Disney American Adventure

[GrandRoyale]

I've heard lots of good things about this site so I thought I'd check it out. I love seeing people's ideas on here and I have a few of my own so I thought I'd start posting. I'll be talking about specific details throughout the thread, and in the meantime I'd love comments and criticisms for you guys! For now, just a broad general idea of what my proposition is:


Disney American Adventure

This theme park would be an all-new type of Disney park experience, where rides are only the beginning. In the worlds first living museum, guests at Disney American Adventure will not only learn about American history, but touch it, hear it, see it, feel it, and live it. Our country is full of excitement...but only at Disney American Adventure can you see it all!

This park would be separated into six lands:
1. Colonial Square - the entrance to American Adventure, this late-18th century post-Revolution town is home to several shops and eateries, as well as a premiere show. Here, guests can explore the nooks and crannies of a Northeastern colony freshly free from Great Britain, from an authentic blacksmith to a picturesque harbor. America's roots serves as the perfect start to every guests American Adventure.

2. Bellum Bay - this Civil War-era harbor is dominated visually by a beautiful harbor headed by an old lighthouse which guides an old-time steamer that gives guests rides daily. Along the banks of the harbor are Civil War battle re-enactments, as well as guided tours of a textile factory. The major ride in this area guides guest through classical American literature...with a thrilling twist! Dining along the bay consists of fresh seafood and picnic food, with merchandise reflecting Americas most infamous battle. Overall, this area becomes a reminder of America's tumultuous past, yet proudest moments.

3. Metroville, USA - welcome to the Roarin 20's! In this northern cityscape, guests can ride the new automobiles, hear the Big Band music, and enjoy cocktails in hidden speakeasies. One of the parks signature rides pits guests in a chase with bootlegging mobsters. Tamer offerings include a top show, exhibition of the worlds latest and greatest inventions of the '20's, city tours along Ford taxi cabs, and a journey through time and history via the worlds largest and most innovative dark ride. Guests can explore the highly-detailed streets and alleyways of this booming metropolis, where skyscrapers are on the rise, and choose from a variety of dining options brought over from immigrants from all over the globe. There's never a bad day in Metroville!

4. White Water Wilderness - dominated by White Water Mountain, guests step into the 1880's and have an entire Western forest at their disposal to explore. From a large mining camp playground to a bustling mine town, there are endless acres to play in. Brave guests can board a raft and careen through White Water Mountain, while more laid back folk can take a Western River Expedition with the West's most musical cowboys. Native Americans make camp here as well, as does Buffalo Bill's famous sideshow. But whatever guests do, they are sure to never have a dull moment in this Wild Wild West.

5. Midwest Plains - this is the America your grandma told you about! Set in the 1940's, this quaint town on the edge of the midwest's cornfields is home to soda bars, fresh markets, and blueberry pies! Guests can explore artifacts from the World Wars and Great Depression. Farmers can board biplanes to dust crops while real heroes can join S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America to fight the nefarious Red Skull. Midwest Plains offers some of the best slices of Americana to be found!

6. Monsoon Bay - step into the 1950's onto the beach of Monsoon Bay, a real working beach for guests to swim and play on. If beaches aren't your thing, there are an abundance of rides to play on, including a ,arge Ferris Wheel, parachute tower, and huge wooden roller coaster, all along the beach boardwalk. Or, guests can take a whirl at several games of chance, or enjoy fresh cotton candy, popcorn, and funnel cakes. Be sure to stop in at the old '50's shoreside diner for dinner! Monsoon Bay is your one stop for ultimate fun in the sun!


I can go more into detail on each land later on, but so far what do you think?

 

[MA Screamin']

Welcome to the forum, and great concept!

Colonial Square is just what I wanted for a old park idea I had. It would be cool if you could actually help weld metal souvenirs and such, and your work would be up to purchase by you or other guests. I always thought a water rapids ride would be great for WDW.

I'd love to see you go more in depth, and I may bring this up for a big project I'm planning to propose here in the days to come. For a first concept, this is incredible!

