Recently, Disney has been buying many large franchises. Marvel, Lucasfilm, Muppets, Pixar... The list goes on! There's even rumors Disney is looking at Netflix and/or Twitter as another big purchase. Buying franchises and brands isn't new for Disney though. Back in the 80s Disney was on another buying spree and picked up ABC and ESPN. There was another franchise Disney wanted to buy back then, but never could.
Knock knock.
Who's there?
The Doctor.
Doctor who?
Exactly.
Disney wanted to purchase Doctor Who and add a walkthrough TARDIS in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. The deal never happened though (and people dreaming of a poorly made live action Disney movie starring Johney Depp as the Doctor around 2007 had their hopes dashed). While the deal to buy Doctor Who is not being revived, one part of that idea is coming back: Doctor Who: A Wibbly Wobbly Journey through Time and Space
Guests enter into the Tomorrowland Convention Center (former location of Stitch's Great Escape) for a presentation by U.N.I.T. on how humans can stay safe in an intergalactic community. The first room of the preshow (blue circle on map below) is the start of the presentation on television screens. The program is interupted by Missy (the female form of the Master on the show currently) who hacks u.n.i.t.'s system and takes over the convention center. She comes on screen and explains to guests that we are bait. The cheese for the mouse. After all, the Doctor will never be able to resist a room full of damsels in distress. She tells the guests to go enter the holding room. Her assistants (cast members) usher us into preshow room 2.
Preshow room 2 (green circle on map below) is where Missy is holding her captives. She is talking to us over a screen. There is an animatronic Dalek and an animatronic Cyberman as our guards. The daleks and cybermen have teamed up with Missy to destroy and Exterminate the Doctor. It isn't an easy alliance and the Dalek and Cyberman bicker with each other while guarding you. Eventually the Doctor hacks in and takes over the television screen from Missy. He remotely activates stasis fields around the Dalek and the Cyberman. He tells us to follow his companions (cast members) and enter the TARDIS. Guests are ushered into the show room (red circle). The entrance to the theater is themed to the TARDIS exterior. Like Stitch, there are two theaters. The entrance to the theater not currently boarding is covered so there is only one TARDIS visible at a time.
The show involves guests sitting in a circular theater. The seats are the same as Stitch except with the headrests removed. The room is a recreation of the TARDIS interior with the only major difference being the seats.
There are video monitors around the top of the center core that allow guests to see what is happening out side the TARDIS. A face character version of the Doctor (guy in costume as him) is in the TARDIS and ushers us in and tells us to be seated quickly. There's not a moment to lose! After we are all seated, the Doctor starts flying the TARDIS out (Missy has a magnetic field generator that prevents the TARDIS from warping out). The show involves the Doctor running around the TARDIS and outsmarting the Daleks, Cybermen, and Missy (who all appear on the tv screens, not in person). Smoke and lighting effects in the room simulate the TARDIS being attacked. Eventually, the Doctor revers the polarity of the neutron flow on the Missy's magnetic field generator trapping her, the Cybermen, and the Daleks in a much larger version of the stasis field he showed off in the pre-show room 2. This allows us to escape and the Doctor to drop us off back in Magic Kingdom (where he is sure they'll try to sell you something). We exit through the gift shop proving him right once again.
Overall, a relatively cheap and easy switchover to this from Stitch (the bones of the attraction are the same). Capacity and show length will be more or less the same. The only added operating cost will be actors as the Doctor, but the reduced cost of not having a Stitch animatronic to upkeep and run should offset this.
The goal was to make an attraction that would be excellent for long time fans while not alienating newcomers. The story of a hero with a fancy spacecraft and a villain with some evil robots is general enough that even people who don't know a thing about Doctor Who should love this attraction and follow the story fine.
Hey folks, just wanted to extend an apology for not having the scores and reviews for the first Festival of Imagination up yet on my end. It's been an incredibly busy few days for me on the podcast end of things. On the bright side though, we've gotten about 20 new subscribers to our channel in the last week! We've actually struck really good timing for this starting right around the time Steven Universe and Star vs. The Forces of Evil are back on the air. Imagineering and cartoon recaps are our two biggest selling points, haha.
Anywho, I'll be reading the projects on my bus ride home from the museum tonight and posting reviews as soon as I get back. It should be somewhere in the 10 PM eastern range, before the Blue Sky Projects are due. Thanks so much for your patience, and as always I'm humbled and stoked at the level of activity, interest, and hype surrounding this season!
@Magic FeatherPresents... The Magic in Action Initiative: Ever since realizing Walt Disney World has fallen into a large state of disrepair, The Walt Disney Company has begun a massive overhaul of the infrastructure entitled the Magic in Action initiative. Everything from transportation, to signage, to even the smallest nooks and crannies throughout Walt Disney World will be improved over the course of 6 years. After these six hears, we will truly see how Walt Disney World will become Alive with Magic:
Magic in Transportation: It's no doubt that the current transportation system is less than ideal, with so few of the promised monorails around the resort. As amazing as it would be to expand the monorail system, the simple truth is, it is never going to happen. So, as a slightly more practical, less expensive alternative, so as to avoid the lack of less than magical busses, a different system will be expanded, the peoplemover, which will be reffered to as simply the "WEDWAY".
This new service will have one stop at each park, resort, and Disney Springs. There will be lines at each set of resorts, that link to their closest park (or Disney Springs). Each of these five major stations will connect with each other. Every line will be comprised of enclosed tunnels full of virtual windows that see out into magical landscapes, and sometimes even real windows into magical landscapes. The WEDWAY is set for the completion of the main loop by 2021, and resort loops by 2023.
Magic in Infrastructure All throughout WDW's major roadways, a varity improvements will take place. First off, directional signage will take on a new blue and gold color scheme. Additionally, new billboards for attractions (such as the current one of Tower of Terror) will fill out the resort. These will be animated billboards that glow, move, and spin. Finally, the entrance arches will be completely renovated with a more regal feel. There will also be sillhouettes of the park icons, the Tree of Life, Cinderella Castle, Spaceship Earth, and the newly declared icon of the Chinese Theater. Concept art shown below:
Magic in Every Place A variety of small areas around Walt Disney World will both be added, and made into whimsical areas. In Animal Kingdom, a new area tucked behind Island Mercantile will be a small atrium type area, with an unmarked staircase. Up the stairs are a variety of enchanted statuettes that mystically dance, when a set of fireflies swirl around. In EPCOT, a side area in the old Mission: Space FASTPASS distribution area will be turned into a new soace museum. Here will be a small horizontal dome where guests can travel through space. In Magic Kingdom, a new market area will be added in Tommorowland. Lastly, in Animation Courtyard in the old Backlot Tour queue, a new area full of star wars cargo has crates that can be opened, and buttons that can be pushed that trigger effects, and even an imperial search.
Magic in the Pathways The majority of pathways throughout Walt Disney World, specifically in the parks, will have magical fiber optics embedded that will light up the night. For instance, during the future Magic Kingdom light parade, the fiber optics will glow along with the floats. Here is a concept sample, involving the Main Street Electrical Parade:
Overall, new magic will spring to life soon at WDW!
That Guy From Florida Presents.....
The Technology Pavilion (sponsored by Microsoft)
Coming to Epcot in 2022 is a brand new experience: The Technology Pavilion. View media item 2628This brand new pavilion would replace the wonders of life and would also expand the wonders of life building. Inside of the building, you will find two attractions: Cyber Wars and Innoventions. Cyber Wars is a thrilling roller coaster that transports you into the internet to stop a computer virus with the potential of shutting down the internet. Innoventions is a brand new take on an old attraction which allows guests to experience hands on demonstrations of future technologies. With these new additions, Epcot will get just a little better.
Since this season of SYWTBAI is all about reviving past projects, I thought it would be apropos for this project to revive a project near and dear to my heart: the very first project I ever posted on Visions Fantastic...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A "Hunny" of an Adventure Comes to Disneyland!
If you remember my last post here, you may remember me mentioning that Winnie the Pooh has found a new home in Disneyland's Fantasyland, after his current ride was replaced by The Rivers of Nature. Well, now the time has come to experience the magic for ourselves as we join in the whimsical fun of Winnie the Pooh's Most Grand Adventure. Located just behind the rolling hills of Storybook Land, and taking up some of the real estate formerly held by the Fantasyland Theater, you'll find yourselves in the "enchanted neighborhood" of the 100 Acre Wood like never before. Hopping aboard a hot-air balloon, we take off for the magic, the music, and the memories of Winnie the Pooh's timeless adventures.
The attraction carries on the tradition of Fantasyland's five other classic dark rides by having its exterior be themed more to its home-country's setting, rather than the film itself (i;e Snow White's Bavarian castle, Peter Pan's clock-tower facade, etc.) In the case of Winnie the Pooh, the queue is an old English farmhouse. Stepping into the house, we first find ourselves in an old toolshed, looted with all sorts of odds and ends and bric-a-brac.
Moving on from the shed, we move on to Christopher Robin's bedroom, decked out as it was in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh's opening sequence.
At the farthest end of Christopher Robin's bedroom is an large open book, large enough to step through. As in the film's opening sequence, our eyes are met with a large map of the 100 Acre Wood. An instrumental arrangement of the Sherman Brothers' inspired music plays on an endless loop.
In the map's foreground is the ride's loading area. Riding along an aerial track, a la Peter Pan's Flight, are a series of hot-air balloons. These hot-air balloons seat four to five people within their baskets, and are decorated to look like different characters from the Winnie the Pooh stories (ex. half-red, half-yellow for Pooh, orange and black stripes for Tigger, half magenta and half light-pink for Piglet, etc.)
