Team Danny DeVito From Dumbo - Wonders of the World

JokersWild

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Season 19, Act Twelve - Wonders of the World
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In this day of modern tourism, many classic landmarks and tourist spots have tried to keep up with the times by installing attractions to add some thrills and unique experiences to their otherwise boring structures. A simulator was installed in The Empire State Building, allowing guests to embark on a virtual flight over New York City, a dark ride was built in Hershey, Pennsylvania to show guests how their chocolate is made, and many others were erected to attract guests looking for something more than a simple elevator ride or tour through crumbling ruins. Now, it's your turn to make a world landmark into a popular tourist attraction:

The Challenge
Create an attraction for ANY famous landmark or world wonder. This can be anywhere in the world so go wild.


Due Date
Friday, August 6th at 11:59pm EST​
 

Outbound

Well-Known Member
WELCOME TO MY REIGN AS PROJECT MANAGER
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Super pumped to be your project manager! I was never the PM for a merge project last season. Thus, my memo this round is to put in twice the usual effort of a Project Manager and see what happens!

This is a really inspired prompt - and given the fantastic team we have, each person with such unique talents to bring, I think we can make something super special with it! We have until Friday, so ideally let's spend a day or two brainstormings to find the perfect landmark to base our attraction. After that, we can break into groups and work on making the best project possible!

And yea, I seem to have a monopoly on Diamond POMVPs. Seriously I'm gonna start calling it a curse. Last season I had it, also from winning the pre-merge round, and it ended up backfiring on me when I saved someone and inadvertently eliminated someone else. Low and behold this season I think I escape the curse by convincing Tiki to not eliminate anyone the round I play it and I'm handed it again 🤣 🤣 🤣

All I'll say for this round's nominations is anything can and will happen - no one, and I mean no one, should be getting too comfortable. Even me. BUT overall I want the focus of this round to not be on the down-the-line nominations, but on the project and the Imagineering talents on display. So Team Danny Devito From Dumbo, let's start brainstorming something special!​
 

Outbound

Well-Known Member
WELCOME TO MY REIGN AS PROJECT MANAGER
img_9536.gif


Super pumped to be your project manager! I was never the PM for a merge project last season. Thus, my memo this round is to put in twice the usual effort of a Project Manager and see what happens!

This is a really inspired prompt - and given the fantastic team we have, each person with such unique talents to bring, I think we can make something super special with it! We have until Friday, so ideally let's spend a day or two brainstormings to find the perfect landmark to base our attraction. After that, we can break into groups and work on making the best project possible!

And yea, I seem to have a monopoly on Diamond POMVPs. Seriously I'm gonna start calling it a curse. Last season I had it, also from winning the pre-merge round, and it ended up backfiring on me when I saved someone and inadvertently eliminated someone else. Low and behold this season I think I escape the curse by convincing Tiki to not eliminate anyone the round I play it and I'm handed it again 🤣 🤣 🤣

All I'll say for this round's nominations is anything can and will happen - no one, and I mean no one, should be getting too comfortable. Even me. BUT overall I want the focus of this round to not be on the down-the-line nominations, but on the project and the Imagineering talents on display. So Team Danny Devito From Dumbo, let's start brainstorming something special!​
So my first thought is to go international. As an American who's experience visiting foreign countries surmounts to Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda, I'm not exactly the most qualified to advocate this route. But this prompt has so many opportunities that it feels a shame to limit ourselves to the US.

We could explore so many rich cultures and histories, from Ancient Rome to Ancient China, to Native American, African, and Polynesian civilizations. There's a ton of potential, especially with recent advances in VR letting you "see" ancient sites as they were originally intended. This could be an excellent fusion of edutainment with real-world discoveries.
 

Outbound

Well-Known Member
So my first thought is to go international. As an American who's experience visiting foreign countries surmounts to Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda, I'm not exactly the most qualified to advocate this route. But this prompt has so many opportunities that it feels a shame to limit ourselves to the US.

We could explore so many rich cultures and histories, from Ancient Rome to Ancient China, to Native American, African, and Polynesian civilizations. There's a ton of potential, especially with recent advances in VR letting you "see" ancient sites as they were originally intended. This could be an excellent fusion of edutainment with real-world discoveries.
Here are a few examples. I took an Art History course two years ago that was pretty game-changing to me in how it broadened my perspective regarding ancient civilizations. There's some really amazing stuff out there that most of us never hear about... I'd encourage everyone to do a little research and see if they can teach themselves something!