 

[GrandRoyale]

Welcome to the forum, and great concept!

Colonial Square is just what I wanted for a old park idea I had. It would be cool if you could actually help weld metal souvenirs and such, and your work would be up to purchase by you or other guests. I always thought a water rapids ride would be great for WDW.

I'd love to see you go more in depth, and I may bring this up for a big project I'm planning to propose here in the days to come. For a first concept, this is incredible!

Thanks a lot, I appreciate that! I'll go ahead and start going into more depth--I really love playing Imagineer lol.

Anyway, let's start with Colonial Square...

Colonial Square would be Disney American Adventure's version of Main Street. The ticket turnstiles are simple brick huts, but after passing underneath them, guest will be enveloped in a whole new world. Colonial Square isn't literally a square, however, but a simple straight street that leads to a main courtyard. The main roadway is made only of dirt, with gravel walkways flanking the main road. Apple trees and oaks line the street, as do authentic flame-lit lamps. Past the necessary guest services/information buildings are several shops and eateries. The highlights:

Independence Tavern--an authentic 18th century tavern built with dark varieties of wood and lit dimly by oil-lamps. Guests sit on long rows of benches instead of traditional individual tables, and are served dinner family style. Cuisine includes corn, mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables, and stuffing served with turkey, ham, or salmon. Of course, there are pumpkin pies for dessert. Everything is as fresh as possible, so guests can buy into the idea that the food was grown as crops right outside. The service only adds to the authenticity, not only with uniforms straight out of the 1700's, but also a stern attitude towards any rough-housing or unruly patrons.

Liberty Grille--a counter-service restaurant that serves classic American fare (such as turkey legs) with period-appropriate names.

The Publick Sphere--a pub, similar in style to Independence Tavern only smaller in scope and food selection. Here, guests can enjoy old-time ales and enjoy company, while perhaps picking up pamphlets inspired by the Revolutionary era. Hanging on the walls are reproductions of newspaper headings pre-Revolution, and samples of Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense'. Guests enjoying this venue should forget entirely that they are in a theme park, and could hopefully become a common hangout of locals to the area.

Adams & Sons Mercantile Co.--the park's largest gift shop sells typical theme park souvenirs, from T-shirts to postcards to keychains. The signature rides all have small presences in this store. Essentially, this is the equivalent to The Emporium or the Universal Studios Store, set in the late 1700's.

The Knox Inn--a more specialized souvenir shop, the Knox Inn serves a dual purpose of being a museum for Revolutionary War artifacts and replicas, as well as a place to purchase some of the park's most unique items. Uniforms, muskets, and cannons line the walls for display while authentic lanterns, pens, and replica newspaper pages can be purchased for the more historically-minded guests.

The Blacksmith--headed by a real-life blacksmith, this store is the equivalent of Downtown Disney's glass-blowing station...only instead of glass-blowing, this store focuses on metal-mending! An actor gives demonstrations on the hour about the art of metallurgy while real-life craftsman can create personalized gifts for guests at their request. This store also is home to Vinylmation and Disney collectibles made of more fine materials.

Of course, there are the obligatory food carts (no temporary vending bikes though...everything is in theme) along the street. The main attraction stands at the end of the street, in a building heavily inspired by Independence Hall in Philadelphia. "The Signing-A Revolution-ary Musical Revue" is a hybrid combination of stage theatrics and innovative special effects, all of which come together in an abridged telling of how America came to be. Featuring Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy (teaching Huey, Dewey, and Louie about American History), the show is an educational tribute to how the Revolutionary War was spurred, how it was won, and the drama involved in penning the Constitution. While the dialogue and more practical scenes are acted out live, more complex scenes such as Revolutionary War battle recreations are done using large screens, lasers, and pyrotechnics. The show changes sets in a way that The American Adventure at Epcot does, only live actors playing the Disney Characters are on stage narrating the action happening between the animatronic Founding Fathers and war heroes (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc.) This is the premiere show of Disney American Adventure and features performances every 30 minutes (with two casts available all day, each one taking turns doing consecutive shows). "The Signing" empties into a gift shop located in the main building, which features park merchandise with a colonial spin.