Once all are aboard their balloon, we pass through an arch in a nearby page of the book, and soon find ourselves face-to-face with an illustration of the sun shining happily over the trees of the wood. Suddenly, the balloon rises and sails over the trees, thus marking the transition from the pages of a book into the Hundred Acre Wood itself. Much like every other version of the ride, we are taken through the story of the 1968 Academy-Award winning featurette Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. “A Rather Blustery Day” plays as an instrumental, as wind blows across the land (slightly shaking the balloons a bit).
We first pass by Pooh as he flies his balloon over to the Hunny Tree in order to get a small smackarel, as he says, “I’ve got a rumbly in my tumbly. It must be time for something sweet!” Like in the Tokyo Disneyland version, the audio-animatronics used on this ride not only blink and move their mouths when they speak, but they’re also quite fuzzy, like real stuffed animals. As we move around the room, Pooh flies above our heads as we travel through the wood, and in the middle of the room is Owl’s house, where Owl sits outside in his rocking chair blabbering about his relatives. Across from Owl’s house, we find Rabbit’s garden, where Rabbit is clinging to his wheelbarrow for dear life. “Oh, why do these things always happen to me?” he groans. “Why oh why oh why?” Just then, Pooh flies through his garden, knocking some vegetables into a nearby wheelbarrow. “Thank you, Pooh!” the rabbit says. “Next time, I hope he blows right through my rutabaga patch.”
Nearby, we pass by Gopher's hole. He pops up and says “If I was you, I'd think about skedaddlin' out of here...” He heads back into his hole and finishes his sentence: “...'cause it's Winds-day!” As Gopher says “Winds-day”, a bunch of leaves pop up from his hole.. Meanwhile, over at Kanga and Roo’s house, Roo is hanging from a kite that Kanga is holding. “Hang on tightly, Roo!” Kanga yells. “Look, Mama, look! I’m a kite!” Roo replies. Nearby them is Piglet, sweeping up leaves in front of his house, Trespassers Will (named after his grandfather, Trespassers William). As he sweeps, the wind keeps bringing more leaves on, and occasionally blowing him a few inches away. “I don't mind the leaves that are leaving, it's the leaves that are coming”, Piglet says. As we leave the room, we pass by Eeyore standing nearby his house...which Pooh promptly knocks over. “If you ask me, he’ll never reach that tree”, the donkey sighs. But before we leave the room, we see one more sight – As we pass by a clump of branches across from Eeyore’s house, we see Tigger jump out and say, “Come on, everybody! Let’s all bounce together!”
As we pass by Tigger, the aerial track changes into a normal dark-ride track. Oh, I forgot to mention--the real technological breakthrough of this ride, is the fact that it combines three different types of track--aerial track, normal track, and water track. Anyways, the normal dark-ride track is necessary for the next scene. Here, we pass through a part of the Wood at nighttime, and taking advantage of Tigger's invitation, our balloon actually starts bouncing alongside Tigger.
This segment should be very identical to the one seen in the current Magic Kingdom version. However, in order to achieve a proper bouncing effect, and not the faulty "bucking-bull" effect of the Magic Kingdom version, the balloon is equipped with a small Kuka-arm that allows it to "bounce" and "land" completely vertically.
After all the bouncing's done, we then pass by Pooh's house, under the name of Sanders. Outside of the house, Tigger has pounced on Pooh. He warns him "Watch out for Heffalumps and Woozles. They steal honey." "Steal honey?!" Pooh reacts, horrified at the thought.
Then, our balloon starts to slow down in speed and we creep in through the front door of Pooh's house. Inside, we stop in front of Pooh, who has fallen asleep in the middle of his vigil. Suddenly, the house disappears into a starfield as the balloon standing nearby turns into the head of a Heffalump. Weirdest of all, Pooh begins to float through the starfield as we hear Tigger's ghostly voice intone "Heffalumps and Woozles...Heffalumps and Woozles steal honey...beware...beware!"
We travel through the starfield and find ourselves inside Pooh's mysterious and wacky dream world haunted by Heffalumps and Woozles. Unlike other versions, the walls of this scene are not inky-black, but rather, they flash in different colors, a la the backgrounds during the "Heffalumps and Woozles" scene in the short.
The eerie yet catchy refrain of the honey thieves' theme fill the air. Many effects and gags are scattered around the room. Heffalump-Bees and hot-air balloons with eyes on them fly above our heads. Woozle-headed jack-in-the-boxes pop right out of their boxes and laugh at us. We pass by a honey tree with three Heffalumps at the top of it. A hot-air balloon carries Pooh over to it, but a gust of air within the hole of the tree blows him away. A large transparent Heffalump is projected on a mirror as we pass by, sucking the honey out of our honey pot. We even pass by a Heffalump and Woozle band, using their bodies as their instruments. Soon, we escape the madness via a large tunnel made from a Heffalump's trunk. As we pass through it, the sounds of thunder are heard as lightning flashes along the tunnel walls and we see a projection of Pooh flying past on an umbrella. At the end of the tunnel, we head back into the 100 Acre Wood. However, we find that this isn't the 100 Acre Wood we began the ride in. It has now become victim to a flood-inducing rainfall.
At this point, our vehicle now goes on a water flume track. We float along the waters of the flooded Wood as projected rain falls along the walls of the area. An instrumental version of "The Rain, Rain, Rain Came Down, Down, Down" plays. This is basically like the Blustery Day scene, but we’ll seem to be higher due to the flood. Once we enter the flooded wood, the first thing we see is Pooh, who is sitting on a tree branch that we go under. He sits with 10 honey pots as he says “Oh, no! I must rescue my supper!” Passing under Pooh, we set off to see how the other residents of the Wood are holding up. Seeing as how their residencies are unavailable at the time, this leads to an all-new immersive experience. The things the characters float on have an LPS system, so it truly feels like we're really floating along with them. First, we pass by Piglet, standing on a chair, bailing water with a saucepan. He floats right out of his house towards us. Next, we pass by Owl, sitting on a rocking chair, still talking about his relatives. Then, we pass by Eeyore, sitting on a doorframe. "First the wind, and now this..." he moans. The final group we float by are Tigger, Kanga, Roo and Rabbit, sailing along in a turned-over umbrella, which Tigger rows. Much like before, Roo isn't fazed. "Whee! This is fun!" he says. Rabbit, on the other hand, is far more anxious. "Goodness gracious!" he says. Then, things take a decidely darker tone. First, we pass by Pooh, stuck head-first in a spinning honey pot. Then, we pass by Tigger and Piglet, the former is trying to save the latter from a log. “We’ll save you, Piglet!” cries Tigger. “Oh, hurry, Tigger!” says Piglet. “It’s a very big waterfall!” And just as Tigger says "...Did you say..."waterfall"?", we plummet down one. The waterfall is about the same size as the first drop on Pirates of the Caribbean back in New Orleans Square, and it's guranteed that we'll get a little splashed when the drop ends.
A few inches away from the waterfall, we leave the water-track behind for one final stretch on the dark-ride track and come back to the land. The skies clear, the sun comes out, a triumphant instrumental of "Winnie the Pooh" starts to play, and a rainbow spreads overhead. We see that our Hundred Acre friends are throwing a party. “Hooray!” they all yell. “Hooray for Pooh, too!” pipes up Piglet. “Speaking of which, where is that silly ole bear?” asks Tigger. "Over here, everyone!" Pooh replies from inside the honey tree. "But you can start the party without me." And with that, he happily starts to enjoy his favorite treat.
Passing through an arch made of forest foliage, we find ourselves once again within the pages of the book. We pass by a giant animated storybook page, featuring the characters waving goodbye and text reading, of course, "The End". After passing through the unloading area, we leave the book-world behind and head back into the real-world. Located in another old cabin, just nearby the farmhouse, we find ourselves in Pooh Corner, a shop--which the ride exits out into--selling all things Pooh. Much like the ride, the shop has also made the move from Critter Country, and--yes, Virginia--they still sell all sorts of baked goods, including the famous "Tigger Tails".
And there we have it--what was once considered to be the worst of all iterations of the Pooh dark ride has since gone on to become one that can stand on its own merits. Heck, maybe this could compete with Tokyo's Pooh's Hunny Hunt for the title of best Pooh dark ride! It's another great addition to the legacy of Fantasyland's amazing dark rides.
Since this season of SYWTBAI is all about reviving past projects, I thought it would be apropos for this project to revive a project near and dear to my heart: the very first project I ever posted on Visions Fantastic...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A "Hunny" of an Adventure Comes to Disneyland!
If you remember my last post here, you may remember me mentioning that Winnie the Pooh has found a new home in Disneyland's Fantasyland, after his current ride was replaced by The Rivers of Nature. Well, now the time has come to experience the magic for ourselves as we join in the whimsical fun of Winnie the Pooh's Most Grand Adventure. Located just behind the rolling hills of Storybook Land, and taking up some of the real estate formerly held by the Fantasyland Theater, you'll find yourselves in the "enchanted neighborhood" of the 100 Acre Wood like never before. Hopping aboard a hot-air balloon, we take off for the magic, the music, and the memories of Winnie the Pooh's timeless adventures.
The attraction carries on the tradition of Fantasyland's five other classic dark rides by having its exterior be themed more to its home-country's setting, rather than the film itself (i;e Snow White's Bavarian castle, Peter Pan's clock-tower facade, etc.) In the case of Winnie the Pooh, the queue is an old English farmhouse. Stepping into the house, we first find ourselves in an old toolshed, looted with all sorts of odds and ends and bric-a-brac.
Moving on from the shed, we move on to Christopher Robin's bedroom, decked out as it was in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh's opening sequence.
