One Sentence Competition: Monopoly Edition

[Earlie the Pearlie]

Pacific Avenue Reviews

I admit that going into this round, I expected the vast majority of submissions to be European, similar to the actual World Showcase. Instead, I was treated to a remarkably diverse selection of travelogues from all over the world. Thank you all for your thoughtfulness and creativity, and I’m sorry if I underestimated everyone!
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Indonesia

@D Hulk

We start strong here with a (ironically) great understanding of how World Showcase works - the swirling of architectural influences is really lovely and fits well here. The dark ride certainly follows the travelogue formal, and you nail the journey through history. I love the little touches you mention throughout; it adds to the believability of this entire submission. I would’ve liked a tiny bit more emphasis on modern Indonesia in the ride’s structure, but this submission is still a strong way to begin this round!

Community Chest: Beautiful, and significant!
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Brazil

@Brer Panther

This takes practically the opposite approach to a travelogue than the previous pitch, and I am here for it! The emphasis on Brazil’s unique flora and fauna is certainly merited, and a great way to convince guests to come visit. This is another solid pitch from a solid player!
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Tanzania

@Disney Warrior

You did your research for this submission, and it shows. The picture you chose does an excellent job showing how this pavilion is distinct. Your dark ride is similar to the previous one in that it gives us a wonderfully in-depth view of the unique wildlife of Tanzania, with another great small touch of folklore to really make it distinct.

Community Chest: It tells you what you need to know!
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Greece

@OvertheHorizon

I’m something of a hellenophile, so this is right up my alley! I appreciate how your ride and pavilion are structured so that, while there is historic emphasis on the Parthenon, the modern aspect of the ride is centered on the tourist hubs that are the islands. It’s reminiscent of El Río del Tiempo! The in-ride restaurant and kiosk are nice touches, as well!

Community Chest: A wonderful logo for this attraction!
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Iceland: Fantastic Voyage

@Disgruntled Walt

This is a really lovely pitch, reminiscent of the Mark Davis Snow Queen concept. Once again, the ride itself puts a great emphasis on what travellers might encounter in modern Iceland, with just enough sights that you probably won’t see for yourself. I do have one minor nitpick that holds this back somewhat, though: it’s a bit too similar in concept to Frozen Ever After. Other than that, however, it’s a delightful submission!

Community Chest: This gets the idea across admirably (I’m a big fan of Google Slides for minor graphic design stuff - it’s very user friendly!)
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Indigenous Diaspora

@Miru

This is a very unique concept for this prompt, and I admire your respectful treatment of indigenous culture. However, it doesn’t really fit the travelogue requirement, which holds it back. Additionally, a giga coaster is at least 300 feet tall - way too tall to be indoors. I still appreciate the creative risks you took with this pitch!​

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

South Korea

@ThemeParkPriest

Your dark ride really nails the travel component in a way few other pitches this round do - it’s a full-fledged, fleshed-out tour of the country. With that being said, I do have to wonder if this might have been better suited to a CircleVision film. There’s only a few environments here that feel really explorable and dark ride-y, like the street market and geopark, while the palace and baseball game feel far more like something to just be glanced at. Still, this would certainly leave guests wanting to visit the country you chose!

Community Chest: Authentically Disney and Distinctly South Korean!
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Benin

@PerGron

Out of all of the countries this round, this was certainly one I never saw coming. It’s an inspired and unique choice! I appreciate you beginning with some background information to familiarize those, like myself, who don’t know much about Benin - it makes the rest of the pitch far better and is well worth the use of a sentence. The emphasis on history in your ride has a very thought-provoking justification, although I do worry about how grappling with themes of war and colonization head-on in a Disney World attraction would be received (look at how Rio del Tiempo skirted Spanish colonization of Mexico, for example). This is still a creative and interesting submission, and I respect the thought and care that went into it.
(Don’t worry about the ride thing - editing before the deadline is always allowed, there’s just no guarantee that I don’t write the review in advance and miss the new stuff, haha)

Community Chest: Fair enough!
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Egypt - Stories of the Nile

@Mr. Sullivan

You’ve crafted a novel take on the Mexico pavilion here, which I absolutely love. The journey into history format of the main dark ride is really nicely executed, with emphasis on everything you’d want of the history of Egypt. Unfortunately, this is another pitch that I feel suffers from a lack of emphasis on the modern country itself. It sounds like I would get off of this ride thinking that Egypt has a wonderful history and heritage, but I don’t know if I’d be inspired to visit! Still, the Jeremy Irons narration is a delightful touch, and your pavilion as a whole is wonderfully executed.

