The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Season 7: Fantasmic Journeys [CONCLUDED!]

Evilgidgit

Evilgidgit

Well-Known Member
Evilgidgit's Review Time -- Team Time: Stanza VIII​
  • Although at first, Hidden Side feels like a Haunted Mansion clone (or all of them rolled into one), it quickly evolves into its own identity with a very spooky but fun atmosphere.​
  • Lego has had several different spooky IPs in its time, with an entirely separate one represented at Legoland Windsor, but Hidden Side is unique and different enough to stand out. Unfortunately, Team Time forgot to really explain what Hidden Side is, so it is a little tricky getting into the ride's characters.​
  • I love that the attraction extends beyond haunted house into haunted everywhere!​
  • The exterior is nice, though I assume it would look like it made of Lego rather than appear realistic.​
  • The map is a nice touch and the attraction slots in nicely with the rest of Legoland Dubai.​
  • The ability to let children/parents choose how scary or not-so-scary the ride is the most surprising delight in this attraction. The level of interactivity in both the ride and Boo-stro really help to sell Hidden Side.​
  • The Boo-stro is incredibly charming, I love the hanging story, and the menu ties in to the dead French chef.​
  • Food is not really my forte, but a little further detail on the menu would have been a nice touch.​
 
Disney Dad 3000

Disney Dad 3000

Well-Known Member
Apologize for the delay getting this posted. My review file I had saved was lost in space and hidden on the other side somewhere....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stanza VIII Reviews

Before diving into this, I just wanted to thank the teams and players for allowing us to guide you on this journey the last 2 weeks and giving a go at a unique location in Dubai. While the results were not really what was expected, it was still nice to see a chance to work with IP’s (Fox), challenge (arcade) and parks (Lego) that are not super common in the comps. As always, it has been absolutely pleasure getting to see the creativity that exists in this community.

I am putting a bit of a summary here for all 3 teams as part of my review for each is similar due to the use of Lego. This is strictly a personal choice and may put me on an island, but I am not sure Lego was the choice here for this challenge. While I love Lego, to me it does not scream dining or immersive experience. It is probably the last thing I expected with IP’s and exotic/unique locales available in Dubai with Bollywood, James Bond, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Jumanji, La La Land, Norm of the North (a cold location if nothing else), Alien, Young Frankenstein, and Ferrari World (Italy) among others available.

In retrospect it may have been better to straight copy the GMR prompt and limit to a restaurant but looking at the existing attraction landscape in Dubai did not seem the best so I hoped opening up the library would give plenty of creative freedom. So that is on me. All that being said, if we did a Lego challenge, we would have gotten 3 straight up Lego pitches, and yours are different enough to compare/contrast. In the end, I know there was a passion for getting to work on Lego, which does not happen very often, and each team produced great pitches for Lego expansion and plenty of unique touches that made reviewing the projects a pleasure.



Team Space.jpg

Space
  • The biggest challenge for your team was simply settling on a project and moving forward. Brainstorming is just as an important piece of these comps as the actual work as how it is done, and the ideas considered sets the stage for everything you do after. I know there was consternation about tackling Bollywood, but I think you would have surprised yourselves going down that road.​
  • Really like the website and it is probably one of the cleaner ones you have produced​
  • The tie into UAE space program was a nice touch, and a solid inclusion to your intro that explains why you went the space route. Only inclusion might have been to put the larger park map on this main page​
  • Legoland Hotel expansion – thankfully, you did not spend a ton of time here, but what is nice about its inclusion is it only enhances the idea of bringing the space theme to Legoland.​
  • Cosmic Terrace​
  • The use of custom logos is great as is the seating chart. Both nice touches​
  • Some minor proofreading things here and there (like the menu) but nice job with the restaurant.​
  • I do not know that you would quite get the view of Lego City you are looking for, but the terraced seating is a good idea​
  • Love making a custom menu and you all were cognizant of the menu choices in your discussion. Just watch those 2nd page overlaps on the menu. Usually, 1 page can get the idea across, or if you find it bleeding into a 2nd, maybe space it out a bit to spread out the content and stick in some design elements to fill out the menu itself.​
  • Monorail/Space Lab – you almost have 2 attractions here in a way​
  • The monorail was a unique choice and like the Contemporary, a neat inclusion as part of your dining not to mention the overall park​
  • I wonder if wrapping the lab itself around the entirety of the restaurant (save the view into Lego City) would have been the way to go and it be your main attraction? Dining inside a space lab would really sell the space theme and be unique with the rocket, etc. and still enough to differentiate a good bit from Space 220​
  • Overall, appreciate the different spin you all took on this in bringing the space theme to Legoland in a variety of ways. Of the 3 pitches, I think your attraction choice might have been the best complementary piece to the dining experience. You provided several nice extras from the Legos, improved website, and dining layout. Just a bit further detail and descriptions about each with visuals would have gone a long way in selling the idea.​


