The Final Reviews
As we bid farewell last week to all the rest of our players, it is time for this final three to be judged. All three of you have played a wonderful game thus far, proving to be more than up to the challenge to succeed in the Manor of Mysteries.
The final challenge was in no way meant to be simple, I included literally zero advice, help, rules, or guidelines, so I loved seeing the way all three of you interpreted this challenge and made your case for why you think you deserve to win.
But now it comes to the ending; who will claim victory over this strange manse? Will it be the newcomer
@Architectural Guinea Pig? Will it be the forever bridesmaid
@AceAstro finally becoming the bride? Or will the spirits smile kindly upon
@ThemeParkPriest, technically the longest player of the game when factoring in Project Zero? All of that and more coming tonight! This… is the Manor of Mysteries!
ThemePark Priest- Trolls Land
Alright, so jumping right in, we have a really interesting decision you’ve made here. I know you mentioned not knowing a whole lot about Trolls, so choosing it as your final project was definitely a choice, but I admire the pragmatic way you went about this. Like you, I’m not all that familiar with Trolls nor am I very familiar with USH as a park, but I am familiar with the pitfalls of capitalism and how it affects business decisions, and building a land based around one of the biggest IP that NBCUniversal currently has makes a ton of sense.
Closing down The Simpsons makes sense, I’m sure Universal isn’t too fond of paying out royalties to Disney on both Marvel and The Simpsons, plus it’s always good to have a kid’s land available, even with Super Nintendo World. I also think (having been on the one at USO) The Simpsons Ride could stand to be closed down and replaced by something better. USO adding Pokemon is definitely one I could see happening, and while I wonder how realistic it would be for one coast to have Pokemon and not the other, I’m sure the West Coast Pokemon fans would be mad. Still, I like the direction you went with some family friendly theming and a pretty notable IP.
Now onto Trolls: Color Rescue. I enjoyed the inclusion of a dark ride in any form to a Universal park. Like everyone else in the theme park sphere, I’m sick and tired of the overdone screen-based attractions that plague their parks and would love something with some good ol-fashioned animatronics. I guess on a personal level, if I had to critique the idea here, it’s that I think trackless dark rides are kind of overdone in these comps and I don’t think your ride necessarily needed to be one. I think it could’ve sufficed as another dark ride style to differentiate it a little bit, but really, it’s just a minor nitpick.
The ride-through here sounds like something very realistic and I could absolutely see it being added to the parks. Traveling through different genres of music is a fun idea and turning it into a shooting dark ride in a way is also a great addition (though it does bring about those screens into the mix, but I’ll give that a pass as it has physical sets too). The plot itself also is simple enough for a theme park ride without becoming too complicated to express it or for the casual rider who spent $100+ per ticket and doesn’t care at all about story and just wants to shoot color here and there.
I do think it becomes a little bit formulaic here, not that it would be an issue in practicality, but for a final project with some really strong stuff from all three players, I think using the same general idea over and over throughout the ride may not have been the strongest idea? I get that you were going for that realism element and that will get you some bigger sway in the final conversation here, but I don’t know if it stood out as much as it really should’ve as the major piece of your final project. It’s good and well-thought out, but kind of predictable and repetitive, though realistic.
Jumping into dining, you clearly had some fun inspiration going on here. The world of Trolls is colorful and presumably filled with sweets and sugar and whatever else, so it makes sense to have unique and colorful foods which also fits with the theme park of it all. While I don’t know that I could order “Mr. Dinkle’s Dumplings” out loud in front of a poor underpaid cashier at 1:13 in the afternoon on a Tuesday in April, I can definitely see some of these food items becoming Instagram hits, especially if they play with the inherent fun and vibrancy of the concept and world.
The addition of a few eateries to replace the Simpsons also is a great decision. The ice cream shop and cake bakery make sense for my very limited knowledge of this franchise (based mainly on assumptions I’ll admit), but the inclusion of a BBQ and pizza joint are also a lot of fun. Theme park pizza is notoriously pretty bad, but sometimes you’re just down for that bad slice, and BBQ has become a staple at theme parks recently and it can tend to be pretty good, so good choices all around.
When it comes to shopping, I don’t really expect much from it, it really is just supplemental material normally, but I would’ve liked a little bit more of an elaboration on some of it, especially the Make-a-Troll shop. Is it a glorified Build-a-bear? Is it more of an experience like Savi’s Workshop? I think some more detail here would’ve helped round out this project even more.