At the farthest end of Christopher Robin's bedroom is an large open book, large enough to step through. As in the film's opening sequence, our eyes are met with a large map of the 100 Acre Wood. An instrumental arrangement of the Sherman Brothers' inspired music plays on an endless loop.
In the map's foreground is the ride's loading area. Riding along an aerial track, a la Peter Pan's Flight, are a series of hot-air balloons. These hot-air balloons seat four to five people within their baskets, and are decorated to look like different characters from the Winnie the Pooh stories (ex. half-red, half-yellow for Pooh, orange and black stripes for Tigger, half magenta and half light-pink for Piglet, etc.)
Once all are aboard their balloon, we pass through an arch in a nearby page of the book, and soon find ourselves face-to-face with an illustration of the sun shining happily over the trees of the wood. Suddenly, the balloon rises and sails over the trees, thus marking the transition from the pages of a book into the Hundred Acre Wood itself. Much like every other version of the ride, we are taken through the story of the 1968 Academy-Award winning featurette Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. “A Rather Blustery Day” plays as an instrumental, as wind blows across the land (slightly shaking the balloons a bit).
We first pass by Pooh as he flies his balloon over to the Hunny Tree in order to get a small smackarel, as he says, “I’ve got a rumbly in my tumbly. It must be time for something sweet!” Like in the Tokyo Disneyland version, the audio-animatronics used on this ride not only blink and move their mouths when they speak, but they’re also quite fuzzy, like real stuffed animals. As we move around the room, Pooh flies above our heads as we travel through the wood, and in the middle of the room is Owl’s house, where Owl sits outside in his rocking chair blabbering about his relatives. Across from Owl’s house, we find Rabbit’s garden, where Rabbit is clinging to his wheelbarrow for dear life. “Oh, why do these things always happen to me?” he groans. “Why oh why oh why?” Just then, Pooh flies through his garden, knocking some vegetables into a nearby wheelbarrow. “Thank you, Pooh!” the rabbit says. “Next time, I hope he blows right through my rutabaga patch.”
Nearby, we pass by Gopher's hole. He pops up and says “If I was you, I'd think about skedaddlin' out of here...” He heads back into his hole and finishes his sentence: “...'cause it's Winds-day!” As Gopher says “Winds-day”, a bunch of leaves pop up from his hole.. Meanwhile, over at Kanga and Roo’s house, Roo is hanging from a kite that Kanga is holding. “Hang on tightly, Roo!” Kanga yells. “Look, Mama, look! I’m a kite!” Roo replies. Nearby them is Piglet, sweeping up leaves in front of his house, Trespassers Will (named after his grandfather, Trespassers William). As he sweeps, the wind keeps bringing more leaves on, and occasionally blowing him a few inches away. “I don't mind the leaves that are leaving, it's the leaves that are coming”, Piglet says. As we leave the room, we pass by Eeyore standing nearby his house...which Pooh promptly knocks over. “If you ask me, he’ll never reach that tree”, the donkey sighs. But before we leave the room, we see one more sight – As we pass by a clump of branches across from Eeyore’s house, we see Tigger jump out and say, “Come on, everybody! Let’s all bounce together!”
As we pass by Tigger, the aerial track changes into a normal dark-ride track. Oh, I forgot to mention--the real technological breakthrough of this ride, is the fact that it combines three different types of track--aerial track, normal track, and water track. Anyways, the normal dark-ride track is necessary for the next scene. Here, we pass through a part of the Wood at nighttime, and taking advantage of Tigger's invitation, our balloon actually starts bouncing alongside Tigger.
This segment should be very identical to the one seen in the current Magic Kingdom version. However, in order to achieve a proper bouncing effect, and not the faulty "bucking-bull" effect of the Magic Kingdom version, the balloon is equipped with a small Kuka-arm that allows it to "bounce" and "land" completely vertically.
After all the bouncing's done, we then pass by Pooh's house, under the name of Sanders. Outside of the house, Tigger has pounced on Pooh. He warns him "Watch out for Heffalumps and Woozles. They steal honey." "Steal honey?!" Pooh reacts, horrified at the thought.
Then, our balloon starts to slow down in speed and we creep in through the front door of Pooh's house. Inside, we stop in front of Pooh, who has fallen asleep in the middle of his vigil. Suddenly, the house disappears into a starfield as the balloon standing nearby turns into the head of a Heffalump. Weirdest of all, Pooh begins to float through the starfield as we hear Tigger's ghostly voice intone "Heffalumps and Woozles...Heffalumps and Woozles steal honey...beware...beware!"
We travel through the starfield and find ourselves inside Pooh's mysterious and wacky dream world haunted by Heffalumps and Woozles. Unlike other versions, the walls of this scene are not inky-black, but rather, they flash in different colors, a la the backgrounds during the "Heffalumps and Woozles" scene in the short.
The eerie yet catchy refrain of the honey thieves' theme fill the air. Many effects and gags are scattered around the room. Heffalump-Bees and hot-air balloons with eyes on them fly above our heads. Woozle-headed jack-in-the-boxes pop right out of their boxes and laugh at us. We pass by a honey tree with three Heffalumps at the top of it. A hot-air balloon carries Pooh over to it, but a gust of air within the hole of the tree blows him away. A large transparent Heffalump is projected on a mirror as we pass by, sucking the honey out of our honey pot. We even pass by a Heffalump and Woozle band, using their bodies as their instruments. Soon, we escape the madness via a large tunnel made from a Heffalump's trunk. As we pass through it, the sounds of thunder are heard as lightning flashes along the tunnel walls and we see a projection of Pooh flying past on an umbrella. At the end of the tunnel, we head back into the 100 Acre Wood. However, we find that this isn't the 100 Acre Wood we began the ride in. It has now become victim to a flood-inducing rainfall.
At this point, our vehicle now goes on a water flume track. We float along the waters of the flooded Wood as projected rain falls along the walls of the area. An instrumental version of "The Rain, Rain, Rain Came Down, Down, Down" plays. This is basically like the Blustery Day scene, but we’ll seem to be higher due to the flood. Once we enter the flooded wood, the first thing we see is Pooh, who is sitting on a tree branch that we go under. He sits with 10 honey pots as he says “Oh, no! I must rescue my supper!” Passing under Pooh, we set off to see how the other residents of the Wood are holding up. Seeing as how their residencies are unavailable at the time, this leads to an all-new immersive experience. The things the characters float on have an LPS system, so it truly feels like we're really floating along with them. First, we pass by Piglet, standing on a chair, bailing water with a saucepan. He floats right out of his house towards us. Next, we pass by Owl, sitting on a rocking chair, still talking about his relatives. Then, we pass by Eeyore, sitting on a doorframe. "First the wind, and now this..." he moans. The final group we float by are Tigger, Kanga, Roo and Rabbit, sailing along in a turned-over umbrella, which Tigger rows. Much like before, Roo isn't fazed. "Whee! This is fun!" he says. Rabbit, on the other hand, is far more anxious. "Goodness gracious!" he says. Then, things take a decidely darker tone. First, we pass by Pooh, stuck head-first in a spinning honey pot. Then, we pass by Tigger and Piglet, the former is trying to save the latter from a log. “We’ll save you, Piglet!” cries Tigger. “Oh, hurry, Tigger!” says Piglet. “It’s a very big waterfall!” And just as Tigger says "...Did you say..."waterfall"?", we plummet down one. The waterfall is about the same size as the first drop on Pirates of the Caribbean back in New Orleans Square, and it's guranteed that we'll get a little splashed when the drop ends.
A few inches away from the waterfall, we leave the water-track behind for one final stretch on the dark-ride track and come back to the land. The skies clear, the sun comes out, a triumphant instrumental of "Winnie the Pooh" starts to play, and a rainbow spreads overhead. We see that our Hundred Acre friends are throwing a party. “Hooray!” they all yell. “Hooray for Pooh, too!” pipes up Piglet. “Speaking of which, where is that silly ole bear?” asks Tigger. "Over here, everyone!" Pooh replies from inside the honey tree. "But you can start the party without me." And with that, he happily starts to enjoy his favorite treat.
Passing through an arch made of forest foliage, we find ourselves once again within the pages of the book. We pass by a giant animated storybook page, featuring the characters waving goodbye and text reading, of course, "The End". After passing through the unloading area, we leave the book-world behind and head back into the real-world. Located in another old cabin, just nearby the farmhouse, we find ourselves in Pooh Corner, a shop--which the ride exits out into--selling all things Pooh. Much like the ride, the shop has also made the move from Critter Country, and--yes, Virginia--they still sell all sorts of baked goods, including the famous "Tigger Tails".
And there we have it--what was once considered to be the worst of all iterations of the Pooh dark ride has since gone on to become one that can stand on its own merits. Heck, maybe this could compete with Tokyo's Pooh's Hunny Hunt for the title of best Pooh dark ride! It's another great addition to the legacy of Fantasyland's amazing dark rides.
Due to a lack of time, I won't be posting an in-depth review per blue sky project. Instead, I will just reveal my scores. My apologies for the delay and the lack of in-depth review. I have read each project, however, and I am thoroughly pleased with the result. Seriously, I can't reiterate enough how wonderful this season is going to be.
