One Little Spark 3: The Spark Squad - Main Competition Thread

Pi on my Cake

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
Yes

Suchomimus

Well-Known Member
Team C Guest Reviewer:
San Francisco is as rich with Californian culture and heritage as the national parks, the Pacific Boardwalk, or the City of Angels, so with the IRL Pacific Wharf, its representation is rather lackluster. Your Submission on the other hand is but. I absolutely love the Inside Out Gardens and I see it as being a relaxing place to escape from the crowds and admire the landscaping. Another play area besides Redwood was also a nice touch. Chinatown was also nice reading; I love what The Dragon Teahouse has going for it, and the Paper Lantern drop tower did give me a good memory of reading @D Hulk 's Floating Lanterns attraction back when he made DisneySky for the TPI Competition. Fireworks Factory; I don't think; is a good name for the coaster. It sounds very generic and it makes me think of it like a shooting gallery. 1906, meanwhile, I see providing great thrills to riders, as well as bringing back an older touch of Disney magic. Though with the cable cars, I would think that the Ferries and Cliff House Railway Co. Building; aka what is now the San Fran Cable Car Museum; would be a more appropriate fit (especially since it was built before, and endured, the Earthquake) than the Legion of Honors.
 

TheOriginalTiki

Well-Known Member
Just for the record, Pacific Wharf is much more based on Monterey Bay and the Cannery Row, but I appreciate the kind feedback :) Also my logic for using the Legion of Honor (besides it just being very visually striking in general) was the whole transition from a museum exhibit about the Earthquake in the queue into experiencing the actual event, with the whole idea of the queue taking place in present day thus the building not existing during the Earthquake not being a plothole. The cable car museum would have been another great choice for an exterior though.
 

montydysquith-navarro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Team A, waiting for their guest review for Scene 1:
10-131.jpg


(Kidding aside, if you happen to be busy, no rush then! šŸ˜…)
 

montydysquith-navarro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
DijItDQ.png




--The Set Up--

Recently a group of "eccentric" characters were added to the Spark Squad!

Also, you may have noticed that your team names are a bit... uninspired. They almost seem like boring placeholders or after thoughts! Maybe it is time we changed that. Or rather, time YOU changed that!

--The Challenge--

Imagineers, your challenge has two parts:

First, now that you have all chosen a Spark Squad member to accompany us on our journey, that teammate will now be your team's mascot!

As selected by YOU! The teams,ā€¦

Team A Ron Swanson!
Team B Sasha Banks!
Team C Wario!

Now, you must design a ride for any theme park inspired by your team mascot!
Although we recommend not biting off more than you can chew too early in the game (Sometimes less is more), feel free to let your imaginations run CRAZY!!

Second, you must come up with a Team Name and design yourself a Logo! You can have that be related to the mascot or it can be entirely unrelated!



images


--A Note on Judging--

This should go without saying, but just to be clear: your team name and logo won't factor into judging/winners for this Scene. But a nice logo might give you a nice bonus!

This is our last "warm up" scene. So, feel free to try something different and just have fun with this scene! The skills, chemistry, and comradery you build in these early scenes will help immensely during the more serious prompts later on! So, for now worry less about realism and our judging and focus more about seeing how your skills can blend together to make something amazing!

Annnnnnnd,ā€¦. We have another new addition to the cast! Please welcome @NateD1226 to the soon-to-be-formerly-known-as Team C!

GvGQH6V.gif


Alright, Teams. Have fun! Go Create! Dream Big!

This project is due on
Friday January 28th at
11:59 PM WDW Time

The
Imagination Institute Interns
@Brer Panther | @Imagineer Brandon | @DisneyFan32 | @Disney Dad 3000 | @montydysquith-navarro | @spacemt354

(Formerly known as "Team A")
Imagination Institute Interns-01.png

Presents a special announcement from Indiana's Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

In tribute to Pawnee, Indiana legend, lover of all things red meat, and All American Manā„¢ļø...

