1986 - The House of the Future: Week 2

[NigelChanning]

I’m probably going to go to sleep here in just a second and am preparing to wake up to 50 pages worth of brainstorming that I’ll need to read.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

We have a solid land concept. Maybe still a little scattered with different cultures and styles. But a good start.

Still a lot to figure out and now we have another day to do it! Even enough time now to scrap what we have and start over if we sleep on it and decide we want a new direction.

I'm totally 100% cool with no IP. But what we have as a concept really locks us in that way. Like I said, I'm good with that. But we should be sure we feel good about that.

How naturalistic do we want our supernatural stuff is another question we need to ask. Ghost, sirens, living trees, and giant lemurs are all great options. But one topic to discuss as we refine the idea is whether our supernatural elements are entirely fictional and magical creatures or things that are just one or two steps away from being real.

Another thing to discuss is a weenie for the land. We seem to agree "No Volcano" but we should still have something. We only know one land this is bordering (Harbortown), so we can't get too caught up on transitions and weenies specifc to the land you're coming from. We need just one or two solid icons. Probably one that houses our E-Ticket thrill ride (assuming we have one) and one that is just decor. Idk. Just another think for us to think about.

But we don't need to figure these out tonight. Just some things to think about as we go.

For tonight, I think it is about bed time for a lot of us. And a good time to take a breather and step away for a bit. That way we can come back with fresh eyes.

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The way I see it:

Tomorrow can be settling on themes and directions
Tuesday can be dividing up into teams and finalizing ride/shop/dining list
Wednesday can be our main work day
Thursday can be finishing and finalizing and presentation.

 

[Mickeynerd17]

Okay, one more quick thought for my Jungle Cruise spiritual successor idea before I turn in for the night.

As a potential name, maybe we can call it Taonga River Journey. There was a mention of earlier Maori settlers for the island in that backstory, and taonga is a Maori word meaning treasure. It could be a play on words, how they named the river for its beauty in nature, but now there is all this greed trying to take it away.

This is a great idea! I've got a little suggestion:

How about having the main ride system being an LPS trackless that can couple to boats?

The vehicles could start on land, then move to water, and back to land to simulate the idea of hopping in a boat and sailing to the island.

 

[NigelChanning]

How naturalistic do we want our supernatural stuff is another question we need to ask. Ghost, sirens, living trees, and giant lemurs are all great options. But one topic to discuss as we refine the idea is whether our supernatural elements are entirely fictional and magical creatures or things that are just one or two steps away from being real.

In terms of supernatural stuff, I think I’d be cool to explain it as less magic but more of the untapped, weirder side of nature. Maybe Scientists have discovered this remote location in South America and discovered animals of legend and beautiful trees. But, during their research, they find something they weren’t supposed to and the guests are sent on a mission to find them.

 

[spacemt354]

@Brer Panther , I know you were the unlucky duck in the first round there bud, but do you have any suggestions on what we've discussed so far?

At the very least as an Adventureland fan so we know we're on the right path

 

[Outbound]

Here is my pitch for a rough land map. I was inspired by Frontierland in Disneyland Paris. There would be a single "island" surrounded by water... we can probably have some transport going around the lake for full effect. Giant mist machines create the illusion of a vast surrounding fog encompassing the island, and cleverly evading the real world borders.

Two grand bridges allow for entry: the first connects to Port Voyage, the second connects to Land _____ (likely Frontierland). At the northeastern corner is the town, an Arabian Steampunk settlement. The rest of the island is full of unique trails and paths for exploration.

I put a Palace backed up against a mountain as the forced perspective "weanie" but that is just a suggestion.

Thoughts?

 

[Mickeynerd17]

In terms of supernatural stuff, I think I’d be cool to explain it as less magic but more of the untapped, weirder side of nature. Maybe Scientists have discovered this remote location in South America and discovered animals of legend and beautiful trees. But, during their research, they find something they weren’t supposed to and the guests are sent on a mission to find them.

