Also see my avatar for a tease at the FINAL pre-Elite Eight project of the season! Be sure to get the prompts submitted for this round and next round to ensure your place in the rankings.
Going live in about 15 minutes!
So, I can't fully explain the purple wall because I don't understand the appeal myself lol
BUT I can verify that it is a surprisingly a big thing with locals. A lot of pictures taken in front of the plain wall. It is just a plain, purple wall on the side of the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor on the side of the walkway between the Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant and Tomorrowland proper.
Here is an instagram of submitted purple wall photos
It is perhaps the single most baffling thing I learned about during my program. Why is it not just a thing with locals, but a BIG thing with locals?
Also see my avatar for a tease at the FINAL pre-Elite Eight project of the season! Be sure to get the prompts submitted for this round and next round to ensure your place in the rankings.
Purists
W O R K I N P R O G R E S S
MYSTERYLAND
“Where the Paranormal is Normal”
The American frontier tells the tale of civilization battling untamed wilderness. To walk along the Rivers of America, you see this story told geographically and chronologically, from bustling New Orleans Square to dusty Frontierland, where westward expansion abuts against the unknown. Let us now continue further west, past the furthest outposts of civilization, into the unexplored mists of Mysteryland…
Welcome to an accursed region many call the Pacific Triangle. The dense, mossy forests of the Pacific Northwest hide a realm where myth and folklore still live – as though all of Fantasy Americana has been driven west by the continued expansion of Man. From the ghosts of Roanoke to Spanish galleons lost in inland seas, America’s secrets dwell in Mysteryland. Here is a haunted hinterland where the laws of physics barely apply. Where bizarre creatures hide just out of sight. Where lost worlds and legendary treasures tempt foolhardy explorers.
Few have entered Mysteryland and returned with their sanity intact. Some remain; others simply disappear. Journals tell of “roaring underground noises, menacing blue orbs, shape-shifting beasts.” Undeterred by these rumors, the Society of Explorers and Adventurers – financed by Big Thunder’s gold magnate Barnabas T. Bullion – now leads a scientific expedition into the Pacific Triangle. “Mysteryland” is the pet name given to this region by S.E.A.’s expedition leads, Dr. J.L. Baterista and Ryan Q. Stone. Come with us now as a member of their party as we delve into the eerie, unknown phenomena of Mysteryland.
LAND OVERVIEW
The year is 1901. A rail line leads along Big Thunder Trail, through sandstone caves under the Disneyland Railroad, to the edge of the known world. The tracks abruptly end, smashed underneath boulders, marked by an ominous “END OF THE LINE” sign. Weathered posters along the entry announce S.E.A.’s expedition. “VOLUNTEERS WANTED,” they declare. Who are we to say no?
The hot deserts of Frontierland transition into thick deciduous woods inspired by Olympic National Forest and Mt. Shasta. Already, strange sights abound. Last vestiges of desert rocks grow more alien and spindly. A boulder spins atop a butte, compelled by a strange magnetism. A sea of psychedelic-hued cacti dots the crags. At night, these succulents glow in unearthly bioluminescence, against all reason.
Proceeding into the ever-thicker forest, the scent of pine carries along a howling wind. The only evidence of human influence is S.E.A.’s basecamp itself, set in a clearing along the timberline. There are complexes made of canvas tents. Exploration jalopies bring in supply crates. More “permanent” structures are hastily made from the region’s logs, like a turn-of-the-century logging camp.
It is here in the basecamp where guests find most of Mysteryland’s dining and retail. Overgrown trails beyond the camp’s safety lead to attractions. The land’s music, such as it is, is crackled honkytonk which comes directly from tintype record players. The ambient sounds of Mysteryland – the eerie winds, the cackles of beastly wildlife – threaten to overwhelm this music. Like the faded jazz soundtrack of Adventureland, it is enough to make guests feel removed from civilization.
Psychics and spiritualists call this place a Cosmic Power Spot, a vortex of energies. Trails surrounding the basecamp, though not attractions in their own right, boast an abundance of otherworldly sights, giving this land life. Lake Cosmic, connected to the Rivers of America via caverns, is home to a lake monster seen gliding under its surface. Rivers run uphill away from this lake. Rocks roll around on their own. Trees in the slopes along Forbidden Mountain all lie uprooted in the same direction, toppled as if by some Tunguska Event. Pathways wind directly through enormous hollow logs. At night, the forests are lit by eerie ball lightning and swamp gas. Here in Mysteryland, the strangest stories of the American wilderness come true.