RON SWANSON!
parks-and-rec-ron-swanson.gif



Click on the image below to explore!
29-01-2022ubxwh_gsimage.png

READING MUSIC
 
Last edited:

Pi on my Cake

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
Yes

View attachment 617075
TEAM B ASKS...
WHAT TIME IS IT?

IT'S...


:eek: BOSS TIME :eek:
A SASHA BANKS ROLLER COASTER



READING MUSIC

The
Imagination Institute Interns
@Brer Panther | @Imagineer Brandon | @DisneyFan32 | @Disney Dad 3000 | @montydysquith-navarro | @spacemt354

(Formerly known as "Team A")
View attachment 617195
Presents a special announcement from Indiana's Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

In tribute to Pawnee, Indiana legend, lover of all things red meat, and All American Manā„¢ļø...

RON SWANSON!
parks-and-rec-ron-swanson.gif



Click on the image below to explore!
View attachment 617196

READING MUSIC

View attachment 617199
presents...




Wario's Woods
(click above to explore)


Great work, Squads!
You can expect reviews, results, and the start of Act 2
all within the next 24 hours!
 

Pi on my Cake

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
Yes
1643433620182.png


This was an interesting Scene because it was originally gonna be only the name/logo. It would've only been about 2 days long and the "judging" would've been mostly just around the logo. Teams naming themselves and having a Scene dedicated to that was something we had never seen before and it was one of the first ideas we had for the game!

Then, once it seemed that players were figuring out that the old team names were just placeholders and they had to come up with names, we decided to expand the scene a bit. Adding the "mascots" and the blue sky "make an attraction based on your mascot" prompt. With the slight twist that teams would choose a mascot without knowing why.

It made this a really interesting round because (with the mild exception of Wario), all the teams were working with really outside the box IPs and finding really creative ways to make them work! It's not uncommon in team games to be working on a project with a theme you don't really care about just because of the nature of collaborating with a large group of people. So, for the players less familiar with the IPs they were working with, this scene proved to be a great learning opportunity!

View attachment 617075
TEAM B ASKS...
WHAT TIME IS IT?

IT'S...


:eek: BOSS TIME :eek:
A SASHA BANKS ROLLER COASTER



READING MUSIC


Team B (formally known as Team B).

I really love that name and the logo! This team exudes personality and just looks like ya'll are having fun. This logo/name really represents your crazy, irreverent spirit well!

Admitting my personal biases... I have almost no knowledge/interest in wrestling and coaster projects with relatively light theme/storytelling like this often aren't something I am into. I try to not let personal biases get in the way of reviewing things, but I'm human. It happens. So, I went into this expecting not to get much out of the project.

Yet ya'll really blew me away! Absolutely won me over!

The over the top color scheme of the presentation really fits the vibe perfectly, and is perfect for Sasha (based on my small amount of knowledge at least). Maybe a bit harsh on the eyes. Tonight down the colors just slightly might have been nice. But honestly going all out fits this team and this project better!

The team really clicked here. The idea of a Six Flags rollercoaster with elements inspired by her signature moves was perfect and someone suggested it right away (I think it was Hulk?). And boom! The team was on board right from the get go and just ran with it! I expected this to be the hardest character to work with and you had no trouble at all beyond one or two players taking a bit more of a backseat.

You do a great job making it clear how this ride not only fits into Six Flags New England, but how it fills a void in the park's line up! The queue is also just the right amount of theming to be interesting in a project like this without going overboard and becoming unrealistic for a Six Flags coaster. You really managed to make this feel grounded to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if this was a real thing I had just never heard of.

The highlight for me though is the wire hangar coaster model!!! This is such a simple seeming thing, but it has so much charm and is so incredibly effective! It is not often that I see a new presentation style and think to myself "I would never have thought of doing that in a million years!" I don't have much meaningful to say about the actual ride through other than that I like it. The reference photos of irl coasters, the wire hangar model, and the write ups make it very clear and easy to follow. The inspiration from wrestling moves is clever and never feels forced or shoe horned in. Very well done!

WWEats and Banks Brewery are both nice bonuses for the project. You didn't need to have 10 unique specialty drinks, but those kinds of plusses show how much passion the team had for this out of the box scene! Ya'll truly went the extra mile.