Community Chest: This is the kind of logo I thought people would make going into this round - thank you for making a good, simple, Epcot-y circle design!
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Taiwan

@Architectural Guinea Pig

There is a sincere and earnest love for the country you chose that is palpable just from reading this - well done! There’s just enough of a touch upon the pavilion itself before getting into the dark ride. There’s an excellent blend of natural and man-made scenery in this write-up, and I love me some miniatures! I do worry that the distance of guests from these scenes might diminish their impact a little bit, but not enough to really hinder this pitch as a whole.

Community Chest: Love the color scheme here!
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Cryptid Huntin’ at the American Adventure

@Lizzy May Bee

This is a wonderfully wacky and off-beat submission! The cryptid hunt dark ride is an often-used trope in Armchair Imagineering, and for good reason. While I do appreciate how you’ve used the cryptids as a vessel for exploring the American wilderness (I presumed?), I kind of don’t want tourists coming here for the sake of looking for Bigfoot, if that makes sense!

Community Chest: This is an adorable logo - I want it on a t-shirt!​

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

Pacific Avenue Results

Honorable Mentions

Brazil & Greece

@Brer Panther & @OvertheHorizon

Both of these were just very solid submissions that did everything the prompt asked for. I went back and forth between these and third place!

The Terrier

Tanzania

@Disney Warrior

The research and care you put into this made it stand out.

The Automobile

Benin

@PerGron

You took a risk with this country, and its uniqueness made it really pay off in this round.

The Top Hat

Taiwan

@Architectural Guinea Pig

AGP, are you counting your first places? I swear, it's just a coincidence that you've won the last three - they've all been outstanding.​

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

Park Place

And now, we get to the final two prompts, and the last two spaces on the Monopoly board. The coveted two! The first space we’ll visit is Park Place, where we’re going to visit a new park that promised to put the park back in theme park… Epic Universe. While this park has been widely praised, it is not without the shortcomings characteristic of any brand-new park. There’s not much setup necessary, so let’s get to the challenge!

Design Epic Universe’s first new portal, to fit into the park’s largest expansion pad

This prompt is due on Sunday the 29th at 12:00 AM, Disneyland Time (PST)

Tips ‘n’ Tricks

Use Universal’s library of IPs, as well as any other feasibly obtained or original properties, to your advantage. Consider the design language and content of Epic, and try to make your expansion the best fit you can. As always, this is a chance to really let your creativity shine!

Chance Bonus Points

This round, we’ll be doing something a bit different. Welcome, one and all, to our rapid fire bonus point extravaganza! Not to be confused with the other chance card gimmick I had already committed to when I came up with this. Essentially, this is a little opportunity for anyone who’s fallen behind to catch up. If you choose, you can answer each of these five mini prompts with an extra sentence per prompt. The top three from each will each get an extra point! With the normal first-second-third ranking for the main prompt, you could win a maximum of nine points this round! (First place is ineligible for these bonus points - that's you, @Architectural Guinea Pig !)

Naturally, a special bonus system like this necessitates something that I believe is a first for an OSC: a special celebrity judge. So, everyone please give a warm welcome to @Poseidon Quest , creator of the YouTube channel Poseidon Entertainment! Poseidon’s channel features videos focusing on critical analysis and commentary on theme parks and their history, ranging from detailed histories of Busch Gardens Tampa and SeaWorld Orlando to a deep dive into themed entertainment in the 1990s. Recently, Poseidon Entertainment released an hour-and-a-half long walkthrough and review of Epic Universe, which can be watched here, making him a natural fit for this prompt. A huge thanks to @Poseidon Quest for volunteering his time and energy to make this bonus round possible!

