Before I begin, make sure you've read the first post of this thread, as it quotes a recent screamscape article.
There are two things in the world that I have known about that you (the reader of this post) might not know about, and they are two things that I think are pretty darned cool.
1. Geocaching. Geocaching, called a sport by some, is an activity that involves finding "caches", which are sort of little follow-the-clue puzzles set up by other geocachers. They are usually inconspicuously set up in a public place, such as a community park (my friend designed one that was entirely inside our local shop rite). The object is to follow each subsequent clue at each marker to the end of the cache, at which is usually a box with a logbook and maybe small treasures for you to take. Then you log in to your favorite Geocaching website and brag about your accomplishment (jk). The caches vary in difficulty from easy to extremely difficult. Some of them are comprised of clues that are simply compass directions, and others are extremely cryptic, like something out of Indiana Jones. It is a "sport" comparable to Letterboxing. The cool thing is that these games exist openly right under your nose, but no one ever notices that they're there - unless they look for them.
2. "The Game". From what I have read and understand, The Game began at an Ivy League school (Harvard?); a kind of annual team competition that involves each team finding and following clues, with the end goal of being the first time to "finish". Successfully deciphering each clue leads to a new location, and a new clue. The entry fee is substantial, so the organizers have a LOT of capital to play with, leading to high levels of clue complexity. Usually The Game takes place within the confines of a major city, and the organizers go at great lengths to involve anyone and everyone, hiring actors and stand-ins, etc. There are Red Herrings everywhere, and a wide expanse of knowledge and equipment is mandatory for any team to stand a chance of even finishing (one year, a clue was at the bottom of a lake, and required scuba gear to retrieve). Here's an example (this knowledge all comes from an article I saved from Rolling Stone):
The team enters an electronics store, and they ask the clerk if he knows anything. The clerk says, "wait here for gerald", and disappears. This, the team determines, is a Red Herring. They're standing in this store, when someone notices something funny about the wall of TVs. There is a local weatherman (well known in the area), giving the weather. Something is strange - then someone else notices exactly what. The temperatures on the map behind the weatherman don't make sense. One town is 12 degrees, and a few miles away, another town is listed as 92. The weatherman says things like "Looks like the elements are really out in force"...someone keys in to this clue, and a few seconds later they have a periodic table. The element abbreviations spell something out, and it turns out to be a popular skateboard shop in town, and the game goes on.
Still with me? Great. I took the screamscape article to basically mean that the good folks at imagineering are working on something very close to the two concepts I just mentioned above, only "disney-fied", in a very awesome park environment. Rides are great, but how many times (esp. as children) did you wish you could get out of your POTC boat and climb aboard the wicked wench, or go on an adventure of your own through the animatronic town? It sounds like they're working on a way to really immerse you in such an adventure, almost like a full scale, disney version of "Myst", something that a certain archeologist would be right at home with. You can't tell me that you haven't wished you were Indiana Jones at some point (I know I have :animwink
.
So you've got an entire "park" that's basically one big adult playground, the whole place open for you to run around in, with mountains, caves, forests, etc. All safe, disney-style environments (like HISK movie set adventure, only BIG). Now add in a game, not unlike Geocaching or The Game; "playing" in this park now takes on a purpose. Now add yourself, and about 5 of your good friends and/or family. Can you put your heads together and solve all the puzzles? Can you finish the adventure? I picture, for example retrieving crystal-like keys from all areas of the park, lets say, and then finding a secret entrance to a cave in which there is a great stone door. My friends and I figure out that the strange runes in the walls correspond to the ones engraved on the keys, and we have to figure out what order to place them into the keyholes, and the door will open - The possibilities are limitless. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!
I think a lot of us have jumped to unfair conclusions about the nature of night kingdom. I seriously doubt disney would build a new park that costs so much to attend if they didn't plan on making it accessible, no matter what others have said (Note that in the article, rock climbing is in quotation marks. That was very significant to me). Bear in mind we've heard nothing official from the mouse. A lot of folks here seem to be keen on bashing it already because it's not Villians-related, or coaster kingdom. So before everyone jumps on the bandwagon, attacking this thing, I implore you to abandon your predispositions, think for yourself, open your mind and see Night Kingdom for what it could potentially be - something supremely fun and exciting; something totally unique that no one has EVER done before. I'm sure that we can all agree on this: Disney has always innovated, and has almost always had extreme success. The new concept, whatever it is, is subsequently imitated by every other theme park in history. Why fight innovation now? I think this idea sounds awesome, and I want to know what you think of what I've written here.
Your responses are welcome, but please bear in mind that these are only my opinions and observations. If you disagree, cool, but please respect my views without resorting to bashing me.