@mickeyfan5534 - An Enchanted Christmas at Shanghai Disneyland
@DisneyManOne - Winnie the Pooh's Most Grand Adventure
Creativity: 8/10
Realism: 9/10
Detail: 9/10
Presentation: 9/10
Total Score: 35/40
Festival of Imagination, Project Three: Disney-Universal Studios
Hailing from my beloved Season Eight, Disney-Universal Studios was an interesting concept inspired by a very old, and long-since forgotten thread here, on WDWMagic. This unique prompt combined the two titans of the Theme Park Industry: Disney and Universal. In one "mega" park, you are to combine any elements of either park(s) to create one massive theme park with all the magic of Disney and all the fun of Universal rolled into one experience. Imagine, Hogwarts Castle and the Death Star within walking distance of one another... Mickey Mouse and Woody Woodpecker, side by side... The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror as an anchor for Halloween Horror Nights... The Iron-Man Experience next door to the Incredible Hulk coaster... Muppet*Vision 3D as a neighbor to Waterworld... Jurassic Park meets Fantasia... Imagine a Universal and Disney-made Great Movie Ride! The sky's the limit here, do whatever you wish with this bold and decidedly unrealistic concept. Just make sure it is what the title calls for: Disney-Universal Studios. We want an overview of this fictitious park.
As such, this project is your last chance to make a grab for a Diamond PoMVP or the first key to Walt's Vault. Oh, and you have only two days to complete this optional project. This would-be masterpiece is due at 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Friday, February 3rd.
At long last, my reviews of the Critter Country projects. Really sorry this took so long to put out.
@Pionmycake- Overall a really nice concept and presentation. The characters you created definitely popped with personality and I like the choice in voice actors. This has an almost Knott's Berry Farm feel to it for me which is appropriate considering Knott's Berry Tales is a perfect blueprint for this kind of project. Interesting choice to make the ride specifically about Critter Country but I think that might have made overall story perhaps a bit too generic. Could have used some more formatting, but good use of reference photos.
Creativity: 8/10 Detail: 8/10 Realism: 7/10 Presentation: 6.5/10 Total: 29.5/40 @kmbmw777- As MEW pointed out, it's really surprising that beavers are nowhere to be found anywhere in Critter Country. Of course they date back to Nature's Wonderland days, and they're a naturally funny animal so it very much fits the classic Marc Davis sensibilities.
Having said that, the ride itself could use a lot more detail in some of the scenes. It might be a typo and you meant to say "forest" but when were suddenly in a jungle I got really distracted. I also had a hard time getting a grasp on the personalities of the characters. Overall a solid effort that has room to be tweaked and expanded upon.
@spacemt354- Yea...I love this kind of stuff haha. To be honest with you, a good 60% of Walt's Vault twists this season are designed to inspire this kind of creativity...hint hint. I have to be harsh with the realism score here because...Frankly, it would never happen
(realism is graded differently depending on the prompt. For the Toon Town project for example any question of rights and IPs will be moot when giving out the realism score...)
Just an all around absurd and ridiculous project. Never heard of this song before reading it but you definitely hit the tone of it well, and in a surprisingly structured way that has the flow and feel of a dark ride.
@DisneyManOne - Wonderful project! You've come such a long way as a writer since the VF days, I'm really impressed. This reminds me of @KingMickey's final project in season seven in the way you describe the emotions of the scenes. The last two scenes in particular sound gorgeous and ambitious, yet not too far out of the realm of possibility.
Only slight gripe with this project is that you have two direct lifts from Nature's Wonderland one right after the other. It's very appropriate to have a nod to that in here, but two in a row was a tad bit repetitive. Overall though a stellar effort. I can't wait to see more from you!
Creativity: 9/10 Detail: 9/10 Realism: 8/10 Presentation: 8/10 Total: 34/40
@Magic Feather - First of all, I really like the name and the logo. It really rolls off the tongue. By far the biggest problem with this project is the formatting. Definitely break your writing up into smaller paragraphs in the future, because it's very hard to follow a block of text this big. I also think there's perhaps a few too many characters unless you're going for a seven dwarf's type where they're all very simple and have one defining characteristic. Overall a solid effort and welcome addition to this round. The story is very nice and I like the variety of sets and locations. Definitely one of the more original projects in this first round.
If it's not too late, I'd like to take a shot at this. Don't know what my schedule will look like these next couple months but if I have the time, I think I could contribute to the season.
If it's not too late, I'd like to take a shot at this. Don't know what my schedule will look like these next couple months but if I have the time, I think I could contribute to the season.
If it's not too late, I'd like to take a shot at this. Don't know what my schedule will look like these next couple months but if I have the time, I think I could contribute to the season.
You can have my place. I think the cast was full, but something came up for the next few weeks and I won't be around. You're more than welcome to have it so you can play if that's okay with the hosts.
You can have my place. I think the cast was full, but something came up for the next few weeks and I won't be around. You're more than welcome to have it so you can play if that's okay with the hosts.
That's absolutely fine with us. We've been running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to work BB in. We'll miss you though Poe. Best of luck in all your endevors and hope to see you watching from the sidelines...
In other news, please give a warm welcome to @Basketbuddy101 as the latest official player to this season.
Introduction
Since 2010, Universal has shown an aptitude for pushing the limits in theme park ride design and technology, while Disney has been lagging in that regard. However, I still hold true that Disney exceeds Universal in nostalgia, and also in theme park design as a whole. Their craft, and meticulously detailed atmospheres, even for a Tangled restroom, far outweighs the effort that goes into building the Universal walk-around parks.
So in this hypothetical collaboration in 2017 -- for a 2021 opening, Universal will be focusing on the wide variety of IP (with a few Disney IPs thrown in) while Disney will be focusing on the design of the park (with a few Universal touches as well).
Disney-Universal Studios will follow the hub and spoke model of Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. The quintessential Disney park design will be adapted, but for lands not of Fantasy and Adventure, but of Studio IP immersions into some of your favorites films never before seen in a theme park environment. While the park is for everyone in the family, it does skew slightly towards adults, yet there will still be activities for all to enjoy.
The objective of this joint theme park effort is to include as many IPs and attractions that haven't been seen in Disney or Universal parks in America before.
Disney-Universal Studios will be located in the outer banks of Orlando, FL - on the border of Lake Buena Vista and I-4 -- in between the two resort destinations. Bus/Taxi service will be provided for guests staying at WDW and Universal Orlando Resort to visit this theme park.
Park Map
As mentioned before, the Disney-Universal Studios will be designed similar to how the "classic" Disney park is designed - with a hub and spoke. From the hub and spoke, lands and attractions will radiate out and around, providing accessible modes of transport throughout.
One interesting note in the design of the park though is it took a page out of E.P.C.O.T. as well in its construction. In the city, the suburbs were supposed to radiate out from a central urban environment. In this case though, the main attractions radiate out (as the suburbs) and the food/entertainment options are located in the central "urban" environment. This is mainly for attractions and genres where a themed restaurant close by to the attractions themselves would ruin the theme or feel forced, and it would make you feel like you're in a theme park. Keeping the restaurants and shops close to the middle (in the un-shaded white areas on the map) alleviates that problem.
Lastly, one aspect that both Disney Hollywood Studios and both Universal parks lack is well...a "park" feel. The open canvases around the center of the park offer the opportunity for extra foliage, green spaces, D-Zones, and water elements to permeate the area, making a wonderfully scenic and park-like feel to the area.
This park-like feel will be reinforced by the main entrance theme which is of a Disney-Universal "World's Fair"
With the Universal globe in the center surrounded by a soaring Tinker Bell and her streaks of pixie dust around the globe, this will act as the main icon of the Disney-Universal Studios park. And similar to the actual World's Far location - the surrounding area will be encompassed in a park like setting, permeating out to the main attractions around the brim of the park.
The following will be the "Phase 1" inclusions in the park, along with the first sneak peak at a future expansion in Phase 2.
Main Attractions (Clockwise)
Pacific Rim
An indoor KUKA arm 2.0 attraction through new fight scenes inspired by the films. You'll start off in a large factory where most of the action takes place, and zoom throughout the battle that then is taken to the seas of the Pacific, where you dodge and duck throughout the epic adventure.
Big Hero 6
One of the more underrated Disney films, Big Hero 6 is back in a big way in Disney-Universal Studios, with a full-fledged land and a variety of experiences to explore. Walk into the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology where the queue for Take Flight with Baymax begins. You see all of the inventions that the institute has, along with a special easter egg of Stan Lee as well.
Eventually you get to the loading area for the attraction, where you board a floorless coaster that will travel around all of San Fransokyo.
Similar to the scene in the film where Baymax takes flight for the first time, you will get to ride on Baymax's back through that style of scene as well, soaring past the skyscrapers, over bridges and water, on one of the fastest attractions Disney or Universal has ever created. Reach speeds of up to 75 mph on this amazing adventure in the sky.
After you're done, refresh at the Lucky Cat Cafe, or walk the streets of San Fransokyo for the street venders, or simply continue walking to the next leg of the journey.
Marvel Land
A segue from Big Hero 6, staying in the same parent company, a Marvel (Cinematic Universe) Land will be coming to Disney-Universal Studios. Below is a storybook animation film about the main E-ticket attraction Avengers:Assemble. This was a concept I was working on (around this time last year actually) but it never turned out the way I wanted to.
Essentially - it is a spin on Infinity War, however using audio from past films so I could make the narration for the scenes. It is also similar in design to what Forbidden Jounrey did to Harry Potter, where it is flying through various scenes, that lead to a vague narrative, but a lot of fun along the way.
The Avengers are out smashing up bad guys until Ultron shows up and they have to stop him from lifting up Sokovia. As Sokovia is rising, Thanos arrives in search for the Infinity Stones, but the Guardians of the Galaxy are hot on his tail. It ends in a grand finale, with Sokovia falling, Thanos and his army re-treating from Star-Lord's Power Stone, and the Avengers saving the day before Sokovia hits the earth.