In the end, I think you have a really solid project, especially for a solo round. You should absolutely be proud of what you accomplished here! That said, I think the fact you went the pragmatic way and not the passionate way kind of hurt you in the end. I would’ve rather you have taken something you’re really really passionate about and make it come true where instead you picked an IP you aren’t very familiar with nor all that excited about and made a very serviceable but kind of unexciting land. Again, for a solo project doing it all by yourself, this is nothing to scoff at, but I would’ve loved to have seen what ThemeParkPriest WANTED to do, rather than what ThemeParkPriest felt had to be done if that makes sense.
AceAstro- Pinewood Park
You took the opposite approach of ThemeParkPriest and instead of going the safe route, you took a huge gamble and designed an entire park solo. I definitely appreciate the cojones that takes, but the worry is, were you able to complete the entire thing to the quality it needed to be? Or did you fly a little too close to the sun?
I’ll admit, I don’t know much about Pinewood Studios themselves. I definitely am familiar with the products they put out, but it was interesting to see a studio I’d definitely never have expected to get its own dedicated theme park have one designed for them. I like the placemaking and your rationalization of why, where, and how this plan would come to fruition. It added a lot to the realism of the project to include that.
London Square, while definitely making sense for the placemaking and historical reason, is a little bit tonally confusing. We have a 1930s London vibe, but the two attractions present are not 1930s London themed. I think taking the Main Street USA approach would’ve been interesting here, turning it from a purely 1930s London to a changing evolution of the city, that way the more modern attractions would’ve fit a little more snugly into the land.
Jumping into Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I was really scared when I saw you were making a ride based around that iteration of the story (even if it WAS the one made by PineWood). I am already not a fan of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory or the story in any of its adaptations, but when I got to reading your project, I could very easily envision it in my mind’s eye. In fact, I saw every single moment almost perfectly and there’s an element of me that (despite being a hater of both the Wonka story and chocolate in general) I’m shocked something like this hasn’t ever been done. A water coaster through the chocolate river would be such a brilliant move and I think you managed to capture it perfectly. I also think you managed to avoid directly tying it to the Johnny Depp film any more than you had to while making it an instant classic for any generation that grew up with the story, be it Gene Wilder, Johnny Depp, Timothy Chalamet, or whoever else will end up playing him at some point.
I’m not at all familiar with Taskmaster as a show, but this sounds like a ton of fun. The issue with the American Idol Experience was that it literally took a whole park day away from a guest and their family basically (my cousin got in it one time and our whole day was screwed up planning around her) but this one seems a bit different and probably a bit quicker. Plus, I’ve always thought Impractical Jokers would make for a fun show at a theme park and this seems to fill a similar yet more light-hearted niche. I really appreciate its inclusion, plus it got me to watch episodes of Taskmaster which I don’t think an Imagineering project has ever done before for a different series.
I’m just gonna get all of the dining and shopping for the park done here (unless anything really notable comes up) but it’s all fine. Doing an entire park solo, I expect the shopping and dining to be less focused on, so I won’t focus on it as much either. From London to Marmalade it’s all fine, it makes sense. Good work.
I, like any other human being with a soul, love Paddington and getting a whole family-friendly land dedicated to him is awesome. I think Paddington’s Waterway Adventure is a great addition to the park, with a cute and charmingly simple water dark ride being a phenomenal inclusion. For this sort of thing, I don’t think it really needed to go big, it fits well into its niche and I appreciated you including it. As for the Playground and the Flying Adventure, it is all good stuff to include and helps include some more family-friendly stuff. I know how crucial a good playground is at a park too, something that doesn’t come up often in these games. The zoo I used to work at added one and it stopped the annoying kids throwing stuff and yelling at animals almost tenfold, it was magical.
Doing a park at Pinewood, it’s no secret that Bond had to be a major inclusion here, and Monte Carlo was a phenomenal idea to add in. First off, the hotel/casino makes so much sense that I’m kind of surprised it hasn't already been done at a major theme park, especially where USF has a Hard Rock Hotel right there. Still, including it here and making it a requirement to have park tickets to enter makes sense.
Monaco Pursuit sounds like a ton of fun, especially for a Bond fan. The ride system fits perfectly and including the screens here makes sense, especially for a large scale action attraction-based attraction like this. I could see it being a huge hit. Bond: Beyond the Limits is another great addition to the park. Stunt shows in a studio park go together like milk and cookies and including one for James Bond may make more sense than Indy, Batman, and Jason Bourne combined. This is a really well-written stunt show and I’m happy to see its inclusion.
For Your Eyes Only as an interactive game sounds like an absolute blast and I love the thought you put into making every kid’s spy dreams real. I always loved the Kim Possible World Showcase game when I was a kid, so including a game like this in a Bond-themed land just makes a ton of sense and adds a lot of value to doing multiple days at the park.
