Space's Guest Review
With it being Friday night and the valiant effort put forth by the team through all of life's twists and turns - I thought now would be as good a time as every to jump back into a review of your hard work. On one hand, while it's great to read some imagineering for a change, it's unfortunately an IP of which I have no experience with, having never seen *any* of the Planet of the Apes films. That aside, I will be reviewing this project from that outsider perspective and also with the understanding that this prompt perhaps intentionally forces you all to design something that thematically might be quite dissimilar to the other offerings of DCA. With all that said let's dive in.
Off the bat I think the justification for Planet of the Apes is very well explained and solid. With some of the team members gustando las películas (liking the movies...forgive me, I've been learning Espanol in Miami Beach the last 3 weeks) that allowed the team a foundation to build off of allowing those unfamiliar with the films to contribute but not have to carry the burden of too much research.
A brief comment on some of the other options - the only one personally that I would have been interested in would have been the Wes Anderson land, mostly for the aesthetics and the fact that you could claim the land represents filmmaking of California to stick with the 'theme' of the park (and I use that term lightly)
The push to envelop the land wholly immersed in the setting of PotA was a great choice and one in line with the realism of recent park additions/refurbs. It would give DCA more of an IOA theme, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as care was taken to block out the rest of the park from view when inside which it very much seems like you all did.
Ape Mountain would definitely change the perspective of the park - I would have loved to have seen the concept art for that if there was time, but nevertheless I envision something neighboring River Run, and contrasting it with more foliage and a harsher aesthetic.
Ascent of the Planet of the Apes was a very well written coaster and one that I think would be an excellent addition to DCA - something to compliment the Incredicoaster while also still being kid/teen friendly. I like the rethemed flats and carnival rides as well, I think those both fit into the land nicely although if the stipulation to keep and retheme some wasn't in the prompt, I have a feeling more well-imagineered attractions would have replaced these options.
Caesar's Treehouse is another excellent walk-through attraction, especially the alternate path taking you underneath. It adds discovery to the trail where you wind around to find your way much like DAK.
I have to say though my favorite part of this land would be the dining locales, perched upon Ape Mountain - those would offer incredible bird's eye views of the land, though good thing there are elevators because I wouldn't want to see people have a few drinks then tumble their way walking down the mountain! The streetmosphere rounds out the land nicely.
My one wish for the future is I'd love to see a bit more spunk in the brainstorming - hopefully next round we can click with either an IP or a theme that everyone loves and you can just run wild with it, or everyone has their own ideas and many conversations are had upon which one is best. It would be awesome to see that sort of style come back as we reach the back 9 of the game headed to the finale!
Overall though - a wonderfully detailed and complete project put together here - and most likely something we haven't seen and may not see again, making this project one of a kind!