PerGron's Reviews
With the first round complete, Visions Fantastic is off to a great start with three completely different hard ticket events, though all three take place at the Universal Orlando Resort. We had some truly interesting concepts thrown around during the brainstorming but I'm very happy with the three final products both in how distinct they are and in how creative they are. This is going to be a very difficult project to judge and as a solo judge especially because ultimately it's up to me and I can't bounce it off others to break ties. Either way, let's jump into the reviews!
Team Dream- Universal HoliNights
So of the three projects, Team Dream had probably the most obvious finalized product with a Christmas event for Islands of Adventure. IoA already has a huge holiday presence with Grinchmas so expanding that into a special hard ticket event makes a ton of sense and also lets the rest of the park get into the fun of it without damaging the theming for daily visitors who may not want to be inundated with holiday cheer. The whole team worked very well here with everybody contributing something really special and interesting within their own interest level.
To start off with the presentation, @Mr. Sullivan absolutely killed it here with the design of the website yet done on a Google Slides. I'm pretty terrible with presentation design and I usually resort to the same old same old so whenever someone takes one of these more standard styles of presentation and plusses it up, I have to give credit where it's due. You all could have easily just put together a Google site or a Google Slide but instead you did something different with it and I really appreciate that. It's easy to follow, I don't have to click around and backtrack, it's just the perfect presentation style and of the three presentations, I do think it was the best.
Where this project kind of fell, for me, was in the different lands you all focused on. While the two lands of Toon Lagoon (put together by @Disgruntled Walt) and Seuss Landing (put together by @Brer Panther) were huge standouts, I found the rest of them ended up really same-y by the end of it. It became a lot of "and this character is wearing a Santa hat" and "and this character has a Christmas sweater on" where I think different things could have been done with them. I understand that maybe Marvel and Jurassic Park don't lend themselves to Christmas as well as something like Seuss Landing does, but I would've appreciated a bit more uniqueness or it be left alone than these very simple overlays that feel less like you wanted to do them and more like you felt you had to.
Getting into the lands themselves, Port of Entry fits the opening land overlay vibes that I'd expect, with basic garlands and Christmas trees. I can't say anything here really stood out to me as especially unique or crucial, but it was simple and for an opening land, simple can absolutely be the way to go. Adding special food and merch offerings as well as small details like wrapping paper and animal carvings fit the land's aesthetic and fit the vibes of an event while also being thematic elements that can stay up during the day making this event pretty easy to put up each year. While not the stand out of the project, I think the simplicity easing us into the project works very well.
Seuss Landing kind of had the opposite of simple as I don't think there's anything simple about the works of Dr. Seuss. Still, this land is already decked out for Grinchmas, so taking that into account I was both surprised and impressed by the amount of stuff @Brer Panther was able to insert into this land that plussed it up beyond how much is already present. The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley update with the sneetches sequel story is certainly a really fun element, though it does feel very similar to the story of The Grinch and while I totally appreciate the idea of doing something original and not just making this a Grinch overlay, I almost wonder if that would've been the way to go due to the similarities. The Cat in the Hat show sounds very fun and the food and shopping additions are also great, rounding out this into the place to be for the holiday season. I imagine The Grinch remains a meet and greet at night due to how insanely popular he is during the day, but I do think a bit of discussion of that would've really rounded this well.
I don't have a ton to say about The Lost Continent other than wow a Christmas market fits that area really well and I love the idea. I love a good Christmas market and while I can imagine it being complicated to haul your bags of ornaments and wreaths around while also going on attractions and to shows, I also did see the scalpers with their bags of Figment popcorn buckets so maybe it's easier than I'm giving it credit for. This was a really simple addition but something that made this super unique and it may actually be my favorite addition in the whole project.
Hogsmeade was the land I was most anticipating because while I am absolutely not a Harry Potter fan, I do know that the property has its ties to Christmas and I was hoping we'd get some really fun Christmas stuff for the land and I was not disappointed. While you mostly added streetmosphere, thematic elements, and some new butterbeer flavors, they felt very "Harry Potter" in their delivery and I can appreciate the great holiday theming of the land, brought about especially by the projection show on Hogwarts Castle.