Your bonus prompts are as follows. Remember, you only have one sentence per bonus prompt, so be brief; quality over quantity here!

Design a new dark ride to go anywhere in the park

Pitch a flat ride for Super Nintendo World

Create a new restaurant for Celestial Park

Describe a “little touch” for your new portal (like the Pikmen in SNW, or the dragon mister in Berk)

Describe your new land’s entry portal (an extra image here is encouraged! You all know by now, but please, no AI!)​

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

In case anyone’s wondering exactly which plot of land this is, it’s the one between Berk and Ministry!

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Middle-Earth
(Adapted from an idea I had as a 15 yr old and drew on paper long before Epic Universe existed—there aren't enough sentences to fully adapt my idea here, but someday I'll share the full version...)​

The great wizard Gandalf has opened a new portal at Epic Universe to transport us to the fantastical world created by J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle-Earth; the first sector of the land is the Shire, with the main E-Ticket entrance through Bilbo's house, embedded in a large hill (concealing the queue for the attraction), and the main dining establishment The Green Dragon Inn.

The main attraction, The Lord of the Rings: Journey to Mordor, is a ground-breaking E-Ticket (utilizing screens and animatronics seamlessly) wherein guests ride Eagles suspended from the ceiling through the major scenes of the series from Fellowship to Two Towers to Return of the King (with a track split, so there are multiple possible experiences); the queue, which begins in Bilbo's House and eventually takes us down the road to Bree and Weathertop, summarizes the storyline up until the Council of Elrond, using animatronics and forced perspective scenes to illustrate the scenes until you board the Eagles after the Council of Elrond.

Through a secondary portal (ala Donkey Kong Country), the secondary part of the land (where the ride exits as well) is themed to Rohan, with a Helm's Deep facade concealing the showbuilding for the main attraction, and a horseback riding/petting zoo area unique among the Universal theme parks.

Chance Bonus 1: The newest dark ride for Celestial Park, Lady Nebula's Palette, is an indoor interactive dark ride in which Lady Nebula (an original character) commissions you to "Paint the Stars" using paintbrush guns (screen-based) you can pick and choose colors for.

Chance Bonus 2: Koopa Paratroopa Training Academy is a Jumpin Jellyfish-style flat ride that allows guests to glide through the atmosphere of SNW with the Koopas, providing a much-needed family attraction for Epic.

Chance Bonus 3: Macaroni Meteorite is a Mac n cheese lover’s dream, featuring every possible variety of loaded Mac on the planet, er, meteorite!

Chance Bonus 4: Gandalf left his fireworks cart behind before accompanying Frodo, and guests may see some sparks and flashes or hear some pops as they make their way through the Shire!

Chance Bonus 5: You enter Middle Earth through a portal decorated to appear like Ents are holding it in place, so listen closely for their whispering…

(Working on mobile, so the picture isn’t much here!)

 

[Disney Warrior]

Bikini Bottom
Epic Universe's first expansion will allow guests to explore SpongeBob’s underwater home (and by “underwater”, I mean indoor designed to look underwater), just like in the nostalgic Nickelodeon show. Guests can explore the houses of SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick, and dine at none other than the Krusty Krab (no secret formulas to be found here) and the less appetizing Chum Bucket (at least the food here is edible). And as for attractions, there's a modern go kart ride themed to Mrs Puff's Boating School, a ferris wheel and a small drop tower based on those found in Glove World, and the land's anchor attraction, explained below.
Bonus 1:
SpongeBob: Jellyfish Joust is a dark ride similar to Monsters Inc at Tokyo Disneyland and other shooting dark rides where guests compete to catch the most jellyfish.
Bonus 2:
Yoshi's Egg Twirl is a tilt-a-whirl ride where guests ride in colored yoshi eggs as they spin around a giant yoshi statue.
Bonus 3:
Cosmic Cluck is a counter service restaurant specializing in different varieties of chicken (and vegan chicken) sandwiches topped with a variety of toppings.
Bonus 4:
The portal to Bikini Bottom features a clarinet (it's implied to be Squidward's) that can be heard playing the SpongeBob theme a bit off-key.
Bonus 5:

