Tegan pilots a Gallus gallus domesticus
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Season 7: Fantasmic Journeys [CONCLUDED!]
- Thread starter Outbound
- Start date
D Hulk
Well-Known Member
Not yet! I gotta invite y;all into private threads later today.
Bashing out reviews now. Ready within the hour. Patience, my pets!
TheSquirrel
Well-Known Member
Why are you inviting us all into private threads later
Referring to the Stanza 7 PMs
James G.
Well-Known Member
Sorcerer’s Apprentice Season 7
Team Space, Stanza VI
Team Space, Stanza VI
Guest Reviewer… I have to admit that it has been great fun to watch the creative process from behind the scenes. Congratulations to everyone on Team Space! You have a good, solid working relationship, and @spacemt354 did an outstanding job of organizing, encouraging, creating and inspiring this team! Space brought out the best in everyone, and when a few of the team had conflicts he was understanding and supportive of their life outside of competition (gasp! Is there such a thing?). You all should be proud of what you created in such a short amount of time. I’ve been where you are right now, and I know how much work it takes.
Now you’re wondering about what I’m going to say. I’ve read your proposal for Animation Dominion multiple times and took notes along the way. Most of what I comment on might seem to be on the “down” side because I think you could have (and undoubtedly would have) done things a bit differently if you had more time. Also, I’ll throw this out there right now- I’m not nearly as well-schooled in these IPs as most of you are. Basically, I’d be walking into Animation Dominion like your average Dubai local- except I’m not Muslim…and I don’t follow halal dietary laws. I don’t know if much/most/any of your audience will have any idea of who the Simpsons are or where Futurama comes from, but maybe that gives me a more objective viewpoint. If I make an observation that, to you, is obviously wrong because of something in the Twentieth Century lexicon that I don’t know about, well, is that my fault? Or is it your fault for not establishing it somehow in your presentation? At the end of the day, it’s not really important. I firmly believe that most people ride rides, attractions and experiences for the fun of it, not to delve into the deeper esoteric meaning behind the subplots.
OK, enough of the male bovine excrement. What did I think of Animation Dominion?
I liked it. I liked it very much! You created a well-crafted, unified theme park that most visitors would find fun, entertaining, immersive and accessible, and you did so under the difficult constraints of a time-limiting schedule with a team that is scattered all over the place. Your choice of subthemes was well-conceived and was interrelated to establish a unity where the sum of the whole truly was greater than the sum of its parts. There were so many good-to-great parts that I can’t list them here. If I don’t mention something, I either really liked it or it didn’t bother me enough to mention. Please use my comments/critiques constructively- that is the ONLY way they are meant.
The use of the word “Dominion” might not be the best choice. I don’t know how familiar your local audience is with the Star Trek universe, but the Dominion weren’t the good guys. No, I don’t have a better suggestion.
Choosing to place the entire park indoors was a wise move, considering the climate. The only exception might be the Water Park of Doom. Soak the riders, then send them outside to dry off in the desert heat- they’ll be dry before they get back inside the building!
I’m a park layout guy, and here I think you could have made a better choice. Your entrance plaza is magnificent, but you walk into the park and come face-to-face with Quahog. I understand the Main Street USA concept, but in some ways it lessens the individuality of Quahog and makes the park seem smaller. My suggestion? 1) Move Ocean Avenue to that long street at the back of the park, and line it with buildings as shown in the picture. Why have all the shops/stores, restaurants closed? Open some of them up, perhaps linked together like the Emporium on Main Street. With a completely indoor park, you don’t have the luxury of a lot of wasted space. Unless you have no choice, like if one side of the street is the side of a ride building, put something there. Also, in the drawing, there is a Ferris Wheel at the end of the street. Hello! Put a small seaside amusement park down there, a subland themed towards younger children. This park might be themed towards adult animation, but families will be there a bring their kids. They have to have something to do.
2) Move Quahog to the location now vacated by Bob’s Burgers. The streets of Quahog will lead visitors back to Ocean Avenue, but you can still have a grid pattern of streets with all the iconic buildings from the show…and don’t have them empty! Find something to put in them, even if is just overflow seating from the restaurants. BTW, never have the restaurants “Coming Soon.” You can’t make money on a closed, coming soon storefront.
3. Where Quahog was, at the entrance, have it a big, open hub-like area. This will make the entire park look and feel bigger, and won’t make it feel like Quahog is the main attraction and the rest of the lands are expansions. Fill it with seating, grassy lawns, food carts, etc. With all the other lands surrounding it (with the exception of Ocean Ave.), it will make a much stronger visual impact as visitors walk through the powerful entrance you’ve created. Instead of walking in and having Quahog right in your face, they’ll walk into this huge, open space, surrounded by a variety of different animated communities and think, “WOW! Look at the choices!”
I understand the emphasis on alcohol in the various series, but this is a Muslim country and much of your audience will not drink. I don’t know if I’d recommend cutting back on the alcohol references/choices or adding more local halal options, but never forget that you have to cater to your audience. This goes for food, also, as I mentioned earlier. I saw several halal options mentioned in the proposal, but be sure that your guests can get something they can eat that isn’t just one-item-take-it-or-leave-it. Example- “steamed hams.” Offer them, but also offer “steamed lamb.” Never, ever forget your audience.
“Soarin’ Over Springfield” = lawsuit from the Black Rat of Burbank. Good idea, but the name wouldn’t fly (see what I did there?...I’ll keep my day job)
Brewery Tour- Lisa and Marge can’t be both employees, cleaning up the mess and also touring with the family. Continuity. Find other characters from the series to use instead, or create some new ones.
In the drawing of Soarin’, there is something in the sky flying above the Springfield sign. Sorry, but I have no idea what it is. It looks like a baseball dugout. Good artwork, but…
The Zoidberg show would be lots of fun. Futurama as a whole is the strongest of your lands (probably because it has the most useable subject matter) with Springfield a close second.
In your menus, the descriptions of the items were really first-rate, but it wasn’t necessary to repeat each description in every menu. Describe it in the first menu, then repeat the name in subsequent menus. Only describe something new and unique to that menu/restaurant/land. It felt a bit like you were padding the presentation.
Family Brothers Pizza- terrific choices, and to be honest it reminded me a bit of a pizza place we went to in Kazakhstan when we adopted our kids (but that’s another story). The “Rehydrated Steak Dinner”- unless it has a strong basis in the series, was completely out-of-place in a pizza joint. Replace it with a Philly Steak pizza or something similar.
Bob’s Burgers- if you have a sign that says not to go upstairs, people won’t go upstairs unless you have someone there telling them to go upstairs, and if you do that why have the sign? This might be something in the series I’m not familiar with, but it seemed superfluous.
Be careful of your use of color and certain fonts. I found some of the menus, esp. in Bob’s Burgers, hard to read. Don’t lose the impact of a neat font by having it get lost in the background color.
OK, here is something that drives me right up the wall sideways in presentations, especially really good presentations like this one. I’m going to put it in large-case, all capital bold so that you know how much this drives me crazy.
NO CONCLUSION!!!!!
Now that I have that out of my system, your proposal just stops. No conclusion! Nothing to tie everything together! Nothing to tell the judges just how good your proposal really is! This is your last chance to grab them and make them believe that what you did is 1) frickin’ brilliant, 2) the best thing they ever read without actually telling them that in so many words, and 3) making them believe that your carefully crafted, skillfully created and deeply researched proposal deserves their unanimous vote…all the while showing your pride in your work and how much you enjoyed creating it and sharing it with them.
Well, here is my brief series of thoughts about Animation Dominion. Believe it or not, I really was impressed by what you created in such a limited amount of time. What impressed me more, though, was how tight a team you are. You work together, you joke with each other, you support each other, and it was obvious that you had a great time doing this. You should be proud of yourselves! I’m proud to have been chosen to be a guest commentator for this round. I hope you took my suggestions (other than my comment on the lack of a conclusion- that was an indignant demand) in the constructive manner I intended them to be presented in.
Congratulations! Thank you for inviting me to join in on your adventure in Imagineering!
(now on a personal note. Remember @D Hulk and his epic presentation of DisneySky? He has inspired me to create a similar presentation of my own little (snort- little?) theme park. Americana 1900, which hopefully, in a few months, will be presented here in WDWMagic for your enjoyment- or for you to share your “constructive critiques” of).
spacemt354
Chili's
Thank you very much for such a detailed review! And can't wait for your Americana 1900!
