Well, I'm extending my question to you good folks. What do you think a Nintendo theme park could be like? What sorts of attractions, eateries, stores and areas would it have?
It would be my first choice for a themed kiddie land (In fact I've designed a few versions of one). The reason why is because it has thus far stood the test of time. Super Mario Bros and the NES came out when I was 5. Almost 25 years later, my 5 year old daughter can't get enough Mario and company through the DS and the wii. Parents of those kids have a real sense of nostalgia, and unlike Nickelodeon, have a real connection to Nintendo..probably even more than they do with Disney. It would all be in the design and budget. If it was done right with a generous budget, Super Mario Land would be the best in the world.
Nintendo's 25+ years has familiarized itself with today's adults and children. Mario, Donkey Kong, and others are all classics, things parents can look at it and remember from their youth. Today's children also know these characters.
After reviewing all of our old Nintendo games, possible rides and attractions could be based after:
Mario (go-karts, dark-ride)
Legend of Zelda (dark-ride or MagiQuest-like experience)
Metroid Prime (indoor roller coaster)
Ice Climbers (launched-free-fall?)
Donkey Kong (large play structure, giant frisbee)
Pokemon (plenty of things, including a "Trainer Academy")
Star Fox (simulator)
Kirby (family coaster)
The list could go on, of course.
Now, what might the other sections for the park be like? I do see them as themed to worlds from games, but how to handle attractions? Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule sections could easily be filled with things specific to their respective games, but could other sections themed to particular worlds allow for a mixture of different games as long as they shared some element in common (i.e., sci-fi, fantasy, city setting, etc.)?
-For a sci-fi area, go with either Corneria or Planet Zebes (possible games present here: Star Fox, Metroid, F-Zero)
-While New Pork City could be a section, it could be designed as a blend of Earthbound and WarioWare, Inc. (maybe your Brain Age quiz show could be there)
-Kongo Jungle, with a mixture of Donkey Kong Country, Pikmin and/or Yoshi's Island
-Kanto could easily be all Pokemon, but maybe there might be some Kirby stuff there. Of course, Kirby might be better suited to just its own area and be mixed with something else.
For the moment, here is what I'm currently seeing as sections with the games reflected there. Of course, these are just possibilities. Besides deciding which ones to go with, I haven't settled on if I should have six or seven sections:
Nintendo Crossroads (blend of Nintendo games)
Mushroom Kingdom (Super Mario Bros.)
Hyrule (The Legend of Zelda)
Kongo Jungle (Donkey Kong Country, Yoshi's Island)
Corneria (Star Fox, Metroid, F-Zero)
New Pork City (Earthbound, WarioWare) or Diamond City (WarioWare, Pokemon) or Viridian City (Pokemon, WarioWare)
Dream Land (Kirby, Pokemon) Or Dream Land (Kirby)
Princess peach's Castle can be the center piece of the entire park(and have a sweets cafe and gift shop while Zelda's Castle can be for Hyrule along with being an entrance to a dark ride themed as Twilight Princess since it's more grimm and dark(remember the Scary adventures of Snow white from Disneyland?)
for Super Mario
have it be called "The Mushroom Kingdom"
darkrides: Luigi's mansion,Yoshi's Story and Paper Mario with animation on large screens
Rollercoasters:Mario Cart and have it be Bowser's Castle and have one as Rainbow bridge or Mario Galaxy as an indoor Coaster so people can embrace the tripy neon colors and see the stars like "Space Mountain"
kiddy rides: since Yoshi is very kid friendly, there can be little mini rides such as a ferris weel,spinning Yoshi eggs,and a mini coaster(thats not to scary for children) and maybe a small play ground with slides, and ect.
other: have a contest area decked out as Mario Party, guests can arrive inside a fun house in a cute little car and from there people can expericence mini games like the ones from mario party and the winners will get awsome prizes of there choice and maybe a free gift from the gift shops
restruants:a cookie shop called "Yoshi's Cookie factory" and for a Pizza place it can be called "Mona Pizza" like the character from Wario and for Princess Peach,a cute and pinkish cafe for sweets like Ice Cream, cakes and ect.