The entrance portal is in the general SpongeBob artstyle, featuring a sign similar to the above photo as well as a music player, a bubble machine, and a small animatronic of SpongeBob flipping a Krabby Patty.​

 

[Brer Panther]

Design Epic Universe’s first new portal, to fit into the park’s largest expansion pad

Frostbite Falls

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Jay Ward fans, rejoice - the whimsical world of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose is brought to life in this new addition to Universal's Epic Universe, the first aimed primarily at children but with enough fun things for everyone to do. Nestled under the snow-capped mountains that tower over the land, you can find the shops Pottsylvania Purchases (run by Boris and Natasha in one of their not-so-clever disguises) and Mr. Know-It-All's Emporium (which has an impressive selection of books about the history of Jay Wad), as well as three eateries that lampoon popular fast food places: Little Aesop's (a parody of Little Caesar's serving a variety of pizzas), Minnesota Fried Super Chicken (a parody of KFC where the chicken fingers and wings are served with Super Chicken's "super sauce"), and Taco Bull (referencing Rocky and Bullwinkle's appearances in ads for Taco Bell in the 1990s, and featuring a pinata hanging from the ceiling that looks very much like Dudley Do-Right's horse). The headliner of the attraction lineup is Rocky and Bullwinkle in: "Going Downhill" or "E-Moose-tional Roller Coaster", an indoor kiddy coaster where Bullwinkle's magic show is interrupted by Boris and Natasha squirrel-napping Rocky, sending Bullwinkle and the guests on a madcap dash through the mountains after them) - other attractions include a parody of the Jungle Cruise starring George of the Jungle, a Fractured Fairy Tales live show, and...

Design a new dark ride to go anywhere in the park

...Peabody's Improbable History, a dark ride through time a la Spaceship Earth, but hosted by Mr. Peabody and Sherman - and with a much more humorous tone, of course.

Pitch a flat ride for Super Nintendo World

A Mad Tea Party-esque attraction with giant blue shells/Spiny Shells, like the ones in Mario Kart, instead of teacups (that's all I've got).

Create a new restaurant for Celestial Park

The Lunar Eclipse Cafe is famous for its black and white cookies, otherwise known as "half moon" cookies, and milkshakes - and for having half of the cafe being lit up as though the sun is shining over it and the other half being mostly in the dark, illuminated by an unseen moon.

Describe a “little touch” for your new portal (like the Pikmen in SNW, or the dragon mister in Berk)

The portal to Frostbite Falls is lined with amusing signs reading things like "THIS WAY", "NO, THAT WAY", and "NEVER MIND, IT WAS THIS WAY AFTER ALL".

Describe your new land’s entry portal (an extra image here is encouraged! You all know by now, but please, no AI!)

The entry portal is topped by a mounted moose head (Bullwinkle's, of course), a light dusting of snow, and the words "Watch me pull a theme park land outta my hat!".

 

[D Hulk]

MONSTERVERSE
HOLLOW EARTH

Deep within the Earth's mantle, close to its thermal core, lies an undiscovered antediluvian ecosystem far more ancient - and far more dangerous - than even the time of the dinosaurs, an untamed primordial world of gravitational anomalies, evolutionary throwbacks, radioactive energies, glowing crystals, and tremendous towering monsters known as the Titans.

The two lords of this realm are Godzilla and King Kong, familiar from Warner Brothers' shared MonsterVerse, whose present uneasy truce allows us the opportunity to explore this subterranean utopia from the relative safety of a Monarch Cybernetics basecamp - reachable from a surface level Hong Kong bunker either via tranquil drill machine tunnel or via a thrilling "Vile Vortex" drop tower attraction.