ATTRACTIONS
HOLLOW EARTH EXPEDITIONS
E-ticket water coaster
Ryan Q. Stone, S.E.A.’s expedition co-lead, is a geologist fascinated with Mysteryland’s strange mineral qualities. Hidden throughout the jagged rocks are precious metals like gold, silver and quartz. Whole lost cities have risen and fallen fighting over these minerals. Stone hypothesizes that these riches must share a common source, a mythical Hollow Earth deep beneath the Earth’s crust. Tall tales surround the Hollow Earth, said to be home to Lemurian lizard people, subterranean jungles, and other unreal wonders.
Stone is convinced that a passage to the Hollow Earth lies along the glacial rivers of the Forbidden Mountain. Guests must board flimsy wooden boats and ascend to these waterways along Stone’s makeshift timber lift hill. An eerily quiet voyage through the canyons is soon shattered by an earthquake. A rocky dead-end collapses, and boats plummet deep underground and into the bizarre Hollow Earth!
Riders drift through rainbow caverns inspired by Carlsbad and Mammoth. The subterranean river meanders past increasingly awesome, alien sights – enormous glimmering crystals, forests of oversized ferns patrolled by dinosaur-sized insects, magma cisterns, even the ancient buried ruins of Lemuria where lizard-like humanoids roam. At last the waters boil red with volcanic activity, lifting boats up vertically through a seismic shaft. (Two parallel elevator “lift hills” increase ride throughput.) Boats burst forth violently from the steaming vents atop the Forbidden Mountain and hurtle down a hair-raising Mack Rides water coaster course before a climactic splashdown in Lake Cosmic.
FEARSOME CRITTERS SNAPSHOT SAFARIS
D-ticket interactive dark ride
Stone’s colleague, cryptozoologist Dr. J.L. Baterista, specializes in studying Mysteryland’s bizarre fauna. Cryptids – legendary creatures many think cannot exist – drive his research. What Baterista needs is photographic evidence. That’s where we come in. Aboard a rickety convoy of jalopies, we are to venture into a forest of perpetual nighttime and photograph whatever strange creatures we encounter. Queued in Baterista’s workshop, scientific sketches establish these fabled “Fearsome Critters.”
There is a whimsical, magical tone to this attraction. As an original Disney attraction (based on real folklore), the Fearsome Critters are adorable…and easily merchandisable. They include the Cactus Cat, the Axe-Handle Hound, the famed Jackalope, Snipe, Skunk Ape, Hodag, Hide-Behind, the Hoop Snake and the Fur-Bearing Trout. And many more!
Aboard jalopies equipped with vintage cameras, guests photograph these comical animatronic creations, triggering amusing reactions. Like Monsters Inc. Ride ‘n’ Go-Seek, this is a family-friendly interactive adventure, a shooter-style ride without the violence or the competition. Better still, pictures taken on-ride are stored to guests’ PhotoPasses, which may be printed up as a souvenir journal in the land’s main shop.
LOST MYSTERY TRAILS
C-ticket walkthrough
Guests follow trails along an enchanted river which overflows with golden treasures from a lost city upstream. Along the way, they’ll see assorted mysterious sights. They’ll walk through a grounded Spanish galleon. They’ll pass living, speaking totem poles. Interact with geysers spurting colored water. Glimpse an abandoned Conestoga wagon crushed under redwood roots. All throughout, eyes observe guests from the underbrush, and attentive explorers might even spy a Sasquatch. These and other sights might seem disparate and random, but notes left behind by earlier explorers tie everything together into a single unified conspiracy theory…and hint at greater mysteries.
Around Halloween, the Mysteryland Nights event transforms the Mystery Trails into a scarifying haunted trail, complete with “scareactors” portraying the most horrific sights from American folklore, sights like the Wendigo or “Weird West” ghost riders. It’s a scare maze done Disney-style, mixing the frightful and the festive in the grand (Guignol) tradition of Haunted Mansion.
SQUIRTIN’ SQUONK
B-ticket water playground
The Squonk is the most melancholy of all Fearsome Critters. Embarrassed by its own ugliness, the Squonk never stops weeping. Alongside his Snapshot Safari (and very near to Critter Country, natch), Dr. Baterista has a live Squonk on display for all to see. The poor hippo-like beast cries endlessly, transforming this simple display into an interactive water playground ideal for our youngest guests.
STREETMOSPHERE & WALKAROUND CHARACTERS
The S.E.A. basecamp overflows with life. To entertain researchers and maintain their sanity, vaudeville-style medicine shows take place regularly on a stage alongside Dr. Fiendish’s Snake Oil Wagon (see Retail). These shows abound with musical escapades, including live jug bands and singing.
Dr. Baterista oversees the land’s walkaround characters – a costumed cast of American monsters who caper and jest with guests. Beasts like Jersey Devil, Moth Man and the Chupacabra appear for photo ops, all of them “original” creations in the charming Disney-style much like Figment or Mystic Manor’s Albert.
