Background
----------
First of all, some basic assumptions on which I based my ideas. Theme
parks exist as a place in which people congregate to have fun. They must
be able to cater to a large audience, especially families, and so their
(main) attractions must be designed to accommodate for this.

_Virtual Reality_
At high TLs, the obvious answer would be VR: you could create whatever
kind of environment/situation, but this seems to go against the
"canonical" background for Traveller. VR is usually downplayed in this
universe.
In fact, the Theme Park concept does not mix well with VR: if you just
have to jack in a simulated universe, you don't need a specialized place
to go, you simply attach your brain to a VR device in your own apartment
and push the [Start] button.

_Robots_
Another obvious idea is the use of Robots. This is much more promising,
IMHO. The most recent ideas on robots (as published on CSC) make them
expensive and dependent on large external computers to supply the
"intelligence". A sufficiently high number of robots would be an
attraction in itself, given that the average household can't probably
afford one.
Also, the robots would be ideal to create another kind of attraction, a
kind of LARP similar to the ones presented in _Westworld_ and its sequel.
[See the part on A-F tickets for more on this subject]

_0-G rollercoasting_
Antigrav and inertial dampening technology could yield some interesting
applications. Someone suggested 0-g aerial bumper cars, for example.
Again, I must disagree. Security would be the primary concern for the
Park managers, just like it is nowadays. Park attractions have plenty of
failsafe mechanisms and mechanical stoppers/brakes which will reduce
risks for the visitors.
The same kind of security concern would be applied in the future, but I
agree that technology could help to build things which *seem* to be much
more dangerous.

_Welcome to DisneyPlanet!_
Well, actually no. 
The idea of a planet transformed into an enormous theme park could be ok
for _Star Wars_, but is not really feasible in Traveller. Remember that
the shortest interstellar roundtrip requires two weeks and a hefty sum of
money. How many people would be able to take such an extended leave from
school/work just to visit a park? Even on our planet, the biggest name in
this field (Disney) started franchising the idea around the world. In the
same vein, one or more megacorporations could create a theme park on the
richer planets, using local manpower to build and maintain the site.

_General Structure of the Park_
Let's call it VilaniWorld. The company starts by buying/renting a large
area in a temperate zone. Besides the actual park, the area will host
vehicle parking facilities, hotels and living structures for the human
crew. Most of the storage and maintenance will probably be underground.
The park will be fenced and divided into a series of theme zones [more on
this below].

_Whatever happened to Frontierland?_
Some themes seem to crop up just about everywhere here on Earth. I mean,
Italian theme parks do have Cowboys/Indians theme zones, even if the Wild
Old West is not exactly a part of our cultural and historical heritage.
The same holds for Legoland in Denmark, for example. Thanks to movies and
television, children in Japan, Europe, or South America may identify and
appreciate Western Themes, but I wonder if this kind of cultural
transmission could work in the Traveller Universe.
For these reasons, I postulate that the "cultural glue" among Imperial
worlds could be better represented by the main services, i.e., instead of
Cowboys and Indians, children would readily identify with Scouts, or
perhaps Navy and Space Pirates. On the other hand, each Theme Park would
have at least a zone devoted to some locally influenced theme.

_Would it be an A or F ticket, Mister?_
The idea behind Vilaniworld is that even if PCs routinely engage in space
flights, fight aliens, pirates and the police in incredibly hostile and
bizarre environments, more than 90% of the Imperial population still
works and lives on Earth-like planets and lives pretty normal lives,
after all.
Ok, mommy may have been drafted in the Marines and daddy worked on a
Subsidized Merchant when he was young, but they have settled now, or
perhaps they never visited really interesting planets during their
careers ... so Vilaniworld may have something to offer to them, too. On
the other hand, if you are a college graduate who likes RPGs or and avid
3D moviegoer, you would probably prefer some wilder stuff. VilaniWorld
tries to cater to all tastes.

_The Family Ticketrav
First of all, when you get your electronic pass at the entrance you must
register as a member of one of the "services". You may decide to be
Scout, Navy, Marine or Merchant. The staff will oblige and give you a
fake id and a cap (like a baseball cap) with a distinctive color and the
name of the service emblazoned on it.
From this point on, the staff, robots and computer-driven attractions
will react to your assumed service by referring to you by proper
rank/service designation. Some of the attractions will react in slightly
different ways depending on the service you chose. Others will allow you
to advance in rank when completed... and you will go home with fake
insignia and certificates.
The credit-card sized ticket you got at the entrance may also act as a
map, let you buy stuff, give info on the park and inform you in real time
about weather forecasts and queue lengths for the attractions.

_The Adventure Ticketrav
This is a much more costly ticket. It allows you to take part in a kind
of LARP which involves you and a variable number of human-like robots as
NPCs.
The storyline may be quite complex and involved, and you can specify
beforehand the level of violence/sex and physical action you want. The
story takes place in one (or more rarely two or more) of the theme zones.
They are usually supervised by one human manager (a kind of GM) which
follows the action and can put in some slight changes in the original
script.
An A-ticket visitor is supplied with some kind of costume, props and
make-up, and can liberally intermingle with visitors and robots in an
area, even if most of his/her adventure takes part away from the main
attractions. In this way, an A-Ticket holder sometimes offers some
background color for the F-Ticket visitors, for example by taking part in
(simulated) gunfights against robots. In a sense, the A and F visitors
offer each other some kind of scenery/background during their stay at the
park.

