How much does landscaping contribute to a coaster’s appeal?

[SonofBaconator]

I looked at BGWFans rendition of the yet to be announced 2025 project for Busch Gardens Williamsburg and noticed that there is quite a bit of landscaping and what looks like village scenery halfway through like the original Big Bad Wolf had.

Granted, all the landscaping in this rendition is just concept art, it does beg the question: “How much does landscaping contribute to a coaster’s appeal?”

I argue landscaping plays a larger role in ride theming that goes unnoticed unless it’s done bad. We often joke about the “Junk Yard Coaster” because of the concrete and miss matched scenery, but I would often think that if it had better scenery like trees and natural views, people wouldn’t dog on it so much.

 

[WoodVengeance]

36 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

I looked at BGWFans rendition of the yet to be announced 2025 project for Busch Gardens Williamsburg and noticed that there is quite a bit of landscaping and what looks like village scenery halfway through like the original Big Bad Wolf had.

Granted, all the landscaping in this rendition is just concept art, it does beg the question: “How much does landscaping contribute to a coaster’s appeal?”

I argue landscaping plays a larger role in ride theming that goes unnoticed unless it’s done bad. We often joke about the “Junk Yard Coaster” because of the concrete and miss matched scenery, but I would often think that if it had better scenery like trees and natural views, people wouldn’t dog on it so much.

 

One key contributor to that is whether or not the landscaping/theme of a ride fits in with the area of the park that the ride is placed in. To go back on Backlot Stunt Coaster, that coaster is officially placed in the "Rivertown" section of Kings Island (a rustic riverside themed area) and is also really close to the "Coney Mall" section (themed to a early-mid 20th century theme park). Given the theme of Backlot is that you're driving a stunt car through an L.A. back lot, it really doesn't fit Rivertown or Coney Mall at all. Now if Backlot was placed in Action Zone instead, I think it wouldn't stand out as much over there given that the original theme of Action Zone from the Paramount era was based on a giant movie set.

[purdude86]

On 9/2/2024 at 11:15 PM, WoodVengeance said:

One key contributor to that is whether or not the landscaping/theme of a ride fits in with the area of the park that the ride is placed in. To go back on Backlot Stunt Coaster, that coaster is officially placed in the "Rivertown" section of Kings Island (a rustic riverside themed area) and is also really close to the "Coney Mall" section (themed to a early-mid 20th century theme park). Given the theme of Backlot is that you're driving a stunt car through an L.A. back lot, it really doesn't fit Rivertown or Coney Mall at all. Now if Backlot was placed in Action Zone instead, I think it wouldn't stand out as much over there given that the original theme of Action Zone from the Paramount era was based on a giant movie set.

Yea it always seemed so weird for it to be placed where it was when they had an entire land with the exact theming of the ride. It was better received due to how well the theming was done but TR:TR was the same. 

I feel like scenery/landscaping does really help to elevate a rides appeal. Just think of The Beast. It is a well loved coaster, but imagine how it would be if it wasn't running through the woods and all the trees and was just in a big open field. While people like the ride still, I lost count of how many times people complained about the lack of trees and surrounding landscaping for Diamondback.

[SonofBaconator]

On 9/2/2024 at 11:15 PM, WoodVengeance said:

Now if Backlot was placed in Action Zone instead, I think it wouldn't stand out as much over there given that the original theme of Action Zone from the Paramount era was based on a giant movie set.

 

19 minutes ago, purdude86 said:

Yea it always seemed so weird for it to be placed where it was when they had an entire land with the exact theming of the ride. It was better received due to how well the theming was done but TR:TR was the same.

I think TR:TR and IJST were Paramont’s attempts to engulf the whole park with their IP. It started off with most of their Paramount based rides in the front left corner over the park and over the years we saw it spread.

In hindsight if Paramount put TR:TR and ITST in Action Zone, the park’s foot traffic would be somewhat lopsided. IIRC Rivertown wasn’t getting a whole lot of foot traffic in the 90s with most of the new attractions being towards the front of the park so it makes logistical sense why they put those two rides in that area, just not thematic sense.

[johnjniehaus]

My personal opinion is that landscaping does help but there's many other factors in the appeal of a rollercoaster. Terrain, landscape, tunnels/hardscape, and water features all make a ride more unique and aesthetically pleasing. For example I much prefer the trees, tunnels, and scenery around Adventure Express rather than the concrete and gravel around Backlot Stunt Coaster