D Hulk
Well-Known Member
Dictated but not read
Well, it’s this year’s Disney Adventure! All three teams produced variations on a similar concept, with New York and Futurama being the most common similarities, but the shared elements often including equivalent attractions for equivalent IPs. It makes sense. Certain 20th Century Studios iPs (“Fox” from now on) just lend themselves well to theme parks. Plus with teams of 10 or so, it’s the path of least resistance since not everyone might know something more specific like, say, Aliens, no matter how much I wanted an LV-426 land. So let’s see how teams stood out against each other when doing the same thing!
TEAM SPACE
ANIMATION DOMINION
This is the most unique project of the three, with the narrowest focus on a specific topic – Fox adult animation. This is perhaps because the fewest chefs worked on this one. A lot of Team Space was rather inactive, turning this into Team @spacemt354 (with some assistance). This meant a strong showing from team MVPs like @Mickeynerd17 and @Homemade Imagineering,
The intro really helps sell this as a single land within a larger park. The Dubai Parks setting, the map with other lands, it all feels like something that’s believably a part of someplace larger. Which makes the narrower focus of Animation Dominion (should’ve been “Animation Nation,” honestly) all the more realistic. Wise choice too on removing the Blue Sky section, which gives the remaining land a stronger specific focus. Your website, like all three, is clear and effective.
I do however question choosing shows like The Simpsons for Dubai. From my research, all of these IPs are practically unknown in the Middle East. The localized Simpsons redub, “AlShamshoon,” was canceled in less than one season. At least it was never controversial! In the larger context of a theme park, it’s okay to use some more obscure properties, if other attractions are the big draws. Not sure if Team Space had considered this. Removed from the U.A.E. context, all these Fox shows do lend themselves well to a themed environment since they’re all fleshed-out settings with distinct looks. (Mickeynerd’s Minecraft entrance – chef’s kiss!)
Sadly the overall delivery on the four sub-lands suffers. Here’s where the team’s inactivity comes into focus – your project managers and MVPs can’t do it all! Quahog, Springfield and Ocean Avenue are all underdeveloped, with a few descriptions not going much further than a brainstorming synopsis. At this stage in the competition, everything submitted needs to have a more complete walkthrough or ridethrough. There is great potential in a setting like Bob’s Burgers, so it needs more love. New New York, which we’ll get to, is easily the strongest sub-land.
There isn’t much more to say on the Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers areas. YouTube videos from the show are nice additions, but not a substitute for your own ideas.
Delving into Springfield, the Duff Brewery Tour and Water Park of Doom are both adequate ways to provide a rideable exploration of the Simpsons’ world. They are simple ride systems through a simple setting, each with plentiful character moments…perhaps there’s some redundancy with two Simpsons dark rides serving mostly the same purpose.
The Duff Brewery Tour concept gives me major pause, for cultural reasons. While alcohol is legal in Dubai, it is completely illegal for Muslims (90% of the local population) to buy or drink it. (The same goes for pork, which appears in all teams’ restaurants – Be more careful!) A Brewery Tour ride, in this cultural context, would be like a Playboy Mansion ride in Disneyland. It would be egregiously out-of-place. Even the localized Simpsons show turned Duff Beer into a soda, so…yeah.
The Futurama area is realized with much more detail and care. The whole project should have been at this level at least. This show is really perfect for a themed environment! I love the show dearly, so the small in-jokes and call backs are delightful to me; I wonder how a non-fan will respond to “past nastification.” Zapp to the Future is the standout attraction, providing the core “Futurama” experience. It covers several worlds and characters, while giving a nice focus to Zapp. The Men in Black ride system is unexpected, yet it works wonderfully with the IP. Professor Farnsworth’s Buggalo Roundup is a fun concept for a supporting family coaster, although the sound of it – self-spinning teacups ride vehicles on a coaster track – sounds nauseating. The John A. Zoidberg M.D. Show is another fun filler, though I feel it would work stronger as a totally animatronic show and without the Fry face performer. That would undermine land’s the careful aesthetic. Plus there’s the concern about an AA comedy show – something that only works in a specific cultural context – playing effectively for a Dubai audience.
Restaurants get a decent focus in every area. Shop descriptions feel like a complete afterthought. The project overall could use a conclusion. And it could use a whole lot more fleshing out; only Futurama feels like it’s reaching its potential. More back-and-forth team discussions can help identify and resolve nitpicky problems, so please Space, develop a more fluid team dynamic.
TEAM REALITY
THE BIG APPLE
Team Reality is a motley crew of chattering maniacs! This team is incredibly engaged and that energy shines through with the finished product. And this is with several players suffering from momentary disasters like health or weather. Big thumbs up to those who stepped up! Big thumbs up to @Pi on my Cake for assuming the leadership role when it was needed. Onto the project…
I’ll get the wholly expected major problem off my chest right away: This is too large! There is enough here to fill out an entire theme park, especially in Dubai where lands tend to be on the smaller side. (Placing lands indoors makes them smaller too…good note on doing this indoors, by the way.) While I don’t at all mind a ton of attractions and supporting material, you lose specific focus. Practically every Fox IP is represented in New York City in some way. Some make logical sense to be here, while others (Firefly) feel wedged in out of Chapek-esque desperation. Several sub-sub-sub-lands have enough potential – even enough existing attractions – to be entire lands in themselves…I’m thinking things like X-Men or Alien or old Fox musical. There were plenty of really intriguing early ideas getting bandied about. I wish Team Reality had the discipline to narrow down its focus at the voting stage.
That all being said…everything you’ve done here is done to a masterful high-quality. Excellent work! I maybe don’t like this land concept the most, but in execution this good stuff. And there’s so much of it I won’t be able to give everything its proper due.
The immersive details throughout, in all the sub-land descriptions, are nicely evocative. The Classic, Modern and Future areas all feel distinct, unique, and specific. The website is easy to navigate, with a great color scheme. The custom visuals throughout are top notch. The custom music is great too. Other teams are producing custom material too, but sometimes they get lost in the presentation; Reality highlights this stuff well. Though the wonderful map by @Tegan pilots a chicken is never shown in its entirety, which is a shame.
Classic New York has the least stuff in it. This would have been the easiest part to cut. However, it is charming. The Festival of Fantastical Films is an appropriate reuse of the Great Movie Ride concept (sucking up to @Disney Dad 3000 are we?), and it works well as a ride which every teammate can contribute a scene to. Throughout the project, the flat ride systems are well chosen to match their IPs, and that begins with Greatest Showman. This sort of zephyr ride would be gorgeous fully-illuminated indoors!
Modern New York does a good job of doing theming in a contemporary setting, which is always a challenge. You take full advantage of your indoors setting to make this place larger-than-life. If the intent was to simply do a New York-themed land, the attraction choices here are the most logical ones…since this is what Team Time did too!
The first of two Die Hard drop towers! Hey, sometimes a ride system is just perfect for an IP. The entire writeup, from queue to ride, follows every beat I would expect from this concept. @Pi on my Cake does a terrible Bruce Willis impression!
Home Alone lends itself well to a Mr. Toad-style manic dark ride. The description seems confused about if this is that or an omnimover, which is far more sedate and atmospheric. The ride through leans heavily into “book report” trappings, which a cinematic afterthought like Lost in New York doesn’t deserve. I feel a ride focusing exclusively on Kevin vs. the Wet Bandits – something that’s 100% about the violent slapstick – would suit the IP better.
A guided walkthrough is an unexpected choice for Night at the Museum, but danged if it doesn’t work! (It works!) This is very believable. Wedging Ice Age into te museum setting is a little forced, especially for an attraction this minor, but it’s cute. Camp Half-Blood actually fits New York well, which surprises me, but it’s a rare example of an underdetailed attraction from Reality.
Future New York struggles a little more on the concrete details – future settings always do – though the Futurama retro-futuristic look suits it well. It’s a little awkward dividing the area up into various sub-sub-lands, almost like this whole area could be an entire land on its own. Marvel properties like X-Men (which fit the prompt’s rules, we okayed it) aren’t set in the future, so this is a case where the land concept loses focus.
Good thing all the attractions are so fun! With Quicksilver, I was originally expecting a launch coaster to compete with nearby Formula Rossa (the world’s fastest!), so I am pleasantly surprised to find a more family-focused coaster in the style of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Roller Coaster Tycoon isn’t a realistic presentation style, but top marks for passion and effort.
The Fantastic Four ride has an impressive queue and pre-show…even though the latter runs a little long. (Armchair Imagineering has a habit of getting wordy with the dialogue scenes.) A setting like Dubai maybe benefits from less language-based stuff. I like the Marvel Comics tie-ins. The ride experience is slightly confusing. It seems like a suspended version of Universal’s Spider-Man, but I’m not sure. The answer might be in there someplace, but with so much content it got lost. This is where a dedicated “Ride System” paragraph or two can really help!