Heading to Production Centre, I cannot believe you managed all of this solo, like genuinely. This is an insane amount of detail and write-ups. Every time I click a new link, I think I’m going to get a few sentences and maybe a picture, but no, I’m getting fully fleshed out attractions, and that’s crazy to me. I wish I had the time or energy to really break it all down in the way it all deserves, but I want to get these reviews and results out in a relatively timely manner. That said, all three experiences with The Special Effects Show, The Pinewood Experience, and The Screening Theatre worked wonderfully and beautifully for me. The Cinderella Coaster was definitely more what I was expecting in terms of detail here, but that’s all fine and good because so far, you’ve gone above and beyond. As for The Studio Tour, it’s another classic of these studio parks and while it doesn’t do anything all that unique compared to any of the others, it’s a great inclusion nonetheless.
Finally, with The Lot, we’ve got some more great attractions to round out the roster. A simulator attraction themed to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang pleases my child self’s heart, I watched that thing constantly, and I’d love to see this attraction. Fiddler on the Roof I’m less familiar with, but adding in a stage show of an iconic film and musical also makes sense for a studio park. The First Great Train Robbery is brilliant and I fell in love with Ripley’s Rescue Run and absolutely need it in real life.
At the end of this project, I came away insanely impressed by everything you managed to do here. When I saw you did a whole park, I was worried about it, but you kept a consistent style and detail that never waned and fully sufficed for what was needed. I think my biggest critique of this was how much you made me read haha. No, but this was seriously such an interesting project to see. I loved seeing your take vs the other two players’ takes as all three had their separate strengths and I’m excited to see where this goes.
Architectural Guinea Pig- Disneyland Forward Phase 2
So right off the bat, I’ve got to knock you for not having your project done by the submission time. I know it wasn’t too late, but the fact that I gave you as much time as I did and you still took extra with the only excuse of “I was lazy getting it done” that’s gotta get a knock against it, I’m sorry. I would’ve rather you cut some unfinished stuff and submitted on time rather than take that extra as I’m sure Priest and Ace could’ve used that extra time as well if they were given it.
With that being said, I did like that you went the intermediate between Ace’s insane solo park and Priest’s more reserved single land. You did a couple mini lands in an existing park and I think your project shined because of the passion you had for your idea. I’ll also give you credit, your google site was my favorite of the three just based on the visuals of the star backgrounds and the text font you chose. It was very aesthetically pleasing. I also loved your map’s visuals, they looked great.
For the plotline of Embarcadero Bay, I don’t know that it really needed to be included into S.E.A. Maybe I’m becoming
@TheOriginalTiki here, but I’m kind of sick of seeing this organization show up and I think you could’ve come up with something without including them. Still, I do think your backstory was strong even with my aversion to the inclusion of S.E.A. It made sense as a way to tie all these ideas together into one uniform land with different sublands.
The Embarcadero is a cute little area that I could see becoming pretty popular for its seaside town feel. Including Ned’s Aquatwirl as another flatride is funny, but you also point out the irony in it and make sure it at least changes up the general formula and I can appreciate that. I’m not sure why it needed to be tied to 20k, I’ll be honest, I think it could’ve worked as a stand alone attraction without any major IP tie in. The restaurant, shop, and tea museum are all solid, though I can’t say I have a lot to say about them. Painted Ladies Tearoom was very interesting as an idea though, I do like that one a lot.
I like the upgrade you gave San Fransokyo. It didn’t need a ton, just some plussing here and there and I think what you gave it satisfied that job. The different exhibit activities plus meet and greet are fun and the restaurants (particularly Noodle Burger) are interesting enough that I can see them becoming popular with park guests.
Industrial Lane adds more Big Hero 6 to the park, but I think both additions here are genuinely really strong. While I don’t know that I like the idea of endorsing what is basically this world’s version of *rooster* fighting and turning it into a shopping experience like with a droid, I can see it becoming popular, especially if its cheaper than the droid workshop over at the other park. Big Hero 6: Ultraflight also seems super exciting and would be a really neat addition to the park. The KUKA arm technology is vastly underutilized, and I find using such a robotic piece of equipment in the Big Hero 6 ride is rather fitting.
Wrapping us up with Shinamoto Street, I liked the small and scaled-back pace that you went with. Replacing Sky School with the fireworks-based wild mouse is fun and I think adds a lot of unique elements to the park while the Turning Red tie in is nice and cute too. Really, my biggest issue here is the tie in to S.E.A. again with the Fireworks Factory coaster. I think it could’ve been done more fun and unique if you went with another storyline rather than tying it into the existing one.
In the end, I think your project, like the other two, had some really great elements and you should absolutely be proud of yourself! All three of you should, but there can only be one winner, so it’s time to dim the lights…