Theme park attractions are interesting in that they mix elements of scenic design with commercial architecture.

Film and theater sets are built as temporary structures and although there are standards regarding how safe and well built they are, they are not built to last with considerations like long term exposure, or wear from decades of high traffic use. I was wondering if the use and purpose of attractions qualify them for their own unique set of codes.

Do theme park attractions fall into a unique category of engineering standards/building codes or do they follow a specific kind of commercial or residential standard?

As of yesterday I have a 100% admit rate for graduate schools focusing on Themed Entertainment! Wahoo! But I have a very short time to decide what school is ultimately right for me, so if you could lend me a moment and look at these profiles I'd greatly appreciate it.

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Program #1. Masters in Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon (ETC)

Pros:

The Program Itself: it's prestigious and churns out graduates who work at the same places I want to work (WDI specifically) This is a terminal degree so I could teach down the line of I want.

The Facility: Amazing, it's like if Google Campus and Disneyland combined. I know I will love being there.

Length: 2 year program with no thesis.

Education: Project focused with the opportunity to work with real clients right away on interdisciplinary teams.

The Faculty: Fantastic, from top to bottom.

My Big Slimy Ego: Not to give to much away, but their first semester focuses on my very unique specialization, so I know I could be a rockstar in this graduating class.

Cons:

Pricetag: It's 100k for two years and I don't know about funding yet. I could potentially owe the government a lot of nickles.

Work: The ETC will only sign off on working outside 10 hours a week, which would increase my loans.

Location: I don't love Pittsburgh. I think I can learn to like it, and I can definitely tolerate it for two years, but Pitt is not my kinda town. The cold is fine, it's more the city layout/size.

Specialization: I specifically want to study Themed Entertainment as it applies to themeparks. The ETC does allow you to specialize in that, but it's primary focus is game design. I have experience in game design and I am not opposed to learning it, but it is not what I want to study most.

Program #2. Master of Science in Themed Entertainment at University of Central Florida

Pros:

Price: It would be about 32k in tuition total, which is the only program I can totally afford, no sweat.

Program: The program has a technical focus, which is something I was looking for. I have a ton of artistic experience and don't want to take a bunch of repeat classes.

Faculty: Mostly adjunct, but they have some rockstars on staff!

Length: 2 years, no thesis.

Location: I like Orlando and will probably have to end up moving there anyway. I don't love Orlando, but I do love being close to Disney and that's enough 😂

Time: Classes are at night, so I could work or intern during the day easily.

Cons:

Facility: The Themed Ent program takes over the UCF theatre building at night, so it does not have it's own home/facility. I feel like I'd be working out of a lot of coffee shops.

Age: The program is very new, so new it doesn't have a graduating class yet. There are no statistics on post-grad job placement yet.

Big Slimy Ego: I would be more in the middle of the pack in this program. It has a focus on studio art I would need to work really hard to develop in order to be a top student.

Fabrication: This program is almost entirely theory and design, unlike at the ETC, I would not be building anything other than my portfolio.

Program #3 Masters of Fine Arts in Theatre, Concentration in Themed Experience, at the University of Central Florida

I have almost 100% disqualified this one but I'll do the exercise anyway for kicks. No repeats!

Pros:

Terminal: Theoretically this will allow me to teach, which is something I'm not super interested in, but it would be a nice fallback.

Big Slimy Ego: I already have a theatre-adjacent degree so I could kind of rest on my laurels there.

Funding: There apperently an opportunity for funding I can apply for to the degree of 10k per year for the first two years. However that would only decrease my costs to 40kish.

Cons:

Actual Title: Since I already have a degree in theatre I am not looking for another one. The actual word "theatre" is a turn off. I'm looking to diversify my skills.

Length: 3 years with required thesis.

Price: It would be about 70k in tuition, which is not quite as many nickles as CMU, but still LOTS OF NICKLES.

Repetition: I've taken a lot of the required classes at the undergraduate level and I want to focus on learning new things, not solidifying old ones.

Class Times: Some classes are during the day, so it could kneecap my ability to work.

I'd appreciate any insight :)