We’ve seen a recent theme park trend of creating “new” attractions by retheming the old. Maelstrom became Frozen Ever After. DCA’s Tower of Terror became Mission: Breakout. In all these examples (and others), the basic ride remained the same, but with an entirely new theme.
Your very first assignment for “Theme Park Apprentice: Extreme Park Makeover” is to propose a similar permanent retheme of an existing ride. You may use any park, any ride and any (or no) IP! Keep the ride system the same, but otherwise change as much as you want. Enclose an outdoors ride. Expose an indoors ride. The theming is key this week!
Of course keep realism in mind. For example, Disney rides cannot use Universal properties. Popular franchises are often used in rethemes, but if your interests lie elsewhere, by all means get us excited about your idea! If in doubt, ask.
Anyone is welcome to join in this game and post a proposal, whether or not you responded to the announcement thread! Proposals don’t need to be super-long; aim for a few pages tops. Images are optional. See the announcement thread for details on posting images.
All proposals are due on Saturday, July 15th, at midnight site time (Pacific Time). Late proposals without an acceptable excuse will see their point totals reduced.
Judges will be scoring by the following criteria (all carefully weighted):
Overall proposal quality: 40%
Writing: 15%
Reality check: 20%
Met challenge: 25%
Remember there will be no elimination following this round, so have fun with it!
Tweet
Coming to the all new Mardi Gras Jubilee themed area at Six Flags St. Louis is Zydeco Zinger!! This all new custom, state of the art renovation for Ninja, as well as a complete overhaul of the surrounding area, will be sure to attract guests back and really revive the popularity of what could be a star attraction at the park!!
--------------------------
Entrance/Queue: Guests will walk up to the green, purple, and yellow gabezo (which is actually the old entrance “hut” refurbished and repainted) and enter under the festive sign. As you enter the completely torn down and rebuilt queue, you’ll see that all the metal switchbacks have been replaced with wooden switchbacks, and all the dirt/weeds surrounding the queue have been replaced with much more vibrant plants, including Persian Shief, and Purple Cabbage, both of which are frequently used during Mardi Gras festival due to their purple and green colors. Several new trees also surround the queue, providing some much needed shade, and beaded necklaces and colorful masks hang from the shrubs to provide some colorful things to look at. In addition, several oversized signs providing interesting information on the yearly festival.
--------------------------
Station: You enter the heavily refurbished station which has been changed to look like a float “holding area”, and it is extremely modern, while heavily decorated to give off a Mardi Gras spirit!! Your “float” pulls up and you’re on your way!!
--------------------------
Ride Experience: The Ride itself is exactly the same, but the ride supports new dark grey supports with small bands of purple, and new lime green track. The 2 new Vekoma Trains with Vest Restraints will provide a smoother, more comfortable, and headbanging free experience. The trains themselves are themed to parade floats, and are quite colorful, featuring a vibrant green, purple, and yellow color scheme with checkerboard patterns, in addition to a cartoon alligator decal on the front of the train (which is the same alligator found on the Ragin Cajun logo)
--------------------------
Overall this would be a great addition to the park, and with the completely redone experience, would be a top 3 coaster in the park!! Thank you everyone for reading and I hope you enjoyed!!
The Legend of Sleeping Beauty
This attraction will be replacing Magic Kingdom's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Exterior-
Part of the exterior of the attraction will be the Three Good Fairies Cottage. Every 30 minutes or so a colored puff of smoke will appear from the chimney. The other part of the exterior will be rock work and various little plants growing upon the rocks.
Queue -
As guests enter the queue they wind throughout the outside of the cottage. In the trees guests will be able to see several of Aurora's forest friends. As the cottage entrance comes into view guests will notice Diablo in the tree looking menacingly towards the windows of the cottage. The window that he is looking at would show Aurora's Dress that Flora made by hand.
When guests enter Aurora's Cottage they are met with nice cool air. They will make a turn and go past the stairs to Aurora's Room. On the stairs will be a basket filled with plenty of berries. Guests will continue towards the kitchen. Here Fauna will be trying to bake a cake with all the ingredients scattered around the counter top, and the room. Several cookbooks will be thrown around the room as well. Fauna will look up and welcome the guests to the cottage, and to Aurora's Birthday.