At night, grizzled explorers gather around the basecamp’s campfire circle. They tell tall tales of their Mysteryland misadventures. From the campfire, they might conjure forth forgotten American spirits realized with projection mapping. Fleshing out the land’s backstory, many distinct characters are here among the “Citizens,” from an insane old mountain hermit to a telekinetic psychic to a mystic palm reader.
DINING
EXPLORERS CLUB
Table service restaurant
Mysteryland’s citizens also regularly frequent Explorers Club, a fine-dining lounge which teems with theatrics and theming. Created by Ryan Stone, Explorers Club is an attempt to recreate in the wilderness the jaunty fineries of distant Discovery Bay – seen in photographs throughout the establishment. Everywhere on display are artifacts from S.E.A.’s worldwide adventures, like ancient statues and masks and tapestries.
Truthfully, Explorers Club is an homage to Disney’s long-lost Adventurers Club, with the same cheeky interactions between guests and cast members. Set within a theme park (and minus Pleasure Island’s disruptive drunkenness), this revitalized concept should flourish. A fine steakhouse-style menu completes the picture. Reservations are highly recommended for this one-of-a-kind dining experience.
SASQUATCH CANTEEN
Counter service restaurant
Time-pressed guests are better off feasting in the basecamp’s Sasquatch Canteen mess hall. Here, S.E.A. combats Mysteryland’s eeriness with flippant jokiness, very much a woodsy version of the tropical Skippers Canteen. For décor, the Canteen features woodcarvings of the local myths created by researchers, mixed in with Northwestern native artifacts. The menu is much like you’d expect from a period lumberjack camp, with flapjacks served for breakfast and hearty comfort food the rest of the day – most notably, our signature chicken ‘n’ waffles! Explore a taste of the unknown in the Geology Room, the Cryptid Room, or in the main Uncanny Galley.
FLAPJACK SNACK SHACK
Quick service cart
For explorers on-the-go, grab a beastly bite alongside the Canteen at the Flapjack Snack Shack. Barbecued treats are seen cooked in a griddle atop a geyser vent, or rotisseried within a repurposed old locomotive engine. Nearby seating overlooks Lake Cosmic and the Hollow Earth splashdowns.
RETAIL
WAREHOUSE OF THE WEIRD
Land emporium and post-ride shop
Located equidistant between the land’s two rides, Warehouse of the Weird serves as a temporary storage station for Mysteryland’s many cursed artifacts. With time it has become a popular tourist trap much in the vein of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Madame Tussaud’s…or indeed, Rolly Crump’s fabled Museum of the Weird. Amongst land-appropriate merchandise (including Fearsome Critter plushes and toys) guests will find “living” furniture, haunted mirrors, dowsing rods, volcano bats, the Fiji Mermaid, and other oddities.
PROF. FIENDISH’S SNAKE OIL WAGON
Merchandise cart
Even in Mysteryland, you can never escape Old West hucksters. Here the self-appointed Professor Fiendish sells his elixirs, panaceas, and other quackeries (plus theme park souvenirs). Medicine shows are a common sight, as described under “Streetmosphere,” as Professor Fiendish touts his wares and entertains the explorers.
***Mysteryland explores the strange American myths, folktales and mysteries which are always there, just under the surface. Here, pseudoscience and occultism are taken seriously. This is a classic form of Fantasy Americana, one which balances the disparate elements of nearby Fantasyland, Frontierland and Critter Country. Mysteryland follows in the grand Disney tradition of original characters, animatronic-heavy rides, and a unique setting. And while Mysteryland is technically a separate land, it – like the proposed Discovery Bay before it – is in many regards an extension of nearby Frontierland, expanding on its themes of wilderness and exploration for a new generation of guests!
Enter into the unknown!
Thank you for the reminder! Definitely thought this was due tomorrow. Guess I better get working on this!!Be sure to get the projects in by tonight. Really looking forward to what comes out of this prompt! Based on the actual number of people submitting this round, it's possible I might scale back the Elite Eight into the Sensational Six...simply because I don't want to run into a situation where someone who isn't actively engaged in the game right now gets into the Elite Eight and takes up a spot. I'll give you guys confirmation on that one way or another during tomorrow's podcast.
I mean, I'm not tiki so I can't say for certain, but I'm sure he'll gladly accept it considering the circumstances as long as you get it in before he starts doing all the reviews tomorrow afternoon.@TheOriginalTiki if you’re still accepting projects slightly late I’ll post mine when I get to the hotel.
The airline lost my luggage so my day has been a bit hectic
@TheOriginalTiki if you’re still accepting projects slightly late I’ll post mine when I get to the hotel.
The airline lost my luggage so my day has been a bit hectic
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