Danger Room is another good combo of IP and flat ride. The system itself is already overwhelming (I’ve done these), so I fear combining it with randomized projections would turn this ride into a vomitorium.
Planet Express Frenzy – Going the randomized Star Tours flight sim route…for Futurama this is the obvious ride system. And again, when something works, go with it! Here’s one of Reality’s rare underdetailed rides; especially after Fantastic Four, this seems like a synopsis rather than a whole ride through. The Copperbottom’s Gear Spin after it feels too short as well. With so, so, so much in the overall land already, these stand out.
Then Alien Xenomorph’s Attack (is this possessive?) begins with a direct dive into the queue description. General advice: When beginning an attraction description, please create a brief intro explaining what it is (attraction type, ride system, general tone or intent) before starting. No matter. Getting to the ride, it’s described as “omnimoveresque,” a curiously sedate choice for a ride story which seems to be more action-driven. I’ve always pictured Alien with an Indiana Jones EMV system, or something similarly thrilling – it’s an adult IP which is too scary for children.
The overall dining & shopping throughout the presentation is on-point. All are appropriately developed, and none feel like afterthoughts. There are interesting themes chosen throughout, and all are realized well. The only weird moment is MasterChef as a shop and not an eatery.
Overall, Team Reality has perhaps the best presentation of the bunch! The project’s individual components are incredibly strong, though it’s hard to soak in so much content so quickly…and that’s even with some reading done pre-submission. The land’s size, and the projects length & scope, potentially undermine the great things you’ve done. Will Reality’s excitement carry them, or will they falter for overshooting the prompt requirements?
TEAM TIME
NEW YORK
Team Time is the Goldilocks team – neither too frenzied, nor too quiet. Just right. Your discussion style makes it harder to follow who does what, so I’m grateful for the credits given in the site.
While “New York” is just about the blandest land name I’ve ever seen, the land itself is solid. It’s the same concept Team Reality gave us, but on a digestible scale. Your presentation quality is very high, just about on par with Reality, so that clearer land focus really serves you well.
The website and map and accompanying visuals are all professional. They immediately give me a sense of exploring your land. Heck, even before seeing @SplashZander ‘s lovely Planet Coaster renderings, already my mental image of “New York” was shockingly close to what he created. This land takes full advantage of its indoors setting to create a romantic, magical realistic version of New York City, one which would doubtlessly be an exotic adventureland for Dubai guests.
Central Park especially benefits from all I just said. I love the autumnal parklike setting; it really softens the urban feel.
Night at the Museum done as a trackless dark ride, yes, that’s the obvious route for this IP. Trackless dark rides truly are a dime-a-dozen in Dubai (from on-ride videos, they’re all pretty lame too), but yours has the potential to exceed local standards. It clearly borrows more than a little from Mystic Manor, but it clearly works so I cannot fault you. The queue overall has a good variety of settings, which are all distinct & immersive. I especially love the scene between Jebediah & Octavius; nice use of tech. This attraction gets the perfect amount of focus, feeling fleshed-out without overstaying its welcome.
Your Die Hard drop tower and Reality’s are amazingly similar. Both are well made. Here and elsewhere, your attraction & queue maps sell the realism. Nakatomi is the wrong setting choice (it’s in L.A.; I drove past it the other day). An original New York-set story would work better, and would be easily done since McClane is NYPD. (For both Die Hard attractions, you must be veeeeeery careful to avoid terrorism imagery, especially in the Middle East!)
The Swan Boats are a beautiful way to add kinetics and relaxation to the land. They seem somewhat removed from the 20th Century Studios idea, but they suit the setting.
Cats: No comment. I’m not dignifying this.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a good way to flesh out the setting, to make it feel more lived-in. Would’ve like some comment about how you’d sell this American holiday to your Arabian guests. The shops, restaurants and entertainment all help flesh out Central Park as well, with a good focus on New York’s various economic strata. West Side Story is an inspired choice.
Futurama: The World of Tomorrow is my favorite of the three Futurama settings. The level of immersive detail here is on par with, like, Diagon Alley. Roberto’s shadow in the alleyways. Character projections in the pneumatic tubes. There’s so much kinetic craziness going on, and in such a focused indoors space, it captures the craziness of New New York in a single wonderful moment. You’re duplicating Universal’s theme park style very well.
That also goes for Across All Dimensions’ virtual queue. (Note that one website link here took me back to Night at the Museum.) The ride experience – the expected-but-welcome flight sim – is too short, more of a synopsis than a ride-through. You mention settings we’ll visit, but offer no further elaboration. Reality made the same mistake.
Inferno…I adore Music Express rides. It suits the Robot Devil like a golden fiddle. Though, have you considered how a Hell ride would be received in Arabia?
“Futurama” offers up a plenitude of restaurant options, and you’ve done very well to seize what was already there and flesh it out. (Team Space did so as well.) Across both teams, I adore the specific menu items listed out…all very cute references to the show. Careful about pork & booze though! Shops are a little underwhelming in contrast; I’d like to know about a few unique Futurama merch items.
Then the project ends. It lacks a conclusion…a common challenge for large group projects.
This project overall, as I suggested at the top, is the Goldilocks of focus and ambition. It is appropriately sized as a singular land, so you have enough room to include many disparate IPs without things becoming too random. Nothing feels stretched thin here, and the presentation quality helps carry what there is. Very strong work.
TheSquirrel
Well-Known Member
They are trying to help as Bart & Homer are messing it up
Orange Cat
Well-Known Member
Yeah I F*cked Up Hard This Round, Anyway Back To Wandavision.
JokersWild
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the kind words. To speak to the Futurama attractions, I was kind of on the fence about including Robot Devil for the very reason that you mentioned, but he’s one of my favorite characters and I just really wanted to write it haha. The other idea that I had was a teacup themed to a Hedonismbot-centered Bacchanalia, but that would have been just as problematic. For the simulator, I really wanted to give it more detail, but I just couldn’t make it work. I was too focused on writing a script for the entire attraction, and it just wasn’t where I wanted it to be; and I couldn’t decide on where exactly I wanted the story to go. One detail that I really should have kept was that the safety spiel at load would have been hosted by Hermès who would have been exclusively concerned with ridding Planet Express of any liability. Inconsequential, but I liked it. Thanks again, and I’m really glad that you liked our project.
Dictated but not read
Well, it’s this year’s Disney Adventure! All three teams produced variations on a similar concept, with New York and Futurama being the most common similarities, but the shared elements often including equivalent attractions for equivalent IPs. It makes sense. Certain 20th Century Studios iPs (“Fox” from now on) just lend themselves well to theme parks. Plus with teams of 10 or so, it’s the path of least resistance since not everyone might know something more specific like, say, Aliens, no matter how much I wanted an LV-426 land. So let’s see how teams stood out against each other when doing the same thing!
TEAM SPACE
ANIMATION DOMINION
This is the most unique project of the three, with the narrowest focus on a specific topic – Fox adult animation. This is perhaps because the fewest chefs worked on this one. A lot of Team Space was rather inactive, turning this into Team @spacemt354 (with some assistance). This meant a strong showing from team MVPs like @Mickeynerd17 and @Homemade Imagineering,
The intro really helps sell this as a single land within a larger park. The Dubai Parks setting, the map with other lands, it all feels like something that’s believably a part of someplace larger. Which makes the narrower focus of Animation Dominion (should’ve been “Animation Nation,” honestly) all the more realistic. Wise choice too on removing the Blue Sky section, which gives the remaining land a stronger specific focus. Your website, like all three, is clear and effective.
I do however question choosing shows like The Simpsons for Dubai. From my research, all of these IPs are practically unknown in the Middle East. The localized Simpsons redub, “AlShamshoon,” was canceled in less than one season. At least it was never controversial! In the larger context of a theme park, it’s okay to use some more obscure properties, if other attractions are the big draws. Not sure if Team Space had considered this. Removed from the U.A.E. context, all these Fox shows do lend themselves well to a themed environment since they’re all fleshed-out settings with distinct looks. (Mickeynerd’s Minecraft entrance – chef’s kiss!)
Sadly the overall delivery on the four sub-lands suffers. Here’s where the team’s inactivity comes into focus – your project managers and MVPs can’t do it all! Quahog, Springfield and Ocean Avenue are all underdeveloped, with a few descriptions not going much further than a brainstorming synopsis. At this stage in the competition, everything submitted needs to have a more complete walkthrough or ridethrough. There is great potential in a setting like Bob’s Burgers, so it needs more love. New New York, which we’ll get to, is easily the strongest sub-land.
