Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist's Gallery
can perhaps best be described as a hybrid video game and rollercoaster attraction, utilizing a complex yet intuitive gameplay system, Musion projection technology, sensory effects, and two distinct 'dueling' Wild Mouse coaster tracks. An avid theme park goer would likely describe it as a fusion of Hollywood Studios' Toy Story Mania, Animal Kingdom's Primeval Whirl, and Universal Orlando's Revenge of the Mummy. Borrowing heavily from the anime of the same name, the attraction will be situated in between the Backdraft attraction and The Flying Dinosaur attraction, which is part of the Jurassic Park area of Universal Studios Japan. The attraction's show building will be built from the ground up, situated in the backstage area behind the Minion Mayhem attraction, which was once home to Back to the Future: The Ride. The attraction is targeted toward a more adolescent audience in that its gameplay system isn't as straightforward as an attraction like Toy Story Mania but its roller coaster sequence is less tame than something like Revenge of the Mummy. With that said, its use of sensory, lighting, and Musion projection effects, along with its marriage of a 'shooter' and 'dueling coaster' is what makes this a true 'E-Ticket' experience. Fans of the show will appreciate the level of authenticity given to the attraction while theme park fans will appreciate the sheer magnitude and spectacle inherent with its creation.
The Story:
Respected duelist, Seto Kaiba of
Kaiba Corp, is opening a new attraction at his signature theme park,
Kaibaland, which promises guests the chance to experience
Duel Monsters like never before. The attraction, known as 'The Duelist's Gallery,' is a showcase of Kaiba's latest technological development, the 'Duel Drifter,' a disc-like vehicle equipped with Duel Monsters gameplay capabilities. This information is passed on to guests while they wait in the outdoor segment of the queue, summarizing the basic premise of the show, mostly the characters' involvement with the Duelist Kingdom Tournament. At one point, a local news network interviews Yugi Muto, who happens to be visiting the park with Joey Wheeler.
Interviewer: Mr. Muto, what does the Duelist Kingdom Champion make of Kaibaland's new 'Duelist's Gallery' attraction?
Yugi: [
His eyes shut, he smiles widely] Well, I can't say for sure. Haven't been inside yet. I just hope Kaiba knows what he's doing.
Joey: Nyeh! Look, Yug, we're on TV!
Interviewer: [
Annoyed] Ignore him, folks. Mr. Muto, you've bested the greatest duelists in the world, including Maximillion Pegasus. How do you explain your success?
Yugi: Well, I can't say I would've made it half as far if it weren't for my grandfather. He taught me about the heart of the cards.
Interviewer: A most interesting philosophy!
Joey: Hey, Yug, don't forget me! I helped, right? Right?
Interviewer: Can it, Wheeler!
Yugi: Sure. I don't know how I'd get along without my friends.
Joey: Hey, Yug, aren't you forgetting the Mill—
Yugi: [He covers Joey's mouth nervously] Hey, uh, Joey, let's just keep that part to ourselves.
Joey: Right, ancient magic, and what not.
Yugi: Joey!
Interviewer: Mr. Muto, thanks for your time. Hey, Wheeler—
Joey: No need to thank me.
Interviewer: Good, because I wasn't going to. You're standing on our camera equipment, by the way.
Joey: Nyehhh!
Kaibland Courtyard:
The entrance to the attraction is themed as
Kaibaland Courtyard, lush concrete square welcoming guests to the park. At the foot of the stairs to the upper level stands a proud concrete statue of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the central icon of the park. After wandering through the switchback outdoor queue, which is shaded by light blue canopies, guests are led into a towering structure resembling a sports arena of some kind, its sleek and rounded roof features a giant
Kaibaland marquee, beckoning guests to approach it. Aside from the building's many stairways and sleek steel skeleton structures, a massive LED screen adorns the center of the building, and features a number of promotional advertisements for Kaibaland, including its various attractions. At one point, Kaiba himself acquaints guests with what they can expect in their visit to Kaibaland today, the arrogance in his voice present and accounted for.
