D Hulk
Well-Known Member
Of course to start out I gotta praise each and every player who made the finals. Additional praise goes to every finished project, regardless of the final outcome or any nitpicks which inevitably come out of reviews. These were all stupendous undertakings!
Generally, to be fair I won’t weigh presentation style very heavily in my considerations, since some players have more experience in that area. Unless your presentation is especially showy, of course, which certainly helps. Rather I’ll try assessing the ideas, how much I’d like to experience them (there’s a bit of personal taste involved there), and how well the idea is developed and described.
Oh, and I read these in a somewhat random order!
@Sharon&Susan
Crah Bandicoot: The Great Cortex Chase
I am not overly familiar with the Crash Bandicoot IP – this is always the risk with IP projects, both in these games and with real attractions – so I hugely appreciate your intro contextualizing the concept. You don’t only familiarize us with Crash’s in-game world, you give us a reasonable explanation for the game’s rights issues and how it might wind up at USH.
Judging on realism, the IP still seems an odd pick…the first of several in these finals. Of course you wrote what interested you, so that’s hard to fault. In contrast to Nintendo nowadays, I doubt Crash at any point would carry the same cachet. (The similarities to Donkey Kong are clear.) However, while video games are only just now becoming a topic for theme park adaptations, they are an incredibly promising field. The mediums are very similar: Immersive placemaking, interactivity, first person experiences, there are so many similarities.
Replacing Waterworld makes sense for a land-strapped park, and though it’ll be missed (it’s a fantastic show), capacity-wise this is a far more efficient use of the acreage.
Going with a whole (mini) land adds a whole extra layer of challenge to this prompt. (That goes for several players who did this.) You, like most, did a fine balancing job of giving us enough land description to set the stage without letting it overtake the E-ticket. So moving on to that…
There’s a lot of Indiana Jones Adventure in Great Cortex Chase’s DNA. Again for the players as a whole, there were several projects with clear inspirations. So sometimes it’s about how well you modify and stand apart. The temple façade and EMV ride system (nicely established as technically different from Disney’s) are the most obvious similarities.
The ridethrough feels a lot more revolutionary…and a lot more exciting. It’s very “Universal.” The sequence of events is frantic, it’s almost too much, which is very much their style. I imagine that this is a fairly one-to-one description of various game levels, but speaking as a Bandicoot neophyte it still plays for me. (This ridethrough gives off Uni Mario Kart vibes as well, BTW.)
Some of the earlier stuff, like the pre-show, are nicely done. Very efficient way to establish backstory – another risk with deep cut IPs, plus newer theme park rides have a bad habit of getting too talkative. I also like that you avoided the cliché “guests are actually recruits” concept. Offhand, the only thing which seems missing from the attraction is some sort of interactivity, which I only mention because of video games. The ride map is extremely helpful, and I’d’ve loved seeing it at the start of the ridethrough.
The mini-land afterwards is described swiftly, thankfully. There is some nice attention to detail (ATD) with overlooked things like restrooms. The conclusion nicely contextualizes the attarction within USH history. While I doubt the realism of Universal Studios opting to adapt Crash Bandicoot circa 2005, you provide a solid alternate universe where that’s conceivable.
@tcool123
The Curse of Chaos: Battle of the Gods
Boy is that name is a mouthful!
Even the abbreviation (TCOCBOTG) is a mess. Like, what are guests going to casually call it? Couldn’t there be a direct reference to Ancient Egypt in there maybe?
Okay, sorry to start out like that. Names matter! Doubly so since you’ve opted to go the brave & wonderful route of doing an original concept over an IP. Generally, that gets brownie points with Hulk. The initial introduction to your idea is handled well. The journal is a nice touch of backstory, it's good ATD, and I’m grateful that it’s a separate optional link so we’re not immediately inundated with overlong exposition right out of the starting gate. (Also, kudos on custom artwork throughout.)
I like how this strengthens IOA’s floundering-yet-promising Lost Continent land. Losing Poseidon’s Fury for this is a definite upgrade, plus the Easter Eggs you created to PF help ease the pain of loss. I’m not sure yet if connecting this to Kong (~three lands away) is clever or awkward. The Egyptian theme is, in isolation, a grand foundation for an original ride, though with Revenge of the Mummy right next door is it perhaps a little thematically redundant?
Like with Sharon&Susan’s work, TCOCBOTG gives off some super strong Indy vibes. That queue surely does. In that way it’s a little derivative, but solid, and with some nice ATD. The pre-show is a good hat tip to Poseidon’s, continuing the live performer technique (something I always find risky, but it’s bold). I wonder is the animatronic woman would clash with the live performer Conker.
Boy oh boy is there a whole lot of narrative to set up here! First the archeological expedition, then transitioning (by way of Great Movie Ride reference?) to Aset’s mythological war against Apep…all of thi culminating in that usual “recruits” storyline. This could use some tightening up. That is the great risk with an original concept, since audiences need to grasp it very quickly. Too much dialogue – and the ride to come is jam packed with it as well – is a sign of an overly complex idea. There are surely ways to trim this idea, since the central “war among Egyptian gods” conceipt isn’t too terribly elaborate. The placemaking and the more experiential moments throughout – like the pre-show SFX – do make this a joy to imagine nonetheless. (And I’ll confess that Florida, my blindspot, does seem to favor pre-shows more than the regions I’ve visited.)
