Team Prospero Brainstorming Thread - Project Ten: The Great Literature Ride

DashHaber

Well-Known Member
Alright, folks, I'm starting up our proposal document! It may be a little light right now, but it will become a full story with time.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/128FZ3Uv9dz_4d9y4n_dsnlWP8ib2exdYBmEh_ikfSjY/edit?usp=sharing

The deadline is approaching in two days, so let's get ready! I can't wait to see the final product that comes from all of our research and development for this idea. I only hope I've done okay as our team leader. I do apologize if I've been a little too hands-off in handling as our lead.
 

Outbound

Well-Known Member
PROLOGUE
The hearth was warming the darkened room. A bristling wind was setting in, and the Old Man had no choice but to huddle nearby. As far as he knew, he was the only person out here. At the center of a vast desert, amidst a raging sandstorm. No wonder he lacked company.

This was The Lighthouse. It had no name, it had no point. It had been standing here, in the middle of the desert dunes for God knows what. The nearest settlement was a hundred miles north, and that was an oasis: the nearest ocean was three hundred. So surely the lighthouse had not been built for boats.

He’d found it this way all those years ago, built of tired old sandstone, each massive brick threatening to tip over and take the structure down. But in all the years he had spent here, it never came close to aging. When the dunes shifted, it had remained; when he had turned from a Young Adventurer to Old Man it had remained.

It was a mystery to anyone who saw it… anyone but the Old Man.

The Old Man knew. He understood its significance. Why else had he spent his days guarding it? Well, perhaps not guarding. Watching was a better term.

And that was the state the Old Man was in that stormy night. Huddling by the fire, never leaving his eyes off the dunes beyond. It was hard to see in these storms, but The Lighthouse had all the protection one needed.

And then he saw the figure approaching. Slowly at first, then faster, it approached The Lighthouse in a seeming frenzy. The Old Man moved slowly. He was surprised to see someone else after all these years, but he also understood his purpose, and so he stood up and faced the door. All the years in this isolated desert flashed through his mind.

There was knocking. The lantern guarding the entry shuffled back and forth at the rapid vibrations. Sandy dust fell out of the tired bricks. The Old Man winced. The Lighthouse always remained… but that didn’t mean it was invulnerable.

The Old Man opened the door ever so politely. Howling wind poured into the small room, but the Old Man did not cover his ears. He had to face the newcomer.

She was an Adventurer, that much was clear. She had a large dark coat of wool to counter the freezing desert night, and a mighty black stallion to cross the dunes. The Old Man could catch the faint glimmer of a steel sword behind her back, and he began to wonder…. wondering if he had had made a mistake to let this newcomer inside, wondering if they were a bandit or criminal of some kind attempting to steal from The Lighthouse. He pushed aside these thoughts and returned to his purpose. Providing a brief nod, he ushered her inside and slammed the door.

The two took seats across the hearth, now acting oblivious to the chill breeze. These matters were far beyond the trivialities of weather.

“So you are my successor.” The Old Man said dryly.

The Young Adventurer affirmed.

“I take it you understand what this place is.”

The Young Adventurer affirmed.

“And you expect me to teach you.”

The Young Adventurer affirmed a third time. Now the Old Man was getting worried.

“Can you speak?”

“Yes.” That made him feel better. It’d been so long since he’d heard a voice other than his own. Well besides Them, but that wasn’t the point.

“Good. I wanted to make sure.” The Old Man stood from his chair, “Now that I have, I wanted to tell you no. I don’t care how far you’ve traveled or how many challenges you’ve had to overcome. You may stay here for the storm, but you must then leave.”

Her reply was not one you would typically expect in response to such an unwelcoming comment. Instead of frowning, or attempting to debate with the Old Man in The Lighthouse, she smiled.

“Of course”.

The Old Man nodded briefly. He showed the Young Adventurer to her room: a small but serviceable hideaway under the stairs, and then the Old Man retired to his own room. It was the same size as the Young Adventurer. The only reason he preferred this room to the other was its direction: it faced True North. As he rested, he could almost see the stars aligning.

The Old Man woke at sunrise. The storm continued on, and he scowled: it would be another day with the Young Adventurer. He relegated himself to cleaning the interior walls, polishing off the countless sand sparkles that had washed over the foyer, all because he’d had to open the door for the traveler.

The Young Adventurer woke a few hours later to find the floor filled with sand. She asked if she could help, to which the Old Man refused, the Young Adventurer helped anyway. She asked him how old The Lighthouse was, to which the Old Man replied, “As old as time itself”.

The Young Adventurer seemed to find this amusing. She told the Old Man about her travels on the way to this Lighthouse. She had met many towns and villages, and each culture seemed to have their own stories about the world’s beginning. She wondered how many overlapped. The Old Man seemed disinterested.

The Young Adventurer told him anyway. Mythology was a very interesting topic after all.

The next day, the Old Man got out of bed excited for the storm to clear and the Young Adventurer to be gone. But these hopes proved futile. As the sun rose the storm was still raging, stronger than ever. He sighed and went back to his work. The sand may have been removed from the walls, but the creaky wooden floors now needed touchups. He didn’t want The Lighthouse to become all dusty.

The Young Adventurer woke once again a few hours later. This time, she asked what was up the spiraling staircase, home to the light that never seemed to work. The Old Man told her rather curtly to never speak of that again. She was never to walk up those steps.

The Young Adventurer helped the Old Man with the floors. She told him that after all that mythology talk, she had wondered about her own mythical world. And so without the Old Man’s permission, she told him a story of legendary beasts and heroes, inspired by her travels aboard.

The third day the Old Man was certain the storm would have disappeared, but it never happened. With both the walls and floors clean, there was little for the two to do except talk. And so they did, though the Old Man seemed rather disinterested.

