Team Bailey
I'll admit Gatorland was definitely the easiest to work with out of the three choices. With that said you took the theme of the park and did just about all you possibly could with it, resulting in a really memorable and professional looking dining project. I really appreciate the fact that the menu includes both park go-tos like the gator nuggets as well as stuff I'd genuinely love to try at the park like the tails, with a great mix of variety in between for those who don't want to eat the same type of animal they came into the park to see.
We'll definitely get into the pros and cons of elaborate backstories, but I think this is a perfect example of a backstory that works really well to add flavor and character to your establishment without weighing down the context of the project. Great job in that regard. Everything flowed really well and visually this is by far the most impressive of the three projects presented. The theme is a super natural fit for the park. Only minor critique is the animal exhibits. It definitely is in line with what would be at the park, I just had a hard time visualizing gators just swimming around in a flooded home set or how that flooded home would fit in with the rest of the footprint.
The manatees were a good addition to the park and I liked the shipwreck habitat a bit more than the flooded house set up, but it still feels just a bit padded. Did I mention how fantastic the presentation elements of the project are though? I love how many members of the team contributed stuff in this regard. DEFINITELY keep up stuff like the video banter. I can't tell you how much more compelling dialogue like that is and how much more it pops when I can actually hear it delivered and not just read it in a script. Overall a very strong showcase of a project that did a wonderful job using every team members strengths to your advantage.
Creativity: 8/10
Realism: 8/10
Detail: 9/10
Presentation: 10/10
Group Work: 10/10
+5 Bonus points
Total: 50/50
Team Barnum
I gotta say, following this project was a roller coaster in its own right. I went into this thinking Castles and Coasters was the "Whammy" of the selections, and I appreciated just how quickly this team leaned into the obvious castles/dragon theme of the park and didn't let the scale or lack of relevance weigh you down. I was pretty much instantly in love with the concept of the cupcave itself from the moment I saw that concept art.
With that said, the concept is really about this project's biggest strength. Given the blue sky nature you weren't really required to go into detail about the dining rooms, but that was definitely something I was missing compared to the other two. The backstory is really unique and reminds me of the whole "cowboy dinosaurs" art that we've been discussing in the hype thread recently. It might be just a BIT derivative of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but what isn't haha. I give a ton of props for the video and presentation. It's probably the most professional looking video we've gotten so far this season.
That being said, the video and backstory as much as being your greatest strength is arguably also your Achilles Heel. So much time was spent on the backstory and fleshing out the characters that I really felt the food itself was lost by the wayside. This was blue sky, but the actual dining still needed to be in the center of it. Super unique presentation style and I always applaud when teams do something other than text as their main format, but it still resulted in me not getting as good of a picture as I could have about the actual place you're trying to pitch.
Creativity: 9/10
Realism: 7/10 (I just don't see a park like this investing in the character development)
Presentation: 9/10
Detail: 7/10
Group Work: 8/10
+5 Bonus Points
Total: 45/50
Team Ringling
The struggle with how challenging this park was definitely felt palatable as I read through the brainstorming. As Jokers said, Fun Spot is about the most generic "amusement park" theme you could find. My distinct vibe I got from the visit I had to the park was "this feels JUST like vanilla Roller Coaster Tycoon". The race theme you landed on makes a ton of sense. I can promise you the go-karts as the backbone of the Fun Spot business model and definitely the most prominent attraction in the park as far as pure footprint. In some ways I feel like what you did here really helped solidify a more cohesive theme for the park, and in some ways that's even more impressive than just building off a pre-existing castles or animal theme.
BIG props to the mini attraction. It's exactly the type of thing I could see at Fun Spot and I'm genuinely surprised they don't have something like that already. This is a perfect example of something to include inside a dining project that doesn't weigh down the concept you're trying to convey but instead really helps to cement it. As Jokers said, this project was also probably the most detailed as far as the actual dining rooms go. This is definitely a vanilla project to be sure, but as we've seen in the past couple seasons with the "sheer effing hubris" running joke, sometimes simple is better and I really think on this occasion going that route paid off.
Creativity: 8/10
Realism: 9/10
Detail: 9/10
Group Work: 7/10 (There were definitely some people pulling their weight more than others here)
Presentation: 8/10
+5 Bonus Points
Total: 46/50
The Results
1st Place: Team Bailey (97 Points)
2nd Place: Team Ringling (92.5 Points)
3rd Place: Team Barnum (92 Points)
Yes...the winner was determined by literally HALF a point. You guys are insane and it seriously makes me consider going with Jokers suggestion of no grading scale in the future haha. With that in mind, sadly this is the first project of the season where no matter who gets eliminated it's going to sting as that person has been active since the beginning and hasn't dropped out or been a non entity. Project Leader
@goofyyukyuk has nominated
@Brer Panther and
@Shannoninthemagic for elimination.
@Brer Panther, you've definitely been a soft spoken presence in this game as per your nature, but you really stepped up to the plate last round with the Seussian Safari. Will that be enough to save you?
@Shannoninthemagic, you've definitely struggled with the team work side of the game, but you've got a great attitude and perseverance about it.
Unfortunately, we've decided to eliminate
@Shannoninthemagic. While Brer Panther definitely had a signature moment last round, Shannon simply hasn't stood out like that. I want to emphasize though Shannon, this is a CRAZY game for someone so new to the concept of working in teams like yourself. It was a struggle for you for sure, but I still admired how you persevered through it. I'm definitely sad to see you go. Easily the first nomination of the season to have some real weight behind the decision.