Team Time.png

Hidden Side
  • Hidden Side is new to me, so I will consider myself an expert after yours and Reality’s pitches but would have liked some background on the Lego theme.​
  • The larger expansion and smaller attraction maps are both well done along with the intro/facade descriptions​
  • Ghosts of Hidden Side​
  • A Lego haunted mansion type experience seems like something the park should totally do​
  • While these types of attractions are common in Dubai, your AR style would be a new add to the park​
  • I like having the option to mitigate the fear factor a bit for kids here, though some type of additional interactivity would help​
  • The ride through itself is well done, though I do not know that trackless was 100% necessary​
  • I mentioned the Haunted Mansion and it does compare, but it goes its own direction and the story here is a fun follow and would provide a fun experience I believe​
  • Plenty of good details, and love all the Lego visuals that help sell it​
  • Boo-stro​
  • Love the name here and the menu is befitting the restaurant - kudos using local currency​
  • Design wise, I feel you did a good job here blending this with the overall attraction complex itself. Theming wise there is a connectivity between them if not entirely in the two experiences. Restaurant goers are the greater beneficiaries of the overall combined experience, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but would have liked to see some way to make the merger just as meaningful for those on the ride​
  • The Lego Venus fly trap inclusion is perfect​
  • I have gone back/forth on the tabletop tablet. From one perspective I hate how reliant parents are on tablets these days to baby sit their kids and this seems like a dining distraction, but from another, I like how it plays into being able to affect the ride in some way.​
  • Overlap/Conclusion – while you did a nice job already covering the interaction in your earlier write ups, I like that you have summarized here so it is not missed​
  • Team Time continues to work well together and provide thoughtful and well-done pitches. I have already addressed the Lego concerns, but I think you have provided a solid addition to Legoland, and there is nice consistency between your restaurant and attraction that tie back into the theme.​
Team Reality.jpg

Hidden Side
  • Kudos to the forum post video and voiceover. Just even attempting an extra like this is appreciated. I love seeing the creative side come out in our forum
  • The clown makes me miss the Boardwalk slide and I may/may not sleep tonight
  • Huge plus with the background on Hidden Side. While I know a good bit about Lego, this is new to me, so having this backstory info was a great touch
  • Ghost Gauntlet
  • Love the use of flashlight tech from Monsters Inc. in Tokyo. Definitely a good fit for the attraction.
  • The entire premise of how this works is well done from the demo to the imagery to the explanation, and love the world building how you tie this back to Season 5 (another fun Lego project to work on)
  • Slides here was the perfect choice for how you have presented the ride through with scene-by-scene breakdowns and custom artwork for every scene is beyond appreciated.
  • Again, great detail on the scene-by-scene breakdown, but I am somewhat missing a climax from beginning to end. Very solid ride, but I think putting your restaurant in the middle of the ride (which I will talk about in a second) hampered you a bit from really building this up.
  • Meadow Dining Room
  • Not a ton to say here, but it feels disconnected from the attraction, even with the view into the scenes. I do not have the answer, but would putting the restaurant in the farmhouse at the beginning help the interconnectivity? Not sure, but I could not 100% tell from the restaurant description if theming wise it was a continuation of the scenes it looked out on, or how that looked. I think that farmhouse or even the barn at the end would have been a direct tie into your menu and allowed you to play a bit more with the attraction.
  • Menu – I love the effort putting all the ingredients and instructions in here. For me, it was a bit distracting with so much (16 pages). I think in the end maybe better to build out the menu and then highlight 1 or 2 standout options if you are going to provide the instructions.
  • That said, the menu options were on point with the restaurant aesthetic and local dietary issues
  • Excellent team work as usual from this group and there is no lack to your creativity. I personally love the personal touches and gumption to put yourselves out there with artwork and audio. As someone who has been here a minute, I just find it so cool to continue to see folks (on all teams) doing the unexpected and showing me new things, they can or are willing to do. As well done as each aspect of your pitch was individually, I do not think they all quite meshed together perfectly in the end befitting the prompt.
 