Over the course of the next five days the Young Adventurer and Old Man would converse, briefly at first, but over time they opened up. Still, the Old Man gave the Young Adventurer little information on his past. Instead, it was the Young Adventurer doing most of the talking.

The Young Adventurer told him of speculations of tomorrow one day, then monsters she had encountered in a tomb far away the next. A supposedly real adventure came next, though the Old Man was convinced it was an exaggeration. Next was another “real” story exaggerated for effect, although this was about love.

After one week in The Lighthouse, the storm appeared to be finally clearing. The Old Man felt sad over the prospect. He had enjoyed hearing her stories… but he quickly pushed these feelings aside. He reminded the Young Adventurer that tomorrow she would have to leave. That final night, the Young Adventurer told her of the histories of her own people, across the globe. The Old Man had to admit, this story was rather interesting.

The two said farewells, agreeing to both rise at sunrise for the Young Adventurer's depature. The Old Man had packed food and water for the stallion and wished her the best of travels.

It was midnight when the Old Man awoke with a start. He silently got out of bed and crept open the doorknob. Sure enough, the Young Adventurer was making her way up the stairs! Well well well. It was her last night, so he couldn't really blame her for the curiosity. And she was doing a good job keeping quiet. Unfortunately for her, he’d spent many years in The Lighthouse, and would awaken at any footstep.

The Old Man stealthily followed her up the stairs and into the beacon. “You took an awful long time.”

This shook the Young Adventurer to the core. She began frantically apologizing, but the Old Man only smiled.

“No, I am the one who should be apologizing. I am sorry for misleading you this past week, but it was essential to know if I could trust you.”

Now the Young Adventurer was just confused. The Old Man let out an uncharacteristic chuckle.

“There are two kinds of people who enter The Lighthouse. There are those who’s want it to seek knowledge, and those who use knowledge to seek their want. For seven long days I tested you, tried to have you blindly follow my authority, but instead you sought out knowledge for yourself, and then shared it with others. Those stories you told me: I faked my disinterest. They were all excellent, and to my knowledge all your own. That makes you a storyteller, like myself. I will teach you.”

Suddenly, the tension that had embodied The Lighthouse since that fateful night in the storm evaporated. The Old Man showed the Young Adventurer what The Lighthouse was really used for. It was just as the legends said.

And just like the legends, it was now time for the Old Man to leave. He loved The Lighthouse, but his time had passed. He would return to his original village, if he still knew the way, and live out the remaining days satisfied with a destiny fulfilled. The Young Adventurer would become the new watcher in the Lighthouse, and she would explore it’s many pages as he had.

It was many months after the Young Adventurer had begun her training that this was questioned. The Old Man had shown the Young Adventurer his only friends in The Lighthouse, the Inkblot and the Papyrus, when the Young Adventurer revealed something that would change the Old Man’s life forever.

The Young Adventurer revealed her idea. She was asking for the Old Man’s help, rather than taking his place, the two would work together to create something new. The Old Man was at first skeptical, but the longer the two explored The Lighthouse, the longer they realized the potential of the idea.

As they explored the worlds created by Ink and Papyrus, they found six ideal candidates. The Old Man suggested twelve advisors to help, while the Young Adventurer traveled to the six and acquired the alliances necessary. It was finalized. It would change The Lighthouse forever, but for the first time ever, the Old Man was excited.

The night before it was to be finished, the Young Adventurer walked up the steps to meet with the Old Man. Though neither knew it, it had been exactly a year after that fateful desert storm.

“I have an idea for a seventh island.”

“Oh really?” The Old Man seemed disinterested. They’d discussed the possibility of a seventh island many times by now, each time deciding six was a stronger number. Symmetry was important.

“I wanted you to be its champion.”

The Old Man turned, and for the first time that year, he smiled.



EPILOGUE

The Two stood over their creation. Well, it was really her creation. The Old Man had only helped, providing suggestions for the Twelve through history and what not. He was thoroughly impressed by The Young Adventurer’s dedication to this novel concept, and had cast aside much of his fake cynicism for an aura of true eccentricsm.

He had one part that he was proud of. It was a subtle nod to that fateful week, though truly it was a nod to everything he had grown to love, the reason he had come to The Lighthouse in the first place. It was never made to lighten the way for boats, you see, it was made to lighten the way for the mind. That was a secret the Old Man had sworn to keep hidden for countless years, but it was out in the open now, as were all the great stories The Lighthouse had contained.

As The Lighthouse made another revolution, the Old Man realized something rather strange about this story.

“I have never asked,” The Old Man said politely, “What is your name?”

“Pharos.” The Young Adventurer replied. “And yours?”

The Old Man grinned.

“They call me The Chronicler.”​
 
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Sharon&Susan

Well-Known Member
Here's the Adventure Room:
The vehicles go into a short dark tunnel and stop, where a man with a deep voice is heard saying “Finish yesterday’s tale, Scheherazade” and the voice of a woman answers “I shall great King” Torches light up and reveal a stone hall. “There were once three princes who were all in love with a princess named Nouronnihar, they all went on a quest to find the greatest treasures in the world. Whoever found the best one would marry the princess”

The doors open and the vehicles approach a desert scene where on a nearby cliff the three princes have each of their treasures (the flying carpet, the all-seeing ivory tube, and the all-healing apple) and are standing on a cliff. Prince Ali is looking into the ivory tube and tells the other that the princess is sick. Prince Hussein advises them to jump onto his magic carpet to get there.

The vehicles quickly go to the palace and see the princess being given the magic apple by all three princes. The vehicles turn to focus on the sultan who congratulates the princes, but since each of their gifts saved the princess’s life he challenges them to an archery contest.