Team B embrace the weirdness and made something very clever presented in a way I've never seen before. But is perfect execution on a simpler type of project enough to compete with two teams doing full mini-lands?
The
Imagination Institute Interns
@Brer Panther | @Imagineer Brandon | @DisneyFan32 | @Disney Dad 3000 | @montydysquith-navarro | @spacemt354

(Formerly known as "Team A")
View attachment 617195
Presents a special announcement from Indiana's Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

In tribute to Pawnee, Indiana legend, lover of all things red meat, and All American Manā„¢ļø...

RON SWANSON!
parks-and-rec-ron-swanson.gif



Click on the image below to explore!
View attachment 617196

READING MUSIC


Imagination Institute Interns (Formerly Team A)

I love that name and the logo is so cute! The Earning our Wings flag really pushes it over the top in my mind. Fantastic work! A 10 syllable long team name might be a bit bulky, but it is such a fun name idea that I wouldn't change a thing!

This was interesting to watch because going into this I expected this to be the easiest mascot to work with (other than maybe Wario). Ron Swanson is one of the more well know TV character of the last two decades from one of the most beloved sticoms of all time. He has strong connections to nature and outdoor activites. He's a famous NBC character which makes him a perfect choice to include in an expanded NBC presence at Universal. There just seemed to be so much you can do!

And yet, this was the team that struggled the most. With the biggest issue being that Space was the only one who was really a fan and familiar with Parks & Rec. So, what I expected to be one of the easiest mascots wound up being the hardest. The Interns had me worried for a hot minute there and the project was still mostly handled by only half the team with Space doing a lot of pushing to get moving. But you made something really great! Looking at the final project, I would have never guessed that the team struggled with this one!

We even tried to work with the team for an easy way out by saying they just had to be "inspired" by Ron and not actually needing to include him, but they persevered and didn't take any short cuts!

A Harvest Festival land being added to a local park in real life Indiana is a brilliant idea! Something that feels so right for the show. And it was all done in a way that it could easily be appreciated by people unfamiliar with the series. But it becomes even better if you get the references!

The Planet Coaster visuals by Space and DDad are phenomenal! As is the map artwork! I almsot didn't notice the park map was edited at first lol

And while the land around your main ride wasn't needed, it is a fun bonus and your selection of attractions are great! RIP Li'l Sebastion. I'm glad he is properly memorialized here. Can't wait to try some Deep Fried Butter!

The Sweet House queue is just the perfect amount of over the top. It really captures the cheesey humor of the show and its satire well. The Ron Swanson safety spiel is pitch perfect. It might be short, but he really captured his tone.

Ron being disappointed he couldn't build a wooden rollercoaster only to then decide to approve a launched coaster to spite Tom for roping him into this is a really fun backstory!

The write up of the ride through is very simple, but it is what it needs to be. Plus, the Planet Coaster Video helps sell it a lot! The Planet Coaster work is really the highlight here and makes this feel like a real land!

Of course, the gift shop is a fun touch. I can't wait to buy a child size cup! Will it come with free refills?
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The Imagination Institute Interns had some trouble getting going, but the final product is a very strong one. It might not have had the same passion behind it from a lot of the team as other projects, but the Interns are a group that can do this stuff in their sleep at this point. And that expertise shines through here.
View attachment 617199
presents...




Wario's Woods
(click above to explore)



Wario's Warriors (Formerly Team C)

I love the name! After the rough first scene, the second this team saw they had Wario they really rallied behind this common passion! so, naming the team after Wario makes sense! The logo is fantastic and looks very professional! Really great design work with it

The radio ad was a great way to start! I enjoyed your Wario impression and your off script ending a lot, Tiki lol

I was worried that since activity/availability was an issue in Scene One, deciding to do an entire, fully developed sub-land instead of just a single attraction was gonna really come back to bite you. But you pulled it off and did an incredible job! Going WAY above and beyond what was needed without the main ride feeling neglected.

