Lord of the Rings Theme Park- Ideas for what it should include

[ChrisFL]

This isn't going to be Disney or Universal specific, as different people have different thoughts about who/where it should go.

I think in general if we're referring to a whole theme park on its own, it doesn't matter who builds it, they're both capable

 

[ChrisFL]

Here are my thoughts about what should be included, land-wise.

Here is a map of middle earth:

http://blog.lefigaro.fr/hightech/middle-earth-map.jpg



One of the reasons I think we haven't seen a LOTR themed place yet, is because it is SO massive and has SO many areas.

Therefore I think its important to focus on the key areas and have the rest do a "cameo" of sorts on the attractions.

My ideas for the key areas:

Hobbiton (Can't do a LOTR park without it) - Casting "hobbits" may be a challenge
Mordor (I don't know if this should be a walkable land, as much as something that could be viewed from certain places in the park, including the eye of Sauron of course)
Rivendell / Elvish Land
Bree (small town for shops/bar)
The
Rohan (on a hill may be difficult)
Minas Tirith (just because)
Isengard (This could be a walk-able tower/area, the time before the Ents take over)


The parts that aren't necessarily part of the lands, but can be part of the various adventures:

Mines of Moria
Minas Morgul
Osgiliath
Lorien
The ghost city (can't remember if it has a name)

That's the cool part. The difficult part is coming up with attractions...namely RIDES that could be done in such a park. The only means of transportation were usually horseback, boat, nazgul, eagles. That makes things challenging.

 

[bubbles1812]

I don't have ride ideas at the moment but I know what their nighttime show would have to be... Gandalf's Fireworks! If they could replicate that dragon in just a small way, well, I would be a happy woman. And I'd probably have a new fav nighttime show in Orlando

 

[yeti]

Now we're talking...(I've been thinking about this for a while now- hope you'll care to listen)

Phase One: Two entrances, one where the Animation Courtyard archway now stands and the other where One Man's Dream sits. The first takes you through Bree, where you can dine at the Prancing Pony (fast-food) or shop at the other cutsey shops (with franchise-specifc, awesome merchandise, obviously). At the end of Bree you take a wooded path towards the looming Misty Mountains, where you line up for a complex roller coaster/watercoaster/slot car ride hybrid E-Ticket through the mines of Moria. The queue for this ride (and the attraction's big "weenie" of an entrance, like Hogwarts for FJ) is Rivendell, with the mountain in the background. You're taken through Rivendell, with an Elrond hologram (or whatever the hell it is) to embellish the story, and then through a cave and outside where you enter the mountain and the loading area through a replicate of the Doors of Durin (there's an opportunity for an interactive component here where a guest has to speak the elvish word for friend and a CM opens the door). The ride features Giant Spidesr, some Gollum, Cave Troll, and Goblin AA's, and climatically an elaborate encounter with a Balrog of Morgoth AA to finish the ride.

The second entrance throws you right in the middle of Hobbiton (I drew upon RandySavage's FANTASTIC blueprints for inspiration) where you can dine at the Green Dragon tavern (table service), shop, or visit Bag End. Due north is the forest- turn right and you head towards the Moria ride, and turn left and you head towards a harbor (more on that in a bit).

Phase Two: Taking up the entire Streets of America and the Backlot, you enter into Osgiliath, with a...1/3rd(?) scale model (199 feet...however much that is) of Minas Tirith itself looming in the distance. Here you can find an archery range for archery practice and a barracks for fencing practice to train guests (catering mostly to younger ones) to become Gondorian knights. Osgiliath is also riddled with various shops and fast-food destinations.

Now...as you continue north you will eventually come upon the gates of Minas Tirith. The only thing I haven't figured out is: how to deal with the Pelennor Fields? In the films they stretch at least a few miles between Minas Tirith and Osgiliath...can we just use the theme park trend of escaping such technical formalities (Hogwarts right after Hogsmeade?) and get rid of them altogether? Maybe we could discuss that...

Anyhow, Minas Tirith houses the showbuilding for a one-of-a-kind dark ride experience, tentatively titled "The Lord of the Rings: The Enchanted Flight" whereby you ride on benches carried by eagles on some sort of quest involving Sauron believing us guests are in possession of the ring, and we are thus carried away by eagles on a frantic flight across Middle Earth (including Helms Deep, Isengard, Mordor, and Minas Tirith itself) to escape from the ringwraiths. Included are ringwriath and fell beast AA's, as well as Ent AA's. The attraction will feature a combination of massive (think Soarin'- bigger, if possible) 3D projections and physical sets (the pits of Isengard, the streets of Minas Tirith), while the vehicles themselves are a variant of KUKA arms with a big twist that I can't possibly adequately describe. You exit into a gift shop.

Now, back to that harbor I mentioned earlier....to connect the two phases, I thought they could build a walking path/river that simulates a voyage down the river Anduin, with themed ferry boats crossing through the Argonath.