In addition to "Avengers: Assemble" -- there will be several smaller rides including a Spider-Man Web-Shooter interactive flat ride, Dr. Strange and Ant-Man show traveling to the Quantum Realm, and a Guardians of the Galaxy Tower of Terror
Mad Max: Fury Road
(purchased rights by Universal)
Touted as Cars Land on acid and/or steroids....George Miller's post-apocalyptic dystopian future envelops the guests with a ride along Fury Road in a brand new ride system combining physical sets, with advanced EMV tech, along with new projection, and AA motion systems to create one of the most intense ride experiences of all time; Furiosa.
The ride-through for Furiosa:
Enough said.
Land of the Beasts
A tropical paradise akin to Skull Island, two of the most powerful fantasy creatures to ever hit the big screen, Godzilla vs King Kong. Battle in an epic fight through the rain-forest as you come face to face with the giant myths, while a larger foe waits in the distance.
Universal Monsters (--Phase 2 expansion--)
Land of Enchantment
An assortment of eclectic kid-friendly IPs that will provide a family environment for all to enjoy. Most of the dark rides will be a new tale of the characters from these respective films told in a dark ride style format. -Moana
-Frozen
-The Secret Life of Pets
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
A Toy Story Midway Mania style dark ride where you battle through the six evil exes.
Tron: Legacy
An indoor Tron lightcycle track similar to the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway -- but indoors!, with Tron!, and lightcycles!, and Daft Punk music!
Interstellar
(purchased rights from Syncopy/Warner Bros)
Based on the 2014 Christopher Nolan film, Interstellar, in this adventure you will be a part of the Lazarus Missions - exploratory space missions that pre-date the film.
The Lazarus missions began soon after the discovery of a wormhole floating out by Saturn. With earth's resources dwindling, 12 brave astronauts boarded the Lazarus space cruisers, and journeyed beyond the wormhole to send data back to planet earth on how the human race can live on another day.
However, based on the film only 3 Lazarus missions sent back relative data and signals. The other 9 did not. Unfortunately for the guests, they will be one of those 9. The expedition begins as you lift-off from the new NASA underground base. Boarding a simulator of around 25 guests, you hear the roar of the ignition to your rocket as the countdown begins... 10...
You feel the vibration of the seat and the movement of the surroundings.
9...
Main engine fire
8...
Rocket systems in check
7...
Second ignition on...
6...
5...
4....
3....
We have main engines launch
2...
1...
We have liftoff of Lazarus mission 4 headed to Planet E beyond the void.
As you reach outer space and break the atmosphere, you feel the force of gravity become lifted and, in a new groundbreaking Universal design, feel as if you're weightless.
The sensation only happens for a few seconds though, until the booster engines turn on and the artificial gravity kicks in. You are then put into hypersleep for the remainder of the trip to Saturn, which will take around 2 years. As you wake up at Saturn, you can see the wormhole in the distance. The rocket turns towards it and you venture inside.
The wormhole brings you to another part of the galaxy where your navigation tracks you to your planet. However, upon further inspection, your docking system has malfunctioned and you won't be able to dock with the station orbiting your planet. You decide to turn around and come face to face with Gargantua, the large black hole on the other side of the wormhole.
Diving in towards Gargantua, you aren't sure what is on the other side of the black hole, but travel in anyway in hopes of discovery a way to transmit data back to earth. Falling into the black hole, the ship begins to shake and rumble uncontrollably. Eventually the roof to the ship is torn off and you and up looking into a series of multiplying rooms...which allow you to manipulate gravity back on earth. Another ship lands in the Tesseract and begins to manipulate gravity, which due to time dilation inside the Black Hole being infinite, catches you up with the finale of Interstellar, and you are catapulted out of the black hole to end the adventure in space.
Inception
(purchased rights from Syncopy/Warner Bros)
The genesis of this idea stemmed from a project in 2015, however given the critique of that project, I've gone back and re-worked it, not only so that it fits in the general theme of this park, but so it corrects the mistakes made in the prior incarnation.
In this dark ride hybrid attraction, you travel through 3 dream layers and a kick with Dom Cobb, Eames, Arthur, along with the extraction team as you create inception in a wealthy engineering tycoon's mind, Dr. Ivory.
Guests enter the main door to an engineering school where they are seated in a large lecture hall. A projection screen comes down from the ceiling as you are greeted by a member of Singfied Engineering, along with Dom Cobb, who explains how his plans been overrun by another company led by a man named Dr. Ivory. The plans were for a series of futuristic, never before seen, rotating towers that would change the way buildings are designed in the future. Using dream technologies provided by Cobal Engineering, needs to assemble a team to plant an idea in Dr. Ivory mind, that the stolen architectural plans aren't structurally accurate and the designs are faulty. In order for the genesis of this idea to evolve from Dr. Ivory's mind, they will need to perform inception three dream layers deep. A dream within a dream within a dream. The two engineers are taking a long flight from Paris to the United States, giving the team enough time to complete the job en route.
Cobb comes into view and explains the three dream levels to the guests, along with Ariadne, the "architect" of the dreams:
The first dream level will be a small village that acts as a maze. Inside, Dr. Ivory will be visited by an administrative member of Cobal, who tells him that they are aware of the stolen plans. Dom will "save" Dr. Ivory by bringing him into a vehicle and bringing him down to the second dream level.
The second dream level will be inside one of Dr. Ivory's new buildings on a rotating floor. It's here that Dr. Ivory will see how the plans he stole "weren't" accurate, and the constant rotations are causing the building to wobble.
The third dream level is a cityscape with hundreds of rotating buildings. A chase ensues throughout the city as Cobal will attempt to capture Dr. Ivory for stealing the plans. In order to ride "the kick" back up to the top, the rotating cityscape begins to collapse, which duels as a motivator for Dr. Ivory to give the stolen plans back.
Dom Cobb also explains that you, the guests, will have an active role in accomplishing the mission. You will work in groups of four.
Navigator - pilots the vehicles around the dream worlds 2 Protectors - defend the vehicle against trained dream security projections Architect - can design ways to escape threats throughout the dream levels
Once the mission has been explained, Cobb puffs a sleeping gas into the lecture hall, causing the entire audience to enter the dream world. As guests continue forward, they walk through a series of interactive hallways that include impossible shapes such as the Penrose Steps and the Ames Room. The interactive queue enables guests to get in touch with how the dream world cheats architecture and provides illusions. The queue then winds up a set of ramps to the third level where guests load to their ride vehicles
The ride vehicle uses a new technology known as an "active-ride system." The vehicles run on a LPS navigated track, but have enough flexibility that allows the guests to partially control the motion of the vehicles. (Think the next level of the spin technology in Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin combined with the next level of trackless dark rides)
There are three levels to the attraction. The Load/Unload section is on the third level and the ride proceed to descend to lower levels before riding the "kick" back up to the top at the end of the dream sequence. On each level described in the blueprint above, there are 12 cars active at a time, and 12 cars ascending up towards the load/unload.
After the vehicles load, they will be split into three distinct ride paths (though they all follow the same basic storyline) The ride paths have video projection screens running parallel to them at all times, seen below. This provides the guests a visceral experience and the video screens allow for dream images that feel visceral and truly encompass the guests in the experience.
After the vehicles complete the mazes, they enter dark elevator shafts that transport the vehicles down the lower dream levels. Once on the bottom floor, all vehicles enter the larger elevator shaft on the top left of each level on the blueprint, that ascends the vehicles back up to the unload section via "the kick".
Ride-Through
Level 3 - Dream 1 (The Village)
After loading, the vehicles approach a dark location with Dom Cobb's voice-over being heard in the background. "Dr. Ivory has had training to defend his mind against people like us, we need to act fast". Suddenly out of the blackness you are zooming down an village street where you see Dr. Ivory being lectured by a Cobal administrator. The architect in your vehicle is told to design a rope to pull Dr. Earhart into the vehicle. Once Dr. Ivory is in, Cobal chases you down the street as the navigator speeds in and out of the village maze in order to lose them. The two protectors defend the vehicle against incoming security projections, firing their devices to disable the attacks. As you continue to speed around Cobb informs Dr. Ivory that he is there to save him. The vehicles enter the elevator shaft and slowly drop down to the next dream level in pitch blackness.
Level 2 - Dream 2 (Rotating Building)
Arising out of the black and on Level 2, the vehicles proceed forward at the base of a large rotating skyscraper, the vehicles proceed into the giant atrium of the building and ascend to the 50th floor, where the building begins to wobble. Ivory sees for himself that the design is faulty as the shaking of the building is causing distress among the inhabitants. At that moment, Ivory's projections arrive in order to stop you and your vehicle. The protectors begin firing away at the projections and the navigator winds through the hallways to try and find an escape. The building really begins to shake and a loud crash is heard from above. The first dream level has already started the kick, which means that they must enter the third dream level fast so that they don't miss the second wave of the kick and get trapped in limbo. Because the vehicle in the first dream level has flown off a cliff (initiating the kick) the second dream level is now forced into zero gravity. Your vehicle floats around the slowly rotating floors of the building, all suspended in midair. As the protectors continue to defend the vehicle and the navigator attempts to escape their clutches, the architect is told design a propulsion system that rockets the vehicle down the atrium. This will act as a kick for the second dream level. As the vehicle begins plummeting down to the ground, the vehicles enter the elevator shaft and the third dream level is initiated.