Gift Shops: there can be cute little shops for people to buy stuff, one can be called "Luigi's Toy Shop" and other's can be small gify shops next to al the exits of all the rides themed as the rides there next too.
for the Legend Of Zelda
it can be called Hyrule's Magic Kingdom or just Hyrule
the area can look like Hyrule Castle Town from Twilight Princess or Ocarina Of Time having gift shops and fun games and extra's dressed like Hylians walking around dressed as if there from the middle ages, along with having a small enchanted forest area resembling Kokiri forest along with having a tunnel to the lost woods and inside can be a replica of the master sword in the pedestal and who ever pulls the sword out will be a lucky winner and recieve a prize proving there the ones who pulled the sword out.
Darkrides: one can be a log ride/darkride(the boats can look like the king of red lions) themed as the Windwaker which will be very kid friendly,magical,and fun,and in the middle of the ride people will get wet. having one resemling the cruise from Majora's mask would be nice, and along with it being a dark ride it can be an exotic tour of the Deku Palace and the swamp it's near. remember Peter Pan's flight? that one can be themed as Ocarina of time and guests can ride under a large owl who will take you all around diffrent places in Hyrule Kingdom like Zora Domain,the forests and Goron City and for the under rated games Link's Awakening can have tropical dark ride of it's own.
Restruants: it can be the "Milk Bar" from Majora's mask and while guests are happly having robotic animatronic replicas of the Zora band playing music from the game and other well known songs from the legend of zelda series.
Gift shops: some will be located in the castle town areas and one can be in the kokiri forest just like the game and a happy mask shop.and can sell stuff like plastic bow and arrows that are safe for small children, cosplay stuff such as Link Hats, elf ears, Zelda tiaras, sling shots and ect
the Scifi stuff
since Star Fox, Metroid, Kirby,F-zero,Earth Bound are all scifi they can have a huge section together and this will be the perfect hot spot for roller coasters,
rollercoasters: Kirby's Dreamland adventure will be fast, colorful and, and trippy. the carts can have a warping star and each cart can have a diffrent color kirby sitting on each star. so the colors and star kingdom will be visible the coaster can be an indoor coaster. for F-zero this coaster can be outdoors located near and ocean/beach area resembling the track on super smash brothers. this one will even have a large and scary loop and the cars will have a hood over them, so it feels as if people are in the race cars.
simulaters: StarFox will be perfect for this one, it will feel as if were in Arwing and the concept can be about fighting Andross or feel as if were in one of the ships acompaning Slippy, Falco or Fox and for an extra on some occasions the language can be in Japanese with English subtitles and on sometimes Pure English.
shooting games: Metroid can be a fun lazer tag game, people can sit in little cars that look like rockets and space ships and help Samus shoot all the alien monsters and who ever shoots the most will gt an awsome T-shirt and a free picture with a hot actress dressed as Samus Aran.
other, having some awsome stuff themed as Pokemon would be a huge hit considering how popular the series is,
rememer Critter Country from Disneyland? Animal Crossing,Pikmin,Donkey Kong and maybe the characters from Banjo Kazooie can be the theme for this small, shady and cute little relaxing area for people who wanna relax the place can have a park and garden inside the carden can be little cute houses that look like the ones from Animal Crossing and one park can have a shaded spot of people to relax while watching the chars from Banjo Kazooie play funky banjo music kinda like the country bears(they can be the country bears of nintendo). dokeykong can have a it's own adventure ride, being a huge Jungle adventure, and maybe a small exotic jungle cruise all around the green jungle.