TheOriginalTiki

TheOriginalTiki

Well-Known Member
Alright ya'll, since I missed the podcast this week I'm going to give some written feedback. One thing I can say off the top is I'm incredibly impressed by how freaking fast this game is moving, how many active people there are, how many pages worth of content are being posted on a daily basis. That being said, it's all getting a bit overwhelming for me to keep up with (as if that wasn't obvious all season :p ) so while I'm going to do my level best to keep up, generally speaking you guys really shouldn't be looking to me for feedback in this particular season. Since arcades are an area I'm particularly interested in though, I'll offer some words of critique. Just keep in mind I read these projects three days and one depression spiral ago, so I apologize if I don't get specifics right.

Team Space - The really interesting thing here is you seem to have substituted quantity for quality, and for the most part I think it works really well. Of all the projects this one was probably most grounded in reality. Iron Man go-karts and Guardians lazer tag are perfect uses of their respective IPs. Laser tag in particular is a super niche highly themed entertainment sub-genre that I'm honestly kind of surprised Disney has never taken a crack at by now (unless I'm forgetting something from DisneyQuest) I think it's hilarious that you literally pulled an obscure villain called "Arcade" out for the pinball game. Great touch! The Thanos pinball board was also very inspired and a pretty unique take on the traditional formula. I also take umbridge with every other team for NOT including AA character revue shows in your projects. Argon was another great deep cut that really calls to mind the Showbiz Pizza days but at the same time fits right at how within the grander scheme of the MCU.

Team Reality - It seems every project this season there's a team that takes the "everything and the kitchen sink approach", and this team is definitely it for this round. First off I have to give props for just how much original content there is here. You all really went above and beyond with making sure practically everything here is an original creation. It made for an exhausting read, but also a really fun one. First off, the pinball. Sorry @JokersWild, your pinball machine was awesome and I know you're super proud of it...but this...this just takes the cake! So much detail, so much variety in the gameplay mechanics. It really is crazy how much can be done with a format as seemingly bare-bones as pinball. I really don't have the time to praise every individual creation here, but some of my favorites were Beast Boy, Hawk Girl's Mace of Justice, and the Shazam retro arcade (FANTASTIC idea, great use of the character!) Please tell me you used the DC Super Hero Girls as a reference to the meme of a Direct announcement, haha. The Superman ride is honestly one of the most creative uses of VR I've seen on here. Danny is an uber-creative icing on the cake! There's a TON of stuff here but it all calls to mind some of my favorite Disney arcades where they really stick to the premise. Looking at you, Teddy Berra's Swinging Arcade. You were too good for this world.

Team Time - LOVE IT! What a fantastic comeback for Hannah Barbera after the year-long Yogi Bear debacle, haha. Team Space had the most realistic project, Team Time had the most detailed and ambitious project, but you guys had easily the most FUN project, and in an arcade round that counts for a ton. I was grinning ear to ear reading this. I think not having a Jabberjaw AA show is a HUGE missed opprotunity, but other than that everything was absolutely nailed. Wacky Races makes so much sense as a go-kart track that it's honestly baffling no one has attempted to do it yet. Scooby Doo is a wonderful pinball machine with fantastic homages and super creative gameplay gimmicks. Is it true that there's no Scooby Doo pinball machine? If so that's honestly shocking. Flintstones Bowling is just all kinds of HELL YES. It's the kind of immersive theming I pictured from those Bedrock City parks when I heard about them as a kid before discovering what they were really like. The Secret Squirrel Escape Room was really inspired, as was the Space Ghost laser tag (one of my personal favorite HB IPs) Also it doesn't get said enough here how a SIMPLE and easy to read website format can just make the project stand out all the more. I felt that with the Yesterland project and I felt it even more here. You can have a ton of content, but making it easy to read and navigate through goes a hell of a long way in my enjoyment level of actually reading everything.
 