Agreed, stuff like whirlpools, freak lightning storms, sinkholes, etc

 

[Mickeynerd17]

Here is my pitch for a rough land map. I was inspired by Frontierland in Disneyland Paris. There would be a single "island" surrounded by water... we can probably have some transport going around the lake for full effect. Giant mist machines create the illusion of a vast surrounding fog encompassing the island, and cleverly evading the real world borders.

Two grand bridges allow for entry: the first connects to Port Voyage, the second connects to Land _____ (likely Frontierland). At the northeastern corner is the town, an Arabian Steampunk settlement. The rest of the island is full of unique trails and paths for exploration.

I put a Palace backed up against a mountain as the forced perspective "weanie" but that is just a suggestion.


View attachment 501234



Thoughts?

I see one problem with this, it's pretty hard to have show buildings for multiple rides. The only spot I can think of would be the mountain. If we were doing just one E-ticket that would be fine, but I have a feeling we'll have more attractions than that here.

 

[PerGron]

I see one problem with this, it's pretty hard to have show buildings for multiple rides. The only spot I can think of would be the mountain. If we were doing just one E-ticket that would be fine, but I have a feeling we'll have more attractions than that here.

Well if we have a Jungle Cruise successor, that's outside, plus a few flat rides, a show or two, etc. and we've got a good setup. We don't really need too too many show buildings

 

[Mickeynerd17]

Well if we have a Jungle Cruise successor, that's outside, plus a few flat rides, a show or two, etc. and we've got a good setup. We don't really need too too many show buildings

Ok, cool. In that case, I would situate the main show building under the mountain and the rest can be in the town. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[spacemt354]

Goodnight all, will see you tomorrow - will sleep on it but PerGron's direction seems like "this is the way" for the project - we come to a consensus on that tomorrow or whatever we decide we should be in good shape

 

[pix]

Late night idea that just popped into my head for your consideration - Pacific Northwest type forest type land.

• Big trees, log flume ride through the forest.
• Uncanny type creatures that look like deer but when you look closer it's very much not a deer, vague spooky and cool creatures that could be used in a hide and go eek type ride where you have to photograph these creatures for science Rope course through the trees.
• Exploring and adventuring through this strange forest with an interactive game like MKs adventureland, possible added not-quite-real-world lore with fairy rings and stuff that make the action sets move.
• Super new idea because Adventureland can get pretty repetitive in these games. Stays far away from any of the Forbidden Rides as a concept with things super new to the land.
• Can have a waterfall for the weeny to keep with a water theme from Harbortown.

I might just be very tired but I think this could work.

 

[D Hulk]

Getting the discussion rolling today! There is a TON to read through, but I think the gist of our existing Adventureland proposal is this:

Alright, so I’ve reworked my proposal, just because I really really don’t like two separate disjointed lands, so I’m gonna do my best to not go that route haha.

So I’m much more of a story guy than I am land design, so I’ve taken a bit of @D Hindley and @Outbound concepts and combined them into a general story. I agree, multiple biomes may be a bit much, but I still think having one United land is crucial.

So our story would feature some Arabic merchants sailing to India (or vice versa we could have som Tamil merchants sailing to Arabia) who get marooned on a mysterious island. This island has a bank of fog around it or something that prevents sailors from discovering and charting it. The wildlife here would be incredibly unique, as would the biomes. Rather than multiple disjointed biomes, it would be biomes found on islands within the Indian Ocean. I took a lot of inspiration from Madagascar, having forests of giant trees while huge rock pillars jut out around it.

We could have a population of Maori settlers who already settled the island, bringing some Polynesian influence. They took in our marooned merchants and taught them about the land. About how it was like nowhere else on Earth. The trees grow upside down (they could be like Madagascan Baobab trees) and how the caves underground are rich in jewels and riches. Of course, our merchants want to start harvesting it all, but the settlers say that we are only to take what we need or else the island “punishes you”. That means cut down trees only for shelter and boats, harvest rocks only for building and hunting, kill only what you need.

