah

[@coasterblocks3420]

My local theme parks, Dream World and Movie World, both have a “Main Street” covered in an ugly shade structure. Sure it provides shade but it kills the sense of immersion. I’m not sure how you can disguise it to either make it disappear or become part of the old-worldy theme.

[@bocahdongo7769]

Honestly It does sounds like Planco or NL2 theme park layout 101. Which actually good thing Thanks tho

[@nrdythugg4102]

Energylandia like they couldn't care less.

[@MattMcIrvin]

Six Flags Poland

[@rosalieocfemia6883]

Let’s help coaster bot to the 100k subscribers!

[@coasterbot]

😍

[@iMizzy777]

❤theme parks❤

[@flipperion]

Phantasialand is in a weird position in this

[@coasterbot]

It is, Phantasialand isn't overly nature dense, but it also isn't full of empty concrete paths.

[@leyoshivenere350]

Nickelodeon universe: Am I a joke to you ? (yes)

[@ColonelCoockie]

Did he just say “European folktales” to some of the most famous characters?!

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

What a(nother) brilliant observation and gorgeous video to illustrate your case. It was like going outside and experiencing it just watching the video. PS Parks "littered" with nature. Nice oxymoron. Remind me to study hard if we ever go head to head in a debate. You come with big guns.

[@hawkvandelay]

bad day to be kings island

[@coasterbot]

Yup

[@crazybird199]

Ah, so that's why they call them theme *parks*.

[@forzaguy1252]

Many of the earliest amusement parks were literally just regular parks that eventually put some rides in. Today there is still many city parks with carousels in them

[@crazybird199]

@@forzaguy1252 Yeah, thats a good point

[@coasterbot]

This is a particularly great point

[@Gijsinator]

well one park that does this exceptionally is walibi holland, only really the left side of the park (where goliath, and el condor are) have bad foliage. but wilderness hasn't really got lots of theming, its just got a couple of statues really but the sheer amount of foliage they managed to put in there is mental and making it one of the best themed lands in the netherlands and thats wildly impressive for a walibi park because the chain wallibi only really stepped up thier theming level in recent years

[@jarmoliebrand2005]

They’re boarding the hype train.

[@MiNombreEsElCamaron]

Landscaping is stupid expensive in theme parks.

[@coasterbot]

It is, but it's worth it!

[@benyboybob]

***Zoo Bot

[@rabbitchivdogz1390]

i'm the exact fucking opasit i feel like nature's ded fucking mundane & boring like u see it fucking evry were all the fucking time allways i prefer a theme park that has like a lot of arcitecture & shit like shit u don't see every day

[@benyboybob]

Nah couldn’t disagree more. For example I still don’t understand why a large part of the community think Animal Kingdom is the best, it’s a pile of CRAP!!!! It has ONE passable ride!!! Like I said last time, I think you should switch focus to Zoos…

[@kirbot]

Well let me introduce you to Parking Lot Land, my friend! Devoid of nature, just concrete. Perfect for all of the nature haters like you and I!

[@benyboybob]

@@kirbot I don’t hate nature, I just disagree it makes a park good or the best. Like I said, if you have this opinion you’re probably more into Zoos…

[@njdotson]

I think it has 3 main fun rides, and 50% of the reason I like going there is because the dinosaur ride has no wait

[@adamdurbin6895]

Yes animal kingdom is a very expensive zoo with maybe two good rides and honestly not so many animals. I do agree that nature is calming and will make you probably spend more money if you're slowing down to enjoy it verse hurrying ride to ride. I'd much rather have some shade instead of standing in the sun sweating my ass off. But if it's just down to rides a shit park with trees is still a shit park.

[@benyboybob]

@@njdotson Well each to their own, but I think it’s only passable ride is Everest, which was good in its day, but I’d now consider it a second rate coaster - for example, every other park in the area has a better coaster - hell, I’d even say FunSpot has better coasters, and let’s not forget, Everest is Animal Kingdoms ONLY coaster. That alone should stop it qualifying as a theme park to me; what kind of theme park has ONE coaster? And this is supposed to be the ‘best’ theme park, that’s just ridiculous in my opinion. I do like Dinosaur, but it’s more for the nostalgia, as it feels extremely dated now, and in some parts even laughable, hence why nobody is waiting for it. Same with a Bugs Life, half the props aren’t even working in there now, and the screens & tech are incredibly dated. And all the other experiences are extremely geared towards kids, and other than that, every other experience you can find bigger and better at an actual Zoo. I think the Tubers are totally wrong on this and are just pandering to families. For example, let’s look at the most successful area for theme parks in the last few years? Hogwartz, and it has practically no nature what so ever… And I guarantee you Nintendo world at Epic universe will take its spot as number 1 - but oh wait, once again NO NATURE. Nature has nothing to do with it, it’s just consistent theming and quality rides. And I could argue it all day with examples…

[@benyboybob]

I would love to debate you and the other Tubers on this, I think you are so wrong! Most successful area in recent theme park years, Hogwartz; pretty much no nature! Next most successful area (I’d literally bet on it), will be Super Nintendo World at Epic Universe - guess what, ABSOLUTELY NO NATURE, just plastic! In contrast, the latest Disney StarWars area, full of nature and not drawing anywhere near the numbers that they want… Clearly it has NOTHING to do with nature, it’s all to do with consistent theming and MORE importantly, quality rides. You and a lot in the community are basing a great theme park on one that solely caters to families with young kids. Like I said prior, I think you’d be happier reviewing Zoos.