There are also a few important aesthetic elements to Colonial Square worth mentioning. While the area overall takes a cue from Colonial Williamsburg (as far as building styles and CM costumes go), prominent visual elements include a bronze statue in the middle of the main courtyard (at the end of the street) of George Washington mounted upon a horse, and a harbor area to the right of "The Signing"'s showbuilding. This small dock overlooks the main lake of American Adventure (the park's lands all revolve around a large lagoon) and features a British sailing ship docked. All over are small references to the Boston Tea Party (smashed boxes of tea, for instance) and benches where guests can enjoy the view. It should be noted that this ship and harbor is not visible from anywhere else in the park, as it is to the side of "The Signing"'s showbuilding, which hides it from areas where guest walkways are overlooking the water.

Other features of the area include a marching band dressed as the Colonial army playing patriotic favorites every hour and a half, and character meet-and-greets with Mickey and the gang dressed in colonial attire. Overall, the area serves as a fitting beginning to guests' American Adventure, as it was the beginning to the real American Adventure.



So that's my first description--thanks to anyone who powered through all of it haha! I'd love any comments or criticisms, especially if there are any historical inaccuracies or obvious flaws. Suggestions are also appreciated; I'm sharing this park so everyone can have a say in it. Thanks guys!

 

[GrandRoyale]

The next area in my proposed little park is "Bellum Bay", a re-created Chesapeake colony at the beginning of the Civil War. Though the war serves as a backdrop and point of reference for the land's setting, it is not the overarching theme of this area. It is to the right of Colonial Square (keep in mind, each area revolves around a large central lagoon).

The land is dominated by a large body of water facing the perimeter of the park. Bordered by rocky landscapes and headed by an attention-grabbing lighthouse, the water serves a merely aesthetic purpose as well as the outlet for the Riverbelle Steamship to embark on its voyages. The Riverbelle is a genuine 1800's era steamboat that takes guest from Bellum Bay, up a heavily-forested river, to a recreation of the Erie Canal that puts guests into the next themed area, Metroville, USA (it is a mode of transport rather than a roundtrip like the Mark Twain). Along the ride, besides being bombarded with beautiful scenic sites, the ship's captain will inform guests of many historical events that shaped America from the Civil War to the 1920's.

Also along the bay is a large dock which is home to a fresh fish market--one of the more unique counter-service offerings in any theme park, this fish market serves fresh fish entrees and features food prepared right before your eyes! Further down, hidden in the foliage on the banks of the river, is a Civil War re-enactment which happens every hour before sunset. Guests are invited to watch, and even bring picnic meals (available at a nearby window-style food outlet), much like patrons did during the start of the Civil War, the Battle at Bunker Hill. However, the weight of the war is stressed as the demonstration goes on, with dramatic re-tellings of several of the more serious battles played out for guests, before a brief re-enactment of the War's epic conclusion.

Another attraction featured is the Lowell Textile Factory Tour, which gives guests an immersive and informative tour of a historically-accurate textile factory from the 1800's. Participants in the tour (which depart every 45 minutes) not only learn about the industry of the time, but can explore several hands-on exhibits that give a taste of an America that was slowly becoming a consumerist economy.

The main E-ticket in Bellum Bay is "American Gothic". Based on the darker stories from Great American literature authors such as Washington Irvine, this trackless dark ride takes guests through the mind of a horror writer. Starting out in the author's study, guests travel through a bizarre tunnel which puts them in the mind of our artist, as he tries to come up with the next great American novel. Though the story is subtle and based on implication, the scenery and thematic elements of the attraction are bold and in guests' face. They come across scenes inspired by Rip Van Winkle and Sleepy Hollow, of course encountering a Headless Horseman animatronic. The trackless features means each vehicle gets a slightly different experience (for example, in a graveyard scene, one vehicle may see a ghost come out from behind one headstone, while another vehicle may see skeletons). The ride also draws inspiration from ghosts and witches, and has many frightful scenes enhanced by the out-of-control nature of the trackless technology. Guests exit the ride in the same study they entered in (merely a duplicate, a la Mystic Manor), only everything is in a disarray, as the author has lost his mind. [Since I love Armchair Imagineering, I'd be happy to elaborate more on this, or any concept, if anyone actually cares lolol].

