New Theme Park: Shadowlands

[wagner92]

I feel I have the best idea of all for a fifth theme park. I thought if it two years ago this summer. To date, I have produced about 100 pages of concept sketches etc. It's called SHADOWLANDS. There are 6 lands. Agrabah Adventures: a land which is dominated by the villan Jafar, Scar, and Clayton (from Tarzan). The theming is african. Tropik Tales: a land which is dominated by Hook, Ursula, and Atlantis. The theming is tropical with lots of water. Mythic Island: a land which is based solely on the Hercules movies and all of the gods that were in the movie like Hades, the titans, and hydra. Creepy Castles: a land which calls to mind old-world Europe with three sub-areas.... London, Paris, and a haunted forest. Villans would be (among many)Malificent, Frollo, Ratcliff, Cruella de Vil, Headless Horseman, and many more. The final land would be Ancient Jungles: a land with the asian and indian theming. Villans would be Shere Khan, Kaa, and the villan from Mulan whose name escapes me at the moment. The centerpiece of the park would be a huge mountain in the middle of a lake with Chernobog coming out of it. The words SHADOWLANDS would be on the mountain in the neon colors of green, purple, and black. Let me know what you guys think!!! I am entering college this fall as a freshman majoring in architecture and design.
I know exactly what the rides would be for each of the villans and attractions as well as eating choices and shopping. I even know what the color of the bricks will be on the walkway. Here's a taste. Aladdin ride would be a seated roller coaster that would have one or two people per row. It would go through all of the desert and all of the other lands that have been touched upon in the tv series and the three aladdin movies. The Atlantis ride would be a revolutionary type of ride. The roller coaster would start out of water then a cover would come over top of the roller coaster and it would plunge into the water and the next half of the ride would be like Pirates of the Carribean underwater. (It could actually be a homage to 20000 Leagues) Finally, Shere Kahn's ride and Kaa's ride would be a dual roller coaster. Shere Kahn's would be bright orange, while Kaa's would be bright green. The exterior theming would be very true to Angkor Wat. If no one knows what that means, watch the Tomb Raider movie... The temple featured in it is the main temple of the Angkor complex. There are three parts. One, they race with all of the usual loops and so forth, then they slow down dramatically and plunge underground into a extended version of King Louie's Temple with treasure and so forth. (Again like Pirates of C.) The third part features another high speed launch out of the underground temple complex.... I could go on forever. I have about 30 rides. 30 resteraurants and 100 shops. Let me know if you want me to tell more.

 

[woofboy111]

Can you tell about some more of the rides?

 

[WDW-Imagineer]

Sound great so far, I too would like to hear more of the rides.

 

[Goofster]

Yeah, sounds pretty cool, but I'd loose the lettering on the mountain, I think one(well two if you have to count the studios) park icon with words on it is enough, just make it bald mountain, and put a sweet ride inside, like a flying coaster or flume ride like was a possiblility for MK at one time. I'm not even sure if you want Chernabog to be on the mountain, put a giant animatronic of him inside.

 

[Brett]

I like the idea too, but just like the rest, tell us more about the rides.....

 

[Chad]

Sounds great! The idea of a 'dark' magic kingdom has been knocked around for awhile now, good to see someone finally took hold of it. Post some pictures, and tell us more about the rides! <which I pray arent all roller coaster with different themes>

 

[d dude]

SWEET!!! That sounds aouwsome! and i agree with goofster, loose the leterrs on the mountain.but otherwise great! tell more about the rides.

 

[JBloom1029]

sounds really cool and i like how someone has finally thought about the jungle book which is really overlooked in most of disney. Especially king louies temple which is a good backdrop.

 

[Chad]

Too bad Tower of Terror was already built, you could have had a main street USA that resembled a New York Slum, and had the Hotel as the centerpiece, and have called it Shadowlands hotel, all broken down, with the neon lights flickering and such, would've been a frightening entryway

 

[Disney Maniac]

Nice idea. I'd love to hear more. You should build a website filled with your ideas, or do you already have one?

 

[wagner92]

Thanks for replying.... Let's start with Desert Oasis: This is the weakest area of the park, because I haven't figured out a transition between Agrabah, Pride Rock, and Tarzan... and I only have one ride idea. But the Magic Carpet Ride would be a single file roller coaster which goes through agrabah's bustling marketplace (aka gift shops), then work its way out into the short desert and into the Tiger God's mouth... There would be a steep drop into the treasure room and then the roller coaster would loop around the tall mountain where Aladdin took the lamp from and head out in a fashion much like Aladdin did on the carpet in the movie. After making it out, I thought of a way to extend the ride by having him go through a Pyramid or two behind the Palace, because he did see a couple on the carpet ride with Jasmine. The Pride Rock area could be a new home for Legends of the Lion King play... the kiddies could play in a play area themed after the Elephant Graveyard. I would do something with Tarzan running through the jungle being chased by Clayton and Sabor... perhaps something like Spiderman. Agrabah and Tarzan's treehouse would be home to two full sized restaurants. Pride Rock would have a fast food area... Agrabah would also have many food stands.