Level 1 - Dream 3 (Rotating Cityscape)
On the highway in the middle of a large city of rotating buildings, Ivory witnesses them all wobbling and the townspeople blaming him for the designs. With Cobal still hot on the tail and dream projections trying to knock your vehicle down, Cobb initiates the final kick by causing an earthquake and collapsing the dream. As you speed along the streets they begin to split apart and the buildings begin to topple around you, causing Dr. Ivory to have second thoughts about the stolen plans. As the buildings collapse you enter the large elevator shaft where the 12 vehicles begin to ascend up to the Load/Unload area. As you pass each floor you see the vehicle in the second dream level reach the bottom of the atrium, which allows you to continue to ascend upwards towards the first dream level. As soon as you reach the village, you see the vehicle reach the bottom of the cliff, the music swells and everything goes black for an instant.
The vehicles slowly begin to move forward as the lights turn on and the unloading section is seen. Guests disembark the vehicles and see the backside of the lecture hall they were just in with Cobb nodding and smiling to them as they walk past, confirming that you performed inception. You walk back out onto the Paris streets and are immediately met with the city bending effect on your left, which suspends your disbelief for a brief moment of whether you're still dreaming or not....
Attraction Statistics:
Theme - Inception
Ride Design - Active Ride System
Top Speed - 15 mph
Number of Vehicles - 24
Vehicle Capacity - 4
Ride Time - 3:20
Hourly Capacity - 1700 guests
Height-Restriction - No
Wheelchair Accessible - Yes
Les Miserables -- A Musical *Look Down....Look Down...24601*
Filling out a Paris themed section of this DIsney-Universal Park, since Inception takes place in Paris as well, Les Miserables will be around the corner from the E-ticket attraction, offering a C-ticket 25 minute show based on the best songs from the musical and film. *Do not forget my name...24601*
Conclusion
Overall, the Disney-Universal Collaboration hopefully brought some new IPs into the advanced fold, that haven't been explored much in a general theme park setting. It also brings something new to the Orlando area -- a joint effort between two powerhouse theme park organizations with mutual benefits to its success.
----------------------------------------------------------
(Not to be included in the actual presentation)
And lastly, another Phase 2 expansion!
Fifty Shades of Grey
Fifty Shades Darker
Dumb and Dumber To
Pitch Perfect
R.I.P.D.
Cowboys and Aliens
Couples Retreat
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie
...........
......
..... The American Movie Classics Land:
@spacemt354... Between the return of @Basketbuddy101 and your project thus far... Going to work tonight and coming home to my cold laptop was made totally worth it.
Going live in just a few minutes with @MANEATINGWREATH to do video reviews on the Blue Sky projects. This podcast should give a pretty good idea on how the two of us grade and what were both looking for.
The World Located in the brain of @kmbmw777 the waters Australia, Disney and Universal's The World will be located on one circular, large, man-made island.
Thr Outer Ring
Around the Circular Island is a ring of shopping districts, hotels, and entrances to the Park. Connecting all of these destinations will be a series of trails for bikes and pedestrians and the monorail.
The Dock - Lots of shuttle boats. Contains a Monorail Stop, and the Main entrance to the park
Jimmy Buffet's Island- A tacky imitation of a tropical resort, with a small shopping center and a monorail stop. Contains the iconic Restaurant. I have provided viewers with a link to one of the few real life locations of this resort.
Boardwalk - Features a resort, midway games
Oceania - resort
TreeHouse Suites Resort
Grand Australian Resort
The Park
Located on the interior of the island
London
Clones of the Harry Potter worlds in Orlando
Peter Pan's Flight
New York
Avengers Assemble!
The Amazing Spiderman
Dr. Strange's Battle for the Sanctum
It all Started with a Rabbit... -1928- Walt Disney leaves Universal due to negotiations over Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons. What if that never happened? In a new, alternate timeline, Charles Mintz sees Walt Disney as a man with vision and agrees to take a gamble investing in that. Walt Disney is granted his own sub-studio. He will be given a certain amount of money to start out with and Walt Disney will be given, for the most part, freedom to work independently. Walt is instructed that if his new studio goes bankrupt, he should not expect Universal Studios to bail him out. Walt Disney goes on to create Steamboat Willie starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Ortensia. It becomes a huge success!
-1938- The very first ever feature length animated movie is released! In order to get the additional funding required from his bosses at Universal, Walt agreed to make a small compromise on his initial vision. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (Starring Betty Boop as Snow White) is a huge critical and commercial success! Walt Disney is given more freedom going forward. Betty Boop was redesigned by Walt to be more wholesome. Her new design heavily resembles Snow White's original design.
The rest of Walt Disney's films are all the same as they are in our timeline with the exception of all the Princess movies now starring Betty Boop playing the different princess characters. What began as a compromise with Universal became a signature element of Walt Disney's princess films. One upside to this is that the prince's in the Walt Disney created princess movies were given more distinct and memorable personalities to make up for the princesses all having very similar personalities. Also, Betty Boop became a huge cartoon megastar on the level of Oswald himself. Cartoon shorts focused on Betty Boop's life in Hollywood between filming princess films began to play before every Disney film.
-1965-
Disneyland opens! At this point, Walt has earned the trust of the Universal execs. While nervous and skeptical, they eventually gave Walt the funds he needed to finance his vision. Though it took Walt an extra 10 years to fully convince them resulting in a 1965 opening for Disneyland.
-Hollywood Lane-
Enter under the train station into Hollywood Lane (taking the place of Main Street U.S.A.). Now themed to the glitz and glamour of 1920s Hollywood. Walt Disney wanted a day at his park to remind people of a day at the movies. The red brick walkway resembling a red carpet, the posters under the train station resembling the previews before films, the smell of popcorn resembling concession stands, and a journey through Betty Boop's classic Hollywood resembling the shorts before Disney films. At the end of Hollywood Lane is the breathtaking Cinema Castle! Betty Boop's humble yet fantastic castle is the centerpiece of the park.
-Adventureland-
Adventureland is still themed as a jungle full of adventure even in this alternate timeline. Pirates of the Caribbean (now a part of Adventureland at park opening), Tiki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse, and Jungle Cruise remain the same (despite protests from Universal to theme Jungle Cruise to King Kong).
-Monsterland-
Instead of Fronteirland, Walt Disney decided to build Monsterland (a decision aided by the suggestions of the execs at Universal). A land full of dramatic green and purple lighting against gothic gray and black buildings. Vampire Mountain is a thrilling rollercoaster through Dracula's mountain top castle home (filling the void left by Thunder Mountain's absence). Haunted Mansion is now an opening day ride. Sadly, Haunted Mansion is now about Abott and Costello fumbling through a Haunted House. This was the biggest example of executive meddling in the park and a real sore spot for Walt and his Imagineers. To compesate for this, Walt built The Museum of the Weird as a walkthrough next door. The walkthrough was considered to be Walt and the Imagineer's "pure" version of the Haunted Mansion even if it is much smaller and made on a lower budget. A Sea Monster themed flume ride (filling the void of Splash Mountain) was planned but never built. The large show building was built, but it was left empty.
-Fantasyland-
Small World is not built. The large patch of land is used for a Betty Boop Princess Adventure boat ride. A slow moving boat ride themed to Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. The space previously occupied by Snow White's Scary Adventure is now occupied by a dark ride themed to the recently released Sword in the Stone. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was never built, but Walt's plans for that ride morphed into a 101 Dalmations themed dark ride. A mad cap car ride through the streets of London avoiding Cruella and helping the Dalmations escape. The only Hell in this ride is the length of the queue lines during the busy summer months. The carousel is now themed to Mary Poppins with a "floating" figure of Poppins bobbing up and down above the carousel. Dumbo, Teacups, and Peter Pan's Flight remain the same. The Alice in Wonderland dark ride as well as Matterhorn both open with the park now.
-Tomorrowland-
Like Adventureland, Tomorrowland is virtually identical at launch. The biggest change is that construction on Space Mountain is already starting at park open. Also, the Submarines are never built.
-1966-
Tragically, Walt Disney dies just one year after his park opens. Having spent an extra decade getting his park built, Walt never had a chance to truly start work on the Florida project before his death. Walt Disney World and Epcot are never built. The execs at Universal begin to have more control over the Walt Disney Company.
-1970s-
Jungle Cruise loses it's theme of a cheesy, comedic attraction to become the King Kong themed boat ride through Skull Island. Swiss Family Treehouse is bulldozed to free up space for the expanded river of the Skull Island boat ride. Space Mountain becomes a more extreme coaster to appeal to teens and adults that may be bored by all the family friendly rides. The coaster goes inside and outside of the Space Mountain building. The unsuccessful change of the People Moved into the Rocket Rods happens here in the 1970s. It will be closed by the 1980s. The Sword in the Stone Dark ride is closed to make way for a Robin Hood Dark ride. This is considered the most successful and well-received post-Walt decision in the parks yet.
-1980s-
The 80s represent a period of stagnation for the studio and the parks. 101 Dalmations dark ride is replaced with a Great Mouse Detective Dark ride. This is considered by most to be a lateral move. The showbuilding in Monsterland meant for the flume ride remains unused. The biggest thing to happen in the parks is the addition of a Back to the Future Simulator ride in Tomorrowland. The simulator ride and building were meant for Star Tours, but contract negotiations fell through part way through construction. A Roger Rabbit dark ride starts construction at the end of the decade in Hollywood Lane to capitalize on the films success.
-1990s-
At the start of this decade (before the Renaissance began fully), a deal was struck with Hanna Barbera. Scooby Doo replaced Abbot and Costello as the theme for the Haunted Mansion. The Museum of the Weird was replaced with a character dining restaurant with Scooby Doo characters. Space Mountain is given a Jetsons theme.