Onto the ride. The ride system reminds me of Rise of the Resistance. Would like to know some more technical specs here. Dynamic Attractions – who worked with Uni on Harry Potter’s KUKAs – has a neat trackless motion base vehicle which would fit perfectly here. No matter the specific ride type, it yields the now-familiar “thrill-based dark ride” experience which has become DisneyVersal’s favorite E-ticket type recently. Ultimately the physical sensations here would be pretty typical.
The ridethrough devotes a lot of effort to establishing the scores of Egyptian gods. It’s exhausting! The thrill level picks up swiftly with the drop track. Actually, it climaxes there. I was expecting another standout use of the ride system later on…perhaps a motion sim elevator like on Spider-Man to get back to the upper level. Instead the remaining thrills come from the scenery, from the gods’ battles (SFX which are helpfully explained – ambitious yet realistic) to the change of scenery. I especially dug the visit to the underworld. Stuff like reference to B-mode shows great ATD.
So ultimately this is definitely a solid ride, and better still it’s a mightily ambitious one with the original non-IP concept and the extensive use of tech. This ambition opens you up to plentiful nitpicks (see above). There are some theme park clichés present – recruits, excessive dialogue, Indy knockoff – which aren’t for me. But overall, nice work!
The Curse of Chaos: Battle of the Gods
Boy is that name is a mouthful!
Even the abbreviation (TCOCBOTG) is a mess. Like, what are guests going to casually call it? Couldn’t there be a direct reference to Ancient Egypt in there maybe?
Okay, sorry to start out like that. Names matter! Doubly so since you’ve opted to go the brave & wonderful route of doing an original concept over an IP. Generally, that gets brownie points with Hulk. The initial introduction to your idea is handled well. The journal is a nice touch of backstory, it's good ATD, and I’m grateful that it’s a separate optional link so we’re not immediately inundated with overlong exposition right out of the starting gate. (Also, kudos on custom artwork throughout.)
I like how this strengthens IOA’s floundering-yet-promising Lost Continent land. Losing Poseidon’s Fury for this is a definite upgrade, plus the Easter Eggs you created to PF help ease the pain of loss. I’m not sure yet if connecting this to Kong (~three lands away) is clever or awkward. The Egyptian theme is, in isolation, a grand foundation for an original ride, though with Revenge of the Mummy right next door is it perhaps a little thematically redundant?
Like with Sharon&Susan’s work, TCOCBOTG gives off some super strong Indy vibes. That queue surely does. In that way it’s a little derivative, but solid, and with some nice ATD. The pre-show is a good hat tip to Poseidon’s, continuing the live performer technique (something I always find risky, but it’s bold). I wonder is the animatronic woman would clash with the live performer Conker.
Boy oh boy is there a whole lot of narrative to set up here! First the archeological expedition, then transitioning (by way of Great Movie Ride reference?) to Aset’s mythological war against Apep…all of thi culminating in that usual “recruits” storyline. This could use some tightening up. That is the great risk with an original concept, since audiences need to grasp it very quickly. Too much dialogue – and the ride to come is jam packed with it as well – is a sign of an overly complex idea. There are surely ways to trim this idea, since the central “war among Egyptian gods” conceipt isn’t too terribly elaborate. The placemaking and the more experiential moments throughout – like the pre-show SFX – do make this a joy to imagine nonetheless. (And I’ll confess that Florida, my blindspot, does seem to favor pre-shows more than the regions I’ve visited.)
Onto the ride. The ride system reminds me of Rise of the Resistance. Would like to know some more technical specs here. Dynamic Attractions – who worked with Uni on Harry Potter’s KUKAs – has a neat trackless motion base vehicle which would fit perfectly here. No matter the specific ride type, it yields the now-familiar “thrill-based dark ride” experience which has become DisneyVersal’s favorite E-ticket type recently. Ultimately the physical sensations here would be pretty typical.
The ridethrough devotes a lot of effort to establishing the scores of Egyptian gods. It’s exhausting! The thrill level picks up swiftly with the drop track. Actually, it climaxes there. I was expecting another standout use of the ride system later on…perhaps a motion sim elevator like on Spider-Man to get back to the upper level. Instead the remaining thrills come from the scenery, from the gods’ battles (SFX which are helpfully explained – ambitious yet realistic) to the change of scenery. I especially dug the visit to the underworld. Stuff like reference to B-mode shows great ATD.
So ultimately this is definitely a solid ride, and better still it’s a mightily ambitious one with the original non-IP concept and the extensive use of tech. This ambition opens you up to plentiful nitpicks (see above). There are some theme park clichés present – recruits, excessive dialogue, Indy knockoff – which aren’t for me. But overall, nice work!