The backstory for Wario's Woods is a lot of fun and could be communicated really well through simple, atmospheric storytelling! I'm not really familair with the extended WarioWare cast of characters but I don't need to be to appreciate this land!

Wario's Treasure Hunters is a great interactive dark ride! A great extension of the "every ride is a game too" mentality of Super Nintendo World. The queue (and the whole ride really) strikes a perfect balance between a lovely naturalistic environment and Wario's humor taking over. And you work in plenty of Easter Eggs and details for fans.

The ride vehicles give this a really unique feeling and seeing a tank fill up as the whole car works together would be so fun!

For the ridethrough itself, I think it is really fun and well paced. Full of great showscenes. Exciting, funny, and thrilling! I just wanted a bit more. Some more visuals and reference photos. Maybe even a bit of art. Some more clarity on what are practical effects and what are screens? If the gameplay enitrely screens so you can see treaures get sucked up? Or are the treasures functionally just stationary targets to shoot at? Are guests wearing 3D glasses or AR or is it all natural?

The ride is great! And the show scenes are incredible! (It is a little thing, but the Mushroom Fountain spitting out coins is such a fun visual that I could easily see becoming iconic!) I just wanted some more visuals and details on the practical/technical side.

The minigames throughout the land are all a ton of fun and I love all the detail! It is clear that these interactive games were a true passion project by someone with a deep love for Mario/Wario games! I don't have much to say about these other than "awesome!" But they are a great bonus to round out your subland and compliment your main attraction.

Minor formatting nitpick: The headers for the shop/restaurant aren't the same style as the headers for the rest of the website. And the NES Remix cafe is with the games and not the dining. These nitpicks only really stand out because otherwise the site looks SO good! Very clean and very colorful!

Wario's Wares (great name btw) adds a great new variety of merch to round out Nintendo Land's selections. And the Garlic Bulb Bao Bun is PERFECT!

Wario's Warriors made HUGE improvements and showed of their talent at taking out of the box ideas and going all out with them. The only issue is that they may have spread themselves too thin doing too much leaving the main ride slightly underdeveloped. But there are a LOT of great plusses to make up for that!
 

OvertheHorizon

Well-Known Member
Team B

Things I loved: The overall idea of theming a coaster to female wrestling. Nice graphic showing the coasterā€™s location. Creative use of wire to provide the coaster mock-up (and repetitive use for particular sections). Kudos to whomever wrote ā€œabstracted, non-literal storytelling.ā€ Overall good narrative of the coaster ride tying it into the WWE experience. Overall detail in both pictures and narrative is impressive. Drink names in the brewery.

Suggestions: The wire coaster mockup could have been placed against a better background (a dark blanket would have provided more contrast). WWEats was okay, but description lacked the level seen in other parts of the project.

Imagination Institute Interns

Things I loved: The overall ā€œtongue in cheekā€ aspect of the idea. The placement of SWEETUMS Roller Coaster logo on the park map makes it seem like it has been there all the time (i.e. nice graphic integration). The fun your team had in developing this concept was apparent. Meat tornado - LOL

Suggestions: Maybe a reference to the Pawnee Harvest Festival on the main page to help integrate better with the actual presentation. Check re-creation versus recreation.

Wario Warriors
Things I loved: This was my favorite logo of the three, in part because of the energy it conveyed. I liked the inclusion of the ā€œback storyā€ at the beginning to help set up the rest of the presentation. The ā€œtreasure stashā€ aspect of the ride, which adds to interactivity. Great ride description. ā€œThe Great Pickā€ - LOL

Suggestions: A drawing of the vehicle ride design would have been helpful. Under ā€œInteractive Experiences,ā€ perhaps Nes Remix CafĆ© should have been labeled GAMES ATā€¦ (and then this same CafĆ© wasnā€™t listed under Retail and Dining).
 

Evilgidgit

Well-Known Member
EVILGIDGIT'S REVIEWS -- TEAM B, ROUND 2
Well, it took me a little while to wrap my head around this one, but once I got it, I have to say the end result is fantastic. It was smashing!

wrestling kane GIF by WWE


I am not a bit wrestling fan - since I've never watched a match in my life - though know some familiar faces in the sports' history. Never heard of Sasha Banks before, but she seems pretty awesome. Anyway, since this attraction is about a wrestling rollercoaster (though wrestling ON the coaster would've been a crazy idea!), I'm going to react to the stanza like the commentator Jim Ross!