The vehicles travel outside to the town where the archery contest is ongoing between the three princes. The contestants are on one side of the path and the targets are on the other. The strongman contestant organizer orders them to shoot their arrows at the targets. The vehicles leave as they start shooting, but guests can feel gusts of air going over their head. The strongman announces that Prince Ali has won.

The vehicles go straight through an intersection and guests can see that the streets are full of excitement due to the marriage of Prince Ali and Princess Nouronnihar (as shown by the banners overhead), bringing many visitors to the kingdom. Merchants are selling old lamps, carpets, and apples in the streets barking about their “magical” powers. As the vehicles turn down a street and see Ali Baba’s woodcarver storefront where he is listening to two shady men who are talking about their secret cave hideout and the password.

The vehicles go through the same intersection again this time going instead using it to go to the forest. A boulder blocks the entrance to the cave until Ali Baba’s voice proclaims “Open Sesame”, which causes it to roll away. As the guests enter the cave Ali Baba is seen climbing the rocks motioning guests to be quiet. A spotlight points onto the ride vehicles and two of the cars go on Route A and one of the cars flees to Route B.

Route A: The two vehicles go behind two separate rock structures, the sounds of the thieves running around the cave can be heard. The vehicles decide to peek, catching the attention of a nearby guard (seen in silhouette) until the third vehicle zips in front and distracts the guard.
Route B: This vehicle zips on a straight path almost like the vehicles itself doesn’t care about being caught. It’s seen instantly by a thief (in silhouette )and doesn’t stop zooming ahead.

All 3 ride vehicles meet back and see 5 thieves with large swords ready to use them, until a cage falls upon them from above, thanks to Ali Baba who rock climbed stealthy this whole time and used the thieves’s own trap against them. The vehicles turn one corner where Ali Baba is seen covered with all the finest treasures and riches of the earth.
 

DashHaber

Well-Known Member
Here's the Adventure Room:
The vehicles go into a short dark tunnel and stop, where a man with a deep voice is heard saying “Finish yesterday’s tale, Scheherazade” and the voice of a woman answers “I shall great King” Torches light up and reveal a stone hall. “There were once three princes who were all in love with a princess named Nouronnihar, they all went on a quest to find the greatest treasures in the world. Whoever found the best one would marry the princess”

The doors open and the vehicles approach a desert scene where on a nearby cliff the three princes have each of their treasures (the flying carpet, the all-seeing ivory tube, and the all-healing apple) and are standing on a cliff. Prince Ali is looking into the ivory tube and tells the other that the princess is sick. Prince Hussein advises them to jump onto his magic carpet to get there.

The vehicles quickly go to the palace and see the princess being given the magic apple by all three princes. The vehicles turn to focus on the sultan who congratulates the princes, but since each of their gifts saved the princess’s life he challenges them to an archery contest.

The vehicles travel outside to the town where the archery contest is ongoing between the three princes. The contestants are on one side of the path and the targets are on the other. The strongman contestant organizer orders them to shoot their arrows at the targets. The vehicles leave as they start shooting, but guests can feel gusts of air going over their head. The strongman announces that Prince Ali has won.

The vehicles go straight through an intersection and guests can see that the streets are full of excitement due to the marriage of Prince Ali and Princess Nouronnihar (as shown by the banners overhead), bringing many visitors to the kingdom. Merchants are selling old lamps, carpets, and apples in the streets barking about their “magical” powers. As the vehicles turn down a street and see Ali Baba’s woodcarver storefront where he is listening to two shady men who are talking about their secret cave hideout and the password.

The vehicles go through the same intersection again this time going instead using it to go to the forest. A boulder blocks the entrance to the cave until Ali Baba’s voice proclaims “Open Sesame”, which causes it to roll away. As the guests enter the cave Ali Baba is seen climbing the rocks motioning guests to be quiet. A spotlight points onto the ride vehicles and two of the cars go on Route A and one of the cars flees to Route B.

Route A: The two vehicles go behind two separate rock structures, the sounds of the thieves running around the cave can be heard. The vehicles decide to peek, catching the attention of a nearby guard (seen in silhouette) until the third vehicle zips in front and distracts the guard.
Route B: This vehicle zips on a straight path almost like the vehicles itself doesn’t care about being caught. It’s seen instantly by a thief (in silhouette )and doesn’t stop zooming ahead.

All 3 ride vehicles meet back and see 5 thieves with large swords ready to use them, until a cage falls upon them from above, thanks to Ali Baba who rock climbed stealthy this whole time and used the thieves’s own trap against them. The vehicles turn one corner where Ali Baba is seen covered with all the finest treasures and riches of the earth.
Nice work, there, @Sharon&Susan with the Adventure section. Plenty full with excitement. I'll admit that initial description you had given earlier in the thread had sounded a bit full, but seeing this paired up with your earlier map definitely gives a good feel for the quick pace of this section, with all this story crammed together and flowing smoothly into each other much like the One Thousand and One Nights.
 

NigelChanning

Well-Known Member
After guests depart from the Mythology section, they find themselves in the world of The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien or the Lonely Mountain to be specific. The ride vehicles face a show scene starring an animatronic Bilbo Baggins and an absolutely ginormous audio-animatronic Smaug. The figure is able to move it’s head left, right, up, and down. In addition to head movements, Smaug can also blink, breath, and as a reference to the King Kong figure in the defunct “Kongfrontation” attraction, Smaug’s breath smells like s’mores. The realistic Bilbo animatronic also has an impressive line of movement as he can move over 30 joints and has over 50 facial expressions.