The vast majority of Epic Universe's MonsterVerse is housed indoors within an extraordinary projection dome (rivaling the Las Vegas Sphere for scale and sophistication) whose ceiling projections create the impression of a never-ending upside-down underground universe (and reveal the occasional gigantic Titan), while offshoot passageways lead to a wide variety of landscapes and attractions including a thrilling, globe-trotting "Godzilla x Kong: Destroy All Titans" mecha kaiju battle simulator, an exploration area set around the sparking ruins of MechaGodzilla, and several restaurants including the Iwi people's "Great Ape Banquet" (set among the fossils of Kong's ancestors) and Monarch's "Lucky Dragon 5" canteen (serving grilled Titan meats).
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The best way to experience Hollow Earth is aboard "Mothra: Beauties of the Deep," a suspended flying dark ride which follows the benevolent goddess Mothra on a tour of the realm's many biomes and many creatures - both old favorites and brand new designs - realized with a combination of massive Titan animatronics and shrewdly-incorporated projection screens.

"Kirby Super Spin" is a gentle Balloon Race spinner designed by Chance Morgan, which lets guests hover high over the land in hot air baskets as they helptheir favorite pink puff ball devour his enemies.

New Celestial Park restaurant: "A Taste of Uranus"

The flora and fauna of Hollow Earth is altogether monstrously alien, and while evidence of Brobdingnagian lifeforms appears throughout the land, few details earn as much fan praise as the bizarre humanoid mushrooms which serve as an Easter egg to the obscure 1963 Toho sci-fi classic Matango.

The Hollow Earth portal is topped by Godzilla's dorsal plates - known to fire off pent-up plasma blasts every quarter hour, accompanied by a fearsome roar - and marked by text reading "LET THEM FIGHT," leading to a swirling bright blue nuclear energy passageway.​

 

[Miru]

Universal Forever

This area is a tribute to the history of Universal parks past, not only presenting beloved rides that had left USF and IOA, but even introducing rides from other parks to the Florida customer base in the process, presenting a complete picture of the resort’s history, elucidated through rebuilt, enhanced attractions along with some new ones to thrill and delight consumers.

Entertainment in the area includes the Nickelodeon Studios to visit, a play area that includes areas based on various Nickelodeon IPs and a real soundstage or 2, with the delight of children who hope to get in the iconic game shows echoing into your very souls; Shrek 4-D, a 4D movie showcase in an immersive theater; Backdraft, a thrilling special effect showcase; and Poseidon’s Fury, a legendary stunt show.

As for the rides, these include Kongfrontation, a cable car experience like no other, complete with an encounter with Kong himself; Jaws: The Ride, a twisted little boat ride adventure that sends you right up next to danger; Twister: Ride It Out, a high speed journey into the eye of the storm, whizzing around; Dueling Dragons, here reimagined as a simulator coaster to show the battle in more depth; Don Bluth Spectacular, a ride through “An American Tail” and “The Land Before Time” that will be sure to tug at your heartstrings; and Woody and Winnie’s Nuthouse Coaster, an enhanced family classic with animatronics based on many Universal animated characters.

 

[WaltWiz1901]

The Island of Sodor​

Epic Universe’s first realm aimed solely at children (but still appealing to all ages) - think Seuss Landing meets Cars Land - transports guests into the fabled world of the Rev. W. Awdry’s famous Railway Series and, of course, the famous Thomas & Friends TV adaptation it inspired. Guests can speed along the rails on those Tricky Troublesome Trucks, go sightseeing with Bertie the Bus or another road vehicle of their choosing on Bertie’s Coach Tours, and Meet the Engines at Tidmouth Sheds, where they can hear their favorite engine recount one of their most popular adventures or get into their cab to see how they work.

The bustling Knapford Station is host to a gift shop, the M.C. Bunn coffee shop, and the queue and loading area to the land’s main dark ride...

Chance Bonus 1​

Around the Clock with Thomas is a train ride in the same general vein as “it’s a small world”, the Jungle Cruise, and/or the dark ride in Fuji-Q Highland’s Thomas Land, taking guests on a trip around Sodor in a passenger train pulled by the number one tank engine to see what his friends are up to at different times of the day.

Chance Bonus 4​

Decorating the realm are limited-motion figures of workmen and railway staff - not to mention Sir Topham Hatt himself! - doing their daily duties, while the faraway sounds of heaving steam engines, diesel engines whirring, trucks chattering, coaches clattering, etc. fill the realm’s soundscape.