There isn’t much more to say on the Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers areas. YouTube videos from the show are nice additions, but not a substitute for your own ideas.
Delving into Springfield, the Duff Brewery Tour and Water Park of Doom are both adequate ways to provide a rideable exploration of the Simpsons’ world. They are simple ride systems through a simple setting, each with plentiful character moments…perhaps there’s some redundancy with two Simpsons dark rides serving mostly the same purpose.
The Duff Brewery Tour concept gives me major pause, for cultural reasons. While alcohol is legal in Dubai, it is completely illegal for Muslims (90% of the local population) to buy or drink it. (The same goes for pork, which appears in all teams’ restaurants – Be more careful!) A Brewery Tour ride, in this cultural context, would be like a Playboy Mansion ride in Disneyland. It would be egregiously out-of-place. Even the localized Simpsons show turned Duff Beer into a soda, so…yeah.
The Futurama area is realized with much more detail and care. The whole project should have been at this level at least. This show is really perfect for a themed environment! I love the show dearly, so the small in-jokes and call backs are delightful to me; I wonder how a non-fan will respond to “past nastification.” Zapp to the Future is the standout attraction, providing the core “Futurama” experience. It covers several worlds and characters, while giving a nice focus to Zapp. The Men in Black ride system is unexpected, yet it works wonderfully with the IP. Professor Farnsworth’s Buggalo Roundup is a fun concept for a supporting family coaster, although the sound of it – self-spinning teacups ride vehicles on a coaster track – sounds nauseating. The John A. Zoidberg M.D. Show is another fun filler, though I feel it would work stronger as a totally animatronic show and without the Fry face performer. That would undermine land’s the careful aesthetic. Plus there’s the concern about an AA comedy show – something that only works in a specific cultural context – playing effectively for a Dubai audience.
Restaurants get a decent focus in every area. Shop descriptions feel like a complete afterthought. The project overall could use a conclusion. And it could use a whole lot more fleshing out; only Futurama feels like it’s reaching its potential. More back-and-forth team discussions can help identify and resolve nitpicky problems, so please Space, develop a more fluid team dynamic.
TEAM REALITY
THE BIG APPLE
Team Reality is a motley crew of chattering maniacs! This team is incredibly engaged and that energy shines through with the finished product. And this is with several players suffering from momentary disasters like health or weather. Big thumbs up to those who stepped up! Big thumbs up to @Pi on my Cake for assuming the leadership role when it was needed. Onto the project…
I’ll get the wholly expected major problem off my chest right away: This is too large! There is enough here to fill out an entire theme park, especially in Dubai where lands tend to be on the smaller side. (Placing lands indoors makes them smaller too…good note on doing this indoors, by the way.) While I don’t at all mind a ton of attractions and supporting material, you lose specific focus. Practically every Fox IP is represented in New York City in some way. Some make logical sense to be here, while others (Firefly) feel wedged in out of Chapek-esque desperation. Several sub-sub-sub-lands have enough potential – even enough existing attractions – to be entire lands in themselves…I’m thinking things like X-Men or Alien or old Fox musical. There were plenty of really intriguing early ideas getting bandied about. I wish Team Reality had the discipline to narrow down its focus at the voting stage.
That all being said…everything you’ve done here is done to a masterful high-quality. Excellent work! I maybe don’t like this land concept the most, but in execution this good stuff. And there’s so much of it I won’t be able to give everything its proper due.
The immersive details throughout, in all the sub-land descriptions, are nicely evocative. The Classic, Modern and Future areas all feel distinct, unique, and specific. The website is easy to navigate, with a great color scheme. The custom visuals throughout are top notch. The custom music is great too. Other teams are producing custom material too, but sometimes they get lost in the presentation; Reality highlights this stuff well. Though the wonderful map by @Tegan pilots a chicken is never shown in its entirety, which is a shame.
Classic New York has the least stuff in it. This would have been the easiest part to cut. However, it is charming. The Festival of Fantastical Films is an appropriate reuse of the Great Movie Ride concept (sucking up to @Disney Dad 3000 are we?), and it works well as a ride which every teammate can contribute a scene to. Throughout the project, the flat ride systems are well chosen to match their IPs, and that begins with Greatest Showman. This sort of zephyr ride would be gorgeous fully-illuminated indoors!
Modern New York does a good job of doing theming in a contemporary setting, which is always a challenge. You take full advantage of your indoors setting to make this place larger-than-life. If the intent was to simply do a New York-themed land, the attraction choices here are the most logical ones…since this is what Team Time did too!
The first of two Die Hard drop towers! Hey, sometimes a ride system is just perfect for an IP. The entire writeup, from queue to ride, follows every beat I would expect from this concept. @Pi on my Cake does a terrible Bruce Willis impression!
Home Alone lends itself well to a Mr. Toad-style manic dark ride. The description seems confused about if this is that or an omnimover, which is far more sedate and atmospheric. The ride through leans heavily into “book report” trappings, which a cinematic afterthought like Lost in New York doesn’t deserve. I feel a ride focusing exclusively on Kevin vs. the Wet Bandits – something that’s 100% about the violent slapstick – would suit the IP better.
A guided walkthrough is an unexpected choice for Night at the Museum, but danged if it doesn’t work! (It works!) This is very believable. Wedging Ice Age into te museum setting is a little forced, especially for an attraction this minor, but it’s cute. Camp Half-Blood actually fits New York well, which surprises me, but it’s a rare example of an underdetailed attraction from Reality.
Future New York struggles a little more on the concrete details – future settings always do – though the Futurama retro-futuristic look suits it well. It’s a little awkward dividing the area up into various sub-sub-lands, almost like this whole area could be an entire land on its own. Marvel properties like X-Men (which fit the prompt’s rules, we okayed it) aren’t set in the future, so this is a case where the land concept loses focus.
Good thing all the attractions are so fun! With Quicksilver, I was originally expecting a launch coaster to compete with nearby Formula Rossa (the world’s fastest!), so I am pleasantly surprised to find a more family-focused coaster in the style of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Roller Coaster Tycoon isn’t a realistic presentation style, but top marks for passion and effort.
The Fantastic Four ride has an impressive queue and pre-show…even though the latter runs a little long. (Armchair Imagineering has a habit of getting wordy with the dialogue scenes.) A setting like Dubai maybe benefits from less language-based stuff. I like the Marvel Comics tie-ins. The ride experience is slightly confusing. It seems like a suspended version of Universal’s Spider-Man, but I’m not sure. The answer might be in there someplace, but with so much content it got lost. This is where a dedicated “Ride System” paragraph or two can really help!
Danger Room is another good combo of IP and flat ride. The system itself is already overwhelming (I’ve done these), so I fear combining it with randomized projections would turn this ride into a vomitorium.
Planet Express Frenzy – Going the randomized Star Tours flight sim route…for Futurama this is the obvious ride system. And again, when something works, go with it! Here’s one of Reality’s rare underdetailed rides; especially after Fantastic Four, this seems like a synopsis rather than a whole ride through. The Copperbottom’s Gear Spin after it feels too short as well. With so, so, so much in the overall land already, these stand out.
Then Alien Xenomorph’s Attack (is this possessive?) begins with a direct dive into the queue description. General advice: When beginning an attraction description, please create a brief intro explaining what it is (attraction type, ride system, general tone or intent) before starting. No matter. Getting to the ride, it’s described as “omnimoveresque,” a curiously sedate choice for a ride story which seems to be more action-driven. I’ve always pictured Alien with an Indiana Jones EMV system, or something similarly thrilling – it’s an adult IP which is too scary for children.
The overall dining & shopping throughout the presentation is on-point. All are appropriately developed, and none feel like afterthoughts. There are interesting themes chosen throughout, and all are realized well. The only weird moment is MasterChef as a shop and not an eatery.
Overall, Team Reality has perhaps the best presentation of the bunch! The project’s individual components are incredibly strong, though it’s hard to soak in so much content so quickly…and that’s even with some reading done pre-submission. The land’s size, and the projects length & scope, potentially undermine the great things you’ve done. Will Reality’s excitement carry them, or will they falter for overshooting the prompt requirements?
TEAM TIME
NEW YORK
Team Time is the Goldilocks team – neither too frenzied, nor too quiet. Just right. Your discussion style makes it harder to follow who does what, so I’m grateful for the credits given in the site.
While “New York” is just about the blandest land name I’ve ever seen, the land itself is solid. It’s the same concept Team Reality gave us, but on a digestible scale. Your presentation quality is very high, just about on par with Reality, so that clearer land focus really serves you well.