She will explain the cookbooks have been enchanted, and guests can help decide the best recipe to use. Each cookbook will have a different recipe for the cake shown. Each cake recipe will emit a sweet smell. The cakes represented will be Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Pumpkin, and Berry. On the counter where the sink is located there are piles of dirty dishes, bowls, and utensils. Occasionally bubbles will shoot out of the sink.
Moving along to the main living area is where guests enter a battle field. Aurora's final dress is in the center of the room. Flora is behind an overturned table. While Merryweather is behind several barrels and a basket full of knitting supplies. Throughout the room splotches of pink of blue appear on the wall for a few seconds, and go away. Flora is heard saying "Make it Pink", and thus the dress changes to pink. Merryweather follows by saying "Make it Blue", and the dress becomes blue. Guests will wind around the battle, and will be able to spot Diablo perched a top the mantle spying.
After the guests leave the room they enter the loading docks. Guests then proceed to enter enchanted carriages that seems to be carved out of wood.
Ride Stats & Info -
Attraction Type : Traditional Dark Ride
Vehicle : Enchanted Wooden Wagons
Theme : Sleeping Beauty
Riders per Car : 4
Duration : 2 Minutes and 30 Seconds
Riders per Hour : 600
Riders per Day : 6,000 - 8,400
Height Restriction : None
Ticket Rating : C-Ticket
Ride Experience -
Scene 1 - I Wonder
As the cottage doors swing open for guests to exit a clearing comes into view. Guests will pass by several of Aurora's forest friends in the trees. Aurora will be seen sitting upon a tree stump gazing at a couple of birds. Beside the stump is her basket of berries. Aurora will be singing the song I Wonder.
Scene 2 - Once Upon a Dream
As the vehicles enter the next scene they are met with Aurora's Forest Friend's dressed up as Prince Phillip. The owl will occasionally go hoo-hoo. The vehicle then turns and guest will be able to spot Samsun, Prince Philip's Horse. The faint sound of singing is heard. The song is a faint version of Once Upon a Dream. Aurora and Philip are seen dancing in the woods, and are singing Once Upon a Dream.
Scene 3 - Maleficent
As guests reapproach the cottage they hear an eerie, but welcoming "Come In". As the doors open, and the vehicles enter eerie music can be heard. The whole cottage is dark except for a floating green orb. Aurora stands by about to touch the green orb. As the vehicles creep closer and closer she touches the orb. The music stops Aurora seems to fall, and the vehicles quickly spin around focusing on the evil green fairy herself, Maleficent. A loud cackle is heard as her goons pop up capturing the vehicles.
Scene 4 - The Dungeon
As guest come out of the dark cottage they enter Maleficent's Dungeon. Here skeletons are seen chained to the wall. The occasional spider comes down from the ceiling scaring guests. Merryweather and Fauna are seen using their magic wands to free Prince Philip from his chains. Flora is seen casting a spell, and making Diablo stone. She then says that Philip has to save Aurora and stop Maleficent. As the vehicles get ready to leave the dungeon brier begins to form. Maleficent is heard cackling, and recites one of her lines "Now you shall deal with me, and all the powers of hell!" A flash of green covers the next scene for a second as the guests enter.
Scene 5 - The Fight
As guests enter the room Dragon Maleficent's head swoops into the room, and out of her nostrils comes smoke. Prince Philip appears from the brier. Maleficent moves her head toward Philip, and opens her mouth. As they get out of the guests point of view fire is heard coming from her mouth. Soon the whole room increases in temperature. The brier surrounding guests will begin to emit small green flames.
As guests turn the corner the room flashes as they see that Philip threw his sword. His sword was able to pierce into Maleficent's Dragon body and kill her. She seems to start to fall down the vehicles move forward. The vehicles go through a tunnel of briar as a crash is heard and Maleficent is finally dead.