Chance Bonus 5​

The portal to Sodor is marked by a tunnel bored into a grassy, tree-topped hill mound, with steam rising from over the hill and the text “You’re really reliable and right on time!” engraved into the tunnel’s arch.

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

Under twelve hours remain in this prompt, so submit soon - this is your chance at victory in this competition! Your judges are excited to dive into your Epic pitches tomorrow morning!​

 

[Architectural Guinea Pig]

Toothsome Chocolate Valley

Beyond your sweetest imaginations is Epic Universe's second non-movie IP portal: Toothsome Chocolate Valley, a whimsical fantasy steampunk port that ties together perfectly three of Universal's most nutty and chocolate-loving theme park characters: Penelope Toothsome, Captain Cacao, and Earl the Squirrel (who all exist as walk-around characters)!

Stepping through the land's entry portal, guests are immersed in a world of bronze buildings, golden spires, and a plethora of spinning clocks and gears, where the story of Toothsome and company continues through four balanced main attractions: Earl's Nutwork Mania (a reinvention of the nutty teacups ride), Captain Cacao's Candy Quest (a suspended dark ride), Jaques: Experiment 175 (a spinning 175 ft drop tower), and Toothsome's Chocolate Factory Adventure (an E-ticket flume boat ride touring the Toothsome factory before a massive 80 ft plunge).

Matching the epic energy of the rest of lands in the park, the Valley is filled with details and interactive experiences for all to enjoy- most notably, guests are able to purchase special golden hourglass keys that unlock a variety of animatronic sequences through the land: notable interactions include the ones found at the Clockwork Confectionary store (where a turn of the key speeds up the moving conveyor belts in the room), the Factory Towers (where a quick burst of smoke and fire light one of the spires), and the Factory Falls (where water guns splash riders who plunge out of the factory)!

Chance Bonuses (NOT ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS, DOING FOR FUN!)

In Captain Cacao's Candy Quest, guests board small golden Moonships, taking off from the Chocolate Valley Port into space, all while going on a gentle and beautiful journey through different Epic universes and strange Candy-filled destinations...

Meanwhile, at SNW, Donkey Kong Country gets another ride with Temple Barrel Spin, an extreme Haus Top Spin ride where daring adventurers are twisted and flipped over by a raging Donkey Kong animatronic!

The Prometheus Bar and Lounge in Celestial Park takes guests deep under the blooming gardens into a dark, fiery cavern with volcanic activity and mysterious contraptions, creating a scary but epic vibe "underground".

Earl is not the only squirrel to have moved into the area of Chocolate Valley, as his 27-member family of squirrels can be found everywhere around the land, feasting on nuts, bolts, and chocolate!

Like stepping into a giant clock, the portal for Toothsome's Chocolate Valley is filled with moving gears, golden metal, and enchanting whimsical music played on unconventional instruments like the theremin and the kalimba.

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[ThemeParkPriest]

Back to the Future Portal

Portals allow one to travel to different places and times, but nowhere is that more true than “where we are going, we don’t need roads!”—The Back to the Future portal at Epic Universe. Guests will find themselves back in a DeLorean but this time for an all-new adventure. With the help of the flux capacitor and after reaching a time traveling speed of 88 miles per hour (actually much less but it is simulated in a tunnel with a screen in it) in slot cars (like Disney’s Test Track), guests will travel with Doc Brown and Marty McFly to ancient Egypt, King Arthur and the Round Table, and to the launching of the first space shuttle to prevent Biff from changing the world’s history. Outside of the main ride, guests can ride hoverboards and visit the Hill Valley clock tower and high school.

New Flatride: Super Nintendo Land needs some Kirby (which compliments the color palate of the land) with a Himalaya style flat ride in which guests board Kirby’s and battle with Whispy Woods aka the tree villain.

 

[Half/CartoonHalf/Human]

Prepare yourselves, this is gonna be a long one, & there will be a lot of semicolon’s in here due to me fully fleshing out most of my proposal for my love of my selected IP.