The website and map and accompanying visuals are all professional. They immediately give me a sense of exploring your land. Heck, even before seeing @SplashZander ‘s lovely Planet Coaster renderings, already my mental image of “New York” was shockingly close to what he created. This land takes full advantage of its indoors setting to create a romantic, magical realistic version of New York City, one which would doubtlessly be an exotic adventureland for Dubai guests.
Central Park especially benefits from all I just said. I love the autumnal parklike setting; it really softens the urban feel.
Night at the Museum done as a trackless dark ride, yes, that’s the obvious route for this IP. Trackless dark rides truly are a dime-a-dozen in Dubai (from on-ride videos, they’re all pretty lame too), but yours has the potential to exceed local standards. It clearly borrows more than a little from Mystic Manor, but it clearly works so I cannot fault you. The queue overall has a good variety of settings, which are all distinct & immersive. I especially love the scene between Jebediah & Octavius; nice use of tech. This attraction gets the perfect amount of focus, feeling fleshed-out without overstaying its welcome.
Your Die Hard drop tower and Reality’s are amazingly similar. Both are well made. Here and elsewhere, your attraction & queue maps sell the realism. Nakatomi is the wrong setting choice (it’s in L.A.; I drove past it the other day). An original New York-set story would work better, and would be easily done since McClane is NYPD. (For both Die Hard attractions, you must be veeeeeery careful to avoid terrorism imagery, especially in the Middle East!)
The Swan Boats are a beautiful way to add kinetics and relaxation to the land. They seem somewhat removed from the 20th Century Studios idea, but they suit the setting.
Cats: No comment. I’m not dignifying this.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a good way to flesh out the setting, to make it feel more lived-in. Would’ve like some comment about how you’d sell this American holiday to your Arabian guests. The shops, restaurants and entertainment all help flesh out Central Park as well, with a good focus on New York’s various economic strata. West Side Story is an inspired choice.
Futurama: The World of Tomorrow is my favorite of the three Futurama settings. The level of immersive detail here is on par with, like, Diagon Alley. Roberto’s shadow in the alleyways. Character projections in the pneumatic tubes. There’s so much kinetic craziness going on, and in such a focused indoors space, it captures the craziness of New New York in a single wonderful moment. You’re duplicating Universal’s theme park style very well.
That also goes for Across All Dimensions’ virtual queue. (Note that one website link here took me back to Night at the Museum.) The ride experience – the expected-but-welcome flight sim – is too short, more of a synopsis than a ride-through. You mention settings we’ll visit, but offer no further elaboration. Reality made the same mistake.
Inferno…I adore Music Express rides. It suits the Robot Devil like a golden fiddle. Though, have you considered how a Hell ride would be received in Arabia?
“Futurama” offers up a plenitude of restaurant options, and you’ve done very well to seize what was already there and flesh it out. (Team Space did so as well.) Across both teams, I adore the specific menu items listed out…all very cute references to the show. Careful about pork & booze though! Shops are a little underwhelming in contrast; I’d like to know about a few unique Futurama merch items.
Then the project ends. It lacks a conclusion…a common challenge for large group projects.
This project overall, as I suggested at the top, is the Goldilocks of focus and ambition. It is appropriately sized as a singular land, so you have enough room to include many disparate IPs without things becoming too random. Nothing feels stretched thin here, and the presentation quality helps carry what there is. Very strong work.
D Hulk
Well-Known Member
Never has a truer statement been made.
MickeyWaffleCo.
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
I mean, coloring in the lines is a challenge...I appreciate that - but I can't take total credit. I found an online coloring book of Fox Animation, so it was mostly being able to trace within the lines
Hi, it’s DonaldPancakeInc here!
Disney Dad 3000
Well-Known Member
Disney Dad Reviews
Congratulations teams on successfully finish this land stanza! A few words before getting into my reviews:
- I have to say when we were thinking Dubai and Fox, and I will not speak for @D Hulk, I do not think I pictured a NY themed land, let alone 2-3. That is why we do this stuff though. Who knows what the heck will happen? Apparently, some Futurama fans in the mix. I fully expected we would see some sort of animation proposal and then some mixture of a FF4/X men land, various alien franchises (Alien/Predator/Ind Day) or even Power Rangers (no one?). That said, there are at least some key differences in the projects
- I may be alone in this, but I am not a huge fan of the split brainstorming within teams. I get the reasoning but think too often you can miss out on a comment or something from the larger team that will spark an idea. I could cite too many examples but that would clutter this long review even more. We all brainstorm different, so I will not pretend to decide what works best for everyone. Just something to think about.
- First page right away puts me in a good place. It was not a challenge requirement and you did not spend a ton of time on it, but picking a location (Dubai Parks & Resorts an ideal location even with the other parks there) and providing a snapshot at the other lands that would be in the park spells out how your land will fit amongst the five
- Really great work on the entry
- Animation Dominion – interesting name, but an animation focused area makes sense. There are similar animation themed zones in the other Dubai/Abu Dhabi parks so fits the marketplace and a likely choice by 20th/Disney execs. Popularity of these franchises in the UAE is a tricky one, but you have a clear direction this is going
- Full disclosure, I am not a Fox animation fan besides episodes of the Simpsons here and there so a lot of this will be an education for me
- Love the map – side note, there were nice maps from all the teams. It is funny how I can instantly tell without being told who made a map. Everyone has their own style/look
- Quahog – So this is a short and sweet section with no major rides/attractions. Not sure if that was design all along and I do not know enough about Family Guy to give you an idea for a ride. You make clear though this is a Main Street style set up and a smallish area without rides is not unprecedented
- Nice touch with the currency on The Drunken Clam
- Simpsons – Using Simpsons is a little bold with them having a presence in Uni parks, but obviously ok here in the UAE.
- Custom music. Nice!
- Duff Brewery Tour/Shop – I am all about Brewery Tours and considering Homer and the show, this makes sense though alcohol is a tricky thing in the UAE, but we will assume you work around that. There is a solid base here to the attraction. Just wish we had some more detail on the ride through especially. A Duff Shop makes a ton of sense attached to the ride
- Waterpark of Doom – This sounds like such a fun idea for a ride and would be a unique one in the area. Would love to have seen this fully detailed out.
- Soarin’ over Springfield – this is such a solid use of the ride system when you consider the show’s intro and various shots that take place in the series.
- Overall, the Simpson’s area has several nice ideas, just would have loved to see at least one of them a little more developed breaking down the story, maybe a layout, etc.
- Futurama – The show that binds them all throughout reality, space, and time. Lol
- Did not mention this before, but the brief backstory on the toons themselves is a nice touch
- Buggalo Roundup – This seems like a fun little ride for the family. A quick sketch of the ride vehicle would go a long way here or a comparable spinning coaster of this type, but a nice story for the coaster
- Zapp to the Future – MMRR crossed with MIB is a clear idea of the ride here. I will assume this is not the same @TheMom (lol)
- Zoidberg or that other long name show – solid addition to the land providing a nice variety with the 3 attractions
- Futurama dining – lots of detail in all these menus. Really great job coming up with full menus for all. Just watch some of the local dietary issues (pork)
- Bob’s Burgers – no attractions here? Another full menu here (great job taking the time to pull these menus together) and even a menu card which I appreciate. Nice details with the restaurant here as well.
- Really nice job overall Team Space. I think of the 3 teams, yours was probably the cleanest direction using animation and again, I love that you spelled out, even briefly a vision for the park. Great extras to this presentation in the form of the Minecraft, music, and menus. On the flip side, the land just felt like it could have used another attraction or two, or a little more detail in the proposed ones themselves probably would have gone a long way There are some good ideas here. And this goes for everyone, but do not be afraid to sketch something out. Even a 5-10 min quick sketch goes a long way (for me at least) in conveying and personalizing an idea.
- Where is the larger land map?
- Classic New York – this is your smallest NY area, but I feel like maybe your best overall consistent theme from the attractions to the dining and shopping which were all well done
- Festival of Films – whether it is sucking up to me or not, this is a really good idea for a theoretical Fox Studios Park. It was great as well to see many different people working on this together from across the team doing various scenes. This ties back as well into the teamwork that was on display all week. Oh, here’s the IP’s you did not use elsewhere.
- Greatest Showman – really cool idea turning the ride into a circus act of sorts, inside the tent, etc.
- Modern NY – These films all make sense here, though the inclusion of Bob’s Burgers threw me off a bit as a toon vs these mostly live action films (is it in NY?)