Scene 6 - Finale
As the doors to Sleeping Beauty's Castle swing open the vehicles go in. Here guests can clearly see that peace has been restored, and all is well. King Stefan and King Hurbert are seen in the distance celebrating and drinking wine. Aurora and Philip are seen ballroom dancing to a ballad version of Once Upon A Dream. Aurora's Dress will change color every so often from blue to pink. As the ride nears the end Merryweather and Flora are still debating, and changing the color of Aurora's Dress while Fauna cries saying that she just loves happy endings. As the vehicles leave the castle and reenter the cottage a painted mural of Aurora and Philip dancing has been painted onto the wall. It says 'And They Lived Happily Ever After' finally ending The Legend of Sleeping Beauty.
Guests then exit out into the gift shop 'The Fairies Workshop'.
Mike and Sulley to the Rescue is a not very good replacement of a not very good ride (Superstar Limo) that is now in a bad position in California Adventure that is quickly turning its sights on Marvel-izing the entire corner of the park. Since there is nothing nearby anchoring this attraction to its location, it is likely one of the first to find the axe swinging down on it. What is interesting, though, is that Mike & Sully uses the same ride system as Toy Story Mania (at least that is what Wikipedia says and we all know how accurate Wikipedia is). This leads us to believe that we have a perfect replacement in mind.
Please let us introduce you to “Be the Superhero: Save the City”
Oh sure, you say, a bunch of spandex-clad, holier-than-thou, do-gooder momma’s boys lugging their large weapons into a family theme park is a great idea, Wade. The overreaching media conglomerate that owns the theme park is going to have to dig way down into their couch to retrieve the seven-figure sum that will need to be paid out the second hammer-boy crushes a 5-year-old’s toe or bow-and-arrow guy lets one of his trademark projectiles shish kebob a super-sized tourist from Poughkeepsie. I won’t even mention Big Green. Or maybe I just did. Hmmm. Anywho…
The point is that superheroes are big money. Even when DC makes crap-tastic movies or casts Ben Affleck, they are still big money. And Mr. Mouse has a ton of ducats that he needs to earn back after paying five whole tanker ships full of cash to get their hands on me and my friends. To be honest, they just needed to call and make an appointment if they wanted their hands on me. My rates won’t be that excessive until after my second successful movie.
This ride is themed to the 4 major Avengers: Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and hosted by the fifth and sixth: Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.
The Mike and Sulley vehicles are stripped all of the way down to the platform and built back up with the seats facing outward, this will actually give us a higher capacity of 8 people per car instead of 6. The opposite sides of the car will get the exact same experience initially but a future built out of the attraction will allow for opposite sides of the vehicle to have different adventures. An onboard audio system will be added in such a way that everyone in the vehicle gets the same audio, but it doesn’t project to the other vehicles. The vehicles are equipped with a similar lap bar system that is reminiscent of Legoland’s Ninjago ride. The four different seats on the vehicle are each themed to a different superhero: again, like you don’t know these guys: Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, and Thor. The seats also have a theme of the particular hero’s main weapon: Iron Man has rockets, Hulk has fists, Captain America has his shield, and Thor has his hammer. This feeds back into the interaction of the ride where the guests sitting in the different seats are using the weaponry of the hero their butt is warming while the ride is underway. Much like the Ninjago ride, you will be mimicking the movement with your hands to make your weapon work. Iron Man is simple straight ahead hand motions to fire rockets, Hulk is vicious fists to unleash his power, for Cap we make a frisbee motion, while using Thor’s hammer will require a wind up before a release. The onboard system will attempt to correct you toward the beginning of the ride to make the right hand motions, but will go with whatever a guest comes up with after the fit winds up hitting the shan as what usually happens in such rides.
The vehicle will be built up with a divider between the guests facing left and guests facing right. On the divider is the sound system and a projection system. The onboard projection system projects images on the first layer of nearly invisible screen and allows the wide projection of the ride appearing to the guests to be on a very narrow surface allowing the vehicles to be launched very close to each other without their unique images intruding on other vehicles.
