I had a lot of fun reading through all of the posts and judging the bonus round. Here's how I felt about the ideas and the top three for each category!
Middle-Earth
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…
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Bonus 1: I'm not usually a fan of interactive shooting attractions, especially screen based ones because I think the industry is over-saturated with them, but I do like your original theme for the ride. Epic needs more indoor family attractions, so I think that this would be the perfect fit.
Bonus 2: Interesting idea, though I would be worried about capacity. It seems like it would take a significant amount of time to load and for the most part, Universal has shown that they avoid attractions where they can't refine the loading process for efficiency.
Bonus 3: Solid idea and people love mac and cheese, so it's an easy win.
Bonus 4: That's a great effect and really fits in with Epic's design philosophy of adding in extra effects to the lands just because they could.
Bonus 5: The portal idea is very distinct and from what I can visualize of the idea, seems mysterious and exciting.
Bikini Bottom
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:
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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.
Bonus 1: As stated above, I think a family-focused interactive ride makes a lot of sense for Epic, so I think it could do well in balancing the attraction line-up of the park.
Bonus 2: A bit basic, though not a bad idea. If it was spruced up with show effects inside a small showbuilding, I think it would be a well received addition.
Bonus 3: I think a chicken restaurant would do well, but I feel the theme is too vague to stand out. There's already Meteor Astropub, so if there's going to be another space themed restaurant, I think it needs a more distinct hook or gimmick to distinguish it.
Bonus 4: It sounds funny for a minute, but I think would get annoying quickly. If it were located somewhere in the land and not on the portal itself, then I think that's a winning effect that might go viral online.
Bonus 5: I'm not sure if I can picture how this all comes together, although I like the individual elements (especially the bubble machine)
...
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.
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).
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.
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".
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!".
Bonus 1: Seems like a fun concept, though I know little about the characters. A slow moving dark ride makes sense for Epic's attraction line-up.
Bonus 2: The idea is simple enough to make a lot of sense. Sometimes simpler is better and I can see how this would fit well into SNW.
Bonus 3: I like your description of the interior. The duality makes for what sounds like a very visually interesting place to relax.
Bonus 4: Again, a very simple but effective idea. I think the bonus question was asking specifically about touches within the land, but those signs would fit there too.
Bonus 5: You got me with "a light dusting of snow". It's those small effects that didn't need to be done, but are still there that make themed design memorable.
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.
Bonus 1: A slow moving dark ride that provides thrills through close encounters with massive animatronics? That's classic Universal ride right there and would definitely do well. That's a very strong idea.
Bonus 2: Kirby is a core franchise that I'm surprised doesn't even have any easter eggs in SNW, so this would be much welcome representation. If eventually, Universal wanted to expand the park with a Kirby themed land with a dark ride, this would be a fun supplemental flat ride to go along with that too.
Bonus 3: Excellent pun, but obviously isn't a real restaurant suggestion.
Bonus 4: Ah, land elements that are obscure easter eggs for fans? That's exactly how Universal is designing these lands and this is a great idea for yours.
Bonus 5: This sounds like a spectacle through visual kineticism. That's always a positive and would stand out well.
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.
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.
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.
Bonus 1: Seems like a solid idea for the theme of the land. As I've been stating throughout other submissions, I think that Epic needs a another slow moving family ride and this would fit well.
Bonus 4: Theme parks today are far too afraid to include more simple or rudimentary animated figures. Not only does your idea fit the theme very well, but it shows how simpler effects can make a big difference in adding kineticism to a land and would make for a memorable experience.
Bonus 5: The idea is simple, pleasant and effective. I like the addition of steam to the portal as well.
Toothsome Chocolate Valley
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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Your entire post was the most interesting that I've read, as I'm always a fan of original ideas in theme parks. That said, here's my thoughts on your bonus round, though I'm sad to say that I can't award any points.
Bonus 1: Yeah, seems like an easy win for Celestial Park to expand on Captain Cacao's story and is a good family addition.
Bonus 2: Unfortunately, I'm going to have to disagree that this is a strong fit for Donkey Kong Country. The theming sounds great and reminds me of Talocan, but I think it's too intense for the core demographic of the land. The land itself would definitely benefit from a flat ride, but not one this intense.
Bonus 3: This is an excellent idea, both in terms of the atmospheric environment it would produce and in how it adds thematically to Celestial Park. If Helios and Luna represent the sky at opposite ends of the land, then adding that "earth" element with Prometheus makes for an interesting contrast.
Bonus 4: More context on the Earl lore? Yes please!
Bonus 5: This would be a very different and distinct contrast to the other portals. The kinetic components are always a win for me.