No land at American Adventure would be complete without a premiere dining venue, and Bellum Bay's comes in the form of a delicious oyster house which sells more exquisite fare than its outdoor alternatives. The interior is designed as a sailor's home, with several dining rooms filled with nautical memorabilia and decorated as rooms aboard a ship.

Shopping includes a store at the exit of "American Gothic", which sells spooky souvenirs and more novel items such as posters and books. The Lowell Textile Factory includes a store that specializes in, of course, park apparel. There are also several specialty shops at the far end of the area which make up a sort of 'village' which specializes in period-appropriate trinkets, toy weapons, and of course, war memorabilia on display.

As usual, thanks for reading and I love comments and criticisms!

 

[MA Screamin']

I always wanted to ride a wet-your-pants scary dark ride, please elaborate!

 

[stevehousse]

You do know that Disney American Adventure was a real theme park plan by Disney that never followed through...you can find info online about it...

 

[GrandRoyale]

You do know that Disney American Adventure was a real theme park plan by Disney that never followed through...you can find info online about it...

Lol yes, it's my favorite concept that was canceled. Nevertheless, I have some different ideas. Let's look at Metroville, USA:

This bustling city themed to the 1920's takes guests back to one of America's most interesting time periods. Newsies offer guests newspapers with authentic headlines. New Ford automobiles roll out with dancing construction workers. Past the city buildings looms a skyscraper under construction. The general layout of this area is a square, with several buildings (in fact a collection of shops) is in the center, the facades of which use forced perspective to give the impression of realistic city buildings. The street revolves around this central cluster of facades, with restaurants and attractions on the perimeter, also behind detailed facades, giving one the impression that they're lost in the city.

One of the most unique aspects of this land is the wide array of food available. The 1920's was a period of heavy immigration, and with the new citizens came new ethnic foods. Lucky's Chinese Kitchen, for instance, serves dumplings, egg rolls, and shrimp in a steamy kitchen tucked in an alleyway. Pizza is available on the dock (looking over the park's central lagoon), served deep dish of course. An Italian restaurant sits on the top level of one building (about two to three stories up), offering scenic views of the area, as well as the rest of the park, while serving exquisite pastas and seafood dishes. The Cotton Club Lounge features snack foods and comfortable and casual seating with live jazz being played for dining guests. And of course, tucked away is a small speakeasy, where guests can sip on illicit cocktails.

The shopping at Metroville is reflective of the booming age of consumerism the Roarin Twenties are known for. Besides the typical theme park apparel are costume clothing and nicer selections. Fine jewelry is also available to guests. A sleazy pawn shop sells pulp comics as well as toy guns and fedoras, while an exhibition hall sells unique collectibles of 1920's gadgets and toys. Advertisements for products are painted on the brick walls of the city buildings, with impressive window displays shown at the front of each store. Metroville, like the time period it's set in, is a mecca for shopping.

While you could make a day of shopping and dining in this city, it is also home to some of America Adventure's most stunning attractions. Imaginative guests can explore the Great Exhibition Hall, where the latest and greatest in new appliances, technologies, and machines are available for guests to touch and interact with. Want to test a telephone or record player? How about test the effectiveness of a new refrigerator! It's all here. Furthermore, the Riverbelle docks by a canal lined with art-deco architecture, which drops off riders from Bellum Bay, and takes new passengers back through time down to Bellum Bay.

Those looking for a little more grandiosity in their entertainment can take a seat at the Grand Jolsen Music Hall, and enjoy a variety of acts, from Vaudeville to swing dancing, all as a small-time stagehand tries to make it to the spotlight. The show features special appearances from Steamboat Willie Mickey, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit!