Bilbo, who stands on a massive pile of gold and jewels searches for the Arkenstone and accidentally awakens Smaug. Bilbo tries to quietly sneak past the sleeping Smaug but the dragon awakens, Bilbo uses the ring to turn himself invisible and watches Smaug as he sniffs and turns to his direction. To simulate the invisibility affect, Pepper’s Ghost is used. A panel of glass along with a screen under a pile of gold projects a gold blur onto Bilbo to indicate his invisibility.



“I smell you. I hear your breath. I feel your air. Where are you? Where are you!? Come, now. Don’t be shy. Step into the light. Mm. There is something about you. Something you carry. Something made of gold. But far more…precious.” Bilbo removes the ring and reveals himself to Smaug. “It’s Oakenshield. That filthy dwarvish usurper. He sent you in here for the Arkenstone, didn’t he?” says Smaug.

“No! No, no, no. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” exclaims Bilbo.

“Don’t bother denying it. I guessed his foul purpose some time ago. But it matters not. Oakenshield’s quest will fail. A darkness is coming. It will spread to every corner of the land. You are being used, thief in the shadows. You were only ever a means to an end. The coward Oakenshield has weighed the value of your life and found it worth nothing.

What did he promise you? A share of the treasure? As if it was his to give. I will not part with a single coin. Not one piece of it! My teeth are swords, my claws are spears. My wings are a hurricane!

I am almost tempted to let you take it, if only to see Oakenshield suffer. Watch it destroy him, watch it corrupt his heart and drive him mad. But I think not, I think our little game ends here. So tell me, thief. How do you choose to die?” As Smaug brings his head towards Bilbo and opens his mouth suddenly Bilbo uses his ring to disappear and run out of there, this angers Smaug and he unleashes his fire.

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The scene plays out and once Bilbo finds the Arkenstone, Smaug lets out a large breath of fire. As guests are sent speeding into the next scene.



The ride vehicles turn into a corner where they enter a hallway. As they move forward, the hallway appears to be getting smaller and smaller using forced perspective. The door at the end opens to reveal a full scale replica of the Chocolate Room from Ronald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Chocolate Room is where the trackless system goes into full effect where each ride vehicles branches off onto a randomized path.


You may gaze onto the chocolate river, you may interact with Oompa Loompas, you may even explore the depths of the candy “forest”. This gives the attraction some sense of re-ride-ability because guests never no what corner of the Chocolate Room they’re going to explore next! While no specific details in the scene are borrowed from the 1971 or 2005 movies, an instrumental version of “(I’ve Got A) Golden Ticket” from the 1971 film plays throughout the scene.
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After the ride vehicles return, they go through a tunnel leading to a re-creation of the famous tunnel scene as Willy Wonka recites a poem. An LED light flashes throughout the scene and a strong wind blows towards guests to simulate the feeling of vast speed. The ride vehicles click into the correct spots of a platform and an escalator type system lowers them diagonally at an accelerated speed to simulate a large drop. Water sprayers spray the guests with “chocolate” to simulate a splash as the vehicles are released from the machine and are allowed to move forward.
AA4C6496-2E21-47BB-9A5E-AFCDEBFF5523.jpeg

After the tunnel sequence, guests approach the next scene.

The Chroniclers Workshop.

After guests exit the attraction, the magic of literature doesn’t come to an end. Step into the fantastical workshop of the legend himself, the Chronicler as he strives to entrance each and every guest into the world of literature. The store is filled with books and even more items from other pieces of literature. Guests can purchase a number of book related items as well as Universal merchandise. The store also contains an interactive element. There is an open books upon a podium where there are buttons that guests can press to play a game. A screen that appears to be an enchanted mirror appears where the Chronicler needs help chronicling his vast collection of stories. A selection of kid-friendly books appear on screen and using the buttons, guests can choose which one they want to help the Chronicler organize like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and A Wrinkle in Time. But, unbeknownst to the Chronicler, the stories are beginnings to come to life and guests must help contain them. Using only their wits (and a selection of buttons), they must battle the villain of the story they selected and vanquish evil.
 
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DashHaber

Well-Known Member
Here is Romance. Hopefully I'm not overdoing it for a "small sequence" but I found it was too difficult to communicate the plot of the book in a one or two scenes, so I instead I settled for a series of "vignettes" that would only require one or two animatronics each and would take up only a few seconds of ride runtime.

Romance: Pride and Prejudice
The next room is Romance, a smaller area serving as a transition between the larger scaled Adventure and Historical Epic setpieces. Romance is themed to the classic 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice.

The story is vastly simplified into a series of short vignettes, focused on the turbulent-to-loving relationship of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.

The first scene shows the Ball. Modest classical music plays. The tracks split into two parallel segments, cycling around two dancing figures, Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet. We can hear Mrs. Bennet is the background, speaking of how their five daughters must marry to men of wealth if their financial situation is to be secured.

The two tracks meet up at the end of the Ball, where the charismatic Mr. Bingley is speaking to his friend, the stiff and arrogant Mr. Darcy. Bingley calls Jane beautiful and asks if he wants to dance with Jane’s sister Elizabeth. Darcy refuses and calls Elizabeth only “tolerable”. In the background, we can see Elizabeth making fun of Darcy.

We now enter a series of vignettes, on one side of a curved hallway. The vehicles subtly spin around a semicircle, showing the progression of time.

The first vignette shows Elizabeth meeting Jane, Mr. Bingley, and unexpectedly, Mr. Darcy in the rain. Mr. Darcy is looking at Elizabeth differently.

The second vignette shows Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth dance at the Netherfield Ball, but Elizabeth’s younger sisters embarrass the family by acting rowdy. Mr. Darcy appears to be regretting his decision.

The third vignette shows Mr. Darcy unexpectedly proclaims his love for Elizabeth, admitting “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to ardently I admire and love you.”