Great Zimbabwe
Did you know there was once a stone-age level feudal society during the Medieval Ages... in the plains of Zimbabwe? The Zimbabwe Empire made its fortune exporting gold to merchants, many of which made their way back to Europe! The Empire's capital was a massive, circular stone fortress created in an outwardly spiraling circle, so visitors had to enter in single file under the cover of two walls where guards could throw down stones. Even more impressive, Great Zimbabwe hadn't invented mortar. Meaning the stone walls, which still stand today, were put together entirely by fine hand and withstood siege after siege.

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Nan Madol
This "sunken city" in Micronesia was once a Venice in the Pacific. A 1,000+ capital city was constructed atop crisscrossing wooden logs, with carved out canals to transverse the city. The more impressive fact about this city was the use of massive basalt boulders, taken from the mountains. How the people of Nan Madol, who did not have access to animals or transportation, transported these massive boulders in such a precise way to develop their city remains a question of archeologists today. Although the city is now ruins, you can still see the canals and basalt boulders as remnants of a time long ago.

1627883501459.png


Cahokia Mounds
Here's something a bit more domestic (I know I said let's focus on international, but I think this one is worth a mention). In the fields of southern Illinois, a vast and thriving civilization once existed. Building dozens of settlements along the Mississippi floodplain, the Cahokia people dominated much of midwestern America until the 13th century, where they began to decline as a result of overhunting the land. By the time the Europeans came, the village was abandoned - yet the buildings and trapezoid-shaped mounds remain for us to ponder.

1627883807863.png


These are just a few suggestions... feel free to suggest your own! And not all of them have to be this unorthodox. There's nothing wrong with a good ol' Effiel Tower or Parthenon!
 

Sharon&Susan

Well-Known Member
For US options, I was thinking an animatronic show at the Walt Disney Family Museum could be fun. Another thing I was thinking of was a simulator type attraction for WB Studios, I'd probably prefer to sticking to one franchise to avoid any direct comparisons to the premise of Space Jam 2. lol

Non-movie studio related: I don't know if it would fit on Alcatraz Island or not, but I like the idea of having there be some type of maze in there. It wouldn't be scary, but creepy as I imagine it.
 

NateD1226

Well-Known Member
For US options, I was thinking an animatronic show at the Walt Disney Family Museum could be fun. Another thing I was thinking of was a simulator type attraction for WB Studios, I'd probably prefer to sticking to one franchise to avoid any direct comparisons to the premise of Space Jam 2. lol
I absolutely love this idea. There are so many studios we could pick from and tell so many stories. It's like a modern take on what a landmark really is.
 

Mickeynerd17

Well-Known Member
Here are a few examples. I took an Art History course two years ago that was pretty game-changing to me in how it broadened my perspective regarding ancient civilizations. There's some really amazing stuff out there that most of us never hear about... I'd encourage everyone to do a little research and see if they can teach themselves something!

Great Zimbabwe
Did you know there was once a stone-age level feudal society during the Medieval Ages... in the plains of Zimbabwe? The Zimbabwe Empire made its fortune exporting gold to merchants, many of which made their way back to Europe! The Empire's capital was a massive, circular stone fortress created in an outwardly spiraling circle, so visitors had to enter in single file under the cover of two walls where guards could throw down stones. Even more impressive, Great Zimbabwe hadn't invented mortar. Meaning the stone walls, which still stand today, were put together entirely by fine hand and withstood siege after siege.

View attachment 576634

Nan Madol
This "sunken city" in Micronesia was once a Venice in the Pacific. A 1,000+ capital city was constructed atop crisscrossing wooden logs, with carved out canals to transverse the city. The more impressive fact about this city was the use of massive basalt boulders, taken from the mountains. How the people of Nan Madol, who did not have access to animals or transportation, transported these massive boulders in such a precise way to develop their city remains a question of archeologists today. Although the city is now ruins, you can still see the canals and basalt boulders as remnants of a time long ago.

View attachment 576635

Cahokia Mounds
Here's something a bit more domestic (I know I said let's focus on international, but I think this one is worth a mention). In the fields of southern Illinois, a vast and thriving civilization once existed. Building dozens of settlements along the Mississippi floodplain, the Cahokia people dominated much of midwestern America until the 13th century, where they began to decline as a result of overhunting the land. By the time the Europeans came, the village was abandoned - yet the buildings and trapezoid-shaped mounds remain for us to ponder.

View attachment 576636

These are just a few suggestions... feel free to suggest your own! And not all of them have to be this unorthodox. There's nothing wrong with a good ol' Effiel Tower or Parthenon!
These! Especially with Cahokia, because it really isn't talked about too much and has so much potential! I totally support this!
 