Over time, more and more people would settle the island and (taking influence from Jules Verne with maybe a bit of a steampunk style) ships and machinery comes to the island. Despite the Settlers warnings, they tear apart the island, harvesting its resources, so the island has punished them. It traps them in time, allowing no technology to develop. Soon, people begin to leave, so when we find it, it is a mostly abandoned village with some people remaining.

We would find the village with old abandoned mining vehicles, marooned steamships, etc. The few people that remain have turned the island into a tourist stop, giving tours of the mysterious jungles and biome of the island, while merchants set up shop, etc. etc.

---

This concept is a bit different than my first, but it would also keep my story in tact, work in Outbound’s mysterious jungle ideas, and also get to play in a biome that aren’t straightforward jungle/desert while all being unified.

it’d work like Pandora where you don’t need the whole story to grasp what’s going on, but the story will be rich and nuanced for those looking for it.

If this fails, I’ll lay off, but I really don’t want the jungle and desert different lands haha

I support @PerGronStudio's idea as a good compromise and direction. A mysterious island, possibly with mystical creatures and curses hidden in the fog. A theme that encourages us to step away from IP almost entirely. No Volcano or huge desert (which I feel have both been done a lot).

Most importantly, this isn't 17 sublands which is the trap adventurelands tend to fall into with Armchair Imagineering. This could be a smaller, more cohesive land. With an interesting Thunder Mesa style story of explorers taking getting greedy, taking too much, and facing the consequences.

I agree with @goofyyukyukyuk17 that this should be not long after the explorers arrive instead of later on. That way it isn't too similar to Pandora.

That also lends well to a 3 Act structure with 3 attractions.

• Act 1 - Temptation - Perhaps a Boat ride or submarine ride themed to sirens? A PotC type experience underwater as we get lured in with promises of treasure.
• Act 2 - Greed - Perhaps some show or flat ride where the explorers are celebrating with their excess that they've found! Everything seems happy here, but there is a clear subtext that the bubble is about to pop. Like a 1920s Gatsby Gala months before the markets collapse the gunshots ring out.
• Act 3 - Consequences - E-Ticket thrill ride where the island takes revenge. Perhaps an EMV or Coaster. Trees come to life. Big Creature atttack. Stuff like that.

A pitch for the general land direction...

A very, very, very weird and unique combination of this, this, and this:

View attachment 501233

View attachment 501232

This might seem crazy at first glance. I will explain my reasoning for each "theme" below.

First off, we've already established the natural environment will be unlike any Adventureland seen before. It will be inspired by the unique flora of Madagascar, with tall baobab trees and the like. This will set the land apart from anything else. There will also be a great misty fog surrounding the island.

Second... I suggest instead of the "settlements" being European, I suggest this settlement be done by the Ottoman Empire. In the backstory @PerGronStudio mentioned it was Arabic traders who actually made the journey in the first place. This makes the land even more visually distinct, and ties to the backstory. We have Islamic / Arabic / Turkish architecture, building up into a forced perspective of a Grand Palace at the center of the settlement.

But that's not all, the town would also have a distinct "steampunk" vibe. There wouldn't be any airships or the like, but it would clearly be approaching modernity with hastily constructed pipes around the buildings and steamships docking in port.

All in all, this would make for one of the most visually distinct lands seen in a Disney park... ever.

And we have until Thursday evening (correct?) to make good on this.

A bit more time today could be spent on fine tuning this concept, or proposing alternatives. We should quickly transition to proposing specific attractions (like Pi’s Siren idea) so that we can then divide up tasks amongst the group and get to creatin’.

 

[PerGron]

Oh boy do I have some stuff to talk about. I’m out and about running errands today, but I have a whole backstory, a list of species (based on speculative evolution), and much much more

 

[spacemt354]

Back in 2017 - we were honored to have Artist Tom Thordarson stop by and give us some brainstorming and artistic tips - I linked his first statements below, he had like 4 posts or so in the thread.