Elizabeth, who has only known Mr. Darcy for continually insulting her and her families and believing himself to be superior due to his social position, angrily rejects him, proclaiming, he was “the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”

Several months later, we see Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, visit Pemberley. There they meet Mr. Darcy, who appears kind and gracious, seeming to have changed since their last meeting, but Elizabeth continues to ignore him.

In the fifth vignette, we hear the Bennet family speaking worriedly about their youngest daughter Lydia, who has run off with Mr. Wickham. They will not be able to financially marry. Elizabeth is shown by herself, realizing that Mr. Darcy has paid off Wickham’s debts so they can marry. Her opinion of him begins to change: Elizabeth realizes that not only has Darcy been prejudiced against her for her social standing, but she has been prejudiced against him for his wealth.

The final vignette shows Mr. Darcy talking to Elizabeth in a garden. When discussing his financing of Wickham’s marriage to Lydia, he admits to her, “Your family owe me nothing. Much as I respect them, I believe I thought only of you.”

Mr. Darcy then proposes to Elizabeth a second time. With both of them overcoming their pride and prejudice to understand the other, Elizabeth accepts, and they live happily ever after.

image


Let me know if I should shorten this.​
I like the idea of what you have for this. On the one hand, I could see maybe shortening it, as a lot of the other scenes in the ride have been centered around iconic moments or images rather than trying to condense whole books. That said, Romance is a section that would have more of a character focus rather than big visuals, and doing these vignettes with one or two animatronic figures each could help to condense and show the evolution of love between Elizabeth and Darcy. It also helps that this section is just focused on one book, so there is that room to do something like these vignettes.
 

JokersWild

Well-Known Member
Here is Romance. Hopefully I'm not overdoing it for a "small sequence" but I found it was too difficult to communicate the plot of the book in a one or two scenes, so I instead I settled for a series of "vignettes" that would only require one or two animatronics each and would take up only a few seconds of ride runtime.

Romance: Pride and Prejudice
The next room is Romance, a smaller area serving as a transition between the larger scaled Adventure and Historical Epic setpieces. Romance is themed to the classic 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice.

The story is vastly simplified into a series of short vignettes, focused on the turbulent-to-loving relationship of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.

The first scene shows the Ball. Modest classical music plays. The tracks split into two parallel segments, cycling around two dancing figures, Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet. We can hear Mrs. Bennet is the background, speaking of how their five daughters must marry to men of wealth if their financial situation is to be secured.

The two tracks meet up at the end of the Ball, where the charismatic Mr. Bingley is speaking to his friend, the stiff and arrogant Mr. Darcy. Bingley calls Jane beautiful and asks if he wants to dance with Jane’s sister Elizabeth. Darcy refuses and calls Elizabeth only “tolerable”. In the background, we can see Elizabeth making fun of Darcy.

We now enter a series of vignettes, on one side of a curved hallway. The vehicles subtly spin around a semicircle, showing the progression of time.

The first vignette shows Elizabeth meeting Jane, Mr. Bingley, and unexpectedly, Mr. Darcy in the rain. Mr. Darcy is looking at Elizabeth differently.

The second vignette shows Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth dance at the Netherfield Ball, but Elizabeth’s younger sisters embarrass the family by acting rowdy. Mr. Darcy appears to be regretting his decision.

The third vignette shows Mr. Darcy unexpectedly proclaims his love for Elizabeth, admitting “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to ardently I admire and love you.”

Elizabeth, who has only known Mr. Darcy for continually insulting her and her families and believing himself to be superior due to his social position, angrily rejects him, proclaiming, he was “the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”

Several months later, we see Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, visit Pemberley. There they meet Mr. Darcy, who appears kind and gracious, seeming to have changed since their last meeting, but Elizabeth continues to ignore him.

In the fifth vignette, we hear the Bennet family speaking worriedly about their youngest daughter Lydia, who has run off with Mr. Wickham. They will not be able to financially marry. Elizabeth is shown by herself, realizing that Mr. Darcy has paid off Wickham’s debts so they can marry. Her opinion of him begins to change: Elizabeth realizes that not only has Darcy been prejudiced against her for her social standing, but she has been prejudiced against him for his wealth.

The final vignette shows Mr. Darcy talking to Elizabeth in a garden. When discussing his financing of Wickham’s marriage to Lydia, he admits to her, “Your family owe me nothing. Much as I respect them, I believe I thought only of you.”

Mr. Darcy then proposes to Elizabeth a second time. With both of them overcoming their pride and prejudice to understand the other, Elizabeth accepts, and they live happily ever after.

image


Let me know if I should shorten this.​
Looks great. If it helps at all, you don’t have to communicate the full plot of the book. We’re really just taking famous scenes/ the essence of the book and putting guests in the middle of the action.
 

goofyyukyuk

Well-Known Member
Here is Romance. Hopefully I'm not overdoing it for a "small sequence" but I found it was too difficult to communicate the plot of the book in a one or two scenes, so I instead I settled for a series of "vignettes" that would only require one or two animatronics each and would take up only a few seconds of ride runtime.

Romance: Pride and Prejudice
The next room is Romance, a smaller area serving as a transition between the larger scaled Adventure and Historical Epic setpieces. Romance is themed to the classic 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice.

The story is vastly simplified into a series of short vignettes, focused on the turbulent-to-loving relationship of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.

The first scene shows the Ball. Modest classical music plays. The tracks split into two parallel segments, cycling around two dancing figures, Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet. We can hear Mrs. Bennet is the background, speaking of how their five daughters must marry to men of wealth if their financial situation is to be secured.

The two tracks meet up at the end of the Ball, where the charismatic Mr. Bingley is speaking to his friend, the stiff and arrogant Mr. Darcy. Bingley calls Jane beautiful and asks if he wants to dance with Jane’s sister Elizabeth. Darcy refuses and calls Elizabeth only “tolerable”. In the background, we can see Elizabeth making fun of Darcy.