Outbound

Well-Known Member
For US options, I was thinking an animatronic show at the Walt Disney Family Museum could be fun. Another thing I was thinking of was a simulator type attraction for WB Studios, I'd probably prefer to sticking to one franchise to avoid any direct comparisons to the premise of Space Jam 2. lol

Non-movie studio related: I don't know if it would fit on Alcatraz Island or not, but I like the idea of having there be some type of maze in there. It wouldn't be scary, but creepy as I imagine it.
That's a cool idea! Sort of a mini-Disneyland attraction for the museum. I could definitely see a studio doing this irl!

Alcatraz would be awesome! I've been there irl and it's such a creepy place, perfect for an attraction like that!
Some important factors that I think we need to take into consideration is the climate, the environment and the landmark itself. Since we don’t want to propose something that could affect the ecosystem around it or make the landmark unstable and cause it some harm.
That's a really good point. Maybe for older landmarks, we should place the attraction outside the site. That way it won't cause harm to the older buildings and ecosystem. For more modern landmarks though I think we'll be fine putting it inside / attached to the structure.
A couple of ideas:

Twilight Zone's Eiffel Tower of Terror
St. Peter's Square: Tales from the Crypt

Okay the second one is more of an actual idea if you remove any link to the show/movie "Tales from the Crypt." I'll be thinking of some others.
These are some great ideas! For the Eiffel Tower would it be the regular ToT just in the Effiel Tower? Or maybe we give it a custom story themed to the Effiel Tower. Perhaps relating to its construction (and initial dislike by the public) in the 1889 World's Fair?
These! Especially with Cahokia, because it really isn't talked about too much and has so much potential! I totally support this!
Ikr! These largely-neglected civilizations have so much potential!
 

Outbound

Well-Known Member
Ideas so far:
  • Great Zimbabwe
  • Nan Madol
  • Chakoia Mounds
  • Walt Disney Family Museum Animatronic Show
  • WB Studios Simulator
  • Alcatraz Maze
  • Twilight Zone Effiel Tower of Terror
  • St. Peter's Square: Tales from the Crypt

Another idea - the Berlin Palace. I researched more recent buildings with potential for attractions and I feel down this rabbit hole. Really interesting story.

1627927085106.png


What you see today is a building constructed in 2020! It is a reconstruction of a 1443 Palace that was subsequentially expanded in Prussian Baroque architecture until 1918, where the German Royal Family who resided in the palace fled. It was damaged from allied bombs in WW1 and never fixed up.

After that it was ignored, playing no role in the Weimar or WW2 eras. In 1950 it fell to East German / Soviet control, where it was the site of a number of propaganda films before it was demolished for its long-term damage. But the centuries-old dome was so well-built that the dynamite couldn't take it down. They had to remove it by hand. The site became home to the modernist Palace of the Republic, hosting the communist East German Parliament.

1627927436670.png


As you can see the building bears no resemblance to its predecessor, employing modernist, Soviet-inspired architecture to distinguish itself as much as possible from the original design. It served its role from 1976 to the reunification of Germany, where it was closed. The site then became subject to much debate as some argued for its preservation and others argued for its demolition and reconstruction of the original Berlin Palace.

In 2009 the Palace of the Republic was demolished and reconstruction began on the Berlin Palace, where architects took great care in recreating the historical landmark. This process was finally completed in 2020, and now houses a newly-opened art museum, but there is much controversy as many of the museum's pieces belong to African tribes looted during German colonialism.

Given the building just opened, it makes perfect sense for an attraction of some kind to be built in honor of the reconstructed building, perhaps replacing the controversial museum. This attraction could be a dark ride or theater attraction showing the different ages of the building; from the middle ages, German unification, WW1 and damage, the Cold War and demolition, and finally reunification and restoration.
 
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Mickeynerd17

Well-Known Member
Ideas so far:
  • Great Zimbabwe
  • Nan Madol
  • Chakoia Mounds
  • Walt Disney Family Museum Animatronic Show
  • WB Studios Simulator
  • Alcatraz Maze
  • Twilight Zone Effiel Tower of Terror
  • St. Peter's Square: Tales from the Crypt

Another idea - the Berlin Palace. I researched more recent buildings with potential for attractions and I feel down this rabbit hole. Really interesting story.

View attachment 576757

What you see today is a building constructed in 2020! It is a reconstruction of a 1443 Palace that was subsequentially expanded in Prussian Baroque architecture until 1918, where the German Royal Family who resided in the palace fled. It was damaged from allied bombs in WW1 and never fixed up.

After that it was ignored, playing no role in the Weimar or WW2 eras. In 1950 it fell to East German / Soviet control, where it was the site of a number of propaganda films before it was demolished for its long-term damage. But the centuries-old dome was so well-built that the dynamite couldn't take it down. They had to remove it by hand. The site became home to the modernist Palace of the Republic, hosting the communist East German Parliament.