OH MY GAWD! THEY KILLED IT! THE GIMMICK OF THIS SHOW BLEW MY MIND! IT WAS GOING TO BE A DANGEROUS MATCH GOING INTO THE ARENA WITH THIS IDEA!

CHOOSING SUCH A CRAZY PARTNER TO ENTER THE RING WITH SHOULD'VE DESTROYED THIS TEAM. AN INSTANT KO! HOW DO YOU MAKE A COASTER OUT OF WRESTLING? YOU DON'T. YOU MAKE IT HOW IT FEELS TO BE WRESTLED! THE COASTER IS LIKE BEING THROWN AROUND BY SASHA BANKS, AND YOU ARE THE POOR SHMUCKS WHO DARED TAKE HER ON IN THE ARENA. THE SHEER THRILLS YOU MUST FEEL AS YOU ARE SPUN, TWIRLED, AND CHUCKED ABOUT MUST BLOW YOUR MIND! JEEZUS!

IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE FOR THIS BEAUTY TO BE PLACED IN A SIX FLAGS PARK, WHERE THE NEED TO HAVE YOUR SPINE RIPPED OUT THROUGH YOUR EYE SOCKETS IS EVERYTHING. YOU WON'T SEE THE MOUSE OR THE WOODPECKER DO THIS KIND OF MADNESS! YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GONNA SEE AT THESE EVENTS. BY FAR THE CRAZIEST THING IS USING WIRES TO EXPLAIN THE LAYOUT OF THE RIDE! OH MY GOD IN HEAVEN! SHEER GENIUS! IT WAS EASY TO FOLLOW, STRAIGHTFORWARD, YET ONE OF THE MOST MINDBLOWING ACTS OF IMAGINATION I'VE SEEN IN THIS ARENA.

Excited Ultimate Warrior GIF by WWE


BEFORE WE WRAP UP THE MATCH OF THE CENTURY - LET ME JUST SAY THAT THE SHOW TEAM B PUT ON TO TONIGHT WAS INCREDIBLE. GREAT TEAMWORK, GREAT EFFORT, GREAT PRESENTATION, A CRAZY AWESOME IDEA FOR AN ATTRACTION AND PULLED IT OFF AS WILDLY AS THAT TIME VINCE MCMAHON DID HIS "IT'S ME AUSTIN!" REVEAL!

vince mcmahon smile GIF
 

Tegan pilots a chicken

Sharpie Queen šŸ’œ
Premium Member
Teams, your reviews are on the way. I am absolutely blown away by all three of these submissions! You should all be extremely proud of yourselves.

Also, I promise this is the only time I will ask you to make a game decision without acknowledging that there are ramifications for your choices.

Being intentionally vague about it was intended to create interesting and unique projects from unexpected source material. Yā€™all NAILED IT!!!
 

Tegan pilots a chicken

Sharpie Queen šŸ’œ
Premium Member
19D14A34-575E-48C1-B0F9-15746A48C0A7.jpeg


REVIEWS

Imagination Institute Interns


First of all I absolutely ADORE your team name and logo!! This fully encompasses the spirit of armchair Imagineering, and I think it represents this Squad fantastically! Well done!!

The Interns were fastest to brainstorming in the first round, but struggled out of the gate in the second round. Even though it took the Squad a few to get going, once they got out of second gear they really started making strides.

You chose THE perfect setting for your attraction. Like, no other theme park would have made as much sense to me. Maybe Universal, but honestly I think the Holiday World setting oozes charm in a way that would have been missing in a Universal park with an inflated budget. This feels true to the source material in the best way.

I really appreciated the backstory. True to character for Ron without a doubt!

THAT MAP!!!
Honestly it looks completely legit. Like 100% you could have sold me that this was a real thing based on the map alone.