More adventurous riders will be delighted to take a ride on Crazy Cabbies, where drivers of all ages can take the wheel of a yellow Model T Ford and drive up, down, and all around the city. But one of the bigger rides in Metroville is the re-incarnation of a Disney favorite; Horizons. Like the beloved Epcot original, Horizons takes place in suspended carriages that pass by screens, live sets, and an abundance of Audio-Animatronics. The ride features an Omnimax screen portion, as well as a simulator-style finale in which riders can choose their own ending, just like the original. However, the overall theme is a bit different--instead of focusing on just the future, American Adventure's Horizons follows a young scientist inspired by Jules Verne/Fritz Lange visions of the future, who creates time machines that pass through the history of America. Starting in Metroville, guests will be whisked away to the time of the Pilgrims, the Founding Fathers, and the Revolutionary War (all depicted through grandiose sets featuring several state-of-the-art Audio-Animatronic figures. One of the largest scenes in the ride puts riders over a fort overlooking an 'ocean', with a ship anchored in the water, firing cannons that explode into fireworks in the sky, as riders are told of the birth of our National Anthem during the War of 1812. Riders also are whisked past Civil War scenes, Western boomtowns, and eventually, the "present-day" Roaring Twenties. From there, the scientist takes guests into the future, into the Great Depression, where a dust storm whisks us away into the Omnimax portion of the ride, featuring an expose on America's growing innovation in media and technology. Later scenes include Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon, the Olympic Games, and a trip "into" the Information Superhighway. The finale involves guests predicting what their future will hold, just like the original Horizons. Guests are finally taken back to the "present" in the end, where their tour of American history is complete. Like its predecessor, Horizons will be a nearly twenty-minute journey, and the biggest, most ambitious dark ride of its kind.

One of the signature attractions of Metroville and the park, is Joyride. Starting in a sleazy subsection of Metroville, Joyride's long and detailed queue takes guests through dark alleyways and backroads, ending up in a dark part of town run by mobsters and bootleggers. The ride vehicles are taxi cabs being hailed by ride operators for the "lost" guests to get back to the sunnier side of town. Along the way, however, the cabs witness an alcohol delivery in progress, and the mobsters involve promise not to let the eyewitnesses get away alive! What ensues is a thrilling chase through city streets and grimy alleyways, and, at one point, even through a park. Along the way, tommy guns fire at riders (simulated by puffs of air), cars threaten to crash into cabs, and a thrilling backwards section occurs when a gangster car comes out of nowhere and drives towards riders. The ride comes to a thrilling conclusion when the cabs wise up and decide to speed past a cop, getting his attention and thus leading him to the gangsters, concluding in their arrest...but not before the frantic cabs accidentally drive through a wall of exploding gasoline barrels, swallowing them up in "fire". Joyride employs EMV technology, though unlike Indiana Jones and Dinosaur, the idea is not to convince riders they are on uneven terrain, but instead that they are going faster than they really are. Turns are made with extreme outward banks, and each bump, acceleration, and deceleration is heavily exaggerated thanks to the EMV technology. The sets featured in the ride are dynamic in scope, with full-fledged facades, streets, prop cars, and even a recreated dockside with overhead train tracks surrounding riders. It's the king of attractions of its kind.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

Are there other Disney characters that appear in the park? Plus wouldn't the first area had something that is a tribute to Walt like his home town?

 

[GrandRoyale]

Are there other Disney characters that appear in the park? Plus wouldn't the first area had something that is a tribute to Walt like his home town?

Im not sure what you mean about a Walt tribute, but Id love to hear your ideas! Part of the fun of sharing is to have input from everyone else. As far as characters I was thinking each area could have the main characters (Mickey, Goofy, etc) dressed up in period-appropriate outfits, plus maybe Toy Story characters in the pier and some Disney critters in the wilderness area. Which brings me to...

