There is something wonderfully old-fashioned about a theme park parade. The music starts, crowds gather at the kerb, oversized characters wave from brightly decorated floats, and for a few minutes everyone stops what they are doing to watch the spectacle roll past.
Now, Planet Coaster 2 is bringing that same sense of occasion to player-built parks with the launch of the Parades Pack, the biggest content pack yet for Frontier Developments’ creative theme park simulator.
Available now for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC, the £14.99 DLC gives Park Managers the chance to build, customise and schedule their own parades, while also adding new coasters, flat rides, scenery, fireworks, music and plenty more.
At A Glance
- Planet Coaster 2: Parades Pack is out now
- Available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC
- Costs £14.99
- Adds customisable parades, new rides and over 250 scenery pieces
- Free Update 10 launches alongside the DLC
Build A Parade Worth Stopping For
The headline addition is, unsurprisingly, the ability to create and manage full parades for the first time in the Planet Coaster series.
Players can design their own floats from scratch or make use of blueprints, using more than 250 new scenery pieces to create everything from colourful festival wagons to classic Americana-inspired displays. Once the floats are ready, they can be assigned routes and schedules, allowing the parade to become a regular part of the park day.
Entertainers can also be placed on floats, walking beside them or leading the procession, while guests will gather along the route to wave flags and glowing wands. Better still, those watching the parade will have their entertainment needs satisfied and receive a mood boost, giving the feature a useful gameplay purpose beyond simply looking great.
New Rides, Small Town Scenery And Fireworks
The Parades Pack is not just about floats and fanfare either. Frontier has included several new rides to help flesh out parks of all sizes.
Thrill seekers can climb aboard the HPC Buzzard, a compact single-rail coaster built around tight turns and inversions, while the V&N Narrow Drop brings another smaller-scale drop coaster into the mix.
There are also two new flat rides – the bouncing Jumpin’ Disc and the kid-friendly Little Dipper – alongside the FD Vision Electric Trolley, a transport ride designed to help guests move around larger parks in style.
The pack’s wider theme is built around a vintage Small Town Americana aesthetic. With more than 250 scenery pieces, players can create bustling high streets, cosy cafés, town squares and promenade-style areas, complete with a barbershop quartet animatronic for that extra bit of character.
Nineteen new firework emitters, six themed music tracks and ten ambient sounds are also included, helping players make their parks feel more convincing once the sun goes down.
Free Update 10 Adds More Creative Options
Launching alongside the Parades Pack is Free Update 10, which gives all Planet Coaster 2 players a few more ways to stage memorable moments.
Vista Points allow guests to stop and admire scenery from a chosen location, while Event Points can trigger sequenced events around the park. Transport rides can now also be placed directly on paths, with guests dynamically moving around incoming vehicles – something that should make trams and trolleys feel far more naturally integrated into park layouts.
The free update also adds new souvenir flags, wands, celebration bunting and more, making it a worthwhile drop even for players who decide to hold off on the paid DLC.
More Reasons To Keep Building
Planet Coaster 2 has always been at its best when it gives players another excuse to turn an ordinary collection of rides into somewhere that feels like a real destination. The Parades Pack seems built around that idea, offering more than just a handful of new attractions and instead giving Park Managers another way to create a memorable day out for their virtual guests.
When we reviewed Planet Coaster 2, we awarded it a 4/5, calling it “a worthy follow-up and another fab continuation of the wider Planet franchise”, while also noting that Frontier remains one of the leading names in simulation management games on console.
With parades now rolling through the gates, there is one more way for creative players to make their parks stand out from the crowd.
Planet Coaster 2: Parades Pack is available now for £14.99 on Xbox Series X|S (through the Xbox Store), PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam.
