How do I explain that my park is fictitious?

[Ludpat Mike]

All of my ideas are basically like that, that they don't actually exist. It's just that I like to set them up realistically, as if they could exist in the future. I'm finicky like that. I'm just having a tough time coming up with an idea that was never meant to be realistic.

One problem with being entirely fictitious (i.e., unrealistic and proud of it) is that I want to include Soarin' in this park, which of course is a flight over various locales across the world. The ride usually ends with a flight through the park it's set in, save for Shanghai, which ends in Shanghai. How I be able to end the ride if the park is not of this world?

I'm sorry, I don't know how to help in this particular case... maybe you might draw a sketch so that people might get a vague idea of its main characteristics as it matters so much to you.

I think I would. If you hadn't mentioned the meaning of the name, I would have been utterly stumped. It would also make sense to be more descriptive about it.

Another idea I've had was to set it up in a fictitious location that already exists, such maybe "Xanadu" (which is a metaphor for opulence or an idyllic place), based on a poem by Coleridge, as part of "Kubla Khan". It's also derivative of the movie with Olivia Newton-John. But again, Xanadu is not a real place, so how could Soarin' end there?

As above. Either a sketch or I don't know how to help.

I don't remember there being any park where more than two languages were heard. The only exceptions were guidemaps and Small World. They originally did want several European languages in Disneyland Paris, but that didn't go over very well and was a contributing factor to it not doing so well.

The announcements in Disneyland Paris are in like 4 languages. Some shows at least used to have more than two languages in their songs.

Exactly. It's hard to really see something just from words alone. The best I can do without drawing is to try and find pictures online and post them on the threads.

That might do. I did so once lately because someone had used more or less the same colours I would have used (and colours were a crucial part of the experience I was talking about).

Are you saying I should just ignore the technical aspects?

I meant exactly what MickeyWaffleCo. said a few posts above.

 

[mharrington]

I'm sorry, I don't know how to help in this particular case... maybe you might draw a sketch so that people might get a vague idea of its main characteristics as it matters so much to you.

But wouldn't that mean doing some worldbuilding? I'm trying to get around that by basing it in a place that does not exist in reality, but has been mentioned a few times before. Because I am not the best at inventing a world from scratch. That would require me to be imaginative, and I'm not that great at it. The only other way around this would be to set the ending in the park itself, and it's tough enough having to do a whole park from scratch without having to create a whole different world outside the park to go with it. That's the reason I've always tried to put my park in a real place, but I've always been running into real-world scenarios which hinder the ability to do a park there.

The announcements in Disneyland Paris are in like 4 languages. Some shows at least used to have more than two languages in their songs.

But what about real rides? They never constantly change languages constantly. It's always the same one. The one exception is Small World. And putting the names of the rides on the entrance to the buildings would be a mess if you did multiple languages on a single sign.

That might do. I did so once lately because someone had used more or less the same colours I would have used (and colours were a crucial part of the experience I was talking about).

I'm not the best drawer. I'm also not good at coloring. All I have really are old crayons.

 

[Outbound]

I think we're going around in circles here when really the answer is right in front of us. You clearly care very much about how to explain your park is fictitious -- and that's fantastic!

But most others aren't worried about this. So, do whatever makes YOU feel most comfortable, and I promise, no matter how strange that may sound, folks reading it will play along. Everyone just wants to see your original ideas -- and don't have to worry about whether it is fictitious or not.

You don't have to world build an entirely original city or universe just to set an original theme park. If you want to, you can. If you don't want to, you don't have to. Do whatever you feel is most comfortable and "right" for you, and everyone reading will follow.

 

[mharrington]

I think we're going around in circles here when really the answer is right in front of us. You clearly care very much about how to explain your park is fictitious -- and that's fantastic!

But most others aren't worried about this. So, do whatever makes YOU feel most comfortable, and I promise, no matter how strange that may sound, folks reading it will play along. Everyone just wants to see your original ideas -- and don't have to worry about whether it is fictitious or not.

You don't have to world build an entirely original city or universe just to set an original theme park. If you want to, you can. If you don't want to, you don't have to. Do whatever you feel is most comfortable and "right" for you, and everyone reading will follow.

But there are a couple of holdups, as I said. The first is how to end the Soarin' ride, which will be in the park. It usually ends in a park it's found at (Disneyland (as opposed to CA Adventure), Epcot, Tokyo DisneySea) or the city the park is found in, as in Shanghai Disneyland, which ends in Shanghai proper, rather than at Shanghai Disneyland.

The thing is, I would like to have something unique in this park, called the International Expo Gardens (working name), which is the hub of the park. This is where Small World will be found as well, rather than in Fantasyland.

I'm also thinking of having Portuguese and German as the spoken languages in the park. How do I determine which ones to use for the attractions? Because I can't possibly use both on the entrance signs or in the rides. And no, shows don't count.

 

[MickeyWaffleCo.]

But what about real rides? They never constantly change languages constantly. It's always the same one. The one exception is Small World.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure has lines of dialogue in both French and English. They alternate pretty much every line. For example, a character could say “let’s go this way” in French, and another character would then say “that way! Good idea!” in English.

 

[mharrington]

Rent’s Ratatouille Adventure has lines of dialogue in both French and English. They alternate pretty much every line. For example, a character could say “let’s go this way” in French, and another character would then say “that way! Good idea!” in English.

If you're referring to the version in Epcot, as I think you are, I really think they did a lazy job of translating the dialogue. It's all fine and dandy for the ride at Disney Studios Paris, but not in Epcot, where it should be consistently English. Come to think of it, it should be consistently French in Disney Studios Paris, I think.

And anyway, what about different foreign language titles of the rides on their entrance signs? How would they be able to fit German, Portuguese AND English on there in some respects? That's one big reason I wanted to do these parks in Germany or Brazil to begin with, to see how the ride names could be translated into different languages.

 

[Frankenstein79]

I don't think you need to tell people things aren't real. You are afterall on an Imagineering board.

 

[mharrington]

To give you an example of what I'm talking about in terms of multiple languages, here's a shot of the final status board from the Buzz Lightyear ride at both Tokyo and Paris:

There's no way to have both Portuguese and German on the same image at the same time, is there? I don't believe it's ever been done before.