- Die Harf Tower Attack – I am not sure anything but a drop tower makes sense for a theoretical Die Hard ride. This might be my favorite attraction in your overall land mostly thanks to how it was presented. The write up itself is not overtly long, but does not need to be as the POV video created is both well done (is this in google slides?), funny and clearly conveys the ride
- Home Alone 2 – I prefer Home Alone 1 over 2 by a mile, but for a H.A. attraction, 2 makes a lot of sense and obviously, NY. While it is a book report ride, details are there in the write up. I question the vehicle choice instead over maybe a 2-seat ride of some sort as I do not think this would convey the Mr. Toad’s type experience you are looking for.
- Night at the Museum – when I knew a walk-through experience was coming, I was not expecting this. If the effects and cast members are up to snuff, a very nice attraction. This was really well done.
- Ice Age – I could see this fitting here even as an animation tie in
- Percy Jackson – did not think of a NY tie in though a play area of sorts is nice. Not sure about the Greek mythology WT with already having the NatTM area but I am fine with it.
- Shopping here makes perfect sense though a Master Chef shop but not restaurant?
- Future NY – For me of your 3 NY area, maybe the one that all the properties do not jive the best or warranted their own land
- Quicksilver – perfect amount of write up for a coaster of this type and the visuals (queue map, POV) round out a solid entry
- FF – I recently purchased an omnibus containing the first 25-30 issues of FF so getting a FF4 ride for me is good timing. Tons of detail here. Would have liked to see a little more info about the ride vehicles and how they work. Overall, the ride seems like a lot of fun, though the dialogue in ride may be a little heavy. Love seeing the additional layout details. Stuff like that really helps sell the attraction for me
- Danger Room – basic flat room with nice theming though I could see this being too much for those with any sort of motion sickness between the ride and the projections. Me personally I would love to ride this
- Planet Express/Copper Bottom – Nothing wrong with either of these ideas though could have used a little more detail on both, but also could have been candidates for cutting due to project size
- Alien – Love the idea of an Alien attraction, but anything with Alien really should be a headliner in my view with accompanying writeup and it has 2 other major attractions in its own sub land to compete with. Good visuals used though unsure on the exact type of ride this is.
- No idea what the heck Slurm is, but the custom visuals were a nice touch
- Overall, your presentation flowed very nicely from beginning to end. Lots of nice extras from various types of ride through videos, to a queue map or two. Biggest flaw overall flaw is the size of the land itself (it looks to be in the 20 acre + range from what I could figure?) While it was not part of the challenge, and you semi addressed it on the main page of your site, I would have loved to see your team spend a couple of minutes and talk about how the other lands would play out in your larger park. I think that would have really helped the scale of what you did here in cutting attractions. Creating a land is an inexact science and there's no right/wrong answer to the number of rides but really relies on the scope of the land and the local market place. Several of your IP's could either be their own land or headline another themed land. You actually had several good ideas for other lands, and I think it was your 2nd place vote even had a quick map and all and it would be have been super unique in addition to being a genre growing in the UAE. Again overall, tons of great work by your team in all facets. You worked well together, picking each other up, contributing and providing a lot of solid ideas for rides, dining and shops. Super fun team to watch work together.
- Central Park
- While the name (New York) is a little bland, the map starting out is A+ and how it is done really conveys the city vibe. Really nicely done
- NatTM – While Team Reality went the walk-through route you all went the actual ride experience, so it is nice to see that variety. There are several cookie cutter type dark ride/trackless rides in the area so do not know how well it would differ, but this was well thought out and super detailed. That said the ride system makes sense so no hate there. I love to see the various layout maps as it really helps sell what you are talking about. Ride vehicle art was a nice touch. Really nice ride through experience
- Die Hard – another Team Reality crossover here and the drop tower makes perfect sense. While Reality’s Tower experience extended above the roofline (due to height) I was not sure about yours with a 150 ft drop? Overall, the ride is well done. The detailed attraction map is spot on down to cast break room.
- Swan Boats – what a unique inclusion and helps sell the NY park vibe. Not a Fox/20th IP per se, but something that fits (sort of what Disney used to do)
- Cats – Wonder who did this?
- Holidays – The holidays in NY and Thanksgiving are a little interesting for me assuming most visitors are either local or from nearby countries. Not sure how well this would resonate though you did note avoiding religious symbolism. It seems a tricky line to balance but could see it working if done right
- Dining – both dining options seem pretty spot on and the food photos make me hungry. Empire State Club seems like a high-profile place and considering what is around Dubai and Abu Dhabi fits
- West Side Story and the shops all fit well here. Solid theming throughout
- Tons of great visuals for Central Park between the map, ride layouts and Planet Coaster
- Futurama – You all are going to make me watch this damn show aren’t you?
- Across All Dimensions – Took me a minute to get here as I kept ending up on NatTM. Thought I was losing it for a second. The Preshow did a nice job setting up the attraction and was well done but was longer than the actual attraction write up itself. Just would have liked to have seen more about the actual ride.
- Inferno – solid flat ride inclusion and just enough description with some of the on-ride experience. Seems like a fun little experience
- Dining – more Slurm. Nice. Seriously though, a nice variety of dining options here to meet guests needs. Again food visuals are a nice touch
- Shopping – the collectible robot is a nice feature here
- Team Time was steady from beginning to end and really worked well together by all accounts. While there was some crossover with other teams, your land had a really solid mix of attractions that balances out the overall land nicely and with a decent variety. Would have liked to seen a bit more in the Futurama attraction area but the dining was spot on and your Central Park area was nicely done from top to bottom with the visuals really helping sell this area.
Thanks again to all 3 teams for their work this week. While there was many similarities, there was plenty of unique idea between the 3 of you.
Thanks for the in depth review, Big Green! I know we probably allowed our enthusiasm to run wild this round! But regardless of outcome I’m okay with it! This was a great icebreaker for the new squad and we’ll be more disciplined next time (maybe).
Dictated but not read
Well, it’s this year’s Disney Adventure! All three teams produced variations on a similar concept, with New York and Futurama being the most common similarities, but the shared elements often including equivalent attractions for equivalent IPs. It makes sense. Certain 20th Century Studios iPs (“Fox” from now on) just lend themselves well to theme parks. Plus with teams of 10 or so, it’s the path of least resistance since not everyone might know something more specific like, say, Aliens, no matter how much I wanted an LV-426 land. So let’s see how teams stood out against each other when doing the same thing!
TEAM SPACE
ANIMATION DOMINION
This is the most unique project of the three, with the narrowest focus on a specific topic – Fox adult animation. This is perhaps because the fewest chefs worked on this one. A lot of Team Space was rather inactive, turning this into Team @spacemt354 (with some assistance). This meant a strong showing from team MVPs like @Mickeynerd17 and @Homemade Imagineering,
The intro really helps sell this as a single land within a larger park. The Dubai Parks setting, the map with other lands, it all feels like something that’s believably a part of someplace larger. Which makes the narrower focus of Animation Dominion (should’ve been “Animation Nation,” honestly) all the more realistic. Wise choice too on removing the Blue Sky section, which gives the remaining land a stronger specific focus. Your website, like all three, is clear and effective.
I do however question choosing shows like The Simpsons for Dubai. From my research, all of these IPs are practically unknown in the Middle East. The localized Simpsons redub, “AlShamshoon,” was canceled in less than one season. At least it was never controversial! In the larger context of a theme park, it’s okay to use some more obscure properties, if other attractions are the big draws. Not sure if Team Space had considered this. Removed from the U.A.E. context, all these Fox shows do lend themselves well to a themed environment since they’re all fleshed-out settings with distinct looks. (Mickeynerd’s Minecraft entrance – chef’s kiss!)
Sadly the overall delivery on the four sub-lands suffers. Here’s where the team’s inactivity comes into focus – your project managers and MVPs can’t do it all! Quahog, Springfield and Ocean Avenue are all underdeveloped, with a few descriptions not going much further than a brainstorming synopsis. At this stage in the competition, everything submitted needs to have a more complete walkthrough or ridethrough. There is great potential in a setting like Bob’s Burgers, so it needs more love. New New York, which we’ll get to, is easily the strongest sub-land.
There isn’t much more to say on the Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers areas. YouTube videos from the show are nice additions, but not a substitute for your own ideas.
Delving into Springfield, the Duff Brewery Tour and Water Park of Doom are both adequate ways to provide a rideable exploration of the Simpsons’ world. They are simple ride systems through a simple setting, each with plentiful character moments…perhaps there’s some redundancy with two Simpsons dark rides serving mostly the same purpose.