I'm sorry for going Leo Tolstoy on you guys.
There are two things in the world that I have known about that you (the reader of this post) might not know about, and they are two things that I think are pretty darned cool.
1. Geocaching. Geocaching, called a sport by some, is an activity that involves finding "caches", which are sort of little follow-the-clue puzzles set up by other geocachers. They are usually inconspicuously set up in a public place, such as a community park (my friend designed one that was entirely inside our local shop rite). The object is to follow each subsequent clue at each marker to the end of the cache, at which is usually a box with a logbook and maybe small treasures for you to take. Then you log in to your favorite Geocaching website and brag about your accomplishment (jk). The caches vary in difficulty from easy to extremely difficult. Some of them are comprised of clues that are simply compass directions, and others are extremely cryptic, like something out of Indiana Jones. It is a "sport" comparable to Letterboxing. The cool thing is that these games exist openly right under your nose, but no one ever notices that they're there - unless they look for them.
2. "The Game". From what I have read and understand, The Game began at an Ivy League school (Harvard?); a kind of annual team competition that involves each team finding and following clues, with the end goal of being the first time to "finish". Successfully deciphering each clue leads to a new location, and a new clue. The entry fee is substantial, so the organizers have a LOT of capital to play with, leading to high levels of clue complexity. Usually The Game takes place within the confines of a major city, and the organizers go at great lengths to involve anyone and everyone, hiring actors and stand-ins, etc. There are Red Herrings everywhere, and a wide expanse of knowledge and equipment is mandatory for any team to stand a chance of even finishing (one year, a clue was at the bottom of a lake, and required scuba gear to retrieve). Here's an example (this knowledge all comes from an article I saved from Rolling Stone):
The team enters an electronics store, and they ask the clerk if he knows anything. The clerk says, "wait here for gerald", and disappears. This, the team determines, is a Red Herring. They're standing in this store, when someone notices something funny about the wall of TVs. There is a local weatherman (well known in the area), giving the weather. Something is strange - then someone else notices exactly what. The temperatures on the map behind the weatherman don't make sense. One town is 12 degrees, and a few miles away, another town is listed as 92. The weatherman says things like "Looks like the elements are really out in force"...someone keys in to this clue, and a few seconds later they have a periodic table. The element abbreviations spell something out, and it turns out to be a popular skateboard shop in town, and the game goes on.
Still with me? Great. I took the screamscape article to basically mean that the good folks at imagineering are working on something very close to the two concepts I just mentioned above, only "disney-fied", in a very awesome park environment. Rides are great, but how many times (esp. as children) did you wish you could get out of your POTC boat and climb aboard the wicked wench, or go on an adventure of your own through the animatronic town? It sounds like they're working on a way to really immerse you in such an adventure, almost like a full scale, disney version of "Myst", something that a certain archeologist would be right at home with. You can't tell me that you haven't wished you were Indiana Jones at some point (I know I have :animwink
.So you've got an entire "park" that's basically one big adult playground, the whole place open for you to run around in, with mountains, caves, forests, etc. All safe, disney-style environments (like HISK movie set adventure, only BIG). Now add in a game, not unlike Geocaching or The Game; "playing" in this park now takes on a purpose. Now add yourself, and about 5 of your good friends and/or family. Can you put your heads together and solve all the puzzles? Can you finish the adventure? I picture, for example retrieving crystal-like keys from all areas of the park, lets say, and then finding a secret entrance to a cave in which there is a great stone door. My friends and I figure out that the strange runes in the walls correspond to the ones engraved on the keys, and we have to figure out what order to place them into the keyholes, and the door will open - The possibilities are limitless. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!
I think a lot of us have jumped to unfair conclusions about the nature of night kingdom. I seriously doubt disney would build a new park that costs so much to attend if they didn't plan on making it accessible, no matter what others have said (Note that in the article, rock climbing is in quotation marks. That was very significant to me). Bear in mind we've heard nothing official from the mouse. A lot of folks here seem to be keen on bashing it already because it's not Villians-related, or coaster kingdom. So before everyone jumps on the bandwagon, attacking this thing, I implore you to abandon your predispositions, think for yourself, open your mind and see Night Kingdom for what it could potentially be - something supremely fun and exciting; something totally unique that no one has EVER done before. I'm sure that we can all agree on this: Disney has always innovated, and has almost always had extreme success. The new concept, whatever it is, is subsequently imitated by every other theme park in history. Why fight innovation now? I think this idea sounds awesome, and I want to know what you think of what I've written here.
Your responses are welcome, but please bear in mind that these are only my opinions and observations. If you disagree, cool, but please respect my views without resorting to bashing me.
I'm sorry for going Leo Tolstoy on you guys.