Thoughts?

 

[yeti]

Hobbiton (Can't do a LOTR park without it) - Casting "hobbits" may be a challenge

Simple. Cast us as the hobbits, with the same strategy as ITtbaB (as honorary bugs) or TSM (as toys). Anything else would logically throw off the scale of the rest of the land, anyway (and you might bump your head!)

 

[ChrisFL]

Now we're talking...(I've been thinking about this for a while now- hope you'll care to listen)

Phase One: Two entrances, one where the Animation Courtyard archway now stands and the other where One Man's Dream sits. The first takes you through Bree, where you can dine at the Prancing Pony (fast-food) or shop at the other cutsey shops (with franchise-specifc, awesome merchandise, obviously). At the end of Bree you take a wooded path towards the looming Misty Mountains, where you line up for a complex roller coaster/watercoaster/slot car ride hybrid E-Ticket through the mines of Moria. The queue for this ride (and the attraction's big "weenie" of an entrance, like Hogwarts for FJ) is Rivendell, with the mountain in the background. You're taken through Rivendell, with an Elrond hologram (or whatever the hell it is) to embellish the story, and then through a cave and outside where you enter the mountain and the loading area through a replicate of the Doors of Durin (there's an opportunity for an interactive component here where a guest has to speak the elvish word for friend and a CM opens the door). The ride features Giant Spidesr, some Gollum, Cave Troll, and Goblin AA's, and climatically an elaborate encounter with a Balrog of Morgoth AA to finish the ride.

The second entrance throws you right in the middle of Hobbiton (I drew upon RandySavage's FANTASTIC blueprints for inspiration) where you can dine at the Green Dragon tavern (table service), shop, or visit Bag End. Due north is the forest- turn right and you head towards the Moria ride, and turn left and you head towards a harbor (more on that in a bit).

Phase Two: Taking up the entire Streets of America and the Backlot, you enter into Osgiliath, with a...1/3rd(?) scale model (199 feet...however much that is) of Minas Tirith itself looming in the distance. Here you can find an archery range for archery practice and a barracks for fencing practice to train guests (catering mostly to younger ones) to become Gondorian knights. Osgiliath is also riddled with various shops and fast-food destinations.

Now...as you continue north you will eventually come upon the gates of Minas Tirith. The only thing I haven't figured out is: how to deal with the Pelennor Fields? In the films they stretch at least a few miles between Minas Tirith and Osgiliath...can we just use the theme park trend of escaping such technical formalities (Hogwarts right after Hogsmeade?) and get rid of them altogether? Maybe we could discuss that...

Anyhow, Minas Tirith houses the showbuilding for a one-of-a-kind dark ride experience, tentatively titled "The Lord of the Rings: The Enchanted Flight" whereby you ride on benches carried by eagles on some sort of quest involving Sauron believing us guests are in possession of the ring, and we are thus carried away by eagles on a frantic flight across Middle Earth (including Helms Deep, Isengard, Mordor, and Minas Tirith itself) to escape from the ringwraiths. Included are ringwriath and fell beast AA's, as well as Ent AA's. The attraction will feature a combination of massive (think Soarin'- bigger, if possible) 3D projections and physical sets (the pits of Isengard, the streets of Minas Tirith), while the vehicles themselves are a variant of KUKA arms with a big twist that I can't possibly adequately describe. You exit into a gift shop.

Now, back to that harbor I mentioned earlier....to connect the two phases, I thought they could build a walking path/river that simulates a voyage down the river Anduin, with themed ferry boats crossing through the Argonath.

Thoughts?

I like it so far... a mine train ride is possibly fitting...again we're talking pseudo-medieval terms here, so its difficult...but the eagles idea is a good one.

 

[ChrisFL]

Minas Tirith...let's say each level is 20 ft. tall, that gives us 140 ft. plus room for the top most level and plenty of room for a mountain...I think its doable, but I'd expect us to be able to get through very limited areas.

 

[Beholder]

Love the thread. Tolkien is considered the father of epic fantasy and with good reason. Any park built upon his works should be epic in scale and execution. I like a lot of these ideas already posted so far.

I think it would be a marvel to walk through a forest with Treebeard and his kin, complete with subtle movements, occasional booming voices warning about the dangers of traveling in such dangerous times. And scale should be staggering, 20-30 ft tall Each, at least...

A river ride based on the barrel ride out of Laketown. (I know that's the Hobbit, but why not?)

I haven't really thought about or fleshed out rides or specific scenes, but the possibilities are incredible. Just don't dumb it down or sanitize it. The source material must be the blueprint, the guide.

Disney wants merchandise?? This is the property then. Books, movies, weapon replicas, costumes, toys, art work, posters, and on and on. So, when are they building this?