View attachment 576758

As you can see the building bears no resemblance to its predecessor, employing modernist, Soviet-inspired architecture to distinguish itself as much as possible from the original design. It served its role from 1976 to the reunification of Germany, where it was closed. The site then became subject to much debate as some argued for its preservation and others argued for its demolition and reconstruction of the original Berlin Palace.

In 2009 the Palace of the Republic was demolished and reconstruction began on the Berlin Palace, where architects took great care in recreating the historical landmark. This process was finally completed in 2020, and now houses a newly-opened art museum, but there is much controversy as many of the museum's pieces belong to African tribes looted during German colonialism.

Given the building just opened, it makes perfect sense for an attraction of some kind to be built in honor of the reconstructed building, perhaps replacing the controversial museum. This attraction could be a dark ride or theater attraction showing the different ages of the building; from the middle ages, German unification, WW1 and damage, the Cold War and demolition, and finally reunification and restoration.
Interesting idea! The dynamic history provides a lot of material for an attraction.

Another idea that just popped into my mind would be Versailles in France. That palace is quite famous for its architecture and it too has a dynamic history behind it. Definitely another possibility!
 

Tegan pilots a chicken

Sharpie Queen 💜
Premium Member
My initial thoughts;

I’ve always been fascinated with ancient Egypt, so I’ll throw that out there. Something involving the pyramids could be a lot of fun.

We could go an unexpected route and create a thrill ride based on like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or something.

I guess this is more personal bias but what about the Great Lakes??

Some other brief ideas; the Golden Gate Bridge, the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China, I think all of those options would lend themselves well to thrill rides.

As far as location goes, we can always go with World Showcase if we have an idea we truly love that doesn’t really work anywhere else.
 

ThemeParkPriest

Well-Known Member
For the Eiffel Tower would it be the regular ToT just in the Effiel Tower?
I realize my facetiousness wasn't clear. I was just joking on that one. 🤣

The Gettysburg National Military Park has an immersive film, a cyclorama (large painting), and a museum. A dark ride with special effects like smoke from the artillery would create a rather memorable experience. Plus, there's lots of school trips to see that part of the country.

The Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza is opening later this year. In an immersive dark ride, travel back in time to experience the royal courts of Ancient Egypt. (Edit: I didn't update the page to see that Tegan had mentioned Egypt).
 

Outbound

Well-Known Member
Interesting idea! The dynamic history provides a lot of material for an attraction.

Another idea that just popped into my mind would be Versailles in France. That palace is quite famous for its architecture and it too has a dynamic history behind it. Definitely another possibility!
Yes yes yes to Versailles! Tons of history in that building. My Art History class had an entire discussion just for it!

Here's a really interesting video series relating to the palace's history - it started out as a normal hunting lodge and it just kept growing! And then housing the Court of the Sun King, Napolean's Summer Residence, French 1st Parliament, Founding of Germany, the End of WW1... so much happened there!






If we went this route, we could employ an updated Carousel of Progress ride system. Each scene can cover a different period of Versailles' lengthy history.

My initial thoughts;

I’ve always been fascinated with ancient Egypt, so I’ll throw that out there. Something involving the pyramids could be a lot of fun.

We could go an unexpected route and create a thrill ride based on like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or something.

I guess this is more personal bias but what about the Great Lakes??

Some other brief ideas; the Golden Gate Bridge, the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China, I think all of those options would lend themselves well to thrill rides.

As far as location goes, we can always go with World Showcase if we have an idea we truly love that doesn’t really work anywhere else.
Egypt is always a good choice! Piggybacking on what @ThemeParkPriest mentioned below, we could make a ride where you go back in time to visit Egypt! Or maybe you're an archeologist uncovering an ancient mystery, and find yourself cursed by the spirits protecting the Pharoah!

Great lakes would be neat! Or even a factory ride showing Detroit during its "Motor City" years! Take a Model T slot car out for a spin through the city.
I realize my facetiousness wasn't clear. I was just joking on that one. 🤣

The Gettysburg National Military Park has an immersive film, a cyclorama (large painting), and a museum. A dark ride with special effects like smoke from the artillery would create a rather memorable experience. Plus, there's lots of school trips to see that part of the country.

The Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza is opening later this year. In an immersive dark ride, travel back in time to experience the royal courts of Ancient Egypt. (Edit: I didn't update the page to see that Tegan had mentioned Egypt).
Also great ideas! Gettysburg has a lot of potential as a dark ride. I'm imagining putting riders straight into the heat and chaos of battle!
 
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