Interview Themebuilders.docx

Based from an interview with Ar. Dianne Jimenez, who is an architect at Themebuilders Phil., a firm that specializes in theme park designs both in the Philippines and in other countries. Themebuilders is also a member of IAAPA or the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) which means they are credible because IAAPA is an international association that sets the international standards that are being followed when it comes to theme park design. According to her, a park should be able to maintain itself because a theme park’s every day operation is not easy to sustain because the park’s maintenance cost will be the same and the management still has to pay the salary of the employee even if the number of the visitor of the park is less than the expected number. She said that there should be a market strategy so the people will visit the park. She said that applying the trending and well-known movies as a theme will help the park to gain more visitors. She said that Disneyland became successful because of the theme, because of the Disney movies that the people loved when they were just kids. The park gave them the feeling of being with the characters that they loved. She also added that when deciding the location for a theme park, it should be accessible to public vehicles or at least to public shuttles. According to her, some strategies can be used to help make the development sustainable, she said that the researcher can use a solar panel. A solar panel is a onetime investment, it may cost high at first but later on, because of the weather in the Philippines, the return of investment will be fast. She added that it is our responsibility to help the environment to survive since global warming is happening faster. The researcher asked Ar. Jimenez about the most important facilities in a park. She said that the maintenance and safety department should be the first to be considered since the top priority of a theme park is the safety of the visitors. She explained that in famous amusement

parks like the Disneyland, the park opens at 9:30 am but the maintenance is already rounding the rides as early as 7:30 am to check for errors.