Seto: Greetings, duelists and duel fans. Welcome to Kaibaland, the world's most sophisticated theme park dedicated to the game of Duel Monsters. You've probably experienced most of our other attractions by now, but if you haven't, I'd look no further than what you see before you now. Our duel monsters arena has been expanded to include the 'Duelist's Gallery,' the crown jewel of the park, and a chance to showcase my latest technological marvel: the Duel Drifter. I designed this sophisticated vehicle to take the thrill of Duel Monsters on the go. Duelists everywhere will no longer be limited by how far their legs can carry them. This is truly the next step in bringing duelists closer together, and no matter what the cost, I intend to deliver this technology to as many duelists around the world as possible. The price may be steep, but when have I ever concerned myself with costs? To kickoff the event, you'll be treated to an official duel sponsored by Kaiba Corp before proceeding with the demonstration. So what are you waiting for? Prepare yourself for the greatest Duel Monsters experience you're every likely to see.
Guests enter the building, its height more than enough to conceal the show building that stretches beyond the visible borders of the park. A lobby area features a 'box office' and working snack bar. Much like
Escape From Gringotts, this segment of the queue is 'open' for guests to explore and enjoy before they should choose to experience the attraction. Aside from the snack shop, the lobby area also features 'Traveler's Game Shop,' a gift shop themed to a card shop within the show's mythos. Aside from the shop's impressive collection of official
Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading cards, the shop features everything from clothing, posters, plush toys, house ware, and knickknacks dedicated to the show. After sufficiently exploring the lobby, guests then have the chance to take an escalator to the upper floors of the building, or elevator for disabled guests. It's here that the true experience begins, as guests are ushered into a moderately-sized room known as the 'Concourse,' filled with switchbacks where they will spend most of their time waiting in line for. Monitors hanging from the ceiling reveal the 'Live' duel that is expected to commence in a few moments. Dinosaur monster enthusiast, Rex Raptor, is engaging bug monster enthusiast, Weevil Underwood, in a rematch. The announcer onscreen is prepping the audience inside for the match. After waiting in this segment of the queue, guests are then allowed into the arena itself, a large room taking up most of the queue space.
The 'arena' is scaled down, and uses a number of forced perspective techniques to manipulate guests into believing that the arena is much larger than it actually is. By means of forced perspective, guests also get the impression that they are dozens of feet in the air. The 'seats' are dimly lit, but the impression of thousands of spectators in attendance is given by cutouts and flashing LED lights representing fans snapping pictures with flash. Aside from the notable set design, the most impressive element of this queue room is the Duel Monsters match occurring below. Guests can see the outline of Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood, who are actually detailed models resembling the characters. A jumbotron hanging from the ceiling reveals what's going on below, with new animation representing the duel. Because guests are looking at the scene from a controlled, elevated perspective, a Pepper's Ghost effect and Musion hybrid effect is used to bring the monsters below to life, much like the show uses 'holograms' to bring another level of intensity to the game. The lighting, sound, and story elements, combined with the special effects, bring the anime's central 'dueling' activity to life in true-to-life form.
After passing through the scene, guests enter the final room in the queue, the 'Duelist's Gallery' itself, or at least the entrance lobby. It's here that Kaiba explains the attraction in greater detail. Swinging doors allow a number of guests into an Egyptian-themed chamber, its limestone walls glowing as if lit by fire. A stone tablet on the wall with a Blue-Eyes White Dragon figure etched into the stone slides open to reveal a monitor, where Seto Kaiba greets guests once more.
Seto: You've made it. By now you're familiar enough with our new attraction to know that this it's one of the most expensive undertakings that Kaiba Corp has ever been involved with, but you'll find that the investment is well worth it. Using my new Duel Drifters, you'll be pitted against each other in a test of your skills as duelists. Don't worry; even the simplest of minds can play. Here's how it works…"
At this point, a relatively-brief but informative instructional video explains the rules of the attraction to guests. Each vehicle resembles a traditional Mad Mouse Coaster vehicle, but with some added features, specifically an onboard touch screen display. The ride's gameplay mechanics function on a sort of gambling system, a 'slot machine' arrangement in which guests are dealt a hand of five random cards, three of them monsters and the other two a combination of either magic or trap cards. Smart players may approach the game any way they like, maximizing their luck by attacking their opponents with strong monster cards, using the occasional trap card to stop attacks, or countering attacks with powerup magic cards. The track splits early on in the attraction, allowing guests to battle their way through three 'mini duels.' With a total of 4 guests per vehicle, and each vehicle battling against another, with a total capacity of three dueling vehicles in the attraction at the same time, and a 30 second individual duel duration, there are a total of 24 duels per minute for the attraction, or 1440 duels per hour.
Monster Cards: 4 Tiers: Guaranteed at least 3 monsters per hand/roll
• 1/10 Chance of Rare Monster (Blue Eyes White Dragon, Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, etc.)