Tegan pilots a chicken

Tegan pilots a chicken

Sharpie Queen 💜
Premium Member
Disney Dad 3000 said:
Apologize for the delay getting this posted. My review file I had saved was lost in space and hidden on the other side somewhere....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stanza VIII Reviews

Before diving into this, I just wanted to thank the teams and players for allowing us to guide you on this journey the last 2 weeks and giving a go at a unique location in Dubai. While the results were not really what was expected, it was still nice to see a chance to work with IP’s (Fox), challenge (arcade) and parks (Lego) that are not super common in the comps. As always, it has been absolutely pleasure getting to see the creativity that exists in this community.

I am putting a bit of a summary here for all 3 teams as part of my review for each is similar due to the use of Lego. This is strictly a personal choice and may put me on an island, but I am not sure Lego was the choice here for this challenge. While I love Lego, to me it does not scream dining or immersive experience. It is probably the last thing I expected with IP’s and exotic/unique locales available in Dubai with Bollywood, James Bond, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Jumanji, La La Land, Norm of the North (a cold location if nothing else), Alien, Young Frankenstein, and Ferrari World (Italy) among others available.

In retrospect it may have been better to straight copy the GMR prompt and limit to a restaurant but looking at the existing attraction landscape in Dubai did not seem the best so I hoped opening up the library would give plenty of creative freedom. So that is on me. All that being said, if we did a Lego challenge, we would have gotten 3 straight up Lego pitches, and yours are different enough to compare/contrast. In the end, I know there was a passion for getting to work on Lego, which does not happen very often, and each team produced great pitches for Lego expansion and plenty of unique touches that made reviewing the projects a pleasure.



View attachment 536172​

Space
  • The biggest challenge for your team was simply settling on a project and moving forward. Brainstorming is just as an important piece of these comps as the actual work as how it is done, and the ideas considered sets the stage for everything you do after. I know there was consternation about tackling Bollywood, but I think you would have surprised yourselves going down that road.​
  • Really like the website and it is probably one of the cleaner ones you have produced​
  • The tie into UAE space program was a nice touch, and a solid inclusion to your intro that explains why you went the space route. Only inclusion might have been to put the larger park map on this main page​
  • Legoland Hotel expansion – thankfully, you did not spend a ton of time here, but what is nice about its inclusion is it only enhances the idea of bringing the space theme to Legoland.​
  • Cosmic Terrace​
  • The use of custom logos is great as is the seating chart. Both nice touches​
  • Some minor proofreading things here and there (like the menu) but nice job with the restaurant.​
  • I do not know that you would quite get the view of Lego City you are looking for, but the terraced seating is a good idea​
  • Love making a custom menu and you all were cognizant of the menu choices in your discussion. Just watch those 2nd page overlaps on the menu. Usually, 1 page can get the idea across, or if you find it bleeding into a 2nd, maybe space it out a bit to spread out the content and stick in some design elements to fill out the menu itself.​
  • Monorail/Space Lab – you almost have 2 attractions here in a way​
  • The monorail was a unique choice and like the Contemporary, a neat inclusion as part of your dining not to mention the overall park​
  • I wonder if wrapping the lab itself around the entirety of the restaurant (save the view into Lego City) would have been the way to go and it be your main attraction? Dining inside a space lab would really sell the space theme and be unique with the rocket, etc. and still enough to differentiate a good bit from Space 220​
  • Overall, appreciate the different spin you all took on this in bringing the space theme to Legoland in a variety of ways. Of the 3 pitches, I think your attraction choice might have been the best complementary piece to the dining experience. You provided several nice extras from the Legos, improved website, and dining layout. Just a bit further detail and descriptions about each with visuals would have gone a long way in selling the idea.​