I love all the little details you put into developing this expansion. Leaning heavily into the fictional Sweetums brand was a smart choice. This truly feels like a genuine place. The food menus in particular are on the nose! And Iā€™m not going to be eating any of it!!

The ride itself is a spectacular addition to a regional park! Can we talk about the Planet Coaster video?!?! I love the level of effort put into this. All the signage and the authenticity of the land layout really brings it home. Awesomely fantastic work!

Overall The Interns took on a challenging prompt that hardly any of the team was familiar with and ended up with a seriously charming and enjoyable project! Very good job, Interns!


Team B

Team B went with an irreverent name and logo that perfectly embodies their Squadā€™s chaotic energy. This group once again clicked right away, settling on a location and ride almost immediately. It was a joy watching them work on this together!

Six Flags New England is a perfect setting for this coaster! WWE just inked a deal with Disney to make Disney+ the carrier of WWE Network in Indonesia. Will this pave the way for a stronger working relationship between the companies in the future? Possibly. But in the mean time, this is a very smart choice! Itā€™s Sashaā€™s home state and a park that is already high on coaster enthusiastsā€™ lists.

Letā€™s cut right to the chase. I am absolutely blown away by the level of storytelling taking place on this attraction. Every single decision of coaster elements is supported by Sashaā€™s moveset and the flow of a wrestling match. I found myself literally jaw-wide-open while reading this. I really appreciated the use of gifs next to images of each element along with the descriptions. This was fully immersive. Even the color choices had thought put into them and made sense.

And that wire coaster model?! Bravo! Is this super flashy and high tech? Not at all. Is it charming and effective and something I havenā€™t seen done before? Yes!!

The little additions are cute and welcome. WWEats is a brilliant name! Why this doesnā€™t exist in real life I do not know. And you better believe Iā€™m trying every drink on the menu at Banks Brewery!

Phenomenal job, Squad!


Wario Warriors

This Squad created a logo that looks straight out of something officially licensed by Nintendo! If you told me this was from one of the Nintendo sports franchises I would absolutely believe it! Very, VERY nice job on this!!

Wario was probably the easiest character/personality to work with in this prompt. And in a wonderful turnaround from the previous round, this Squad got right to work in the brainstorming! The end result is a fully realized theme park land that I want to visit right now!

But, please help me out if I missed it, and I read through everything twice, but,ā€¦where is this located?? I mean, I would assume this is in a Universal park, but which one?? I wanna buy a ticket but I donā€™t know where Iā€™m going!

The site looks AMAZING!! Color choices are entirely logical and itā€™s totally enjoyable to browse. The backstory is FANTASTIC! Fully immersing readers in one of Nintendoā€™s most bombastic characters, who is perfectly suited to anchor a mini land like this.

The descriptions of the former Toad Town are extremely thorough and clearly had a lot of thought put into them. I love the use of numerous side characters to help enrich the entire experience and truly make it feel like a genuine place.

An indoor spinning-story coaster with interactivity is an AWESOME choice!! I had an amazing time reading through it, hearing every line of Warioā€™s appropriately yellow dialogue in his iconic voice! This would no doubt be a blast for the entire family and lends itself well to numerous rides on a given visit. The only thing I wished for were a few images to help sell it more. I was definitely able to conjure up some mental images thanks to your descriptions, but a few pictures would have been a welcome addition.

The arcade and itā€™s wonderful assortment of mini games are a delightful addition! Especially the ā€œpick itā€ icon! This embodies everything we love about Wario. And dedicated Nintendo fans like myself would easily spend hours in a place like this trying to master all the mini games and playing any cabinet that had a Metroid or Mario tie in of any sort! Also loved the Wario and Waluigi bands! Guests would certainly have a blast collecting their own treasure during their journey. Hopefully there is a meet and great with the two anti-heroes somewhere as well.

Wario Woods would be a wonderful addition to any Universal park, supplementing the rest of their Nintendo offerings very well. And honestly this clearly demonstrates that an entire theme park based on Nintendo franchises would be feasible and successful. Great job, Warriors!!
 

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