Sonic The Hedgehog: Town of Green Hills​

After 25 years/a quarter of a century, Epic Universe has finally opened, & has set the grounds for Universal for new beginnings; the first of which will be an expansion to Epic Universe, but although many though we would get Wicked or LOTR first, the grounds have been set on Sonic The Hedgehog, but since Epic already has a major video game themed land, that being Super Nintendo World, this new land will represent the successful movie trilogy from Paramount, & there’s no better place to represent the movies properly, than the town of Green Hills.

As you enter the land portal by entering a ring like in the movies, you will immediately find yourself in Green Hills, & there’s plenty to do here; for dining, there’s The Mean Bean coffee shop, where you can obviously get a latte with steamed Austrian goat milk, The Piston Pit, though without all the motorbike hogs, & a donut shop; for shopping, there’s Sonic’s Old Cave, which sells old belongings that didn’t come with Sonic after he moved in with the Wachowskis, & the Green Hills General Store, which is your traditional theme park store, though with plenty of Sonic merchandise; thought the land is scarce on entertainment, there is a scavenger hunt like game next to the mean bean, where guests are required by Agent Stone to locate some of Sonic’s past sightings in the area so he can use it as research data for his upcoming “project metal” (he can’t search the area because he doesn’t want the Guardian Units of Nations to recognize him & throw him in the slammer due to him being seen commonly with Robotnik); there’s also a playground in the land, by the name of Knuckles’ Training Grounds, themed around favorite echidna warrior, which can be found behind the Wachowski’s house, which also acts as both a walkthrough & meet & greet area with Team Sonic.

Finally, for rides, this land features 3; first, there’s Tail’s Sky Patrol, yet another Dumbo clone, though themed around mini airplanes as seen in the second Sonic movie; the second ride is based around Shadow, who gets a slot car ride in which I ultimately couldn’t think of a name of, onto the ride itself, you start of by walking through a ring onto the Guardians Units of Nation’s prison island in Japan, where you witness Shadow escape with cell & start his revenge against the world for Maria’s demise, so you ride of a Guardians vehicles designed to keep up with Shadow in case he ever escaped in which he did, & you ride through the streets of Tokyo trying to catch Shadow, though he later sacrifices himself by stopping the eclipse cannon from destroying earth after realizing what Maria’s true wish for the world was, though it was done by a clash in by the final ride on this list; that being Sonic World Tour Speedrush, a roller coaster that starts out in Green Hills, then goes into Tokyo for the Shadow clash in, & finally goes through many dark ride segments through many famous real world locations seen in the movies & in real life.​

Community Chest 1​

A Luigi’s Mansion interactive dark ride is added to Super Nintendo World, which adds more for kids to do at Epic & gives another beloved Mario spinoff series representation; in the ride, guests board their own poltergeist vehicles designed by Professor E. Gadd to help Luigi suck up some ghosts, save Mario & friends from portraits, & take down King Boo himself.​

Community Chest 2​

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Staying in Super Nintendo World, the Donkey Kong Country subland gains a new ride as well, Barrel Blast, based around the Wii game of the same name; it acts like the Jetpacks at Shanghai Disneyland, but here there’s a gimmick, in which you need to play the barrels on your barrel jetpacks to gain height.​

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Community Chest 3​

Although many though it was canceled, Cassini has been added to Celestial Park, taking the plot of land Meteor Burger would have gone (or elsewhere if something else took that spot); as for the restaurant itself, it’s a very elegant Italian themed place with a starry night sky as its roof, & it manly focuses on soups, pastas, & other for dishes.
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Community Chest 4​

Green Hills contains many details, such as Team Sonic zipping through the forest & rooftops of the land using colored sticks on fast moving tracks, many of Robotnik’s badniks being reused by the town, though they occasionally glitch out and reference something about their former master, & although he doesn’t have anything in the land, Robotnik’s crab as seen in Sonic 3 can be seen popping in & out of the Green Hills lake, as seen in Sonic 2.​

Community Chest 5​

The portal into Green Hills is a ring as said before, & portal quote is obviously “Gotta Go Fast,” above the quote is a 2D Master Emerald sprite reused from the Genesis S3&K (which will also be added to the chronos) that reflects Team Sonic & Shadows eyes, & the spire is a colorful beam reflecting the colors of the seven chaos emeralds, topped with a mini eclipse cannon.​