Hotels:I'd suggest Luigi's mansion as the theme but think it's a tad bit to scary since there might be small children attending with there parents and such, so I think Mario sunshine would be nice, or maybe a small water park decked out as Pokemon would be cool, and all the slides, and sprayers and ect can look like water Pokemon
A "Kirby Air Ride" ride could be like Star Tours. Or maybe it could be something like Sonic
Metroid would do well as a dark-ride akin to Spider Man (actually, it would be awesome if you think about it), while Zelda could be cool as either a Toy Story Mania-like game (think grappling hook, bow and arrow, magic wand, etc.) or a Dueling Dragons-type coaster (Link as one, Ganon as the other).
Donkey Kong as the Hulk/Aerosmith coaster would be a nice touch, as well (Starfox also works, here: "Do barrel roll!").
What else is there: Wii Sports Complex could be a cool virtual reality area where you could play, you know, Wii Sports games.
Super Mario Bros. would be cool as a Phillarmagic show, I think -- the brothers and Bowser could use a cool 10-minute movie.
Pokemon also works as a show, although I'd rather see it as a Men In Black type ride, where you compete with other 'trainers' (riders) to catch the most pokemon.
That's all I can really think of, but if you consider Nintendo gaining permission to use other characters from past projects, a Mario Vs Sonic ride would be awesome, as well as a Super Smash Bros type experience.
Oh, and obviously: MARIO KARTS !!!
God, I wish this would all come true, haha.
ZELDA- It would have to be there, but I honestly have trouble concieving an idea for this one... vehicles just don't seem appropriate. Probably some type of epic-scale darkride (or maybe even a walkthrough) with heavy theming and an interactive element.
CASTLEVANIA- Obligatory "haunted house" attraction. Think Disney's Haunted Mansion with a more mature, creepy theming (actually a bit scary/morbid, pyro/tactile effects, wicked BG music/). Mainly anamatronic (as opposed to film/cgi/3d) so the tangible figures lend to the creepiness. Maybe some actually fast omni-mover suprise manuevers... Skeletons, Zombies, Medusas, Frankenstein creatures, even the Grim Reaper. Ther ride would culminate with a scene of Simon Belmont in epic battle with Dracula.
MEGA MAN- 3-D sim/darkride hybrid much like the Amazing Spiderman. Backstory is that Dr. Light is teaching a class (to the riders, of course) on advanced robot technology in a standing room auditorium at his research facility when sirens/alarms/violent explosions are heard. He goes to security cameras and sees that worker bots have been destroyed and Wily's attack robots are attempting to get through the facility and gain entrance to the main lab. The guests are hurried into evacuation vehicles where they (through 3-D tech and animatronics) encouter Wilys robots who are trying to prevent their escape. Mega man is called by Dr. Light to protect the riders and provide safe escape. Ride ends with a battle between Mega Man and Wily.
MARIO- I would make the mushroom kingdom an entire AREA of the park... you could have MARIO CARTS, a WATER RIDE(warp-zone themed with all the pipes or something), BOWZERS CASTLE (fun-house feeling dark ride with all the perils one would expect; fire effects, simulated lava, stuff trying to squash you, etc) and a good kids' play area. I would include a DONKEY KONG attraction in here too (kinda like the old Kongrfrontation, but much more whimsical and funny, with tropical jungle theming)
STARFOX- Straight forward flight simulator ride with a wickedly themed cue including animatronics of all the main characters. Themed as a flight school for new cadets, the riders wind up getting quickly recruited to actual combat duty when the base at Corneria comes under attack. Very similar layout to the old BTTF ride at Universal.