The queue of the ride is themed to a training facility where the overhead video and informational posters are all designed to narrow the knowledge gap before getting on the vehicles as well as talking about many of my other work-life balance missing so-called heroes. The queue line will very subtlety be shaped into the word “Francis” but few people will realize that without a satellite view of the ride. The queue will wrap around various objects of Avengers importance like an actual Iron Man suit and a replica of patriotic boy’s Shield. The videos in the queue will star Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, ahh, who are we kidding, Hawkeye might do some talking about something but I am going to really pay attention when Scarlett Johansson tells me to do something. They are going to set the story that this is a training facility for heroes that teaches in a safe yet exhilaratingly fun way. The guest will be shooting at special target robots for their training course. The robots will be simple-minded crosses between the robot cops from the Lego Movie, the B1 battle droids from Star Wars The Phantom Menace, and the robots in Avengers Age of Ultron.
The ride itself has practical sets that are carefully designed to make them look like the projected characters are interacting with them. The interactive characters in the foreground will be generated off of the projection in the ride vehicle itself, while the mid-range and long-range characters will be projected by hidden projectors. The three levels of depth will give a simulated but believable feeling of 3D without the glasses.
WAVE 1
The first wave is fairly simple and will be directly based off of the guest's skill level. If the guests are whacking all of the robots quickly, more will generate and keep a constant supply of bad guys while the ride vehicle is in the WAVE 1 section. Likewise, if the guests are not getting the concept very well, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the computer itself will attempt to correct the guest’s behavior, while the number of bad guy robots will remain relatively low.
WAVE 2
The second wave is much more intense but again, based on the skill level of the players, the situation will get more and more overwhelming. This phase is manageable but intense. This is quite a bit like a supersized version of Wave 2, but with much less hand-holding.
WAVE 3
This wave starts with the computer voice that has been assisting the entire time seeming to glitch out. There is a moment of static and then the computer voice starts back up saying something along the lines of “We are not happy to be beaten and broken by a group of wannabe heroes. Prepare to be destroyed.” I’m sure the writer heroes will come up with something much more pithy and satisfying yet unfortunately cliched. The mid-range, that had been projections up until this point, now virtually explodes with live animatronic robots. Wait…animatronic robots? Isn’t that exactly what robots are? Anywho… The firefight is intense and overwhelming with pyro and explosions going off all over the place and a swarming of robots jockeying to get at the vehicle. While the guests do a decent job of holding their own, they are not making any decent headway into clearing the room. As we round a corner, Hawkeye and Black Widow join the fight, asking us to carefully avoid hitting them. If you “accidentally” take a pot-shot at the helper heroes you will lose some points, but not too many since I understand and have many times taken a shot at Black Widow when we all snuggle in the glow of the still burning corpse of building after the day’s events have wound down and we are all still drunk with the excitement of vanquished bad guys.
(sigh)
Where were we?
Oh yeah...after bow boy and yummy girl assist in clearing the room we receive some witty lines of departure and the encouragement to try again next time with a different hero’s weaponry. Then told to get the #$%@ off the ride quickly and buy some merch as you wind your way through narrow aisles in a gift shop before you are released back out into the bright sunlight and harsh reality of your mundane lives.
Okay, after all that I need to go find my fluffy unicorn, so you’ll have to imagine for yourself any additional details that I may have left out.
Fossil Flinger
Dinoland USA at Animal Kingdom in Disney World suffers from a great divide in opinion; those who know the strange dichotomy of storytelling to those who loath the tacky appearance of Dino-Rama. Why would Disney, accompany known for its attention to detail and its elaborate backstories, would put such an obvious sub-par area into one of its arguably most detailed parks? What most don’t know is that there is a back story to Dino-Rama that actually fits into the land, but as someone recently said to me: just because it has the Disney name attached to it, doesn’t mean it’s a great product and we have to buy it. This is especially true for Dino-Rama, an area that was purposely designed to be tacky, but is still one of the most despised areas in Dinoland, if not the entire park. The general public either doesn’t know the back story or doesn’t care. They are here to be drawn into the Disney magic, and upon first viewing, Dino-Rama is just like any cheap carnival and definitely not something up to the Disney standards. Well, Disney has finally decided to change Dino-Rama into something better and has dug up some of the old plans. While the Excavator will take up most of the re-imagined Dino-Rama and most of the budget, to save money and time, Disney has decided to retheme Primeval Whirl instead of creating another new attraction from scratch.