 

[Lizzy May Bee]

Starfleet Academy/Terra

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Star Trek is one of the most iconic and everlasting Sci-Fi franchises since the genre’s inception, with it’s famously huge fanbase both young and old and it’s currently running programs leaving no doubt in my mind that including it among Epic Universe’s portals would garner just as much (if not more) attention than Super Nintendo World. While it might seem strange to ground the star-faring series to an earthbound location, I believe its the right call as the somewhat neutral setting of Starfleet Academy (as well as Earth in general) would allow for the land to represent the many different eras of Trek with fluidity (although it would be primarily designed to reflect the movies to TNG era). Some of the attractions featured would be: Starfleet Command, a cooperative semi-escape room with gameplay that would train guests on how to operate the different stations on a Starship, a parked Klingon Bird of Prey which would actually serve as a restaurant offering the warrior species’ strange foods, and a (albeit not to scale) recreation of the USS Enterprise which would contain several interactive rooms, the ship’s bar Ten Forward, and Star Trek: Continuing Voyages, a simulator that would be able to swap between several variations based on the different eras of Trek.

Bonus 1: Luigi’s Mansion would take guests through a spooky adventure featuring the green plumber himself and his ghostly rival, King Boo.

Bonus 2: Boo Bash would complement the previous bonus, being a Dumbo-esque flat ride where guests would fly atop the silly ghouls that Luigi often butts heads with.

Bonus 3: The Lunar Cafeteria’s interior is designed to look like our moon, and the exterior would be modeled around an observatory, with the restaurant serving wacky treats like Moon Cheese and a cake themed around a Land Rover.

Bonus 4: While some cast members would simply be humans in Starfleet uniforms, others would be dressed like the many aliens from Star Trek, such as the Vulcans, Andorians, and Klingons, with them also being specially trained to display the mannerisms often seen within said species.

Bonus 5: The gate would have a high-tech appearance, with a shuttle-craft flying above it, and the Federation logo being displayed just below said craft.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

oh i forgot whoops

 

[OvertheHorizon]

Rather than a one-sentence competition, which is really a three-sentence competition, would a 100-word competition be better? Asking for a friend.

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

Park Place Reviews


Middle-Earth

@Disgruntled Walt

Genuinely, I would’ve been disappointed if someone hadn’t gone for LOTR. With a series with so many great environments, I really like that you’ve chosen two of them, instead of settling for one! I love the idea of riding eagles in a suspended dark ride, although I do wonder if a nothing-goes-horribly-wrong Flight of Passage type tour through Middle Earth’s environments could’ve been even stronger!
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Bikini Bottom

@Disney Warrior

Epic Universe currently has a stunning lack of indoor experiences, so this would be a great way to rectify that. You’ve hit upon pretty much all of the explorable areas a fan of the show would expect, which is commendable! My main qualm with this pitch is that Epic already has a kid-focused area in Berk. I have to wonder if this would be redundant!
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Frostbite Falls

@Brer Panther

I’m of two minds about this pitch. On one hand, I’ve got a deep, nostalgic, uncommon love for the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, and the amount of care and references you’ve poured into this astounds me. On the other, though… Epic doesn’t really need another kids area, and even if it did, the vast majority of kids are unfamiliar with this IP. It’s still a lot of fun!
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MonsterVerse - Hollow Earth

@D Hulk

I love your intro for this - truly, it’s incredibly effective at establishing the tone. The idea of an indoor Mysterious Island is a wonderful one, while the projection dome gives this land a show-stopping centerpiece. I do wonder, however, if there might be a bit too much overlap with Dark Universe!
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Universal Forever

@Miru

While the idea of a Defunctland is an admirable one, I don’t know if it would make for a cohesive land, or one that newcomers would actually appreciate. I like Dueling Dragons as a simulator, though!​

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

Rather than a one-sentence competition, which is really a three-sentence competition, would a 100-word competition be better? Asking for a friend.

Yeah the same thought came to me. It seems like the goal (at least in previous comps) was to convey an idea with limited words.