How Would YOU Go About A Music-Centric Park?

JokersWild

Well-Known Member
This is something I've been giving a lot of thought to ever since @TheOriginalTiki and @orlando678- were talking about it last fall.

I think that there are a few ways to go about it. The way I've been going about it is to focus less of genres specifically and focus more on the aesthetics of the bands/ genres I'd like to use in the park. Some of this ends up being lands centered around specific genres (a Classical-land with a Fantasia ride, and a Jazz-inspired land, specifically), but most of them ended up being a bit looser. For example, my music park would have an industrial land with a Pink Floyd attraction set in Battersea Power Plant and The Gorillaz' Plastic Beach (or Kong Studio. Either would work, really), a family area themed to Pepperland and Yellow Submarine. Stuff like that.

Music is obviously super abstract and it seems pretty impossible to make the concept work as a park, but I think that if you pick the right bands and focus more on the images the music elicits rather than simply "Led Zeppelin: The Ride," "The Beatles: The Ride," etc., it's very doable. And a pretty cool exercise in using abstract imagery in theme park design as well.
 

MickeyMouse10

Well-Known Member
I'm thinking the lands would have to be decade based to work. Just like in Disney parks the music could fade out as you're leaving it. This way you don't hear "Michael Jackson's" "Beat it" while your in the 50's section.

Also the main ride could be like "The Great Movie Ride" and show different artists like "The Beatles", "Elvis" and "Nirvana".
 
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TheSorcerersApprentice

Well-Known Member
This is something I've been giving a lot of thought to ever since @TheOriginalTiki and @orlando678- were talking about it last fall.

I think that there are a few ways to go about it. The way I've been going about it is to focus less of genres specifically and focus more on the aesthetics of the bands/ genres I'd like to use in the park. Some of this ends up being lands centered around specific genres (a Classical-land with a Fantasia ride, and a Jazz-inspired land, specifically), but most of them ended up being a bit looser. For example, my music park would have an industrial land with a Pink Floyd attraction set in Battersea Power Plant and The Gorillaz' Plastic Beach (or Kong Studio. Either would work, really), a family area themed to Pepperland and Yellow Submarine. Stuff like that.

Music is obviously super abstract and it seems pretty impossible to make the concept work as a park, but I think that if you pick the right bands and focus more on the images the music elicits rather than simply "Led Zeppelin: The Ride," "The Beatles: The Ride," etc., it's very doable. And a pretty cool exercise in using abstract imagery in theme park design as well
Even though I do love your concept, I feel like it would be very limited to popularity in music, especially in staying relevant. Music is developing super fast and names would easily go in and out. Besides, I somehow feel like using specific artists limits what the theme of the park would be, because these artists would be so one sided of what music as a concept entails.

Personally I've always liked the concept of having the fifth gate of wdw be themed around music, because as a theme it stands apart and is as widely connecting within Disney storytelling as animals, innovation and movie(making?) are.

How would that look though? To be honest, I really don't know because the concept is in a way too abstract to find a connecting tone for its design. Most logically I'd feel like going back to either emotions behind music or create worlds based on music genres like country, classical and rock. I feel like the latter would work well with the type of parks that we see today. I'd imagine something like IoA at Universal but have a Disco District with a Guardians of the Galaxy ride(so they dont have to go to Epcot), bring over rock n rollercoaster to a Rock N Roll City (maybe add something Cars related), a Country themed land with maybe a new Country Bears ride(or heck it could even have a fun Home on the Range ride because why not include yodeling?), a classical music land with Fantasia, a Jazz themed land with hmm Princess and the Frog?(guess do something else with Splash) or Soul maybe? Top it off with a weenie based on Silly Symphonies' Music Land (maybe with attractions based on some older shorts and pieces of animation that are heavily focused on soundtrack e.g. skeleton dance, Toot, Plunk, Whistle and Boom, etc.).
 

JokersWild

Well-Known Member
Even though I do love your concept, I feel like it would be very limited to popularity in music, especially in staying relevant. Music is developing super fast and names would easily go in and out. Besides, I somehow feel like using specific artists limits what the theme of the park would be, because these artists would be so one sided of what music as a concept entails.

Personally I've always liked the concept of having the fifth gate of wdw be themed around music, because as a theme it stands apart and is as widely connecting within Disney storytelling as animals, innovation and movie(making?) are.

How would that look though? To be honest, I really don't know because the concept is in a way too abstract to find a connecting tone for its design. Most logically I'd feel like going back to either emotions behind music or create worlds based on music genres like country, classical and rock. I feel like the latter would work well with the type of parks that we see today. I'd imagine something like IoA at Universal but have a Disco District with a Guardians of the Galaxy ride(so they dont have to go to Epcot), bring over rock n rollercoaster to a Rock N Roll City (maybe add something Cars related), a Country themed land with maybe a new Country Bears ride(or heck it could even have a fun Home on the Range ride because why not include yodeling?), a classical music land with Fantasia, a Jazz themed land with hmm Princess and the Frog?(guess do something else with Splash) or Soul maybe? Top it off with a weenie based on Silly Symphonies' Music Land (maybe with attractions based on some older shorts and pieces of animation that are heavily focused on soundtrack e.g. skeleton dance, Toot, Plunk, Whistle and Boom, etc.).
The park I’d been designing as Musicland as the icon as well, apart of acting as a bridge between both sides of the park.

I get what you’re saying, but that’s kind of why I was trying to focus on more “evergreen” bands. Bands like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Gorillaz may not be always releasing new music, but they’re still very much relevant and very well known to the general public. Newer pop music is trickier since it’s not really deep and doesn’t really conjure the same imagery as some more iconic bands, but I think that it still has its place in smaller attractions (ie flatrides or shows) that could be returned easily and cheaply.

And I totally get wanting to theme the lands around genres rather than locations, but personally I find it limiting. Why create a specifically disco land when a Sci-Fi land with a disco attraction, space rock, and bands like ELO or Muse can accomplish the same thing with a less strict premise?
 

Orange Cat

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Well I still don’t find this practical I thought that musical theater could be included, maybe combined with the ideas pitched here something like that could work​
 

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