Eric Lynch

ENC 1102
9/6/2020
Initial Proposal

The broad topic that I am interested in investigating is the amusement/theme park industry.
Ever since I had ridden my first rollercoaster I was in love with them. As I had gotten older and
had gotten to explore more amusement/theme parks, I started to enjoy more of the aspects of
the industry than just the rollercoasters. For example, how the park is operated "backstage," the
atmosphere, theming, attention to detail(especially prevalent at the Disney Parks), and the
shows. However, the rollercoasters and attractions are still the best part for me which is why I
am pursuing mechanical engineering at UCF in the hopes to one day build
rollercoasters/attractions(or at least make a lot of money trying).

With that said, the communication involved with the amusement/theme park industry is a little
odd as it doesn't really pertain to standard books so much as is does to items such as
blueprints, posters, newspapers, software, photos, and drawings/renderings. All of which is
accessible however due to the power of the internet's and library's databases. One could find,
for example, a blueprint for a rollercoaster that was built in the 1990's even today by searching
through the internet. Or even find a newspaper clipping from when a major moment occurred in
the industry(When the Orlando Sentinel discovered that Walt Disney was building a resort in
Orlando for example). With all these sources, I could research and examine what effects
happened because of the amusement/theme park industry. A hypothetical example would be, if
monorails were more popular in the U.S. than automobiles today, then one could trace that back
to the monorail built at Disneyland, as it was the first in North America.

Word Count: 278