• 1/5 Chance of Upper Tier Monster (Dark Magician, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Summoned Skull, etc.)
• 2/5 Chance of Mid Tier Monster (Curse of Dragon, Ryu-Ran, etc.)
• 4/5 Chance of Lower Tier Monster (Baby Dragon, Kuriboh, Celtic Guardian, etc.)
Magic Cards+Trap Cards: 3 Tiers for magic and 1 tier for trap; guaranteed 2 of either magic or trap
• 1/5 Chance of ritual card, which sacrifices all monsters to create a new monster, which guarantees either an upper tier or rare monster with a 1/3 chance for rare and 2/3 chance of upper tier.
• 1/3 Chance for power up.
• 2/3 Chance of terrain editor (may or may not benefit you).
• 2/5 Chance for trap card (typically destroys or neutralizes opposing attack)
The game remains balanced in that simply drawing a 1/10 chance 'rare' monster does not guarantee victory, as the user runs the risk of running into a trap if the user draws and plays one. The complex slot machine system has the capacity to make adjustments to the game based on all of the associated odds, ensuring that everyone has a fair shot of winning. Every victory per ride allows the vehicle a 'star chip,' and because there are four riders per vehicle, guests can max out at 4 star chips per duel and hit a floor of 0 star chips per duel. With a total of 3 duels per vehicle, or 4 duels per guests, the vehicle with the most star chips at the end 'wins' the game.
AugMusion Technology
One of the more intriguing elements of the attraction is the manner in which the duels are presented. The vehicles enter 3 individual rooms early in the attraction, each divided by sliding doors. Each room is themed as a miniaturized dueling arena, complete with fully-realized 'holographic' duel monsters. Universal Creative developed a new variation of the traditional
Musion projection system, combining the effect with augmented reality. When guests enter each room, they'll see their opponents on the other side of the arena, along with the beautifully-rendered Duel Monsters. The trick, however, is that they're not actually viewing their opponents directly, but rather via real-time projection. The effect is altogether uncanny; guests watch as their monster hover, swoop, jump, run and move about the environment as if they were actually there. The marriage of Musion and Augmented Reality, combined with Universal's own 'Squinching' effect, which simulates the perspective distortion experienced by shifting positions, beings Yu-Gi-Oh! to life like never before.
Wild Mouse Coaster Sequence:
The duels, of course, are quite literally only half the fun. The second half of the attraction takes guests on a hair-raising spin through a simulated battle between the Dark Magician and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Kaiba's nod to his rival, Yugi. The ride plays into the notion that this is a world in which the world is dictated by a card game, so to have Kaiba, a young man who once created a jet in the image of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, create a dueling roller coaster sequence between his favorite card and that of his rival's is not even remotely out of character. The 2 minute sequence is altogether action-packed and reasonably thrilling. Guests will either run through the Blue-Eyes track, painted bright blue, or the Dark Magician track, painted purple. The sequence is in near darkness, illuminated only by raging 'blue fire' lighting effects, simulating the roaring breathing of the titular dragon, or 'dark magic' lighting effects belonging to the Dark Magician. The sequence utilizes projection mapping to illustrate the two battling it out, as guests themselves 'duel' with other guests in the style of
Crush's Coaster. In the concluding sequence, the vehicles glide into a dark, Egyptian-themed chamber, where a large gallery of Egyptian tablets depicting the original incarnations of Duel Monsters appear scattered throughout the gallery of Egyptian relics.
Conclusion:
The attraction certainly focuses primarily on the character of Kaiba, but given that guests play the role of theme park guests within the universe, it only makes sense that the character would be given the most attention. Much like
The Simpsons Ride, the attraction adopts the 'theme park within a theme park' narrative, and for that reason, the stakes within the attraction are reasonably low, with a greater emphasis placed on the associated leisure of visiting a theme park. With that said, the attraction's sophisticated technology, elaborate queue , overall scale and coaster sequence make it just what fans of the show would expect when they think of
Yu-Gi-Oh! Being adapted to a theme park attraction.
Ride Layout:
I love how you took the core fundamentals of what it means to design a theme park and stripped them down to their bare essentials. We've still got our big E ticket ride with the slide, guest relations are taken care of, we have a memorable dining experience with several smaller scale attractions to round out the roster. Really, it's a genius concept that's only brought down by the sheer limits of the idea. 
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55814445/Doctor_Doom_Stan_Lee_Interview.0.jpg)