01 – Introduction

Inspiration

I first got the idea for this project after reading this article talking about this park in Japan that was asking visitors to limit screaming on rollercoasters to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

They even made a promotional video where the president of the park was filmed wearing a mask and riding a rollercoaster, to prove that it was possible to go on a ride without screaming. The final frame of the video reads 絶叫は心中ので which translates to, please scream inside your heart.

I also just have a special place in my heart for amusement parks, because I worked at Canada's Wonderland for a long time. Coasters is a diner I spent 2 years at, before moving to a buffet inside the park.

Data

I was interested in creating a visualization about theme parks and looking into how the pandemic affected operations. I found data about park performance on Wikipedia and the Themed Entertainment Association's 2020 annual report on Global Attractions.