Tropik Tales: Is composed of three island themes... Hook's island, Ursula's island, and Atlantis' island. Hook's island is the smallest of the three, and it is a bustling shipyard with delirict buildings and taverns. I came up with the Lost Boy's ride, which is much like Peter Pan, but in a boat which circles around a lagoon behind Hook's island. There would be auto figures and perhaps some new 3-D technology... Then cross the bridge into The Little Mermaid... immediately the Palace of Eric is visible... (yes the whole thing) Ursula's ride starts above the water at the palace and plunges into glass tubes which go through an elaborate set of King Triton's Palace as well as the shipwreck and Ursula's place... Then the roller coaster comes up and behind the palace sees a HUGE auto figure of Ursula when she became a giant by wearing the King's crown... Then an explosive finale would ensue. Cross the bridge into Atlantis... since I have been unable to see the movie yet, I'm not sure exactly what it would be... however, It would be like 20,000 leagues under the sea... but the tiny portholes would be bigger! In fact, the "sub" would have a whole glass wall... in order to see the auto figures of Atlantis and the kingdom of Atlantis? I still have to see the movie though. Hook would have taverns and pubs full of fast food. The Little Mermaid would have a full serve restaurant exactly where Ariel ate her first meal as a human. The view would be spectacular for this one. And Atlantis?

Mythic Island: The main area is a long street that is guarded by two huge statues of soldiers. Walking up the long and short steps, you would come upon a 1/2 mile or 1/4 mile of big temples on both sides (Shops and food) at the end of this street, evoking Athenian design, the street would flare out to a circle. Another statue or fountain would be in the middle. At the end would be Zeus' temple. At the right and left sides of this circle would be entrances to E-ticket rides. To the left would be THE TITANS roller coaster. You would board one of the four Titans... (Ice...white) (Rock...brown)(Wind...blue)
(Lava/Fire...Orange). What the roller coaster would be like is a suspended one which would put Dueling Dragons to shame... after all, there are four roller coasters! Use your imagination for this one, because it has everything... To the right would be two choices... a play showing Hercules fighting a big auto figure of the Hydra... the ampitheatre would be in Hydra Canyon with sheer rock all around as far as the eye can see... Like Fantasmic... To the right would be a ride with Hades and all of the other figures I forgot like Cyclops... It would take place underground, and you would board boats on the River Styx.... but then what? Probably a water ride with the customary drop. The cusine would be Greek... (Duh.) Stick them in the various temples in Athens...

Creepy Castles: Is HUGER THAN HUGE it's HUGE. I will write about it next time if you guys so desire because it would take me forever...

Ancient Jungle: Two prevalent themes... Angkor Wat... the Indian Jungles and South-East Asian Jungles... (India, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia) and Chinese. This is the smallest area of the park. You would come up to a big tree that looks Chinese.. (horizontal and twisted) Two crooked signs would point left and right... King Louie's Temple. and Forbidden City. (Now that I think about it, a better name than Ancient Jungle would be Forbidden Jungle.) I already talked about King Louie's Temple ride... but I want to emphasize that you are IN THE JUNGLE... while in the queue, twisting around the temple complex and admiring run down monkey statues, imagine seeing two roller coaster tracks twisting a mere 15 feet above you colored orange and green... twisting, dropping, jumping around trees and temple... It would be incredible and one of the three best rides in Shadowlands and that's saying a lot. Forbidden City would be three parts... outside of the Enclosed Forbidden City would be a circular temple by a lake or pond... perhaps you would have to cross several bridges to get to it... much like the Temple of Heaven in Epcot... inside would be a shop/restaurant. Moving in Forbidden City, there might be a play illustrating the big chase of Shen Yu and Mulan that was the finale of Mulan. Fire, smoke, Fireworks.. etc... Lining the walls of the Temple would be the city that should be outside of the temple but because of space constraints is inside... (There are space constraints because of the size of Creepy Castles...)

So there you have it... let me know if you like it or not. Input is appreciated. Let me know if you want follow-up on Creepy Castles.