The Disney Renaissance films are what really revitalize the studio and the park! The Betty Boop Princess Adventure Boat Ride is rethemed to Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid (both starring Betty Boop of course). Alice in Wonderland, Great Mouse Detective, and Robin Hood Dark rides are all gutted to make way for new Lion King E ticket utilizing the same technology found in Indiana Jones Adventure in our timeline. Tiki Room is bulldozed to make room for a Mulan themed drop tower (an outdoor one similar to Doctor Dooms Fear Fall. The tower is made to look like a Pagoda with the ride vehicle being themed to fireworks). At the end of the decade, plans are put in place to replace the dated Skull Island boat ride with a Tarzan Log Flume E ticket.
The last major addition of the 90s is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's Toon Town. This is much smaller than the current toon town as the Roger Rabbit dark ride was built in Hollywood Lane. It features Oswald and Ortensia's houses. Goofy's Play house is still here. Popeye's boat is built (rather than Donald's Boat. Donald never became a huge star since Universal though him too similar to Popeye as they are both sailors and discouraged Walt producing Donald cartoons).
-2000s-
Opposition arises! After the success of Toy Story 2, Universal takes note of Pixar and tries to add them to the Uni, Disney, Hanna- Barbera family. Pixar feels like the current management of that conglomerate is too focused on money and what's next and not focused enough on telling good stories. Pixar turns down the offer. Not long after, George Lucas approaches Pixar with a deal. Lucasfilm and Pixar team up to build a competing theme park on the East Coast with Lucasfilm providing much of the financing and Pixar providing much of the creative direction. By 2006, the new park opens. By 2010, Marvel Studios is formed and teams with this new, creativity focused Lucasfilm. A Marvel land expansion is in development set to open at the same time as the Avengers releases in 2012.
Unhappy with this turn of events, Universal refuses to let another new animation powerhouse gain power as a competitor. After the smash hit success of Shrek, DreamWorks is bought by Universal/Disney. Peter Pan's Flight is rethemed and expanded into a Shrek Dark Ride. The recently opened Tarzan Log Flume is almost immeadietly rethemed into Madagascar.
The empty show building in Monsterland is finally filled with a Dark Ride rollercoaster hybrid themed to the hit Brendan Frasier Mummy movies. Oswald's Toon town becomes Bedrock. A new small land themed to the live action Flintstones movie. A kiddie coaster themed to a pterodactyl is added as well as a Bowling Alley (the bowling alley does still cost money to play). The Pirates of the Caribbean ride is gutted and replaced with a new ride using the same ride system from the Spider-Man ride in Islands of Adventure and themed to the Johney Depp movies.
Work begins on a second gate focused on intense thrill rides.
-2010s-
All the additions of the previous decade are no match for the additions of Marvel Land and Wizarding World of Harry Potter over in the Lucasfilm park. Plus the very popular Radiator Springs land.
The big news for Universal is the second gate. Featuring a state of the art flying coaster loosely themed to Peter Pan, a Simpson's simulator ride, a Fast & the Furious Test Track style ride (which many call a rip off of Radiator Springs Racers), an Emperor's New Groove coaster (themed to Yzma's lab), a Lilo and Stitch simulator, and a loosley themed Godzilla Rollercoaster. The park was clearly rushed out quickly to open in 2012, the same year as Marvel land, and does not have many attractions and the theming is often rather simple and undetailed. Many are calling it just a step above Six Flags and not up to Disneyland quality.
After the success of Despicable Me, Universal purchases Illumination Entertainment out of fear that it will join Lucasfilm too. The hope is that Illumination can help DreamWorks as that studio is not doing as well as it has in the past. In a move many call unforgivable, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt's most famous cartoon, is given to Illumination rather than Disney Studios to create a new movie. The hope is that Illumination can turn Oswald's Bunny children into a Minion style adorable army of blandly mischievous characters that will sell billions in merch. The movie is set to release in 2018, yet Facebook memes with the bunny children have already begun to pop up.
Space Mountain is rethemed to Gru's lab as a Despicable Me coaster. The Back to the Future simulator becomes rethemed to minions. In an effort to cash in on nostalgia for the old Kong ride, the Madagascar flume ride is rethemed to a very intense Kong Flume ride. In a show of confidence for their upcoming shared monster movie universe, Vampire Mountain becomes Dracula's Flight and is rethemed to the upcoming Dracula Untold movie. The film bombs just as it did in our timeline and the retheme is looked at as a waste of money.
Matterhorn becomes Dragon Mountain themed to How to Train your Dragon. The Mulan drop tower is rethemed to Kung Fu Panda. The Betty Boop Princess Boat ride is rethemed entirely to Frozen (starring Betty Boop and her newly invented sister Lilly Boop as Elsa and Anna respectively). The Roger Rabbit Dark Ride in Hollywood Lane is replaced with a 4d theater that shows a Wreck it Ralph movie. Very recently plans have been anounced to replace the Wreck it Ralph film with a Jimmy Fallon film by the end of 2017.
-Future-
Plans are made to replace Bedrock with a new version of Oswald's Toon Town. The hope is to have Toon Town open with the release of the Oswald movie. Universal is still confident with the shared monster movie universe and plan to retheme the entirety of Monsterland to the new movies as they come out over the next decade.
The second gate is planned to expand with a more traditionally "Disney" land themed to Zootopia. A Secret Life of Pets dark ride is rumored for the second gate, but has not been anounced yet. A Tangled themed drop tower will be added to the second gate by 2020.
Over at Lucasfilm Park, a Nintendo Land was recently announced as well as small expansions to the Pixar Land and Marvel Land. Rumors persist of a Fantastic Beasts expansion to Wizarding World, but nothing is actually happening yet. The largest expansion is to Star Wars Land. A large project tied to the new sequel trilogy (Episodes 7,8, and 9) and set to be completed in phases over the next 5-7 years.
Finally, both Universal and Lucasfilm are racing to open their first international parks in an attempt to cash in on the growing Chinese market. Lucasfilm is building in Hong Kong and is expected to be open by 2022. Disneyland Shanghai is expected to open in 2023. Universal execs are trying to expedite construction to open first, but they are afraid of opening another half finished dud park (like the second gate). Funds from much of Disneyland's upcoming expansions will be relocated to Shanghai so it can open in 2022. This will prompt posters on WDLmagic.com forums to blame all problems with the two parks in America on Shanghai. #thanksshangahi
(All artwork was found on Google images and are not my own. I unfortunately did not have time to create original art)
-1928- Walt Disney leaves Universal due to negotiations over Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons. What if that never happened? In a new, alternate timeline, Charles Mintz sees Walt Disney as a man with vision and agrees to take a gamble investing in that. Walt Disney is granted his own sub-studio. He will be given a certain amount of money to start out with and Walt Disney will be given, for the most part, freedom to work independently. Walt is instructed that if his new studio goes bankrupt, he should not expect Universal Studios to bail him out. Walt Disney goes on to create Steamboat Willie starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Ortensia. It becomes a huge success!
-1938- The very first ever feature length animated movie is released! In order to get the additional funding required from his bosses at Universal, Walt agreed to make a small compromise on his initial vision. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (Starring Betty Boop as Snow White) is a huge critical and commercial success! Walt Disney is given more freedom going forward. Betty Boop was redesigned by Walt to be more wholesome. Her new design heavily resembles Snow White's original design.
The rest of Walt Disney's films are all the same as they are in our timeline with the exception of all the Princess movies now starring Betty Boop playing the different princess characters. What began as a compromise with Universal became a signature element of Walt Disney's princess films. One upside to this is that the prince's in the Walt Disney created princess movies were given more distinct and memorable personalities to make up for the princesses all having very similar personalities. Also, Betty Boop became a huge cartoon megastar on the level of Oswald himself. Cartoon shorts focused on Betty Boop's life in Hollywood between filming princess films began to play before every Disney film.
-1965-
Disneyland opens! At this point, Walt has earned the trust of the Universal execs. While nervous and skeptical, they eventually gave Walt the funds he needed to finance his vision. Though it took Walt an extra 10 years to fully convince them resulting in a 1965 opening for Disneyland.
-Hollywood Lane-
Enter under the train station into Hollywood Lane (taking the place of Main Street U.S.A.). Now themed to the glitz and glamour of 1920s Hollywood. Walt Disney wanted a day at his park to remind people of a day at the movies. The red brick walkway resembling a red carpet, the posters under the train station resembling the previews before films, the smell of popcorn resembling concession stands, and a journey through Betty Boop's classic Hollywood resembling the shorts before Disney films. At the end of Hollywood Lane is the breathtaking Cinema Castle! Betty Boop's humble yet fantastic castle is the centerpiece of the park.
-Adventureland-
Adventureland is still themed as a jungle full of adventure even in this alternate timeline. Pirates of the Caribbean (now a part of Adventureland at park opening), Tiki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse, and Jungle Cruise remain the same (despite protests from Universal to theme Jungle Cruise to King Kong).
-Monsterland-
Instead of Fronteirland, Walt Disney decided to build Monsterland (a decision aided by the suggestions of the execs at Universal). A land full of dramatic green and purple lighting against gothic gray and black buildings. Vampire Mountain is a thrilling rollercoaster through Dracula's mountain top castle home (filling the void left by Thunder Mountain's absence). Haunted Mansion is now an opening day ride. Sadly, Haunted Mansion is now about Abott and Costello fumbling through a Haunted House. This was the biggest example of executive meddling in the park and a real sore spot for Walt and his Imagineers. To compesate for this, Walt built The Museum of the Weird as a walkthrough next door. The walkthrough was considered to be Walt and the Imagineer's "pure" version of the Haunted Mansion even if it is much smaller and made on a lower budget. A Sea Monster themed flume ride (filling the void of Splash Mountain) was planned but never built. The large show building was built, but it was left empty.