We now enter a series of vignettes, on one side of a curved hallway. The vehicles subtly spin around a semicircle, showing the progression of time.

The first vignette shows Elizabeth meeting Jane, Mr. Bingley, and unexpectedly, Mr. Darcy in the rain. Mr. Darcy is looking at Elizabeth differently.

The second vignette shows Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth dance at the Netherfield Ball, but Elizabeth’s younger sisters embarrass the family by acting rowdy. Mr. Darcy appears to be regretting his decision.

The third vignette shows Mr. Darcy unexpectedly proclaims his love for Elizabeth, admitting “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to ardently I admire and love you.”

Elizabeth, who has only known Mr. Darcy for continually insulting her and her families and believing himself to be superior due to his social position, angrily rejects him, proclaiming, he was “the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”

Several months later, we see Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, visit Pemberley. There they meet Mr. Darcy, who appears kind and gracious, seeming to have changed since their last meeting, but Elizabeth continues to ignore him.

In the fifth vignette, we hear the Bennet family speaking worriedly about their youngest daughter Lydia, who has run off with Mr. Wickham. They will not be able to financially marry. Elizabeth is shown by herself, realizing that Mr. Darcy has paid off Wickham’s debts so they can marry. Her opinion of him begins to change: Elizabeth realizes that not only has Darcy been prejudiced against her for her social standing, but she has been prejudiced against him for his wealth.

The final vignette shows Mr. Darcy talking to Elizabeth in a garden. When discussing his financing of Wickham’s marriage to Lydia, he admits to her, “Your family owe me nothing. Much as I respect them, I believe I thought only of you.”

Mr. Darcy then proposes to Elizabeth a second time. With both of them overcoming their pride and prejudice to understand the other, Elizabeth accepts, and they live happily ever after.

image


Let me know if I should shorten this.​
Tough in between... as far as I know, there's no SOLE iconic scene from Pride and Prejudice like there is with Casablanca that enabled it to be condensed to something small in the GMR... but condensing it somewhere would make sense. I think there's so much packed into a scene as small as this that guests would just get lost to some extent. Maybe focus on the love of Elizabeth and Darcy, like with the line: "You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love... I love... I love you." Just a suggestion, but it's tough to figure out how to toe that line to be honest
 

Outbound

Well-Known Member
Tough in between... as far as I know, there's no SOLE iconic scene from Pride and Prejudice like there is with Casablanca that enabled it to be condensed to something small in the GMR... but condensing it somewhere would make sense. I think there's so much packed into a scene as small as this that guests would just get lost to some extent. Maybe focus on the love of Elizabeth and Darcy, like with the line: "You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love... I love... I love you." Just a suggestion, but it's tough to figure out how to toe that line to be honest

Yes... the problem is that scene in from the movie, not the book. :confused:
 

goofyyukyuk

Well-Known Member
Mythology


Guests begin in a dark tunnel moving into the Egyptian set, which is completely dark. All narrations (in quotes) come directly from The Chronicler

“Since the beginning of time, humans have told stories. Although stories were initially conveyed orally, as we evolved, our storytelling evolved. The ability to physically record stories allowed them to be widespread and adopted as cultural heritage. In no place was this storytelling more prominent than Ancient Egypt.”

Torches light up, illuminating the room in a flickering light. Guests are within a pyramid, and wall art and hieroglyphics tell the story of Osiris.

“Ancient Egyptian myths influenced their politics, religion, and history. Of these myths, the most influential was the story of Osiris.”

On the wall, Osiris’ figure, which had appeared to merely be part of the wall art, begins to move.

“Osiris was the king of Egypt, who had lifegiving power. Under his rule, Egypt was peaceful; however, Set, Osiris’ brother and a god of chaos, rose up against Osiris. He murdered his brother, scattering pieces of his body throughout Egypt.”

This scene is depicted on the wall through projections.

“For years, Set ruled Egypt, while Osiris’ wife, Isis, searched for him. Finally, all the pieces of Osiris were recovered, and he was revived as the god of the dead. Isis and Osiris had a son, Horus, who grew to be the strongest of the gods. He challenged Set’s rule and defeated him in combat. Finally, after so many years of turmoil, Egypt had a rightful king.”

The conclusion of the story is depicted on the walls. Throughout this story, guests have barely moved in their cars. At the conclusion of the story, guests move into a dark transition tunnel.

“Although Egyptian myths were influential in their culture, there was still a disconnect between the people and the subjects of their stories.”

Guests enter the Greek set. It is a temple, with statues of the gods filling the room.

“The Greeks, known enthusiasts of the arts, made their myths take a physical form. With that love of the arts came an improvement in the sophistication and depth of their stories, and to all who heard and told the myths, the stories came to life.”

The statues, previously thought to have been static, begin to move and interact with each other.

“The Greeks believed the characters in their myths, Zeus, the god of the sky, Poseidon, the god of the sea, Hades, the god of the dead, Apollo, the god of archery and music, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, and many, many others, were real and lived in their worlds. In many senses, the Greeks progressed storytelling by setting their stories in the real world and bringing ordinary people into their epics.”

Guests, who had been slowly moving around the stage, move into the exit tunnel, which is dark as well. However, as examples of the stories of Greek mythology are mentioned, they appear on the walls of the tunnel briefly.

“As the original storytellers, their great stories, tales of great strength, valor, romance, and adventure, influence storytelling even today.”

End scene.


 
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Outbound

Well-Known Member
Ok, completely overhauled everything. The focus is now less of a book report and more abstract. I am trying to replicate character development through a five-second visual medium...