Jurassic Park and Marvel Superhero Island were the two lands I had the most problem with because, as previously mentioned, they kind of felt exactly the same with the overlays that I almost feel would've been better to have not added anything to them. I think there's a lot that can be done with Jurassic Park by making it more kitschy like the park is throwing a holiday overlay themselves but are very commercial about it rather than sticking some hats on dinosaurs and calling it a day (I do like the ty-rein-osaurus though). Marvel felt almost more egregious because you added some really interesting stuff (the dining options, the Christmas tree with ornaments) it felt like most of what you had was characters in new costumes including in the Spider-Man ride. None of this is bad and it's (the word of the project) simple which has it's own charm, I just wish we could've seen more creativity in these two lands.
Toon Lagoon was my favorite piece of the project from a land design perspective. Having the Rankin/Bass characters taking over Toon Lagoon was a wonderful decision and doesn't overstep on popular IP like if you had done this to Jurassic or Marvel. My biggest concern ends up being the ride overlays as, especially Rudolph, it feels very complicated to set up for the night, so are these full time overlays or just for the event? Either way, they both seem very fun and having Rudolph and an Island of Misfit Toys attraction makes a lot of sense as well. I adore the Miser Brothers so having them as walk around characters is a blast, and while the idea of a Wendy's sponsored Frosty cart is novel and I don't know how realistic, it's still a cute bit of theming that I liked a lot.
For the parade and nighttime spectacular; both were, again, simple, and while I think they absolutely fit the project very well, I would've liked a bit more detail in either of them, especially some custom art showcasing the parade floats would've added a ton. In fact, the lack of custom art throughout this whole project was really disappointing to me, even lacking a custom map with the locations of the events. We have some really talented artists on this team and so the fact that not one piece of original art (besides the webpage first slide) was done was really disappointing.
Overall, the word of this project was "simple" and I don't mean that in a negative way. Simplicity is sometimes the best way to go and there's not always a need for massive over-the-top overlays for something as well-known as Christmas. Sometimes all you need is some characters, some treats, and some pretty lights and that'll do, so I think ultimately while there were some things I wish could've been baked a little longer, this is still a great first project and with a team of a lot of newcomers, you should all be very proud!
With the first round complete, Visions Fantastic is off to a great start with three completely different hard ticket events, though all three take place at the Universal Orlando Resort. We had some truly interesting concepts thrown around during the brainstorming but I'm very happy with the three final products both in how distinct they are and in how creative they are. This is going to be a very difficult project to judge and as a solo judge especially because ultimately it's up to me and I can't bounce it off others to break ties. Either way, let's jump into the reviews!
Team Dream- Universal HoliNights
So of the three projects, Team Dream had probably the most obvious finalized product with a Christmas event for Islands of Adventure. IoA already has a huge holiday presence with Grinchmas so expanding that into a special hard ticket event makes a ton of sense and also lets the rest of the park get into the fun of it without damaging the theming for daily visitors who may not want to be inundated with holiday cheer. The whole team worked very well here with everybody contributing something really special and interesting within their own interest level.
To start off with the presentation, @Mr. Sullivan absolutely killed it here with the design of the website yet done on a Google Slides. I'm pretty terrible with presentation design and I usually resort to the same old same old so whenever someone takes one of these more standard styles of presentation and plusses it up, I have to give credit where it's due. You all could have easily just put together a Google site or a Google Slide but instead you did something different with it and I really appreciate that. It's easy to follow, I don't have to click around and backtrack, it's just the perfect presentation style and of the three presentations, I do think it was the best.
Where this project kind of fell, for me, was in the different lands you all focused on. While the two lands of Toon Lagoon (put together by @Disgruntled Walt) and Seuss Landing (put together by @Brer Panther) were huge standouts, I found the rest of them ended up really same-y by the end of it. It became a lot of "and this character is wearing a Santa hat" and "and this character has a Christmas sweater on" where I think different things could have been done with them. I understand that maybe Marvel and Jurassic Park don't lend themselves to Christmas as well as something like Seuss Landing does, but I would've appreciated a bit more uniqueness or it be left alone than these very simple overlays that feel less like you wanted to do them and more like you felt you had to.
