What is there to say? This is the largest and most ambitious project in the SAU. Over fifteen people worked on this massive undertaking over two weeks in quarantine. All added together, it is still remarkable this came out as 148 pages.
And those 148 pages aren’t filler. Every one is used to fill in detail on one thing about the park.
@D Hindley and
@spacemt354 did a fantastic job dividing up the work. Also huge congrats to
@Pi on my Cake ,
@AceAstro ,
@NateD1226 , and
@Evilgidgit for taking up as the head for each land. This approach helped everyone focus on their small part, so we could easily put it all together in the end!
What I think is most telling, though, is of this entire project, only Century 22 is copied from a former Imagineering project. Unless I’m missing something. It’s telling that when we gave you the opportunity to make it easier on yourself and use some SAU rides, you preferred to make something new.
RESORT LOGISTICS
Right off the bat,
@D Hindley made a strong case for Mumbai Disneyland. He took it further with this extended introduction, exploring first the park’s thesis, then why the choice in location, and then a detailed look into the park’s surroundings. Luckily, the only thing not explored is the Disney Bazar.
One part I really liked is the central lake and placing the Disney Royal Palace in the center. It sounds like a wonderful place to stay.
THE RAILROAD
Yeah, I really shouldn’t review myself lol.
CROSSROADS OF THE WORLD
This is the most unique part of this project. Like Shanghai, Mumbai experiments by throwing out Main Street USA with something that holds more value to India. But I think this works far better than Shanghai’s!
@Pi on my Cake did great work here. I love how each shop has a certain country that relates to its purpose. The Mary Blair theme ties it all together. It’s a lot different from the World Showcase, and that’s a good thing.
Small World, One Song is a great take on It's a Small World. It reminds me of the original concept for IASW, where each nationality would sing their national anthem. The problem there was all the characters would be singing over each other and it wouldn't translate. But by keeping the same song, just in different genres, you avoid this problem entirely. And I really liked the "Song Continues" twitter campaign idea.
@mickeyfan5534 was also responsible for the fantastic shows at Disneyland Mumbai. Great work not only with the shows but also following typical Indian festivals! Part of this season’s theme is learning other cultures, to best create projects suiting that place in the world!
FANTASYLAND
I’ll come out and say it: Fantasyland has always been my least favorite of the lands. That’s why I didn’t really pay attention. That said…
You guys really went all out with this! Fantasyland would have been the easiest land to clone thanks to the many prompts over the years asking for a Fantasyland Dark Ride. But instead, you’ve gone the extra mile. For example,
@TheOriginalTiki ‘s Alice Drop Coaster. What an original and cool concept! And it is perfectly supported by
@Brer Panther ‘s amazing concept art.
There are so many more great projects here -- Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, Into the Unknown, Revamped PhilarMagic -- that is it hard to compliment them all. But I will say: there is nothing ill-fitting. Every concept ties to a larger whole, despite having everything from the deserts of Aladdin to the taigas of Frozen. Fantasyland is one of the most unified lands in the park.
ADVENTURELAND
Mumbai’s Adventureland is a land of many sublands: India, Latin America, Africa, and the Lost World. Of these, my two favorites are India and Latin America. Big kudos to
@AceAstro and @FigmentsPigments (not even in the competition!) for the bulk of the land.
On the other hand, Africa and the Lost World both feel a bit… lacking. For an opening day park, this is usually fine. The one worry I have comes down more to the map design. Because everything is so crammed together, it would be hard to expand out Africa and Lost World for more shows/attractions.
Moving on: I really like how you swapped the theme for key attractions while keeping the basic models. A Latin American Haunted Mansion fits the festival theme so well, the Jungle Book suits an Indian Splash Mountain perfectly, a Dinosaur Jungle Cruise is an awesome idea.
Back to India and Latin America, I love how you respected both cultures. From the street fair in Latin America to the multitude of traditional Indian stories as shows. This really captures the essence of this stanza. A great land!
AVENGERS CAMPUS
I was unsure of
@Evilgidgit ‘s original idea for Avengers Campus. It replaced the “Iron Man and Captain America” focus with a lot of “Dr. Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy”. I was a tad concerned about this direction.
But now that it is completed, I can happily say I was wrong. This land works! It’s an original take that still maintains what draws people to an Avengers land. And it manages to do it within a very small plot: only around the size of a World Showcase Pavilion!
My favorite attraction here is The Legends of Asgard ride. It’s a really cool take on a Thor ride. But that's not to diminish the rest, which is also wonderfully fitting! I could easily see this land expanded to include the more traditional Avengers settings... but as it stands I think this is a perfectly fine representation of the Marvel IP.
TOMORROWLAND
One thing I’m just realizing is we kinda all forgot to ever mention the utopian, environmentally-conscious theme. Whoops!
In the style of Adventureland’s original “adaptions” of classic Disney rides, we have WALL-E’s Runaway Rocket Rescue, an idea by
@ThatGuyFromFlorida pushed early on that is completed fully here. This is a great concept! It fits excellently with both Space Mountain and WALL-E.
Century 22 is the thesis ride for Tomorrowland. Sometimes, pulling something already made isn’t a bad idea, especially if it fits this land so well!
Big Hero 6 is a modern choice for the “Tomorrowland Shooting Ride”. An interactive shooting ride is always a fun idea.
Last, the Star Sanctuary by
@Puffs is a great fit for Tomorrowland. I love the focus on natural products… it really sounds like a “sanctuary”.
My one issue with Tomorrowland is the lack of the most important attraction in all of the SAU. That’s right. Where are the Rocket Prams?
Unacceptable!
CONCLUSION
Like the project itself, I have run out of things to say for this conclusion, so I will end it the same way I ended Mumbai Disneyland.
YEAH REALLY COOL PROJECT YEAAAH
But actually good job everyone. Not just the competitors, but everyone, Acts 1 and 2 of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice were a great challenge, and everyone involved should feel some level of pride. Everyone, be it a competitor or drop-in for this Stanza, accomplished something special.
Stanza 11 kinda left a sour feeling in some people’s mouths. I’d encourage anyone who ended their journey in the Fortress to not look there, but here when remembering this season. Because the game isn’t about eliminations. It’s about things like this: crazy projects that really mean nothing, but we keep doing because they are fun. And when we break it down, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, at it’s most pure, is all about having fun.
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