Purdue’s Online Themed Entertainment Design Certificate Teaches Students How to Bring Themed Attractions to Life

Every year, hundreds of thousands of visitors travel to Santa Claus, Indiana to experience the holiday-themed attractions of Holiday World. Holiday World, the nation’s first theme park. Originally known as Santa Claus Land, the park started operations in 1946, nine years before Disneyland opened its gates. During the 20^th century, Holiday World – and all the theme parks that came after it – captured the American imagination with larger-than-life attractions, immersive rides and colorful characters. Now, theme parks are more popular than ever before. In 2023 alone, the top 25 theme parks worldwide attracted nearly 245 million visitors, and the theme park industry is valued at over $67 billion. 

As theme parks grow in popularity, the demand for more engaging, immersive, and technologically impressive rides and attractions also grows. Bringing a themed attraction to life is a complicated process that involves engineers, animators, graphic designers, 3D modelers, technical directors, writers and project managers all working together to create a one-of-a-kind experience. 

Though there are many different opportunities in themed entertainment, breaking into the industry can be challenging. Purdue University’s online Themed Entertainment Design Certificate, offered by the Fusion Studio for Entertainment and Engineering, helps professionals find footing in the themed entertainment industry by providing them hands-on experience, industry connections, and the mentorship of experienced themed entertainment professionals.  

Offered entirely online, the program’s courses cover essential skills and knowledge relevant to the themed entertainment industry. Students learn about the history of themed entertainment as well as current and future directions in the field. Through completing hands-on projects, students also get the chance to build their own themed experiences and attractions.  

The certificate program is guided by experienced themed entertainment professionals who know the industry. These instructors bring decades of knowledge to the virtual classroom as well as valuable industry connections. Students will have the chance to learn from industry giants like Disney, Universal, Creative Works and more. The program’s instructors also invite students to attend and network at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) conference, the largest attractions conference in the world. 

“Our program is designed to help you pivot your current career and skillset toward the themed entertainment and experience industry by helping you understand the process of creation,” said Christian Rogers, who is one of the program’s instructors, an associate professor, and site director in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University in Indianapolis. “We then put you shoulder to shoulder with some of the top industry professionals in the business.” 

Beyond theme parks, the certificate’s curriculum also explores themed entertainment in museums, aquariums, zoos, trade shows and more. By taking a broad approach to themed entertainment, the certificate can prepare students for a wide variety of careers in engineering, design, media arts, storytelling, animation and entertainment broadly.  

“Purdue does an excellent job of introducing students to the industry of themed attraction design and theme parks,” said Rachel Carter, a graduate of the certificate program. “From initial idea conception to complex layout plans and digital models, you will walk through the entire process of designing an attraction step by step. Weekly meetings with the professors and interviews with local themed attraction designers provided invaluable information as well as an inside perspective on the industry.” 

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Students can take all of the certificate courses to earn their Themed Entertainment Design Certificate, or they can take any of the courses individually for targeted career training. All courses are offered online in a flexible, self-paced format.  

To learn more about Purdue’s Themed Entertainment Design Certificate, please visit the program’s webpage.