The Duff Brewery Tour concept gives me major pause, for cultural reasons. While alcohol is legal in Dubai, it is completely illegal for Muslims (90% of the local population) to buy or drink it. (The same goes for pork, which appears in all teams’ restaurants – Be more careful!) A Brewery Tour ride, in this cultural context, would be like a Playboy Mansion ride in Disneyland. It would be egregiously out-of-place. Even the localized Simpsons show turned Duff Beer into a soda, so…yeah.
The Futurama area is realized with much more detail and care. The whole project should have been at this level at least. This show is really perfect for a themed environment! I love the show dearly, so the small in-jokes and call backs are delightful to me; I wonder how a non-fan will respond to “past nastification.” Zapp to the Future is the standout attraction, providing the core “Futurama” experience. It covers several worlds and characters, while giving a nice focus to Zapp. The Men in Black ride system is unexpected, yet it works wonderfully with the IP. Professor Farnsworth’s Buggalo Roundup is a fun concept for a supporting family coaster, although the sound of it – self-spinning teacups ride vehicles on a coaster track – sounds nauseating. The John A. Zoidberg M.D. Show is another fun filler, though I feel it would work stronger as a totally animatronic show and without the Fry face performer. That would undermine land’s the careful aesthetic. Plus there’s the concern about an AA comedy show – something that only works in a specific cultural context – playing effectively for a Dubai audience.
Restaurants get a decent focus in every area. Shop descriptions feel like a complete afterthought. The project overall could use a conclusion. And it could use a whole lot more fleshing out; only Futurama feels like it’s reaching its potential. More back-and-forth team discussions can help identify and resolve nitpicky problems, so please Space, develop a more fluid team dynamic.
TEAM REALITY
THE BIG APPLE
Team Reality is a motley crew of chattering maniacs! This team is incredibly engaged and that energy shines through with the finished product. And this is with several players suffering from momentary disasters like health or weather. Big thumbs up to those who stepped up! Big thumbs up to @Pi on my Cake for assuming the leadership role when it was needed. Onto the project…
I’ll get the wholly expected major problem off my chest right away: This is too large! There is enough here to fill out an entire theme park, especially in Dubai where lands tend to be on the smaller side. (Placing lands indoors makes them smaller too…good note on doing this indoors, by the way.) While I don’t at all mind a ton of attractions and supporting material, you lose specific focus. Practically every Fox IP is represented in New York City in some way. Some make logical sense to be here, while others (Firefly) feel wedged in out of Chapek-esque desperation. Several sub-sub-sub-lands have enough potential – even enough existing attractions – to be entire lands in themselves…I’m thinking things like X-Men or Alien or old Fox musical. There were plenty of really intriguing early ideas getting bandied about. I wish Team Reality had the discipline to narrow down its focus at the voting stage.
That all being said…everything you’ve done here is done to a masterful high-quality. Excellent work! I maybe don’t like this land concept the most, but in execution this good stuff. And there’s so much of it I won’t be able to give everything its proper due.
The immersive details throughout, in all the sub-land descriptions, are nicely evocative. The Classic, Modern and Future areas all feel distinct, unique, and specific. The website is easy to navigate, with a great color scheme. The custom visuals throughout are top notch. The custom music is great too. Other teams are producing custom material too, but sometimes they get lost in the presentation; Reality highlights this stuff well. Though the wonderful map by @Tegan pilots a chicken is never shown in its entirety, which is a shame.
Classic New York has the least stuff in it. This would have been the easiest part to cut. However, it is charming. The Festival of Fantastical Films is an appropriate reuse of the Great Movie Ride concept (sucking up to @Disney Dad 3000 are we?), and it works well as a ride which every teammate can contribute a scene to. Throughout the project, the flat ride systems are well chosen to match their IPs, and that begins with Greatest Showman. This sort of zephyr ride would be gorgeous fully-illuminated indoors!
Modern New York does a good job of doing theming in a contemporary setting, which is always a challenge. You take full advantage of your indoors setting to make this place larger-than-life. If the intent was to simply do a New York-themed land, the attraction choices here are the most logical ones…since this is what Team Time did too!
The first of two Die Hard drop towers! Hey, sometimes a ride system is just perfect for an IP. The entire writeup, from queue to ride, follows every beat I would expect from this concept. @Pi on my Cake does a terrible Bruce Willis impression!
Home Alone lends itself well to a Mr. Toad-style manic dark ride. The description seems confused about if this is that or an omnimover, which is far more sedate and atmospheric. The ride through leans heavily into “book report” trappings, which a cinematic afterthought like Lost in New York doesn’t deserve. I feel a ride focusing exclusively on Kevin vs. the Wet Bandits – something that’s 100% about the violent slapstick – would suit the IP better.
A guided walkthrough is an unexpected choice for Night at the Museum, but danged if it doesn’t work! (It works!) This is very believable. Wedging Ice Age into te museum setting is a little forced, especially for an attraction this minor, but it’s cute. Camp Half-Blood actually fits New York well, which surprises me, but it’s a rare example of an underdetailed attraction from Reality.
Future New York struggles a little more on the concrete details – future settings always do – though the Futurama retro-futuristic look suits it well. It’s a little awkward dividing the area up into various sub-sub-lands, almost like this whole area could be an entire land on its own. Marvel properties like X-Men (which fit the prompt’s rules, we okayed it) aren’t set in the future, so this is a case where the land concept loses focus.
Good thing all the attractions are so fun! With Quicksilver, I was originally expecting a launch coaster to compete with nearby Formula Rossa (the world’s fastest!), so I am pleasantly surprised to find a more family-focused coaster in the style of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Roller Coaster Tycoon isn’t a realistic presentation style, but top marks for passion and effort.
The Fantastic Four ride has an impressive queue and pre-show…even though the latter runs a little long. (Armchair Imagineering has a habit of getting wordy with the dialogue scenes.) A setting like Dubai maybe benefits from less language-based stuff. I like the Marvel Comics tie-ins. The ride experience is slightly confusing. It seems like a suspended version of Universal’s Spider-Man, but I’m not sure. The answer might be in there someplace, but with so much content it got lost. This is where a dedicated “Ride System” paragraph or two can really help!
Danger Room is another good combo of IP and flat ride. The system itself is already overwhelming (I’ve done these), so I fear combining it with randomized projections would turn this ride into a vomitorium.
Planet Express Frenzy – Going the randomized Star Tours flight sim route…for Futurama this is the obvious ride system. And again, when something works, go with it! Here’s one of Reality’s rare underdetailed rides; especially after Fantastic Four, this seems like a synopsis rather than a whole ride through. The Copperbottom’s Gear Spin after it feels too short as well. With so, so, so much in the overall land already, these stand out.
Then Alien Xenomorph’s Attack (is this possessive?) begins with a direct dive into the queue description. General advice: When beginning an attraction description, please create a brief intro explaining what it is (attraction type, ride system, general tone or intent) before starting. No matter. Getting to the ride, it’s described as “omnimoveresque,” a curiously sedate choice for a ride story which seems to be more action-driven. I’ve always pictured Alien with an Indiana Jones EMV system, or something similarly thrilling – it’s an adult IP which is too scary for children.
The overall dining & shopping throughout the presentation is on-point. All are appropriately developed, and none feel like afterthoughts. There are interesting themes chosen throughout, and all are realized well. The only weird moment is MasterChef as a shop and not an eatery.
Overall, Team Reality has perhaps the best presentation of the bunch! The project’s individual components are incredibly strong, though it’s hard to soak in so much content so quickly…and that’s even with some reading done pre-submission. The land’s size, and the projects length & scope, potentially undermine the great things you’ve done. Will Reality’s excitement carry them, or will they falter for overshooting the prompt requirements?
TEAM TIME
NEW YORK
Team Time is the Goldilocks team – neither too frenzied, nor too quiet. Just right. Your discussion style makes it harder to follow who does what, so I’m grateful for the credits given in the site.
While “New York” is just about the blandest land name I’ve ever seen, the land itself is solid. It’s the same concept Team Reality gave us, but on a digestible scale. Your presentation quality is very high, just about on par with Reality, so that clearer land focus really serves you well.
The website and map and accompanying visuals are all professional. They immediately give me a sense of exploring your land. Heck, even before seeing @SplashZander ‘s lovely Planet Coaster renderings, already my mental image of “New York” was shockingly close to what he created. This land takes full advantage of its indoors setting to create a romantic, magical realistic version of New York City, one which would doubtlessly be an exotic adventureland for Dubai guests.
Central Park especially benefits from all I just said. I love the autumnal parklike setting; it really softens the urban feel.