Getting into the lands themselves, Port of Entry fits the opening land overlay vibes that I'd expect, with basic garlands and Christmas trees. I can't say anything here really stood out to me as especially unique or crucial, but it was simple and for an opening land, simple can absolutely be the way to go. Adding special food and merch offerings as well as small details like wrapping paper and animal carvings fit the land's aesthetic and fit the vibes of an event while also being thematic elements that can stay up during the day making this event pretty easy to put up each year. While not the stand out of the project, I think the simplicity easing us into the project works very well.
Seuss Landing kind of had the opposite of simple as I don't think there's anything simple about the works of Dr. Seuss. Still, this land is already decked out for Grinchmas, so taking that into account I was both surprised and impressed by the amount of stuff @Brer Panther was able to insert into this land that plussed it up beyond how much is already present. The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley update with the sneetches sequel story is certainly a really fun element, though it does feel very similar to the story of The Grinch and while I totally appreciate the idea of doing something original and not just making this a Grinch overlay, I almost wonder if that would've been the way to go due to the similarities. The Cat in the Hat show sounds very fun and the food and shopping additions are also great, rounding out this into the place to be for the holiday season. I imagine The Grinch remains a meet and greet at night due to how insanely popular he is during the day, but I do think a bit of discussion of that would've really rounded this well.
I don't have a ton to say about The Lost Continent other than wow a Christmas market fits that area really well and I love the idea. I love a good Christmas market and while I can imagine it being complicated to haul your bags of ornaments and wreaths around while also going on attractions and to shows, I also did see the scalpers with their bags of Figment popcorn buckets so maybe it's easier than I'm giving it credit for. This was a really simple addition but something that made this super unique and it may actually be my favorite addition in the whole project.
Hogsmeade was the land I was most anticipating because while I am absolutely not a Harry Potter fan, I do know that the property has its ties to Christmas and I was hoping we'd get some really fun Christmas stuff for the land and I was not disappointed. While you mostly added streetmosphere, thematic elements, and some new butterbeer flavors, they felt very "Harry Potter" in their delivery and I can appreciate the great holiday theming of the land, brought about especially by the projection show on Hogwarts Castle.
Jurassic Park and Marvel Superhero Island were the two lands I had the most problem with because, as previously mentioned, they kind of felt exactly the same with the overlays that I almost feel would've been better to have not added anything to them. I think there's a lot that can be done with Jurassic Park by making it more kitschy like the park is throwing a holiday overlay themselves but are very commercial about it rather than sticking some hats on dinosaurs and calling it a day (I do like the ty-rein-osaurus though). Marvel felt almost more egregious because you added some really interesting stuff (the dining options, the Christmas tree with ornaments) it felt like most of what you had was characters in new costumes including in the Spider-Man ride. None of this is bad and it's (the word of the project) simple which has it's own charm, I just wish we could've seen more creativity in these two lands.
Toon Lagoon was my favorite piece of the project from a land design perspective. Having the Rankin/Bass characters taking over Toon Lagoon was a wonderful decision and doesn't overstep on popular IP like if you had done this to Jurassic or Marvel. My biggest concern ends up being the ride overlays as, especially Rudolph, it feels very complicated to set up for the night, so are these full time overlays or just for the event? Either way, they both seem very fun and having Rudolph and an Island of Misfit Toys attraction makes a lot of sense as well. I adore the Miser Brothers so having them as walk around characters is a blast, and while the idea of a Wendy's sponsored Frosty cart is novel and I don't know how realistic, it's still a cute bit of theming that I liked a lot.
For the parade and nighttime spectacular; both were, again, simple, and while I think they absolutely fit the project very well, I would've liked a bit more detail in either of them, especially some custom art showcasing the parade floats would've added a ton. In fact, the lack of custom art throughout this whole project was really disappointing to me, even lacking a custom map with the locations of the events. We have some really talented artists on this team and so the fact that not one piece of original art (besides the webpage first slide) was done was really disappointing.
Overall, the word of this project was "simple" and I don't mean that in a negative way. Simplicity is sometimes the best way to go and there's not always a need for massive over-the-top overlays for something as well-known as Christmas. Sometimes all you need is some characters, some treats, and some pretty lights and that'll do, so I think ultimately while there were some things I wish could've been baked a little longer, this is still a great first project and with a team of a lot of newcomers, you should all be very proud!
