Don Bluth's Playland Open Brainstorming (Uniting Universal Round Two)

[TheOriginalTiki]

Boy, oh boy. I can't wait to dive into this. Don Bluth is an ICON to children of the 80's and 90's for creating a slew of animated films that while keeping the same magic of the Disney classics spun off in their own direction by having darker subject matter and more dramatic approaches to the storytelling. From Secret of NYHM to Dragon's Lair to All Dogs Go to Heaven to The Land Before Time, a large chunk of Don's Bluth's filmography is instantly recognizable. We don't have to talk about turds like A Troll in Central Park or The Pebble and the Penguin.

So essentially the goal of this project is to create a sprawling land based around the works of Don Bluth. I'm picturing at least two E-Tickets, a C ticket dark ride, and a couple flat rides. Let's go big with this and get some truly GREAT theme park representation for the most consistent animated content that's ever come out of Universal Studios.

 

[Suchomimus]

I propose a dark boat ride on the original Land Before Time.

 

[Suchomimus]

We don't have to talk about turds like A Troll in Central Park or The Pebble and the Penguin.

You don't need to tell us twice sweetie.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

I propose a dark boat ride on the original Land Before Time.

I think The Land Before Time would be a great anchor for the rest of the land.

An American Tail is iconic but I'm struggling to think of things to do with it. All Dogs Go to Heaven is probably too dark. What about a sci-fi sub area with Titan AE and Space Race?

Dragon's Lair should be the E Ticket thrill ride to balance out The Land Before Time.

Anastasia musical is a must.

 

[Disney Dad 3000]

I think The Land Before Time would be a great anchor for the rest of the land.

An American Tail is iconic but I'm struggling to think of things to do with it. All Dogs Go to Heaven is probably too dark. What about a sci-fi sub area with Titan AE and Space Race?

Dragon's Lair should be the E Ticket thrill ride to balance out The Land Before Time.

Anastasia musical is a must.

Havent been able to keep up much with the discussion first 2 weeks, and havent seen AAT in forever, but what about a boat ride for it? Maybe use the no caTS in america song for a chunk of it through sewers, water in the streets, etc

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

Havent been able to keep up much with the discussion first 2 weeks, and havent seen AAT in forever, but what about a boat ride for it? Maybe use the no caTS in america song for a chunk of it through sewers, water in the streets, etc

What we could do is echo Toon Lagoon a bit and make The Land Before Time the more ambitious flume attraction while All Dogs could be a fun Roaring Rapids attraction in the style of Popeye. I've got to admit, doing a theme park version of the Big Lipped Alligator moment is very appealing So I think we can all agree Troll, Pebble, Thumbelina are all OUT except maybe some obscure Easter eggs. (We NEED to have a troll that sings "I'm a baaaaad troll, a very baaad troll" in Dragon's Lair!!) Rock-A-Doodle is a film that is bonkers, but also one I have some serious nostalgia (and childhood trauma ) over, so I wouldn't mind making an attempt to do something with it.

Land Before Time is the anchor, I think that we can all agree on. All Dogs would be a nice D-Ticket to balance it out.

Still think Dragon's Lair should be the other "anchor" and act as the land's main thrill ride. So much potential!

The sci-fi sub area with Space Ace and Titan AE could perhaps be for phase two.

I think ONE of American Tail or Secret of NYMH should be the other E-Ticket. Personally I'd love to cheat and do something with Fievel Goes West as I actually prefer it to the original for childhood nostalgia reasons, but Don Bluth didn't work on that film and I want to be as traditional as possible with the land. Secret of NYHM could be a really cool dark ride.

As I said, Anastasia stage show. Perhaps I could talk with Monkey about how he'd approach that since he's seen the Broadway show.

 

[JokersWild]

What we could do is echo Toon Lagoon a bit and make The Land Before Time the more ambitious flume attraction while All Dogs could be a fun Roaring Rapids attraction in the style of Popeye. I've got to admit, doing a theme park version of the Big Lipped Alligator moment is very appealing So I think we can all agree Troll, Pebble, Thumbelina are all OUT except maybe some obscure Easter eggs. (We NEED to have a troll that sings "I'm a baaaaad troll, a very baaad troll" in Dragon's Lair!!) Rock-A-Doodle is a film that is bonkers, but also one I have some serious nostalgia (and childhood trauma ) over, so I wouldn't mind making an attempt to do something with it.

Land Before Time is the anchor, I think that we can all agree on. All Dogs would be a nice D-Ticket to balance it out.

Still think Dragon's Lair should be the other "anchor" and act as the land's main thrill ride. So much potential!

The sci-fi sub area with Space Ace and Titan AE could perhaps be for phase two.

I think ONE of American Tail or Secret of NYMH should be the other E-Ticket. Personally I'd love to cheat and do something with Fievel Goes West as I actually prefer it to the original for childhood nostalgia reasons, but Don Bluth didn't work on that film and I want to be as traditional as possible with the land. Secret of NYHM could be a really cool dark ride.