Night at the Museum done as a trackless dark ride, yes, that’s the obvious route for this IP. Trackless dark rides truly are a dime-a-dozen in Dubai (from on-ride videos, they’re all pretty lame too), but yours has the potential to exceed local standards. It clearly borrows more than a little from Mystic Manor, but it clearly works so I cannot fault you. The queue overall has a good variety of settings, which are all distinct & immersive. I especially love the scene between Jebediah & Octavius; nice use of tech. This attraction gets the perfect amount of focus, feeling fleshed-out without overstaying its welcome.
Your Die Hard drop tower and Reality’s are amazingly similar. Both are well made. Here and elsewhere, your attraction & queue maps sell the realism. Nakatomi is the wrong setting choice (it’s in L.A.; I drove past it the other day). An original New York-set story would work better, and would be easily done since McClane is NYPD. (For both Die Hard attractions, you must be veeeeeery careful to avoid terrorism imagery, especially in the Middle East!)
The Swan Boats are a beautiful way to add kinetics and relaxation to the land. They seem somewhat removed from the 20th Century Studios idea, but they suit the setting.
Cats: No comment. I’m not dignifying this.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a good way to flesh out the setting, to make it feel more lived-in. Would’ve like some comment about how you’d sell this American holiday to your Arabian guests. The shops, restaurants and entertainment all help flesh out Central Park as well, with a good focus on New York’s various economic strata. West Side Story is an inspired choice.
Futurama: The World of Tomorrow is my favorite of the three Futurama settings. The level of immersive detail here is on par with, like, Diagon Alley. Roberto’s shadow in the alleyways. Character projections in the pneumatic tubes. There’s so much kinetic craziness going on, and in such a focused indoors space, it captures the craziness of New New York in a single wonderful moment. You’re duplicating Universal’s theme park style very well.
That also goes for Across All Dimensions’ virtual queue. (Note that one website link here took me back to Night at the Museum.) The ride experience – the expected-but-welcome flight sim – is too short, more of a synopsis than a ride-through. You mention settings we’ll visit, but offer no further elaboration. Reality made the same mistake.
Inferno…I adore Music Express rides. It suits the Robot Devil like a golden fiddle. Though, have you considered how a Hell ride would be received in Arabia?
“Futurama” offers up a plenitude of restaurant options, and you’ve done very well to seize what was already there and flesh it out. (Team Space did so as well.) Across both teams, I adore the specific menu items listed out…all very cute references to the show. Careful about pork & booze though! Shops are a little underwhelming in contrast; I’d like to know about a few unique Futurama merch items.
Then the project ends. It lacks a conclusion…a common challenge for large group projects.
This project overall, as I suggested at the top, is the Goldilocks of focus and ambition. It is appropriately sized as a singular land, so you have enough room to include many disparate IPs without things becoming too random. Nothing feels stretched thin here, and the presentation quality helps carry what there is. Very strong work.
@spacemt354 you coulda used my Cleveland Brown log flume, I woulda let ya!
MickeyWaffleCo.
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Magicart87's Team Reality Review
the BIG APPLE
the BIG APPLE
Hi Team! First off, great job on this project! Massive undertaking. And a massive LAND. It is a land right? Feels like more attractions here than DHS and Epcot combined. Dubai would be so grateful. Looks like a fun theme park setting. For this stanza you were tasked with creating a new land for a Dubai UAE 20th Century Studios theme park using the 20th badge and it's IPs. You did that splendidly and without the constraints of reality (more on that in a second) and by choosing "New York" as the land's all encompassing theme. But does it work? Let's review for the answer:
the PRESENTATION:
Lots to cover but I'll try and keep it brief. This is a nice website design! (A few broken links but otherwise a good presentation) The website does a great job of detailing the land's districts, attractions, shops and dinning options therein. It looks as a theme park website should if not however a bit simplistic in execution and lacking other subtitles that hone in to make it seem realistic. (Time constraints perhaps?) The video and gifs make up for the lack of interactivity or engagement. But not a deal breaker. In short, it gets the job done and looks nice doing it thanks largely in part from the logo design. The land's logo evokes "class" which nearly hints at the land's three districts. Less so with the "Future District" where a singular "Futurama" tower in the logo's cityscape would have really pushed the logo into a more representational concept of the park's land.
Grade of Presentation = B-
the CONCEPT:
Let me preface this by saying I REALLY questioned the scope of this land and how it could be realistically pulled off within the confines of a large warehouse. It's indoors right? A very creative concept and solution but I'm not sure it's entirely feasible or realistic to develop such a theme park land when the attractions within require massive real estate, both vertically (looking at you Drop Tower attraction) and horizontally (the needed space for show buildings and an indoor coaster) Team Reality you have an TON of attractions! That said, I would LOVE to visit an indoor theme park using a nightlife cityscape as it's overarching visual aesthetic. The very concept is intriguing and appealing! From a practical standpoint it's also useful for hiding things guests need not see. On a MUCH smaller scale and to tie this back to Disney... I look forward to seeing this very concept brought to fruition in the new Play! Pavilion at Epcot.
Choosing a theme based on New York (City) in Dubai of all places, A.K.A. the New York of UAE or is it that Dubai does it better?~ is a somewhat baffling idea when you factor in "skylines" and city life as the go-to thematic standard. However, given the limitation of 20 Century Studios movies and shows, it works surprisingly well as the concept is elevated and made unique through the use of the land's districts and the understood linear progressive of time moving from one district to another. Each land is unique yet remains grounded by that one unifying theme. Smart! The visuals of each District also help distance itself from "Downtown Dubai". The IPs are plentifully represented and there's a lot for a guest to take in and do, keeping them fully immersed! The very notion that locals might find it boring or that the theme is flawed no longer exists in my mind. This is a fun land! And indoors to boot. Cool!
Grade of Concept = B
Based on: Use of Theme, Visuals, Execution
the ATTRACTIONS/DINING/ETC:
Lots here! Good use of IP. I particularly like the big ticket attractions but my all time favorite addition was perhaps a last minute add-on. Plopping an AA Ice Age show within the Night at the Museum walk-thru show building is some out of the box thinking and next level IP usage. Great job! Igerbot would be proud. I'm not actually going to delve into the pros/cons of the attractions for my review this time because I feel they are not as important with this particular stanza, though you did the challenge well by coming up with quality attractions and a strong use of IP. I had no idea there were so many IPs to pull from! WOW!
Team Realities attraction game is crazy strong! MASSIVE PRAISE to everyone on their attraction concepts. The biggest stand outs were the Great Movie Ride revival - Festival of Fantastical Films - LOVED IT! And the Night at the Museum attraction with the secondary Ice Age show. The wacky Home Alone dark ride seemed fun and I liked the idea for the drop tower a.k.a. Die Harf. The Quicksliver coaster seems fun (though I did find the track layout lacking). Most of the Future District attractions seem incredibly ambitious.
The only major issue I took with these attractions is their overall footprint within a land. The attraction count game was strong and the rides were mostly-realized successfully.
the DINING & SHOPS:
I LOVED the Slurm stand concept and The Cine music Parlor! Would have liked a full out Master Chef sitdown restaurant to go along with the kitchen accessories store. Overall I think more dining options would have been nice. Bob's Burgers, great call! Thought the Super Power Sushi QS restaurant was a bit out of left field, not tied well enough to the IP.
Big Winners: The "Heart of the Ocean Clothiers" (spelling oversight) for the high end sales and Duncan's Toy Chest for the sheer need of a toy store at an amusement park!
Grade of Attractions/Shop/Dining = B-
Based on: Count (perhaps too much) Type, Dining Count. Lack of Streetmosphere! New Yorkah culture. Execution Ding.
the FINAL THOUGHTS:
the BIG APPLE looks like a fun land! Top-notch creatives during this Stanza but realism took a back seat! Presentation was a bit muddled in that it lacked an identity. Was it a theme park site page or a prospectus? Regarding the themepark itself; I question the transitions between lands and how that is accomplished as well as how the land houses all the attractions outlined. Overall a great use of the 20th Century brand! Would have liked more Streetmosphere and subtle additions to harken back to New York life. IPs everywhere and quality attraction storylines at that! This was a Fun park concept! And I enjoyed being a part of the review process.
Magicart87's Trip Adviser Score: 
out of Five Stars!
out of Five Stars!
Last edited:
tcool123
Well-Known Member
Thank you so much
For the walkthrough I was aiming on something to the scale of Poseidon's Fury at Islands of Adventure, but ya know....good
I also combined that with a few elements of the Beetlejuice Horror Nights house, and a few other from the Legend of Jack Sparrow as those are kinda my only experience with a walkthrough
(Amongst the other two houses for HHN in 2020, and the houses from HHN in 2019)
