Hobbiton (Can't do a LOTR park without it) - Casting "hobbits" may be a challenge
Now we're talking...(I've been thinking about this for a while now- hope you'll care to listen)
Phase One: Two entrances, one where the Animation Courtyard archway now stands and the other where One Man's Dream sits. The first takes you through Bree, where you can dine at the Prancing Pony (fast-food) or shop at the other cutsey shops (with franchise-specifc, awesome merchandise, obviously). At the end of Bree you take a wooded path towards the looming Misty Mountains, where you line up for a complex roller coaster/watercoaster/slot car ride hybrid E-Ticket through the mines of Moria. The queue for this ride (and the attraction's big "weenie" of an entrance, like Hogwarts for FJ) is Rivendell, with the mountain in the background. You're taken through Rivendell, with an Elrond hologram (or whatever the hell it is) to embellish the story, and then through a cave and outside where you enter the mountain and the loading area through a replicate of the Doors of Durin (there's an opportunity for an interactive component here where a guest has to speak the elvish word for friend and a CM opens the door). The ride features Giant Spidesr, some Gollum, Cave Troll, and Goblin AA's, and climatically an elaborate encounter with a Balrog of Morgoth AA to finish the ride.
The second entrance throws you right in the middle of Hobbiton (I drew upon RandySavage's FANTASTIC blueprints for inspiration) where you can dine at the Green Dragon tavern (table service), shop, or visit Bag End. Due north is the forest- turn right and you head towards the Moria ride, and turn left and you head towards a harbor (more on that in a bit).
Phase Two: Taking up the entire Streets of America and the Backlot, you enter into Osgiliath, with a...1/3rd(?) scale model (199 feet...however much that is) of Minas Tirith itself looming in the distance. Here you can find an archery range for archery practice and a barracks for fencing practice to train guests (catering mostly to younger ones) to become Gondorian knights. Osgiliath is also riddled with various shops and fast-food destinations.
Now...as you continue north you will eventually come upon the gates of Minas Tirith. The only thing I haven't figured out is: how to deal with the Pelennor Fields? In the films they stretch at least a few miles between Minas Tirith and Osgiliath...can we just use the theme park trend of escaping such technical formalities (Hogwarts right after Hogsmeade?) and get rid of them altogether? Maybe we could discuss that...
Anyhow, Minas Tirith houses the showbuilding for a one-of-a-kind dark ride experience, tentatively titled "The Lord of the Rings: The Enchanted Flight" whereby you ride on benches carried by eagles on some sort of quest involving Sauron believing us guests are in possession of the ring, and we are thus carried away by eagles on a frantic flight across Middle Earth (including Helms Deep, Isengard, Mordor, and Minas Tirith itself) to escape from the ringwraiths. Included are ringwriath and fell beast AA's, as well as Ent AA's. The attraction will feature a combination of massive (think Soarin'- bigger, if possible) 3D projections and physical sets (the pits of Isengard, the streets of Minas Tirith), while the vehicles themselves are a variant of KUKA arms with a big twist that I can't possibly adequately describe. You exit into a gift shop.
Now, back to that harbor I mentioned earlier....to connect the two phases, I thought they could build a walking path/river that simulates a voyage down the river Anduin, with themed ferry boats crossing through the Argonath.
Thoughts?
This isn't going to be Disney or Universal specific, as different people have different thoughts about who/where it should go.
I think in general if we're referring to a whole theme park on its own, it doesn't matter who builds it, they're both capable
Here are my thoughts about what should be included, land-wise.
Here is a map of middle earth:
http://blog.lefigaro.fr/hightech/middle-earth-map.jpg
One of the reasons I think we haven't seen a LOTR themed place yet, is because it is SO massive and has SO many areas.
Therefore I think its important to focus on the key areas and have the rest do a "cameo" of sorts on the attractions.
My ideas for the key areas:
Hobbiton (Can't do a LOTR park without it) - Casting "hobbits" may be a challenge
Mordor (I don't know if this should be a walkable land, as much as something that could be viewed from certain places in the park, including the eye of Sauron of course)
Rivendell / Elvish Land
Bree (small town for shops/bar)
The
Rohan (on a hill may be difficult)
Minas Tirith (just because)
Isengard (This could be a walk-able tower/area, the time before the Ents take over)
The parts that aren't necessarily part of the lands, but can be part of the various adventures:
Mines of Moria
Minas Morgul
Osgiliath
Lorien
The ghost city (can't remember if it has a name)
That's the cool part. The difficult part is coming up with attractions...namely RIDES that could be done in such a park. The only means of transportation were usually horseback, boat, nazgul, eagles. That makes things challenging.
@yeti... I love your ideas! Though honestly, I'd rather see all of them at Universal than Disney. This is mainly because I think at this point in time, Universal is more likely to spend the money than Disney is to make all your ideas real. And I'd be worried Disney would try to "tame" LOTR down... for example, I don't think we would have gotten the "scary elements" of FJ if HP had gone to Disney. But the scary elements of LOTR are what makes the story so great.
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