Show Building: Besides creating intricately themed attractions, Disney is also known for not fully showing its coaster tracks which will the first change to Primeval Whirl. The track will be fully enclosed to become the Dino Institute Fossil Lab complete with the relocation of the Dino Sue’s skeleton from over by Dinosaur (the ride). This will be significant to those who for those who visited Animal Kingdom in its early days as the original bones of Sue were cleaned and examined right on this spot after they partnered with McDonalds and the Field Museum in Chicago to buy the bones for the museum. Of course, the building will match the original backstory of all of the original fishing lodges being repurposed, and it will resemble in old barn that used house boats and fishing equipment. If guests look past the new “professional” sign they can see the faded, hand-painted sign for the barn. Some of the more daring interns have already taken the time to put their own personal and humorous touches to the building.
New Backstory: As the interns work tirelessly in the Boneyard finding new fossils, these new discoveries are housed in the Fossil Lab storage room until they can be cleaned and catalogue. With the plethora of bones in Digg County, the back storage rooms were jammed pack, and the only way to locate the right crate of bones is with the Fossil Finder. This system allows the interns and the cleaners to travel on a series of tracks quickly and easily. This pinnacle of technology saved a lot of time and became a staple in the Fossil Lab.
However, after the Dino Institute started offering time travel tours to the public, the need for fossils has dropped off sharply, since scientist can just travel to the past and study living dinosaurs. Dr. Marsh has been noted as saying, “That bare bones approach is a thing of the past”, and as the head of the Institute, what she says, goes. Naturally, this left a bunch of mischievous, bored interns with a lot of time on their hands. Instead of cleaning and cataloguing bones, the interns spend their time riding the Fossil Finder for kicks. The track has now become almost an obstacle course as the interns has stacked the fossil crates into crazy patterns and left the bones scatter along the tracks much to the dismay of some of their more serious colleagues. As the ride has become wilder over the years, the interns have come to call it the Fossil Flinger.
Queue: Upon entering the lab, guests can wander through a recreation of a real fossil labe where bones are being scanned, measured, and weight. On the lab doors is closed with a sign saying: Do Not Enter. Cleaning in Process. On the desk monitors, footage of the original cleaning of Dino Sue’s bones is shown on a loop indicating that is what is taking placed behind the closed door.
Besides some interactive equipment, guests can also access the computers and attempt to put unknown fossils together to create a dinosaur. This is more of a fun game then educational as most guests can just create out of this world dinosaurs such as putting a triceratops head on a T-Rex body.
Throughout the queue, the underground radio station plays dino themed music such as “Diggin in Dinoland” and is often interrupted by humorous announcements by the radio personalities, Digger and Bonehead. One particular interruption is made by Digger: “Attention, Animal. Dr. Dunn is looking for you. You are about to become extinct!” These references tie in notes and people as seen in the Boneyard and Restaurantsaurus, and thereby weaves the backstory on Dinoland even closer together.
Ride Vehicle and Track: The ride vehicles will stay largely the same expect they will be repainted and labeled with humorous nicknames similar to those seen on the Jungle Cruise. The track layout will not change either. There will still be two tracks that can run simultaneously and provide slightly different experiences. The major change will be the replacing of the flat, cardboard cutouts and replacing them will a few animatronics and fully detailed, realistic props and practical set pieces.
Ride Through: As the vehicles leave the station, they immediately turn into a long hallway heading into the storage rooms. A complicated map tries to detail the location of s=certain bones, but a quick glance show someone has scribbled even more inane directions. A list of rules for behavior in the storage room has also been defaced by the interns with most of the rules being scratched out or altered.
