Books by Claus Frimand

Talanoa Park is not real. But the stories are.

Books drawn from 35 years in theme parks: a series set in a park that is always 34 days from opening, and the history of the parks that shaped the industry.

The Talanoa Series The History of Theme Parks
The Talanoa Series

Three books from inside a park that isn't finished yet

A murder mystery, a pre-opening handbook and the seven documents every park needs before it is built, all set at Talanoa Park.

All three books

Buy Ready to Open and The Documents That Build a Park together, and get Who Killed the QS Guy? free.

$59$49 Buy all three
Cover of Who Killed the QS Guy?
Volume 1

Who Killed the QS Guy?

A Talanoa Park murder mystery

A comic murder mystery in 20 chapters, with case notes on every stage of theme park development and a glossary of industry slang.

$14.90$9.90Buy the e-book
Cover of Ready to Open
Volume 2

Ready to Open

Pre-opening operations for theme parks

A practical guide to the 18 months before a park opens: recruitment, training, testing, rehearsals and opening day, with checklists, templates and lessons from real openings.

$29$24Buy the e-book
Team licence for up to 10 people: $119
Cover of The Documents That Build a Park
Volume 3

The Documents That Build a Park

Seven documents every park needs

Written in full for Talanoa Park: feasibility study and business plan, investment memorandum and economic impact study, operating agreement, marketing plan and sponsorship proposal.

$34$29Buy the e-book
Team licence for up to 10 people: $139
Guest map

Talanoa Park on opening day

Illustrated guest map of Talanoa Park with Fire Mountain, the Lagoon, the Forest of Whispers, Turtle Beach and the resort
Some scaffolding may remain. Show times are subject to change.
From the team

Everything is under control

“We are on time and we are on budget. I have been told this by everybody, every week, for two years.”

Ricardo “Ricky” Villareal
Chairman, Villareal Land

“Every attraction will be show-ready on opening day. Or in B-mode. Nobody will notice.”

Dieter Brandt
Ride & Technical Director

“Our new team members will be outstanding. Once we have a building to train them in.”

Megan Doyle
Vice President of Operations

The project’s Quantity Surveyor was unavailable for comment.

New · Volumes 1–3

The History of Theme Parks

71 parks on five continents, from a spring in a Danish deer park in 1583 to a theme park in the Saudi desert in 2025. Each park with a fact box, its story, the people who built it and the lessons it holds for the industry.

The covers of The History of Theme Parks, Volumes 1, 2 and 3
All three volumes

The Theme Park Collection

Three books, four centuries of fun. All three volumes in EPUB and PDF, about 187,000 words in total.

$59.97$44.99Save $14.98 Buy the collection
Cover of Parks That Shaped the Industry
Volume 1

Parks That Shaped the Industry

1583–1952 · 22 parks

Before Disneyland, there was Bakken. The pleasure gardens, trolley parks, seaside piers and fairy-tale forests that invented the business of fun, from Bakken and Tivoli to Efteling.

$19.99Buy the e-book
Cover of Parks That Defined the Theme Park
Volume 2

Parks That Defined the Theme Park

1955–1989 · 23 parks

And then came Disneyland. The themed lands, marine parks, studio tours and worlds made of bricks that turned an idea into an industry, from Disneyland to Lotte World.

$19.99Buy the e-book
Cover of Parks That Took the Industry Global
Volume 3

Parks That Took the Industry Global

1990–2025 · 26 parks

Then the whole world wanted one. The global brands, home-grown champions and desert resorts that took the theme park worldwide, from Universal Studios Florida to Six Flags Qiddiya City.

$19.99Buy the e-book
The author

Claus Frimand

Claus Frimand has worked in theme parks and attractions for more than thirty-five years, in more than ten countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He has opened and run parks and advised owners on parks, resorts and world events.

He lives in Copenhagen, where he writes The History of Theme Parks and The Talanoa Series.