Romance: Pride and Prejudice
The next room is Romance, a smaller area serving as a transition between the larger scaled Adventure and Historical Epic setpieces. Romance is themed to the classic 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice.

The sequence begins with Mr. Darcy’s first proposal to Elizabeth, claiming “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to ardently I admire and love you.

Elizabeth, who has been led to believe Mr. Darcy is a terrible person by secondhand accounts and assumptions as well as being rightfully offended by his feeling of superiority due to his wealth, angrily rejects him, proclaiming, he was “the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”

From here, two parallel sequences occur, as both begin to see past their pride and prejudice. These sequences are communicated largely through audio, with lighting used to draw one’s attention from either side. They alternate to create a rhythmic effect.

Elizabeth learns that her younger sister Lydia has run off with Mr. Wickham, who’s dangerous social situation was a result of Mr. Darcy’s meddling…

On the other, we see Mr. Darcy attempting to overcome his pompous exterior…

On the other, Elizabeth realizes Mr. Darcy did not ruin Mr. Wickham’s situation, but rather it was Wickham who attempted to marry Darcy’s young sister, who’s refusal Wickham unfairly blames Darcy for...

On the other, we see Darcy welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner with genuine kindness, something he lacked beforehand...

On the other, we learn that Mr. Darcy has agreed to pay for Lydia and Wickham’s marriage, ensuring the Bennet family’s own financial situation.

Overhead, we hear Mr. Darcy explain his actions to Elizabeth: “Your family owe me nothing. Much as I respect them, I believe I thought only of you.

Finally, we see the silhouettes of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is proposing again to Elizabeth, but this time it is romantically in the garden. Elizabeth accepts the proposal, and they live happily ever after.


image
 

goofyyukyuk

Well-Known Member
Make sure to click the link at the bottom haha... I had this idea and started working on it before the story was finalized, so if anybody has suggestions for how to make it fit with the story better, let me know and I can try and update it! I looked at it as being an introduction to literature and storytelling without depicting specific stories all the way around
 

Outbound

Well-Known Member
Gee, if only there were an iconic romance novel that actually had stand-alone imagery and set pieces that were equally iconic...
ELODIES1STBGG_LargeWide.jpg

Ok Tiki I want you to know you have goaded me into writing the same prompt twice.

Team, I’m thinking this will either immediately follow Pride, or it will replace it as the single romance scene. If we go with only one feel free choose between Pride and Gatsby. I like both, the Pride Plan is focused heavily on the characters and their dialogue while the Gatsby Plan is all about environment and feeling.


Romance: The Great Gatsby
The next room is Romance, a smaller area serving as a transition between the larger scaled Adventure and Historical Epic setpieces. Romance is themed to the classic 1925 novel The Great Gatsby.

Ride vehicles are suddenly swept into the glitz and glamor of Gatsby’s West Egg Mansion. The track splits into two, each waltzing around the center. Screen windows show sparkling fireworks outside, culminating as we exit the manor.

And then the music sharply cuts out. We are now outside the mansion, but it feels like an entirely different night: there are no signs of life, the lights seem to have all gone out, and the extravagant music from inside can be barely heard.

We can see the back of an unidentified figure, looking across the lake at a small but shimmering green light. After momentarily pausing to watch this figure, we turn away and exit the scene.​
 
Last edited:

AceAstro

Well-Known Member
Historical Epic

_stjeQ6HZeksboE3waD4w8kDgBmgTioYWoLUFMDHXWDQYuS5YowGPjUcaY7JYuVfok10KKwbZaj3SgG3eHjNKkLMK9vwI47lZwz_TR31-68SEnTKIMdnxMa0jOYv9kshMe1mw2cS


Guests drive into a dark tunnel with very little light (except at the far end it appears there is light slightly around the corner on the left). The whole area has a strong musky smell and sounds like flowing water. Suddenly, the area lights up more when one of the shafts opens revealing Jean Valjean and Marius in the Sewers below France in Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

afP8ArrYPdHT4D4lY2NdHotOFhVct_smgWzcjdAKBofh6GV7_eRnysOmNavThRKY1SJqjPyLIBw8_2RQDOAkfRJHSgFOyERdYFegj3dIEwmvdA52H5RxqGViqcV4Lwf5O0PDHTwX


Guests see Jean Valjean reaching down to pick up an unconscious Marius. “Come on Marius, we have to get going” guests can hear Jean Valjean say. The majority of the tunnel is still fairly dark so guests continue on towards the light. Just before getting to that light, guests can see Thenardier lurking in the shadows waiting to ask Jean Valjean for money.

Next, guests go into the light and come out to massive cliff rock on either side of them. The iconic engravings on the side of the cliff match the original. This can mean only one thing. Guests are at the Battle of the Red Cliffs from Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong.

fLmeI940DpX-ATzn2kNLGOf5QFZFhInLwIeKET_0jQ4naOFLSg0IOyYzZ4qaWDGyXy-cQwd3g1xQyVco62XQlPe9Gsz_nnp4IgnayA74bKib5L5TSk60vpotrkNhBbZdtPkABBPR


Guests enter the scene at the calm before the storm. Suddenly, chaos can be heard from above as the massive battle takes place.

iK8QfQBMS0o36LnX_rERsInKoZq9OQJ73CWU06vuqWNf3P1wPraPGDrq_n4avEADrnKNstfbMqbcAmU8lBST2n7mIO9NKdNlcS4j_o5n-NzmVBx6or9wHwtBu8YEh1vmfg5whNxT


Guests can see spears and swords fall from the cliffs above into the simulated/ shallow water on either side of the vehicle (the swords and spears don’t come close to the guests and get weighted to the bottom to be conveyored to the top again in time for the next ride vehicle to pass. Keen guests will be able to see a soldier AA appear to be falling over partially hanging over the edge.