Passing through the doors, the vehicles ascend the dimly lit lift hill. On either side of the track, boxes filled with bones are stacked rather precariously as the top most boxes begin to shift and sway ominously, and a large crate hanging overhead almost drops on your head, but stops just in time. Once the vehicles reach the top, the wild ride really begins, and coaster will spin and hurl guests across the tracks barely missing crates, haphazardly stacked bones, and irritated professors. Both tracks will feature the vehicles passing by a cracked crate showing a part of the Ark of the Covenant and sliding down the gaping maw of a gigantic Carnotaurus skeleton, slipping through his rib cage and up its tail.
Each track will have slight differences to give riders a slightly different experience:
Track 1) Guest will pass by a practical set of dinosaur bones rearranged as if they are sticking this thumbs out for a ride. This is an homage to the original design seen on Primeval Whirl which is in of itself a homage to the Hitchhiking Ghosts in the Haunted Mansion.
Around a sharp corner, the vehicle blows through a couple of professors trying to piece together a dinosaur. The vehicle knocks into the skeleton as the professors rear back in alarm and anger, but as we spin around, we can see that we actually knocked the pieces into their correct positions.
Track 2) The vehicle passes by the hidden room where the underground radio station WDIG (as heard in the queue and in the Boneyard) is being recorded. Even though no one is there, the ON AIR sign is lit and music can be heard.
The vehicle happens to wander through an impromptu target practice between the interns. Air guns simulate the plunger arrows narrowly missing the guests as the vehicle spins in response. Each side has the plunger arrows sticking to the crates, sometime even within the badly painted on targets.
Exit: Guests will arrive back into the same loading dock and unload as the ride does in its current incarnation. A short walk down the ramp leads guest back into Dinoland proper.
Overall, the re-imaging of Primeval Whirl will rectify a lot of issues guest have with Dino-Rama while at the same time continuing the story that is already found in Dinosaur, Restaurantsaurus, the Boneyard. Utilizing the ride this way does not take away from the backstory and the wonderful details that litter Dinoland, but builds upon the original story and the characters and hopefully, brings more positive attention to Dinoland USA as a whole
Hi I'm MonorailRed and I'm one of the guest reviewers for this week. Great submissions everyone!
spacemt354
Interesting choice going with a Six Flag attraction. Those are very simple to retheme and it looks like you chose a good one to do! Creating a DC land would make sense especially given the location of the ride you chose. On the flip side of that, a Six Flags ride in order to be realistic doesn't require a ton of detail, or new features in the attraction itself. But sometimes simple projects work even if they are a bit short. This fit the bill for the requirements and didn't try to do too much. Curious to see how the others pan out.
Kenny Cook
Another Six Flags attraction! While the former submission kept it simple, this one took it a little further wit a more heavy refurbishment. I'm sure it's possible for Six Flags to do the additions explained in here, but from my experience Six Flags tends to make their refurbishments as simple as possible. I think there were a lot of good ideas here though and look forward to see what you come up with next!
tcool
I love Winnie the Pooh but I also love your refurb to Sleeping Beauty! She as less of a presence especially after they changed the new fantasyland plans which had Sleeping Beauty more in the forefront. I think that small area would be a great choice for a new Sleeping Beauty ride.
You explained it very well and organized the project in an understandable manner. Great job!
Deadpool
Great username! The attraction though is more of a mixed bag for me. On one hand, especially with the D23 announcements yesterday it looks like Pixar Pier is taking over Paradise Pier in DCA, so the Monsets Inc ride might be in the wrong location. On the other hand, given some of the rumors of a Captain America bike coaster and the anticipation for Marvel in Disney parks, I have a hard time seeing a Toy Story Mania ride pleasing the hardcore fans. Like I was saying it sounds very fun and realistic, I'm just wondering if it's the best move for the park or location. I'd rather have the big Avengers attraction be an E-ticket rather than another Toy Story Mania attraction, but that's just my preference. Great ideas though!