Club 32 Lounge

Tom also mentions to look at the overall plan first, then each land, then the art representing each idea for the overall plan and lands. Maybe...since @D Hindley I know a while ago we were talking about the American Wharf land, perhaps we can focus big picture for now, and work our way down to...

forums.wdwmagic.com

Mr. Thordarson was one of the artistic designers for Mysterious Island in Tokyo DisneySea.

Might I suggest taking some inspiration from him for the design of our own Mysterious Island (Name TBD)

This style can facilitate the transition to steampunk blimps as well as categorize local tribe identities as well for the land - I think it might be the missing link to tie everything together that we have

 

[spacemt354]

Some other samples of his concept art

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Late night idea that just popped into my head for your consideration - Pacific Northwest type forest type land.

• Big trees, log flume ride through the forest.
• Uncanny type creatures that look like deer but when you look closer it's very much not a deer, vague spooky and cool creatures that could be used in a hide and go eek type ride where you have to photograph these creatures for science Rope course through the trees.
• Exploring and adventuring through this strange forest with an interactive game like MKs adventureland, possible added not-quite-real-world lore with fairy rings and stuff that make the action sets move.
• Super new idea because Adventureland can get pretty repetitive in these games. Stays far away from any of the Forbidden Rides as a concept with things super new to the land.
• Can have a waterfall for the weeny to keep with a water theme from Harbortown.

I might just be very tired but I think this could work.

This could be a really interesting new take on Adventureland!

I like our current Island concept, but we rushed into it because of a lack of time. Hearing another pitch or too might be smart now that we have an extra day.

Pacific Northwest theming is always fun. And it would be a new take on Adventureland. Some undiscovered valley. Mysterious creatures (much like the island concept, these can be very similar to real animals that are just slightly off. A lot of options to put guests in the Adventure as it is a theme that lends itself really well to scavenger hunts and rope courses.

 

[spacemt354]

He also has a YouTube channel with some drawing lessons

He was a really cool guy, very humble and motivating - even if we end up going a different route stylistically, his feedback will definitely be something to learn from given the shorter timeframe, it'll help us organize our thoughts

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Back in 2017 - we were honored to have Artist Tom Thordarson stop by and give us some brainstorming and artistic tips - I linked his first statements below, he had like 4 posts or so in the thread.

Club 32 Lounge

Tom also mentions to look at the overall plan first, then each land, then the art representing each idea for the overall plan and lands. Maybe...since @D Hindley I know a while ago we were talking about the American Wharf land, perhaps we can focus big picture for now, and work our way down to...

forums.wdwmagic.com

Mr. Thordarson was one of the artistic designers for Mysterious Island in Tokyo DisneySea.

Might I suggest taking some inspiration from him for the design of our own Mysterious Island (Name TBD)

This style can facilitate the transition to steampunk blimps as well as categorize local tribe identities as well for the land - I think it might be the missing link to tie everything together that we have

If we do go with the Island plot (which is likely, but since we have a bit more time we don't have to feel quite as rushed), the buildings made out of crashed crafts concept is a strong one!

 

[spacemt354]

If we do go with the Island plot (which is likely, but since we have a bit more time we don't have to feel quite as rushed), the buildings made out of crashed crafts concept is a strong one!

I slept on it - and given the short turnaround the island I think will offer the most for everyone to do.

While there is a backstory to it from @PerGron - might I suggest it not bleed into the land too much ala Pandora? There could be references to colonial greed, mining, etc - but I think that backstory could be like the Wilderness Lodge, where if you look it up, there is so much to that tale, but someone designing Wispering Canyon Cafe doesn't have to abide by it.

That will enable the 14 of us to be a bit more open to creativity, and might continue the flow of content more swiftly.

In a perfect world I wouldn't jump immediately into the Mysterious Island concept, but in order to have time to develop the written content I think it's our best bet.