Hidden Side
  • Hidden Side is new to me, so I will consider myself an expert after yours and Reality’s pitches but would have liked some background on the Lego theme.​
  • The larger expansion and smaller attraction maps are both well done along with the intro/facade descriptions​
  • Ghosts of Hidden Side​
  • A Lego haunted mansion type experience seems like something the park should totally do​
  • While these types of attractions are common in Dubai, your AR style would be a new add to the park​
  • I like having the option to mitigate the fear factor a bit for kids here, though some type of additional interactivity would help​
  • The ride through itself is well done, though I do not know that trackless was 100% necessary​
  • I mentioned the Haunted Mansion and it does compare, but it goes its own direction and the story here is a fun follow and would provide a fun experience I believe​
  • Plenty of good details, and love all the Lego visuals that help sell it​
  • Boo-stro​
  • Love the name here and the menu is befitting the restaurant - kudos using local currency​
  • Design wise, I feel you did a good job here blending this with the overall attraction complex itself. Theming wise there is a connectivity between them if not entirely in the two experiences. Restaurant goers are the greater beneficiaries of the overall combined experience, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but would have liked to see some way to make the merger just as meaningful for those on the ride​
  • The Lego Venus fly trap inclusion is perfect​
  • I have gone back/forth on the tabletop tablet. From one perspective I hate how reliant parents are on tablets these days to baby sit their kids and this seems like a dining distraction, but from another, I like how it plays into being able to affect the ride in some way.​
  • Overlap/Conclusion – while you did a nice job already covering the interaction in your earlier write ups, I like that you have summarized here so it is not missed​
  • Team Time continues to work well together and provide thoughtful and well-done pitches. I have already addressed the Lego concerns, but I think you have provided a solid addition to Legoland, and there is nice consistency between your restaurant and attraction that tie back into the theme.​

Hidden Side
  • Kudos to the forum post video and voiceover. Just even attempting an extra like this is appreciated. I love seeing the creative side come out in our forum
  • The clown makes me miss the Boardwalk slide and I may/may not sleep tonight
  • Huge plus with the background on Hidden Side. While I know a good bit about Lego, this is new to me, so having this backstory info was a great touch
  • Ghost Gauntlet
  • Love the use of flashlight tech from Monsters Inc. in Tokyo. Definitely a good fit for the attraction.
  • The entire premise of how this works is well done from the demo to the imagery to the explanation, and love the world building how you tie this back to Season 5 (another fun Lego project to work on)
  • Slides here was the perfect choice for how you have presented the ride through with scene-by-scene breakdowns and custom artwork for every scene is beyond appreciated.
  • Again, great detail on the scene-by-scene breakdown, but I am somewhat missing a climax from beginning to end. Very solid ride, but I think putting your restaurant in the middle of the ride (which I will talk about in a second) hampered you a bit from really building this up.
  • Meadow Dining Room
  • Not a ton to say here, but it feels disconnected from the attraction, even with the view into the scenes. I do not have the answer, but would putting the restaurant in the farmhouse at the beginning help the interconnectivity? Not sure, but I could not 100% tell from the restaurant description if theming wise it was a continuation of the scenes it looked out on, or how that looked. I think that farmhouse or even the barn at the end would have been a direct tie into your menu and allowed you to play a bit more with the attraction.
  • Menu – I love the effort putting all the ingredients and instructions in here. For me, it was a bit distracting with so much (16 pages). I think in the end maybe better to build out the menu and then highlight 1 or 2 standout options if you are going to provide the instructions.
  • That said, the menu options were on point with the restaurant aesthetic and local dietary issues
  • Excellent team work as usual from this group and there is no lack to your creativity. I personally love the personal touches and gumption to put yourselves out there with artwork and audio. As someone who has been here a minute, I just find it so cool to continue to see folks (on all teams) doing the unexpected and showing me new things, they can or are willing to do. As well done as each aspect of your pitch was individually, I do not think they all quite meshed together perfectly in the end befitting the prompt.
Click to expand...
Thank you as always for the thoughtfulness in your review! It’s been cool having you hang out with our team the last couple of weeks.
 
