Americana 1900- The Complete Presentation

[Solaris Knight]

It’s impressive how much the other parks blow Americana 1900 away, and that was already a spectacular park! I would absolutely donate to a Patreon to see work progress, or at least buy the Americana Chronicles you’re working on.

 

[Evilgidgit]

 

[D Hulk]

@PerGron , c’mere buddy! James created an animal conservatory!

 

[MickeyMouse10]

Great minds think alike James, I put The AMF in my Tomorrowland for Disneyland Hawaii. Splendid job as always man.

 

[James G.]

Great minds think alike James, I put The AMF in my Tomorrowland for Disneyland Hawaii. Splendid job as always man.

You're right, great minds! Also, it's kind of hard to see, but I have the Minirail from Expo '67 in Montreal going all over in RetroAmericana 1950.

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I'll have to check out Disneyland Hawaii!​

 

[James G.]

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When gold was found in 1849 at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California, near San Francisco, prospectors with dreams of getting rich descended on the area. The population swelled, San Francisco grew from a small coastal town to one of the largest cities in America practically overnight, and California became the 31st state the next year. This era of unprecedented growth is celebrated in the nation’s largest and most innovative water theme park, Gold Rush Gulch 1849. It is organized into four “Watersheds,” each representing a facet of this unique story of the overnight growth of California. These Watersheds consist of:​

San Francisco,

a rip-roarin’ gold mining town overlooking San Francisco Bay.

The Golden Gate and Alcatraz Island,

the gateway to the goldfields of California.

Sutter’s Mill and the surrounding logging and gold mining camps,

rustic, rugged, and crisscrossed with the rivers and streams that revealed why California is called the Golden State.

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[James G.]

Fearsome Critters’ Canyon,

a place of mythical creatures of folklore and watery fun for all ages.

The shops, restaurants and theaters of San Francisco, the sunny beaches and beautiful views of the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay, the breathtaking water thrill rides of Sutter’s Mill and the family fun of Fearsome Critters Canyon make Gold Rush Gulch 1849 a water park for the entire family.

The Bay View Inn overlooks San Francisco Bay and the waterfront of Gold Rush Gulch 1849, providing family-friendly accommodations and a convenient location for visitors to the nation’s premier water park.

Sutter’s Mill Campgrounds provides nearly two hundred fully-equipped cabins and cottages, two hundred forty full hook-up RV sites and one hundred primitive camping sites with a full-service convenience store, locker rooms and laundry.

 

[James G.]

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The smallest theme park in the Americana family is Riverside Park, a place where young children and their families can spend the day sharing experiences, adventures and memories to last a lifetime. Every ride and attraction in this unique boutique park is designed to allow children aged ten and under to share the day with their families, riding not just one carousel but several, and a wide selection of rides and experiences, each with a different theme.​

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Ferris Wheels and family-friendly rides, trains, carnival games, family-themed restaurants and a huge hands-on craft center are just some of the many attractions that make Riverside Park a must-visit destination for families with children, and its 1890s-themed architecture and landscaping make it one of the most beautiful theme parks in the Americana family.

Carefully integrated with the rides and attractions of Riverside Park are many attractions that can be enjoyed by children of all abilities, including those with physical and developmental disabilities. Special adaptations have been made for many rides to allow children in the "A Kid Again" program to share these attractions with other kids of all levels of ability. Riverside Park is truly a place where all kids can be just that- kids!​

The Riverside Inn offers two hundred rooms designed for families with young children.

 

[James G.]

Tin Pan Alley
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Shopping, entertainment and dining are the featured events here in Tin Pan Alley, a destination retail complex, sometimes called a “lifestyle center.” Literally the center of the Americana Resort Complex, Tin Pan Alley is named for both a collection of music publishers from the late 19th and early 20th century, but also for the street in New York City where they were headquartered. At Americana, Tin Pan Alley is a microcosm of five historic American cities, recreating famous streets, shops and buildings from:​

Los Angeles

Chicago

San Francisco

New Orleans

New York City

 

[James G.]

These microcosms of some of America’s most historic cities surround a central fountain-filled plaza, which offers hundreds of tables, chairs and comfortable park benches for al fresco dining, relaxing or watching the beautiful dancing waters of the fountain.

Major retail shops, casual restaurants and fine dining establishments, a first-run movie multiplex and the excitement of big-city life in the middle of northern Alabama make Tin Pan Alley one of the most popular destination shopping and entertainment centers in the American South.