-Fantasyland-
Small World is not built. The large patch of land is used for a Betty Boop Princess Adventure boat ride. A slow moving boat ride themed to Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. The space previously occupied by Snow White's Scary Adventure is now occupied by a dark ride themed to the recently released Sword in the Stone. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was never built, but Walt's plans for that ride morphed into a 101 Dalmations themed dark ride. A mad cap car ride through the streets of London avoiding Cruella and helping the Dalmations escape. The only Hell in this ride is the length of the queue lines during the busy summer months. The carousel is now themed to Mary Poppins with a "floating" figure of Poppins bobbing up and down above the carousel. Dumbo, Teacups, and Peter Pan's Flight remain the same. The Alice in Wonderland dark ride as well as Matterhorn both open with the park now.
-Tomorrowland-
Like Adventureland, Tomorrowland is virtually identical at launch. The biggest change is that construction on Space Mountain is already starting at park open. Also, the Submarines are never built.
-1966-
Tragically, Walt Disney dies just one year after his park opens. Having spent an extra decade getting his park built, Walt never had a chance to truly start work on the Florida project before his death. Walt Disney World and Epcot are never built. The execs at Universal begin to have more control over the Walt Disney Company.
-1970s-
Jungle Cruise loses it's theme of a cheesy, comedic attraction to become the King Kong themed boat ride through Skull Island. Swiss Family Treehouse is bulldozed to free up space for the expanded river of the Skull Island boat ride. Space Mountain becomes a more extreme coaster to appeal to teens and adults that may be bored by all the family friendly rides. The coaster goes inside and outside of the Space Mountain building. The unsuccessful change of the People Moved into the Rocket Rods happens here in the 1970s. It will be closed by the 1980s. The Sword in the Stone Dark ride is closed to make way for a Robin Hood Dark ride. This is considered the most successful and well-received post-Walt decision in the parks yet.
-1980s-
The 80s represent a period of stagnation for the studio and the parks. 101 Dalmations dark ride is replaced with a Great Mouse Detective Dark ride. This is considered by most to be a lateral move. The showbuilding in Monsterland meant for the flume ride remains unused. The biggest thing to happen in the parks is the addition of a Back to the Future Simulator ride in Tomorrowland. The simulator ride and building were meant for Star Tours, but contract negotiations fell through part way through construction. A Roger Rabbit dark ride starts construction at the end of the decade in Hollywood Lane to capitalize on the films success.
-1990s-
At the start of this decade (before the Renaissance began fully), a deal was struck with Hanna Barbera. Scooby Doo replaced Abbot and Costello as the theme for the Haunted Mansion. The Museum of the Weird was replaced with a character dining restaurant with Scooby Doo characters. Space Mountain is given a Jetsons theme.
The Disney Renaissance films are what really revitalize the studio and the park! The Betty Boop Princess Adventure Boat Ride is rethemed to Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid (both starring Betty Boop of course). Alice in Wonderland, Great Mouse Detective, and Robin Hood Dark rides are all gutted to make way for new Lion King E ticket utilizing the same technology found in Indiana Jones Adventure in our timeline. Tiki Room is bulldozed to make room for a Mulan themed drop tower (an outdoor one similar to Doctor Dooms Fear Fall. The tower is made to look like a Pagoda with the ride vehicle being themed to fireworks). At the end of the decade, plans are put in place to replace the dated Skull Island boat ride with a Tarzan Log Flume E ticket.
The last major addition of the 90s is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's Toon Town. This is much smaller than the current toon town as the Roger Rabbit dark ride was built in Hollywood Lane. It features Oswald and Ortensia's houses. Goofy's Play house is still here. Popeye's boat is built (rather than Donald's Boat. Donald never became a huge star since Universal though him too similar to Popeye as they are both sailors and discouraged Walt producing Donald cartoons).
-2000s-
Opposition arises! After the success of Toy Story 2, Universal takes note of Pixar and tries to add them to the Uni, Disney, Hanna- Barbera family. Pixar feels like the current management of that conglomerate is too focused on money and what's next and not focused enough on telling good stories. Pixar turns down the offer. Not long after, George Lucas approaches Pixar with a deal. Lucasfilm and Pixar team up to build a competing theme park on the East Coast with Lucasfilm providing much of the financing and Pixar providing much of the creative direction. By 2006, the new park opens. By 2010, Marvel Studios is formed and teams with this new, creativity focused Lucasfilm. A Marvel land expansion is in development set to open at the same time as the Avengers releases in 2012.
Unhappy with this turn of events, Universal refuses to let another new animation powerhouse gain power as a competitor. After the smash hit success of Shrek, DreamWorks is bought by Universal/Disney. Peter Pan's Flight is rethemed and expanded into a Shrek Dark Ride. The recently opened Tarzan Log Flume is almost immeadietly rethemed into Madagascar.
The empty show building in Monsterland is finally filled with a Dark Ride rollercoaster hybrid themed to the hit Brendan Frasier Mummy movies. Oswald's Toon town becomes Bedrock. A new small land themed to the live action Flintstones movie. A kiddie coaster themed to a pterodactyl is added as well as a Bowling Alley (the bowling alley does still cost money to play). The Pirates of the Caribbean ride is gutted and replaced with a new ride using the same ride system from the Spider-Man ride in Islands of Adventure and themed to the Johney Depp movies.
Work begins on a second gate focused on intense thrill rides.
-2010s-
All the additions of the previous decade are no match for the additions of Marvel Land and Wizarding World of Harry Potter over in the Lucasfilm park. Plus the very popular Radiator Springs land.
The big news for Universal is the second gate. Featuring a state of the art flying coaster loosely themed to Peter Pan, a Simpson's simulator ride, a Fast & the Furious Test Track style ride (which many call a rip off of Radiator Springs Racers), an Emperor's New Groove coaster (themed to Yzma's lab), a Lilo and Stitch simulator, and a loosley themed Godzilla Rollercoaster. The park was clearly rushed out quickly to open in 2012, the same year as Marvel land, and does not have many attractions and the theming is often rather simple and undetailed. Many are calling it just a step above Six Flags and not up to Disneyland quality.
After the success of Despicable Me, Universal purchases Illumination Entertainment out of fear that it will join Lucasfilm too. The hope is that Illumination can help DreamWorks as that studio is not doing as well as it has in the past. In a move many call unforgivable, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt's most famous cartoon, is given to Illumination rather than Disney Studios to create a new movie. The hope is that Illumination can turn Oswald's Bunny children into a Minion style adorable army of blandly mischievous characters that will sell billions in merch. The movie is set to release in 2018, yet Facebook memes with the bunny children have already begun to pop up.
Space Mountain is rethemed to Gru's lab as a Despicable Me coaster. The Back to the Future simulator becomes rethemed to minions. In an effort to cash in on nostalgia for the old Kong ride, the Madagascar flume ride is rethemed to a very intense Kong Flume ride. In a show of confidence for their upcoming shared monster movie universe, Vampire Mountain becomes Dracula's Flight and is rethemed to the upcoming Dracula Untold movie. The film bombs just as it did in our timeline and the retheme is looked at as a waste of money.
Matterhorn becomes Dragon Mountain themed to How to Train your Dragon. The Mulan drop tower is rethemed to Kung Fu Panda. The Betty Boop Princess Boat ride is rethemed entirely to Frozen (starring Betty Boop and her newly invented sister Lilly Boop as Elsa and Anna respectively). The Roger Rabbit Dark Ride in Hollywood Lane is replaced with a 4d theater that shows a Wreck it Ralph movie. Very recently plans have been anounced to replace the Wreck it Ralph film with a Jimmy Fallon film by the end of 2017.
-Future-
Plans are made to replace Bedrock with a new version of Oswald's Toon Town. The hope is to have Toon Town open with the release of the Oswald movie. Universal is still confident with the shared monster movie universe and plan to retheme the entirety of Monsterland to the new movies as they come out over the next decade.
The second gate is planned to expand with a more traditionally "Disney" land themed to Zootopia. A Secret Life of Pets dark ride is rumored for the second gate, but has not been anounced yet. A Tangled themed drop tower will be added to the second gate by the end of 2020.
Over at Lucasfilm Park, a Nintendo Land was recently announced as well as small expansions to the Pixar Land and Marvel Land. Rumors persist of a Fantastic Beasts expansion to Wizarding World, but nothing is actually happening yet. The largest expansion is to Star Wars Land. A large project tied to the new sequel trilogy (Episodes 7,8, and 9) and set to be completed in phases over the next 5-7 years.
Finally, both Universal and Lucasfilm are racing to open their first international parks in an attempt to cash in on the growing Chinese market. Lucasfilm is building in Hong Kong and is expected to be open by 2022. Disneyland Shanghai is expected to open in 2023. Universal execs are trying to expedite construction to open first, but they are afraid of opening another half finished dud park (like the second gate). Funds from much of Disneyland's upcoming expansions will be relocated to Shanghai so it can open in 2022. This will prompt posters on WDLmagic.com forums to blame all problems with the two parks in America on Shanghai. #thanksshangahi
(All artwork was found on Google images and are not my own. I unfortunately did not have time to create original art)
-2030s-
All out nuclear war between the Universal Corporate Conglomerate and the Lucasfilm Creative Conglomerate devastates the world. Few remain. Universal execs try to turn the ruined wasteland of our world into a Mad Max theme park experience in a desperate plea to take what's left of the world's money. A brave soldier is sent back in time to convince Charles Mintz to rethink his deal with Walt and mame it so that Walt Disney leaves Universal to create Mickey Mouse. This brave soldier saves the world. Now 127 years old, the soldier has taken to calling himself Pionmycake onlime. He warns all he can about the apocalypse that almost happened and how itall started with a rabbit.
. I still remember you posting that around VF.