Being the picky artist I am, I don't have anything worthy of viewing by the public, but I have been trying to produce a map like Herbert Ryman did for Disneyland, BUT I HAVE NO TIME WHICH MAKES ME MAD! And I am behind the times in that I would have no idea how to post it... but rest assured I would figure it out. Thanks for reading this lengthy thing.

 

[wagner92]

I could use some feedback on my ideas! I have already put the one to use on getting rid of the letters on the mountain. I have several contacts inside Disney that want to see my work next time I am out there so I could use some feedback as I prepare my portofolio... please!

 

[Chad]

Family Rides? Kids rides? Nuff said.

 

[wdwmaniac]

Cool ideas and rides. But what happened to the slow rides and shows. It seems to be a coaster park and Disney is for familys.

 

[Goofster]

That mulan thing could be pretty cool if you turn it into a nighttime show.

 

[Chad]

Exactly WDW maniac...Now offense, but the park seems like a bunch of roller coaster with different themes..What about some more low-key imaginative rides? SOmething that is exciting enough but slow enough for the whole family to enjoy? I'm a coaster fanatic, but an all coaster park in disney? Nah..

 

[wagner92]

Thanks for replying guys! I should point out that I only did write about the E-ticket rides. I also have many kids and family rides. But as evidenced by my lengthy replies, I didn't have enough time to write about it. For example, each land would have a play like Legend of the Lion King. Desert Oasis would actually have Legend of the Lion King, straight from Magic Kingdom. The Tarzan area would be predominantly a family area with the tree house, etc... and the "spiderman" ride. There is also the play area that I mentioned earlier in the Elephant graveyard. Tropik Lagoon has the Peter Pan ride that is very similar to Pirates of the Caribbean as I wrote earlier. Somewhere in the Little Mermaid would be the standard issue merry go around but except with Ursula's tenacles rotating riders around and around. I still haven't seen Atlantis, but from what I hear, it would have enough material to do the E-ticket ride and a family play? Mythik Island is chock full of different villans and mythological figures that would have standard kiddie rides... there would be two kiddie rides in Mythik Island in addition to the play in Hydra Canyon that would be lots like Fantasmic. Creepy Castles is huge... Cruella de Vil's house in the woods would have something that would relate to the kids. There would also be the Fool's Festival in front of Notre Dame (Paris) That would be like a carnival atmosphere. Finally Ancient/Forbidden Jungle would be the smallest area, but there is that Mulan show that would be very family oriented. Maybe I'll throw in a kid ride with the Jungle Book... maybe a King Louie ride in addition to the E-ticket ride. And believe me guys, the last thing I want this thing to be like is like 6-flags and Busch Gardens.. all of the roller coasters would be very heavily themed. I recall what a Disney Imagineer once told me, the story comes first, then the ride. I will post a new update that pretty much gives the story for each ride and show for a specific land. When I post Desert Oasis, be sure to reply to that. But I should go work on that now. Thanks for replying guys. But just remember, I didn't forget the kids, but I figured the E-ticket rides would be more interesting to read about.

 

[Chad]

Well, we try
However, if you want some REALLY good and detailed critisim, post some pictures up here. Then I'll really nit-pick at you.
I understand about the rollercoasters being really heavily themed, but there isn't much you can do with a coaster, you fly by so fast that you can't tie much of a story in.

Who are these connections? Actual imagineers? Managers? The Cast Member that sweeps up vomit? Just curious.

 

[wagner92]

Chad, as soon as I figure out how to scan pictures onto my blasted computer, I will have pictures up. I am not really at liberty to say who my connections are, but rest assured that none of them are zit-faced kids that sweep up vomit. My main connection is an animator, and his best friend is an imagineer, and there is another connection coming up that my main connection told me about and he just emailed me the other day. So I'm waiting to hear about that. And about the roller coasters, did you notice that pretty much all of them had multiple launches... meaning that the coaster slowed down drastically at some point and went through the "theming" and "AA figures" and so forth. The only ride that is just a roller coaster, is probably the TITANS roller coaster. However, the queue would be intense. By the way read what I wrote about the Sleepy Hollow thing.

 

[Jr Imagineer]

What I think you REALLY need to do if you are looking at simply the design of a park, and you want it to be more specifically your design is to simplify everything. You are focusing WAY too much on the "Disney" aspect of it instead of the story telling aspect. What you may want to do is form your park and the land areas in relation to the themes and ideas related to them without specifying Disney films that coincide with them. After you may want to throw in a few attractions that relate to the annimated features but the guests need to feel as if they are walking into a world that may only exist in their imagination prior to the visit. If you look at many of the theme parks currently in WDW there are very few film specific attractions, but MANY that relate to similar themes. I think you would have a really excellent theme park if you spent some time and focused more on some themes and create some of your own stories for attractions.