The Causeways

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Every theme park in the Americana Resort complex is connected to Tin Pan Alley and the central parking garages beneath it by broad pedestrian causeways. These pedestrian bridges carry thousands of visitors daily over the Inner Ring Road to all of the five theme parks, passing through the streets of Tin Pan Alley. Each causeway is beautifully landscaped, shaded with awnings and tall trees, and even has guest services facilities providing restrooms and small refreshment stands located near the center of each. Along with providing pedestrian access to each park, they also support the elevated rail line that runs overhead- the NARTA.​

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NARTA, the Northern Alabama Regional Transit Authority, is the first privately-built, non-monorail-style elevated public transportation line built in America in decades. Once commonplace in most major American cities, only a handful of these “El”s still operate, most notably in Chicago. NARTA (nicknamed the “Crimson Ride '' by the local University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide fans in reference to its brightly-painted red trains) connects every Americana park to each other, to Tin Pan Alley and to all the central parking lots and garages.​

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The trains run on a counterclockwise route through the Americana Resort, with stations at all five parks and two stations in Tin Pan Alley, one behind San Francisco (which also contains the transfer track to the NARTA service building) and one between Chicago and New York City. There is no charge for utilizing NARTA.​

Note: NARTA stations are designated by red dots on the NARTA route. Arrows show the direction that NARTA trains take. All stations are located outside of their respective theme parks.

 

[James G.]

Camellia Hills Golf Resort

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The newest addition to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama is the Camellia Hills Golf Resort, a complex of three eighteen-hole hole golf courses designed by Rees Jones, son of Robert Trent Jones and a prime example of Mr. Jones’ commitment to environmentally conscious golf course design. The course is commonly described as one of the most beautiful golf courses in America- and one of the most challenging. Many visitors to the Americana Resort stay at the Camellia Hills Resort Hotel strictly for the elegance and atmosphere of the hotel itself, a huge structure inspired by the Victory Hotel that once stood on Put-in-Bay Island in Lake Erie. ​

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This massive hotel, the largest in the Americana Resort, boasts nearly seven hundred rooms surrounding a massive covered internal courtyard containing the largest miniature golf course in the nation. An all-weather multi-storied driving range, three restaurants, two bars and the nation’s largest golf-themed shopping complex are just some of the amenities that make the Camellia Hills Golf Resort a destination resort for every golfer and their family.​

Cotton Blossom Music Center

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The summer home of the Alabama Symphony is the Cotton Blossom Music Center, a spectacular art-deco pavilion that seats five thousand under shelter with room on its spacious hillside lawn for another thirteen thousand. Inspired by the Sherwin-Williams Plaza, constructed for the 1933-34 Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland, this acoustically-perfect space welcomes not only orchestral music lovers but also fans of rock, gospel and touring r&b artists, and many others. Area high schools, colleges and universities often use the Cotton Blossom Music Center as the location for their commencement exercises, making it one of the most visited and utilized facilities in the entire Americana Resort complex.​

Yellowhammer Casino and Resort

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Even though its official ornithological name is the Northern Flicker, nearly everyone in Alabama calls its State Bird the Yellowhammer, and this was chosen as the name for the magnificent casino/hotel complex that stands north of the Americana Resort. Its design was inspired by the Ford Building created for the California Pacific International Exposition, held in San Diego, California in 1935, and designed by Walter Dorwin Teague. Featuring smooth, sleek, almost aerodynamic lines, the Ford Building was the most popular attraction at the fair, and still stands in Balboa Park as one of the best examples of Streamline Moderne architecture, an international style of art deco.​

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The Yellowhammer Casino has over two thousand slot machines, seventy table games and thirty poker tables spread out over nearly one hundred fifty thousand square feet of gaming space. An award-winning steak house, all-American grill and two lounges, one with entertainment nightly, complement the twenty-four-hour excitement to be found in this adult-only resort. Four hundred forty guest rooms, ranging from basic one-room accommodations to executive-class suites, a complete fitness center and spa, and boutique shopping are available to guests at the Yellowhammer Casino.​

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[James G.]