As I said, Anastasia stage show. Perhaps I could talk with Monkey about how he'd approach that since he's seen the Broadway show.

Dragon's Lair could absolutely be a great anchor, especially with the feature in the works. I also liked the idea of the Land Before Time boat ride. It's simple, but it could be really effective.

In terms of An American Tail, I think that it could work extremely well as a family coaster/ dark ride. Perhaps just a bit bigger than Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Or like a Gadget's Go Coaster with actual ambition.

 

[Miru]

I think The Land Before Time would be a great anchor for the rest of the land.

An American Tail is iconic but I'm struggling to think of things to do with it. All Dogs Go to Heaven is probably too dark. What about a sci-fi sub area with Titan AE and Space Race?

Dragon's Lair should be the E Ticket thrill ride to balance out The Land Before Time.

Anastasia musical is a must.

If you're gonna exclude All Dogs Go to Heaven for being too dark, it'd be weird to incorporate the even darker Titan A.E.

My thoughts?

Banjo the Woodpile cat could get a play area.

And in addition to references to the rotten, infertile eggs of his career, I think tributes to his Disney work could also appear.

And I suggest All Dogs Go To Heaven would work with a boat ride, maybe like Pirates due to the prominent dark elements.

For stuff like Titan AE that isn't really meant for kids, I guess we could go with more intense attractions, like launched, looping coasters.

And another thought... why stop at Bluth? Could other lesser-known 80s and 90s animated films, like The Swan Princess and Balto, be incorporated somehow?

 

[JokersWild]

Why have we forgotten Anastasia?

 

[DlpPhantom]

I feel like land before time could be a more family friendly version of Jurassic park river adventure but keeping it indoors would probably be preferred with big Dino animatronics.

 

[spacemt354]

I feel like land before time could be a more family friendly version of Jurassic park river adventure but keeping it indoors would probably be preferred with big Dino animatronics.

I was just about to suggest something similar!

Basically a more family friendly river adventure, and some flat rides based on Little Foot, Chomper, Spike, etc to compliment the main E-Ticket

 

[FigmentPigments]

We don't have to talk about turds like A Troll in Central Park or The Pebble and the Penguin. .

Thank god! I thought that we would have to included these and was like, "I'm doing this under protest. I guess we could put a stone statue of Stanley in a green area. " So glad we aren't required to do those.

 

[FigmentPigments]

I propose a dark boat ride on the original Land Before Time.

Totally agree with this!

 

[FigmentPigments]

I think The Land Before Time would be a great anchor for the rest of the land.

An American Tail is iconic but I'm struggling to think of things to do with it. All Dogs Go to Heaven is probably too dark. What about a sci-fi sub area with Titan AE and Space Race?

Dragon's Lair should be the E Ticket thrill ride to balance out The Land Before Time.

Anastasia musical is a must.

An American Tail could be a great E ticket. Guests could ride on a pigeon (???) and travel from Russia where cats are chasing us out of Russia onto a boat headed for America (No Cats in America) before being swept out to sea, and fly around the statue of liberty being build singing Never Say Never, and we absolutely have to have a towering AA of the Giant Mouse of Minsk!

I haven't see Titan AE in forever so I'll have to do some research, and I've never even heard of Space Race.

The only thing I know about Dragon's Lair is from the Nostalgia Critic, and all I remember from that is the super sexualized Princess.

 

[FigmentPigments]

I've got to admit, doing a theme park version of the Big Lipped Alligator moment is very appealing .

A giant interactive fountain???

Rock-A-Doodle is a film that is bonkers, but also one I have some serious nostalgia (and childhood trauma ) over, so I wouldn't mind making an attempt to do something with it. .

I loved this as a kid! I rented it so much at the video store. I think a restaurant based on The King show portion of Rock a Doodle Doo themed around Pinkie's Palace.

Or an effects show (very loosely based on It's Tough to Be A bug at AK) where Patou is trying to tell the story of Chanitcleer but is interrupted by the Grand Duke who wants revenge. He eventually grows to enormous size but is defeated by Chanticleer crowing.

I think ONE of American Tail or Secret of NYMH should be the other E-Ticket. Personally I'd love to cheat and do something with Fievel Goes West as I actually prefer it to the original for childhood nostalgia reasons, but Don Bluth didn't work on that film and I want to be as traditional as possible with the land. Secret of NYHM could be a really cool dark ride.