--------------------------------------------- 
Here is a small list of the "Classical Themes". For a couple of them I've
also described one of the attractions.


_StarTown_
The obvious starting point. It simulates a romanticized view of the
typical StarTown, with a lot of buildings hosting bars, restaurants and
shops. From this zone, you may reach the other themes through some aptly
themed building (research lab, shuttle station and so on).

_WaterLand_
A section inspired by the Waterworld environment. Obviously, it will not
be present in parks built on *actual* waterworlds. The main feature is a
large lake with a smattering of small atolls on it; you can take rides on
various types of water ships and engage in seaside activities. During the
cruise, you will meet/spot real or fake marine creatures.

_"DeepCity 9"_ (Waterland Attraction)
On the edge of the lake, there is a building that lets you experiment
with the "undersea life". A special machine will instantly produce for
you a fully enclosed suit you can wear over your dress. The personnel
helps you with the suit, gives you a transparent helmet, secures a
"breathing/mobile" unit on your back, gives you some simple advice on how
to guide the thing and down you go.
Even with the high TL, security risks could be too high, so all the
underwater environment is just a clever simulation. Actually, you descend
in an underground complex that has been built in the ground facing away
from the lake; the elevator which takes you down to the "pressure
chamber" conceals this fact by slowly rotating you away from the lake
during the descent. The area in which you "float/swim" is a near-0g zone
(thanks to anti-g plates) and you are propelled by air-jets from your
back unit. This way you move in a simulated environment without the risk
of getting drowned. The worst possible disaster is a failure in the
anti-g apparatus in one of the sections. In this case, people would fall
down, but the "undersea" environment is built as a series of caves and
corals banks, with plenty of artificial seaweeds, sandy patches, and
other passive failsafe systems which will help reduce the damage down to
bruises. Obviously, the simulation will be enhanced by high TL gimmicks:
holograms will add air bubbles, plankton-like life forms, distant fish
schools and so on.
The helmet contains a small radio which allows you to talk with your
friends/family and receive audio/video info on the environment you are in
through a simplified HUD display. Internal audio effects will enhance the
idea of actually being underwater. People with scuba or related skills
will probably notice small telltale details, but the majority of people
will fall for it. Especially children.
Following the various "lanes" you will be able to explore a shipwreck,
chase around small (robot) creatures and finally enter an "underwater
lab" (where g is restored to normal levels) in which you may take off
your helmet, visit an interesting exhibition on waterworld colonization,
buy gizmos at the "Lab Shop" and have a drink at the DeepBlue cafeteria.
Leaving the Lab, you will put your helmet on again, and follow another
(brief) route to the exit, where the suit will be taken from you (and its
plastic fibers will be 100% recycled for the next visitor). The helmet
will be sanitized and re-sent to the entrance.


_SpaceLand_
Star Travel theme. Lots of Imperial Navy stuff. Careful choice of BEMs:
they must *not* resemble known members of the Imperium population. Space
Pirates.

_Star Raiders_ (Spaceland Attraction)
You must be at least 12 years  old to take this ride. 
Visitors are divided into groups of 10-12 people and lead around a
replica of a medium-size starship. During the trip inside g-plates and
videos will sustain the simulation that the starship is leaving the
planet. During the simulated voyage, an alarm signal will go off, and the
guide will scream "Oh No! The Star Raiders! We are under attack". S/he
will hastily open a locker and distribute (fake) laser weapons to all the
people.
After a brief (simulated) space skirmish with a lot of explosions, battle
reports over the intercom and a lot of flickering lights, the group will
have to defend the ship's corridors from a boarding party. The party is
made up of robots wearing an armor not unlike the one used by Star Wars
stormtroopers... all the scene could remind you of the opening battle of
the first Star Wars movie, in fact.
Obviously the enemy will exhibit the classical stormtrooper incompetence
in aiming shots against the visitors, but their weaponry will have plenty
of effect against (selected) parts of the corridors and other ship
fixtures. After 2-3 minutes of general mayhem, the surviving invaders
will flee, and the ship will "return to base" where people will get their
plastic medals.

_HomeLand_
Through the research lab, you may enter the "Experimental Time Machine"
which will dazzle you with fantastic scenery and hologram animations...
and then will open its gates to the Local Culture zone. Here attractions
are linked to local cultural influences and try to depict familiar themes
and ideas from specific planetary history.
People and robots will have appropriate costumes and lifelike replicas of
famous people from the past will wander around (and sign your autograph
book...) These are mostly robots and are backed by well researched
historical databanks on the figure they portrait, so you can have some
interesting chat with them.

_Ancientland_
History (and some myth) on the Ancients. Includes a couple of fictional
Ancient sites to explore/visit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adventure Ideas

I'm currently toying with the idea to get players involved with one of
these.

One possibility I'm considering is to have them contracted as specialized
manpower during the *building* of one of these sites. This could possibly
give a lot of very short and varied scenarios (and yes, I'd like some
input on this).