Dusting off this thread to say that I'm looking to get back into this- figured I should finish this park before moving onto other creative ventures like the Parkemon. After some time has passed, I'm not too happy with the WIP map I have- it feels very disjointed in some areas. I think I'm going to go back to the drawing board with revisions to the whole park, taking into account the community suggestions- and I'd love more, since this is meant to be the
ultimate castle park, it wouldn't be ultimate if it were only my opinions!
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Some things I want to change about the layout:
- Have the railroad be more of a berm than the zig-zaggy path it has now. I was taking inspiration from Tokyo's railroad and how it cuts through Critter Country without realizing their railroad doesn't go around the entire park. If I were to redo the layout, I could have it be a generally circular path while arranging lands so it cuts through some.
- I also want to add more dioramas/show scenes. I know I planned for a bunch, but I totally forgot Primeval World! I just forgot to mention the railroad in general for that land, whoops.
- Have more lands accessed via the central hub- right now it's just Sleepy Hollow, Fantasyland, and Discovery Bay. Feels like a weird assortment.
- Fix the east half of the park so Discovery Bay isn't awkwardly in front of Tomorrowland and Adventureland- I feel like the OG four lands should take priority in layout and not be tucked away behind random new lands
- Adjust the west half of the park, I had forced the flow of that whole side to be chronological (starting with colonial times and ending in the PNW) but I think that limited an ideal layout. I'll still try to keep that, but I think I want to adjust the specific order of things and general size of the area. It just feels... clunky and linear.
- I want to give the Haunted Mansion a greatest emphasis in its land, since Pirates and CBJ have their own lands. I can't justify HM having a whole land like the other two, since Dark Fantasyland and Sleepy Hollow are two halves of it's whole aesthetic, so it has to go in one. Sleepy Hollow feels like the right spot for it so it can be on the river and be connected to the Ravenswood/BTM story still... should Sleepy Hollow be renamed to something more leaning towards the Haunted Mansion? Ravenstowne?
- Maybe Haunted Mansion leaves Sleepy Hollow and moves to Frontierland, joining the Thunder Mesa area? But at that point it just starts to become Phantom Manor rather than a fusion of HM and PM.
- Fantasyland still feels bloated. Not sure what to do about that since I've already cut a lot from it!
- Perhaps the whole circus area could become its own land off Main Street...?
- Pooh's Hunny Hunt could go back into Bear Country like my original plan, with the facade themed to a library (guests go into the story rather than it being a real place)?
- Should Bear Country be just Bear Country? Is it too limiting? Should it be something else, like "Critter Country", "Grizzly Peaks", "Grizzly National Park", etc., to have some wiggle room for housing non-CBJ attractions (despite being mainly a CBJ area because I'm hella biased towards them lmao)
- Side note: I found out that Tex Ritter (Big Al)'s grandson is Jason Ritter, voice of Dipper from Gravity Falls, so it almost makes that area the perfect spot for the Mystery Shack. Gravity Falls has talking bears so maybe...?
- More to do on Main Street- Main Streets are often thought of as just the walkway to the "real" park, so I want this entrance to feel special!
- Figure out what the heck I'm doing with the Dark Fantasy area (and what I'm even calling it)
- Do I even worry about a second gate? Do I include stuff like Hollywoodland here, or is that too much to do in one park?
So many thoughts, so little time to actually work on this, lol. Please let me know your thoughts!