Like I said earlier, I think American Tail would make a great E ticket. The Secret of Nimh (if not a ride) could serve as an immersive area. Mrs. Brisby's home can be a meet and greet area, through a thicket tunnel guests would encounter the Great Owl who shifts and sometimes dispenses wisdom, but is mostly sleeping (think of the dragon in Disneyland Paris), and then guests can travel to the rose bush and see the home of the Rats of NIMH. I'm picturing this a lot like SeaBase Alpha (a lot to explore and see: Nicodemous's room with the Stone rotating in "mid air" anf the mirror recounting the rats escape from NIMH. Guests can also see Mr Aegis's room, the armory, and experience many of the inventions that the Rats made. A gift shop could be Jeremy's Nest full of string and other "shiny" things.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

If you're gonna exclude All Dogs Go to Heaven for being too dark, it'd be weird to incorporate the even darker Titan A.E.

My thoughts?

Banjo the Woodpile cat could get a play area.

And in addition to references to the rotten, infertile eggs of his career, I think tributes to his Disney work could also appear.

And I suggest All Dogs Go To Heaven would work with a boat ride, maybe like Pirates due to the prominent dark elements.

For stuff like Titan AE that isn't really meant for kids, I guess we could go with more intense attractions, like launched, looping coasters.

And another thought... why stop at Bluth? Could other lesser-known 80s and 90s animated films, like The Swan Princess and Balto, be incorporated somehow?

Banjo would be nice as a play area and is important as the first piece of animation Bluth produced on his own. We could easily work some Black Cauldron nods into the Dragon's Lair thrill ride. Titan I was thinking of doing as a Flight of Passage style super-high tech simulator. As I said though, the Sci-fi elements of the land can come in a phase two.

As much as I'd like to work in stuff like Balto and Were Back: A Dinosaur's Story, the land should exclusively focus on Bluth.

@JokersWild Anastasia will be a stage show unless you have any other ideas. Off the top of my head a Tiki Room style AA show starring Bartok could potentially be a lot of fun.

Very, very much agree with Land Before Time being a kid friendly Jurassic Park River Adventure. That's an excellent comparison!

@FigmentPigments LOVE the ideas for both the Rock-A-Doodle restaurant and NYHM. By all means go nuts with that! I'm glad we share the same weird fascination for Rock-A-Doodle, haha.

 

[Miru]

@TheOriginalTiki

Well then, what do you think about my All Dogs Go To Heaven idea? And I second the love for the Rock-A-Doodle restaurant. I guess Thumbelina would work as a meet and greet character.

For Gift of the Hoopoes, I guess it too could be a stage show like Anastasia.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

@TheOriginalTiki

Well then, what do you think about my All Dogs Go To Heaven idea? And I second the love for the Rock-A-Doodle restaurant. I guess Thumbelina would work as a meet and greet character.

For Gift of the Hoopoes, I guess it too could be a stage show like Anastasia.

All Dogs would definitely work as a water ride, but I don't think it should be an E Ticket on the same scale as The Land Before Time which is acting as an anchor to the area. I'd compare the two to the water rides at Toon Lagoon. Land Before Time is Dudley's Do-Right and All Dogs is Popeye. Popeye is still a great ride but Dudley has a larger scale.

 

[StevenU]

If you're gonna exclude All Dogs Go to Heaven for being too dark, it'd be weird to incorporate the even darker Titan A.E.

My thoughts?

Banjo the Woodpile cat could get a play area.

And in addition to references to the rotten, infertile eggs of his career, I think tributes to his Disney work could also appear.

And I suggest All Dogs Go To Heaven would work with a boat ride, maybe like Pirates due to the prominent dark elements.

For stuff like Titan AE that isn't really meant for kids, I guess we could go with more intense attractions, like launched, looping coasters.

And another thought... why stop at Bluth? Could other lesser-known 80s and 90s animated films, like The Swan Princess and Balto, be incorporated somehow?

I like your water ride idea for All Dogs. We could also make it a Peter Pan flying ride too

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

So I've been thinking about Dragon's Lair. At first I thought it'd work best as a coaster, but upon further reflection I think we should go the Flight of Passage route and make it a simulator. This would retain the game's animated art style and video game roots. I'm picturing Dirk the Daring recruiting an army of Volunteer Knights to rescue Princess Daphne. That way would could have a "Calvary" of horses as the ride vehicles and very similar to Flight of Passage on the simulator it would actually feel like you're on horseback. Of course this attraction is going to include Easter eggs for Black Cauldron and Troll in Central Park.

At this point I think we can all agree on this lineup.

-The Land Before Time River Adventure
-All Dogs Go to Heaven water ride
-Dragon's Lair simulator thrill ride
-Banjo the Woodpile Cat Playground
-Anastasia stage musical
-Pinkie's Palace from Rock-A-Doodle
-Secret of NIMH Walk through
-Titan AE and Space Ace sci-fi sub area in an eventual Phase Two
-Still struggling to come up with something for An American Tail. I know a flight simulator was suggested. Anyone want to take a stab at it?

I'd be happy to write up Dragon's Lair and The Land Before Time if others can pitch in on the rest