Back to the Future Portal
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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.
Bonus 2: When I first read Himalaya flat ride, I thought it was a bad fit because their cheap looking design doesn't really fit the theme parks of Universal's caliber, but when I read "battle with Whispy Woods", I literally laughed out loud. The idea is both funny and clever, though I think this type of ride would need to reworked without that tarp that sits on top of the ride mechanism.
Sonic The Hedgehog: Town of Green Hills
Community Chest 1
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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
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.
Community Chest 3
View attachment 867949Although 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.
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.
Bonus 1: I think it's fitting, but since Universal is rumored to have conceptualized or may be close to building this attraction, I wanted to see an original idea instead.
Bonus 2: Donkey Kong Country would definitely benefit from a flat ride and this is the right theme and thrill level to make an impact.
Bonus 3: Maybe I'm just projecting my own wishes, but from your description of elegant Italian with starry night roof, this sounds like it could be a nice cosmic and almost Roman variation to Celestial Park. The idea resonates with me.
Bonus 4: I like the kineticism, especially since it seems rooted in the 2D Sonic games, which I much prefer over 3D Sonic.
Bonus 5: The portal idea is interesting and I think has a lot of potential to stand out visually. I can envision walking up to it and seeing the chaos emeralds sparkling in the sun.
Star 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.
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Bonus 1: I'm going to have to consider this idea less since it appears that there's a strong chance that Universal is already working on an attraction like this. It's fitting, but I want to see something more original.
Bonus 2: This though, is an excellent compliment to the dark ride. It's simple, and thematically effective.
Bonus 3: Not a bad idea, but it seems too similar to Pizza Moon. Cafeteria is also not a noun that I would ever want to see used in a theme park.
Bonus 4: I'm not sure if roving land entertainment fits the category, although it is always very welcome.
Bonus 5: Seems like it could be a fun idea. I can see how lighting effects could make this stand out, especially at night.
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Now for the judgement of the bonus round!
Design a new dark ride to go anywhere in the park
3. This one goes to Disgruntled Walt's
Lady Nebula's Palette, because I like the original theme and it fits well as a family attraction.
2. Second place is WaltWiz1901 with
Around the Clock with Thomas. Your dark ride sounds like it has so much charm to it and could easily become a theme park classic.
1. First place goes to D Hulk with Mothra: Beauties of the Deep. Conceptually, this ride is classic 90s Universal and I think would be wildly popular.
Pitch a flat ride for Super Nintendo World
3. This spot goes to Disney Warrior for Yoshi's Egg Twirl. Simple, but thematically effective.
2. Second place is ThemeParkPriest with Battle at Whispy Woods. It's such a funny idea for a ride.
1. First place is easy with Half/CartoonHalf/Human's Barrel Blast. Donkey Kong Country would really benefit from a family flat ride and the land has the space to put it in.
Create a new restaurant for Celestial Park
3. Third is Disgruntled Walt with Macaroni Meteorite. You didn't describe the theming of the restaurant in any detail, but the idea of different macaroni dishes seems like it could make for a lot of interesting creative expressions.
2. Second place goes to Half/CartoonHalf/Human and the return of Cassini. While not an original idea, your elaboration on the interior makes it sound intriguing.
1. The winner is Brer Panther with the Lunar Eclipse Cafe. Thematically, it's just such an interesting idea and is the most fleshed out of the restaurant submissions that I could choose.
Honorable Mention: If I could award points to Architectural Guinea Pig for t
he Prometheus Bar and Lounge, I would, as I thought that was the strongest restaurant idea.
Describe a “little touch” for your new portal (like the Pikmen in SNW, or the dragon mister in Berk)
3. Disney Warrior for Squidward's clarinet. How funny would it be to be walking through the Bikini Bottom and hear this squeaking out poorly played songs?
2. D Hulk takes second place with his deeper lore going into the Monsterverse because thematic depth is always appreciated.
1. WaltWiz1901 wins first with the charming inclusion of simple, but charming kinetic figures around the land. It's like shrinking down and stepping onto a model train set.
Describe your new land’s entry portal (an extra image here is encouraged! You all know by now, but please, no AI!)
3. Disgruntled Walt takes third place with the Ent portal. It's very visually distinct and mysterious.
2. Brer Panther takes second with the Frostbite Falls portal, because the thing that stood out to me was the inclusion of fake snow. Those little extra effects like snow/fog/water will always make a big impact on how people remember themed environments.
1. WaltWiz1901 comes in first with the modelesque portal. It's simple, charming and is enhanced with the occasional steam effect to represent trains passing just beyond the hill.