White Water Wilderness:
This area is all about the wild frontier, and the last of America's continental exploration. This area is made up of two distinct sub-lands...Boomtown, and Frontier. While the frontier comprises most of the lands square footage, featuring winding paths and changes in elevation amidst dense forestry, Boomtown is a bustling western mining town full of streetmosphere performers. The detail on the boomtown's buildings are extremely fine and authentic, as are the rowdy "citizens".
The boomtown sits at the base of the area's landmark, White Water Mountain, a 130-foot man-made mountain. The town strip features several shops selling highly-collectible mining trinkets, and one of the park's largest toy stores themed entirely to cowboy goods. The Boomtown Saloon is a counter-service serving burgers, chicken, and beer. At the end of Boomtown's main drag is an advertisement for Buffalo Bill's Traveling Wild West Show; inside Buffalo Bill's Wild Wild West Showdown, guests can watch what starts out as a normal cowboy variety show turn dangerous when robbers take over the set--then, it's up to the shows performers to use their show-skills to take down the gunmen for real, in an epic stunt spectacular!

Guests can also get in line for one of the park's signature rides, "White Water Falls", an Intamin raft ride a la Grizzly River Run and Kali River Rapids. The queue line snakes through a mining office littered with maps and hiking paraphernalia, suggesting that guests are embarking on a voyage through uncharted mountain territory like Lewis & Clark and Mr Pike. Upon boarding their rafts, guests spin and splash through rapids that traverse a thick forest populated with Grizzly Bears and leaping salmon, a river that passes by the boomtown and past spectating miners, through several cascading waterfalls, and finally up White Water Mountain where a dangerous rockslide sends rafters crashing down a 70-foot waterfall.

Also accessed from Boomtown's "jurisdiction" is a large play area themed to a mine site. There's large nets for guests to climb, swinging bridges, slides down small "canyons", all interspersed with water elements like fountains and geysers that spray adventurous miners. At the base of the site is a river where a pro demonstrates how to mine for gold, where lucky guests can authentically find a unique souvenir!

The frontier is a different environment; beyond the bustling and busy boomtown, the frontier is surrounded by towering trees and features several "off-the-beaten-path" trails that guests can simply get lost and wind down in. Located in a cave housed under a waterfall is The Forrester Cellar, featuring a wide array of wines and fine steak to enjoy in the wooded setting.

The second water ride of White Water Wilderness lies among the large trees of the frontier, only this one offers less thrills and more nostalgia than its sister; this is The Western River Expedition. Drawing inspiration from one of Disney fandom's favorite never-before-seen concepts, Western River Expedition is a boat ride in the same vein as Pirates of the Caribbean...after meandering through an empty desert, the boats come across an abandoned mine shaft and drop down into a canyon which leads to a Western town occupied by the most musical cowboys you've ever seen! Guests wind their way through the town, hearing a song much like Yo-Ho throughout the voyage. The final scenes of the ride depict the town's rough folk robbing banks and eventually fighting each other, bringing boats back to the empty desert they started in and realizing the West was won by nobody. I don't know the exact plans of the original WRE, but I feel like the one in my head is a solid ride on its own and would be willing to go more into detail later.

Also hidden among the Frontier forest is a Native American tribe which offers guests small fifteen-minute demonstrations every half hour about traditional Native American customs. Due to the large financial failure of The Lone Ranger, no attraction based on that film exists here. That's pretty much it for White Water Wilderness. It should be noted that, considering all lands revolve around a central body of water, WWW is the land that is directly across from the entrance to the park (essentially, we are half-way around the lagoon). As always, thanks for reading!

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

A tribute to Walt Disney. The wilderness could have Woody,Jessie, and Pochantas as meet and greet characters.

 

[Lucky]

You do know that Disney American Adventure was a real theme park plan by Disney that never followed through...you can find info online about it...

And it was going to be built near me, but anti-development lobbies got it killed.

I'm not into paving over all the remaining green space myself. But in this case the area in question ended up getting just as developed anyway, but with the usual strip malls, cookie cutter subdivisions etc. instead of a world class theme park.