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The moment that Gold Rush Gulch 1849 opens, Green Springs Township will become obsolete. With just a few exceptions, Gold Rush Gulch has everything that Green Springs has, but more and better. Keeping with the theme of history, Green Springs will figuratively become a dinosaur.
​

But not for long.
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What will be unofficially called “Project Green Springs 2.0” will begin even before Gold Rush Gulch opens. A few of its premier attractions- Over the Falls, Gully Washer, Old Mill Scream and Battle Creek- will be retained, and the Winter Garden will be gutted but spared. Nearly everything else will be removed and Green Springs Township will be completely recreated. The Winter Garden will house the Olympic Rain Forest, where families can enjoy a family-themed play area together, in a setting where, like its namesake the Olympic Rain Forest in Washington State, it rains nearly nonstop.​

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New additions to the Township will include a Splash Battle adventure between the Monitor and the Merrimack, a multi-drop Shoot the Chutes tentatively titled “Broken Lock 13,” and the largest, most expensive indoor water adventure ever created, “Titanic: the Final Plunge” where a lifeboat carrying passengers escaping from the sinking Titanic is sucked into the ship’s cargo hold and must somehow escape before the “unsinkable” ship makes its final plunge to the ocean bottom*.
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*Before anyone comments that R.M.S Titanic was a British ship and therefore not appropriate in an American history-themed park, it technically was an American ship. It listed Liverpool as its homeport, but Titanic was actually owned by International Mercantile Marine, an American company, which was bankrolled by J.P. Morgan.

Green Springs Township will become a new kind of water park, one where every attraction is themed, every ride is a complete soaker, and every visitor will learn that, if you don’t want to get wet, don’t go to a water park!

The decrepit, sinister-appearing barn that serves as the station for Vulture will also serve as an entrance to Americana 1900’s ninth and newest Township, Scream Acres, a completely-indoor collection of the darkest dark rides and horror-filled experiences ever conceived.

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Here it will always be night, the moon will always be full, the abandoned ghost town found inside will always be filled with the screams of terrified visitors, and the spirits of the dead and the bodies of the undead will always be waiting to “welcome” new residents. A new GC&SF train station will also service this new Township, which will be constructed underneath Vulture, extending from Morrison Farm westward to the railroad line.​

 

[James G.]

Like Jack Cahill, the Founder of Americana said at its dedication,

“Americana 1900 will never truly be accomplished, any more than America will ever complete the American Dream.”
​

The Americana complex will continue to grow, to reimagine itself, to add new experiences for its visitors to discover and enjoy. The Fearsome Critters will move from their Side Show home in State Fair to a brand-new, more spacious home in the National Wilderness Neighborhood of RetroAmericana 1950, and their former home will become the location of The Top, a recreation of a totally unique coaster officially called a Scenic Spiral Wheel that thrilled our great-grandparents at Luna Park in Coney Island over a hundred years ago.​

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New hotels will open throughout the resort, many overlooking or actually located inside the newer theme parks. A new adventure theme park, as yet unnamed, will offer thrill-seeking visitors a chance to race go-karts, bungee jump, zipline, be catapulted nearly four hundred feet in the air on the world’s tallest reverse bungee attraction, and experience many as-yet undecided attractions.​

I heard it said once that no work of art or literature is ever finished. The artist or writer just decides to stop working on it and move on. That is the case with this presentation- sort of. In my mind, Americana will never be finished, but this presentation has finally come to a conclusion. I hope that you have discovered the enjoyment, entertainment and pride in the history of America and American amusement parks that I feel, just as I hope I have succeeded in sharing with you my love and passion for Americana 1900.

It is now time to move on- to the next chapter.

The history of Americana 1900 and The Americana Resort has just begun!

 

[Disney Warrior]

Bravo! What a presentation this was! This is definitely one for the record books!

 

[James G.]

View attachment 636380
Bravo! What a presentation this was! This is definitely one for the record books!

I wish we had an emoji to choose that said "humble gratitude."

 

[MickeyMouse10]

Awesome job, from page 1 you could tell right away you put a lot effort in this project. And we all appreciate it bud. This is one of the most complete and comprehensive projects ever.

 

[D Hulk]

Ecstatic to see your passion project concluded, sad to see it end. It has been a real pleasure to watch Americana 1900 and the greater Americana Resort slowly come to life…not just during this latest, masterful iteration, but ever since your earliest draft first caught my eye oh so many years ago in Theme Park Apprentice. I am so glad I got to be a small part of this. Congrats!

 

[MickeyWaffleCo.]

James, Americana 1900 is by far the most unique, creative project on the forum, and you should be proud of being the creator of such an impressive endeavor.

 

[Evilgidgit]

Well, I think we know who is going to win the forum awards hands down! What a journey. Congratulations, @James G. on such a magnificent effort. Truly a marvel of imagineering. Stupendous in execution and creativity.

Just...REALLY DARN AWESOME!

 

[PerGron]

Amazing job @James G.! I’ve been following along in pieces but I just read through the whole thing and it’s genuinely one of the best fantasy theme park projects I’ve seen period!