 

[bubbles1812]

@yeti... I love your ideas! Though honestly, I'd rather see all of them at Universal than Disney. This is mainly because I think at this point in time, Universal is more likely to spend the money than Disney is to make all your ideas real. And I'd be worried Disney would try to "tame" LOTR down... for example, I don't think we would have gotten the "scary elements" of FJ if HP had gone to Disney. But the scary elements of LOTR are what makes the story so great.

 

[dnscbus]

This would definitely make more sense than Avatarland!! A proven body of work that has lasted decades versus 1 movie. That being said, what you are talking about is practically impossible. You could have a few (2-3) "lands" that are hubs leading to other areas from the books but are only rides. As it proved it's popularity you could expand, but you couldn't do everything from the books! There's simply too much.

 

[cba]

I would recommend looking at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, as LOTR and Harry Potter can be similar. And here's two rode suggestions.
Find the Ring- A children play area where the kids try to find the ring of power.
Escape Gollum-A motion simulator ride where you try to escape Gollum with the ring. It would be like Star Tours.

 

[Minnie79]

This isn't going to be Disney or Universal specific, as different people have different thoughts about who/where it should go.

I think in general if we're referring to a whole theme park on its own, it doesn't matter who builds it, they're both capable

This theme park should really be created. I think that it should include these 3 primary areas of interest:

1) A Rollercoaster thrill ride based on Mordor, where you go inside the mountain, traveling on a mine shaft, being chased by Orcs. This can be indoor or outdoor, or both. Wizarding World has an indoor thrill ride where you are being chased by all sorts of unsavory characters from the Harry Potter movies.

2) Recreate The Shire, where you can walk around the shire and visit Bilbo Baggins' home, attend Bilbo's birthday party in the town square, eat and drink, and watch Gandalf's fireworks.

3) A fun ride that takes you through the forest to Rivendell, where it takes you on a brief tour, and then you can get out, walk around, meet the Elves, see all the important landmarks, learn about Elven society, history, and the various swords they use.

As for shops and restaurants, here are some items to sell:
- Premium value One Rings;
- Gandalf hats, Gandalf's wizard staff, colorful toys for kids based on wizard magic, Elven and wizard plastic swords, mock Elf Longbow, shields, clothing, costumes, silverware, drinking glasses, Bilbo's journals, stationery, and inkpens, holiday items such as ornaments, etc.

 

[Minnie79]

Here are my thoughts about what should be included, land-wise.

Here is a map of middle earth:

http://blog.lefigaro.fr/hightech/middle-earth-map.jpg



One of the reasons I think we haven't seen a LOTR themed place yet, is because it is SO massive and has SO many areas.

Therefore I think its important to focus on the key areas and have the rest do a "cameo" of sorts on the attractions.

My ideas for the key areas:

Hobbiton (Can't do a LOTR park without it) - Casting "hobbits" may be a challenge
Mordor (I don't know if this should be a walkable land, as much as something that could be viewed from certain places in the park, including the eye of Sauron of course)
Rivendell / Elvish Land
Bree (small town for shops/bar)
The
Rohan (on a hill may be difficult)
Minas Tirith (just because)
Isengard (This could be a walk-able tower/area, the time before the Ents take over)


The parts that aren't necessarily part of the lands, but can be part of the various adventures:

Mines of Moria
Minas Morgul
Osgiliath
Lorien
The ghost city (can't remember if it has a name)

That's the cool part. The difficult part is coming up with attractions...namely RIDES that could be done in such a park. The only means of transportation were usually horseback, boat, nazgul, eagles. That makes things challenging.

@yeti... I love your ideas! Though honestly, I'd rather see all of them at Universal than Disney. This is mainly because I think at this point in time, Universal is more likely to spend the money than Disney is to make all your ideas real. And I'd be worried Disney would try to "tame" LOTR down... for example, I don't think we would have gotten the "scary elements" of FJ if HP had gone to Disney. But the scary elements of LOTR are what makes the story so great.

Yeah, I thought Universal would do a good job with LOTR too... Wizarding world is fantastic, and it's not tamed down. If they created a Mordor thrill ride called the Eye of Sauron or something like that, it would be fun. Imagine traveling into Mount Doom on a mine shaft, being chased by Gollum and Orcs, you can see Orcs mining, building weapons, etc, and then traveling up to the top, seeing the Eye of Sauron, fighting your foes, and then dropping the ring into the hot lava.

 

[admireandlearn]

Obviously Hobbiton would be a must. They could have Gandalf's fireworks.

Other ideas...

• A simple but fun coaster which takes you around Rivendell and through the forests.
• A steel spinning rollercoaster through Mordor, and into Mount Doom, perhaps using 3D effects.
• A 'Two Towers' drop ride
• A river rafting ride starting in Bree and going all the way through Hobbiton. The boats would be barrels.
• A Minas Tirith land with a castle similar to Hogwarts in the Wizarding World. Includes shows, street performers, shops, and some kind of dark interactive ride.