Tegan pilots a chicken

Tegan pilots a chicken

Sharpie Queen 💜
Premium Member
TheOriginalTiki said:
Alright ya'll, since I missed the podcast this week I'm going to give some written feedback. One thing I can say off the top is I'm incredibly impressed by how freaking fast this game is moving, how many active people there are, how many pages worth of content are being posted on a daily basis. That being said, it's all getting a bit overwhelming for me to keep up with (as if that wasn't obvious all season :p ) so while I'm going to do my level best to keep up, generally speaking you guys really shouldn't be looking to me for feedback in this particular season. Since arcades are an area I'm particularly interested in though, I'll offer some words of critique. Just keep in mind I read these projects three days and one depression spiral ago, so I apologize if I don't get specifics right.

Team Space - The really interesting thing here is you seem to have substituted quantity for quality, and for the most part I think it works really well. Of all the projects this one was probably most grounded in reality. Iron Man go-karts and Guardians lazer tag are perfect uses of their respective IPs. Laser tag in particular is a super niche highly themed entertainment sub-genre that I'm honestly kind of surprised Disney has never taken a crack at by now (unless I'm forgetting something from DisneyQuest) I think it's hilarious that you literally pulled an obscure villain called "Arcade" out for the pinball game. Great touch! The Thanos pinball board was also very inspired and a pretty unique take on the traditional formula. I also take umbridge with every other team for NOT including AA character revue shows in your projects. Argon was another great deep cut that really calls to mind the Showbiz Pizza days but at the same time fits right at how within the grander scheme of the MCU.

Team Reality - It seems every project this season there's a team that takes the "everything and the kitchen sink approach", and this team is definitely it for this round. First off I have to give props for just how much original content there is here. You all really went above and beyond with making sure practically everything here is an original creation. It made for an exhausting read, but also a really fun one. First off, the pinball. Sorry @JokersWild, your pinball machine was awesome and I know you're super proud of it...but this...this just takes the cake! So much detail, so much variety in the gameplay mechanics. It really is crazy how much can be done with a format as seemingly bare-bones as pinball. I really don't have the time to praise every individual creation here, but some of my favorites were Beast Boy, Hawk Girl's Mace of Justice, and the Shazam retro arcade (FANTASTIC idea, great use of the character!) Please tell me you used the DC Super Hero Girls as a reference to the meme of a Direct announcement, haha. The Superman ride is honestly one of the most creative uses of VR I've seen on here. Danny is an uber-creative icing on the cake! There's a TON of stuff here but it all calls to mind some of my favorite Disney arcades where they really stick to the premise. Looking at you, Teddy Berra's Swinging Arcade. You were too good for this world.

Team Time - LOVE IT! What a fantastic comeback for Hannah Barbera after the year-long Yogi Bear debacle, haha. Team Space had the most realistic project, Team Time had the most detailed and ambitious project, but you guys had easily the most FUN project, and in an arcade round that counts for a ton. I was grinning ear to ear reading this. I think not having a Jabberjaw AA show is a HUGE missed opprotunity, but other than that everything was absolutely nailed. Wacky Races makes so much sense as a go-kart track that it's honestly baffling no one has attempted to do it yet. Scooby Doo is a wonderful pinball machine with fantastic homages and super creative gameplay gimmicks. Is it true that there's no Scooby Doo pinball machine? If so that's honestly shocking. Flintstones Bowling is just all kinds of HELL YES. It's the kind of immersive theming I pictured from those Bedrock City parks when I heard about them as a kid before discovering what they were really like. The Secret Squirrel Escape Room was really inspired, as was the Space Ghost laser tag (one of my personal favorite HB IPs) Also it doesn't get said enough here how a SIMPLE and easy to read website format can just make the project stand out all the more. I felt that with the Yesterland project and I felt it even more here. You can have a ton of content, but making it easy to read and navigate through goes a hell of a long way in my enjoyment level of actually reading everything.
Click to expand...
Hey! First of all, and most importantly, I hope you’re feeling better!

Thanks for all your kind words about our arcade! Honestly I just did Superhero Girls for the go karts because I wanted to 😂😂😂
 

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