METROID- This could actually provide two separate attractions: One would be a shoot-em dark ride much like MIB or Buzz Lightyear (but a little faster, with some good manuevers and stuff that actually jumps out and startles you a bit) and the other would be a federation-run center for the study of alien lifeforms (kinda like the Jurassic Park Discovery Center at IoA, except here you can see Metroid Samples in captivity as well as many other "hands on" activities and alien "specimens"
As for park layout, I would have several lands, including;
-Mushroom Kingdom (strictly Mario mythos... I would imagine that Mario's stories deserves their own land)
-Hyrule (for Zelda-themed attractions, as well as anything else that fit into the High-Fantasy theme)
-Some form of Gothic-Horror land (for Castlevania and anything else scary)
-A futuristic land (for Mega-Man, Starfox, Metroid, anything space/future themed)
NEStreet - just a bunch of shops and arcades and stuff, like Main Street USA
Nintendo Fronteir - everything just Nintendo in general. Nintendo Bumper Cars, Nintendo Ferris Wheel, Nintendo Invasion (a dark ride where each franchise has it's own room), The History of Nintendo (an animatronics show), and tons of shops and restaurants.
Super Mario World - everything Mario. Koopa Cups, Peach-a-Twirl, a giant Peach's castle, a Bowser castle, Yoshi Unleashed (like Toy Story Midway Mania), Mario's Final Fight (like the Simpsons Ride), Super Mario Galaxy: The Coaster (like Space Mountain), Super Mario Galaxy: Space Slingshot(one of those slingshot rides), Lui-G-Force (outdoor roller coaster), The Goomba Claw (like the Sledgehammer), Revolutionary ROB (frisbee), New Super Mario Bros Wii The Ride (dark ride), Super Mario Tour (dark ride), Lakitu (like The Screamin Eagle at Seabreeze), YoshiCoaster (Zierer Force coaster), Bowser's Flume, Mario's Lumberjack Xpress, Baby Mario vs. Baby Luigi (racing kiddie coasters), Wario's Gold Mine (mine roller coaster), Waluigi Bobsleds, (bobsleds roller coaster), Daisy Dropper (Dizzy dropper from Rct3, if it's real), Toadstool Carousel (grand carousel), and finally, Airship(a pirate ship ride)
Funtime Hollow: All the kiddie rides, Meet a Real Nintendog (interactive dog area), the grand theater, Brain Age: Battle (like Millionare show at Disney), Starfy's Aquarium (huge aquarium), Also this is where a Punch Out attraction would take place, but at the moment, the only attraction for Punch Out could be a show, lots of restaurants
Space World: Metroid Prime: Blast! (like Superman: The Escape), Star Fox: Special Command (like Mission: Space), Stylix Scrambler (scrambler), Star Fox Shuttle (a Vekoma Boomerang model), Black Shadow's Revenge (an indoor lay down roller coaster), F-Zero: Ultimate Commando (like Buzz Lightyear), Metroid Prime Arena (huge laser tag arena)
Action Park: Zelda, Donkey Kong, etc. DK Adventure (outdoor wooden coaster), Kid Icarus: 5 Minute Flight (like Soarin'), Ganondorf (outdoor inverted coaster),Excitebike: World Championship (Zamperla Motocoaster), Zelda: Ocinaria of Time: The Ride (dark ride), Zelda: Wind Waker: The Ride (dark ride), Donkey Konga Musik Bobs (a music express), Sin and Punishment: Boss Battles Galore (like the Pirates of the Carribean ride in Disneyquest), King K. Rool's Fearful Freefall Fury, Legend of Zelda: Adventure Raft, Legend of Zelda: Magic Beyond (MagiQuest-type attraction),
RPG Land: Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Mother, Golden Sun, Animal Crossing. Castle Seige from SSBB, Fire Emblem 4D, PokeCoaster (outdoor/indoor roller coaster), Pokeball Spinner (UFO ride), Pokemon Stadium Live (animatromics show), Pokemon Training Academy, Golden Sun: Sun Swings (chair swings), trying to think of another Golden Sun ride (never played a GS game, so it's tricky), A Tour of Animal Crossing (dark ride), Tom Nook's Antique Cars (driveable antique car ride), and again, I can't think of any Mother rides because I've never played a game.
AWESOME!