After escaping the Battle of the Red Cliffs, guests enter into a smaller-scale battle, the Battle of Xiaoting - more specifically a fight between Liu Bei and Sun Quan’s general, Lu Xun. (This part is slightly dramatized as the battle featured 100,000 warriors so the focus is on the leaders instead).

Pd1WY0eZDxWyZuDXyP6FohYQbqayG0z_Du4cHP1zM8AKM7a2fZ2s57tezYqaM8aYrmfGjLHicV9d-lW5NL3kCmNOSCvNPIMqqsaExSTW8HV_p6zxihKCk_IABIN9E3KGbKfki4gI


These two leaders are represented through A-1000’s allowing the Animatronics to fully move in a full “battle”. Swords are being swung at each other while they “block” the swings back. The guests follow along slowly as Liu Bei is being pushed back by the barrage of swings from Lu Xun. With enough clear blows to Liu Bei, it is clear that Lu Xun has won. He tells the guests “follow me” and the ride vehicles continue on to the Stone Sentinel Maze.

The Stone Sentinel Maze was a real-life maze that would appear and disappear with the tides. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Xun gets lost in the maze (and almost dies). Unfortunately, the guests also get lost in the maze.
With the help of the ride technology, there are multiple paths that the ride vehicles can take. The gif below shows three possible paths:

RomaneTest.gif


Eventually, the guests make it to an open square where they find Lu Xun (blue dot on gif). He says he found the way out of the maze finally and points to the opening just behind the guests. The cars turn around and weave down this final path to lead to the finale.


 

AceAstro

Well-Known Member
Historical Epic

_stjeQ6HZeksboE3waD4w8kDgBmgTioYWoLUFMDHXWDQYuS5YowGPjUcaY7JYuVfok10KKwbZaj3SgG3eHjNKkLMK9vwI47lZwz_TR31-68SEnTKIMdnxMa0jOYv9kshMe1mw2cS


Guests drive into a dark tunnel with very little light (except at the far end it appears there is light slightly around the corner on the left). The whole area has a strong musky smell and sounds like flowing water. Suddenly, the area lights up more when one of the shafts opens revealing Jean Valjean and Marius in the Sewers below France in Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

afP8ArrYPdHT4D4lY2NdHotOFhVct_smgWzcjdAKBofh6GV7_eRnysOmNavThRKY1SJqjPyLIBw8_2RQDOAkfRJHSgFOyERdYFegj3dIEwmvdA52H5RxqGViqcV4Lwf5O0PDHTwX


Guests see Jean Valjean reaching down to pick up an unconscious Marius. “Come on Marius, we have to get going” guests can hear Jean Valjean say. The majority of the tunnel is still fairly dark so guests continue on towards the light. Just before getting to that light, guests can see Thenardier lurking in the shadows waiting to ask Jean Valjean for money.

Next, guests go into the light and come out to massive cliff rock on either side of them. The iconic engravings on the side of the cliff match the original. This can mean only one thing. Guests are at the Battle of the Red Cliffs from Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong.

fLmeI940DpX-ATzn2kNLGOf5QFZFhInLwIeKET_0jQ4naOFLSg0IOyYzZ4qaWDGyXy-cQwd3g1xQyVco62XQlPe9Gsz_nnp4IgnayA74bKib5L5TSk60vpotrkNhBbZdtPkABBPR


Guests enter the scene at the calm before the storm. Suddenly, chaos can be heard from above as the massive battle takes place.

iK8QfQBMS0o36LnX_rERsInKoZq9OQJ73CWU06vuqWNf3P1wPraPGDrq_n4avEADrnKNstfbMqbcAmU8lBST2n7mIO9NKdNlcS4j_o5n-NzmVBx6or9wHwtBu8YEh1vmfg5whNxT


Guests can see spears and swords fall from the cliffs above into the simulated/ shallow water on either side of the vehicle (the swords and spears don’t come close to the guests and get weighted to the bottom to be conveyored to the top again in time for the next ride vehicle to pass. Keen guests will be able to see a soldier AA appear to be falling over partially hanging over the edge.

After escaping the Battle of the Red Cliffs, guests enter into a smaller-scale battle, the Battle of Xiaoting - more specifically a fight between Liu Bei and Sun Quan’s general, Lu Xun. (This part is slightly dramatized as the battle featured 100,000 warriors so the focus is on the leaders instead).

Pd1WY0eZDxWyZuDXyP6FohYQbqayG0z_Du4cHP1zM8AKM7a2fZ2s57tezYqaM8aYrmfGjLHicV9d-lW5NL3kCmNOSCvNPIMqqsaExSTW8HV_p6zxihKCk_IABIN9E3KGbKfki4gI


These two leaders are represented through A-1000’s allowing the Animatronics to fully move in a full “battle”. Swords are being swung at each other while they “block” the swings back. The guests follow along slowly as Liu Bei is being pushed back by the barrage of swings from Lu Xun. With enough clear blows to Liu Bei, it is clear that Lu Xun has won. He tells the guests “follow me” and the ride vehicles continue on to the Stone Sentinel Maze.

The Stone Sentinel Maze was a real-life maze that would appear and disappear with the tides. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Xun gets lost in the maze (and almost dies). Unfortunately, the guests also get lost in the maze.
With the help of the ride technology, there are multiple paths that the ride vehicles can take. The gif below shows three possible paths:

View attachment 488905

Eventually, the guests make it to an open square where they find Lu Xun (blue dot on gif). He says he found the way out of the maze finally and points to the opening just behind the guests. The cars turn around and weave down this final path to lead to the finale.


Sorry for the delay, I was having tech issues making the gif!
 

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