FigmentPigments
Very nice backstory and refurb for Dinoland! Yes Primeval Whirl and the rest of Dino-Rama is an eyesore to most people. While technically it does have a pretty interesting backstory with it being setup in the parking lot for the Dino Institute, I think the direction you're taking it in will better serve the eyes and enhance the area. Like the humorous nicknames on the ride vehicles like Jungle Cruise, that was a great touch, and overall like the ties to the Boneyard and seemingly pulling all of Dinoland together!
Just a heads up, as one competitor mentioned it. I'm happy to take Wikipedia as of the time/date the challenge is posted as "definitive" (alternatively if you know its wrong, I'm happy to accept another source saying what the truth is as long as it pre dates challenge posting).
----
SpaceMt
There's always a lot of risk in going first. I know judges in the past have said there's no advantage to getting yours in early, but I am of the school that disagrees with that. Naturally people compare things with what has gone on before, and two concepts for the exact same location will naturally see this happen.
However, the flipside of that is that you're not quite sure what standard your competitors will be playing at, and in that I think you've been firmly stung here.
The "Bones" of your proposal are good. You've identified a Six Flags park that does not yet have a complete DC land experience and is in the process of changing them over so as realism gets you've identified what seems to be a hot candidate for a rebrand; and The Flash seems to be a natural fit to Launch Coaster attractions.
But then we get into the meat, and I think you'll suspect here that you weren't at the standard of your competitors.
We were looking for a "permanent retheme of an existing ride"; in your proposal we don't even paint the coaster. All we do is stick on a new sign, a few thunderbolt decals, and stick some new wallpaper in the queue area. I suppose this does give you points for realism as this is certainly in the realm of possibility, but I can't help but think this would come off as being simply a cheap cash in.
Building on this, you've said that the comic books "build on the story of the attraction", but you haven't told us what that story is. The Flash is just a character, what is the story?
What I would have expected is something like this... New Queue area themed to be like Star Labs. The guests are in Star Labs to celebrate and witness a new (Technobabble) reactor that will provide the world with free unlimited electricity, solving all of the worlds problems with a simple press of the button. As always, something goes wrong, the guests get into a series of "carts" to escape, but of course these are slow. Cue the Flash to push these carts to safety.
Please don't let you get this down... my first proposal ever was a real stinker. Its not about how you start, its about how build on it and you finish. Looking forward to seeing more from you.
--------
Kenny Cook
I love the optimism and energy in your pitch. You truly hve the Marti Gras spirit.
If this was a "Retheme a land" challenge, then I think I'd very much be singing your praises. The challenge however is to retheme a ride, and with that in mind your response I think falls a little flat.
Having a look on the official page for the coaster, the park links the movements of the coaster to being like the movements of a ninja; Any coaster-like movements during mardi-Gras are definately not family friendly :P ; You haven't really linked the theme to the ride experience.
What I would have suggested instead is if you wanted to keep with the whole mardi-gras theme would be to get deeper into the Creole/Voodo mythos. Is there some spirit or other character in the mythos who could develop the story, someone who migth be upset enough to derail the parade? That would give a "reason" why the rider is going upside down on what is supposed to be a simple parade.
Don't be afraid to take the time to look a little deeper. TPA is an endurance game - a marathon, not a sprint.
----
TCool
This is a very well developed proposal that deals with all of the aspects of the attraction - Exterior, Queue and story. Well done.
The only concern I do have is a small issue on the realism side. When Disney are on to a good thing, they tend to stick with it, rolling the attraction into their other parks. Given that DL California and Hong Kong both have Sleeping Beauty's castle I can't see them wanting a second sleeping beauty attraction on those sites, limiting their ability to reuse the attraction.
Other than that, the only other criticism I can offer is that it does have the lack of "frills" (images, concluding paragraph), and I'm not sure about the use of a sword to slay malificent (I haven't seen the original for some time so I presume this is true to the movie, but some parents may still object). But I don't see these as major issues that seriously detract from an excellent proposal.
---
Deapool
I see your proposal takes the saying "Third time's a charm" to light. Having read about Superstar Limo on yesterland I've always felt shocked that something that seemed so... cheap was ever consdired for a disney attraction (did they spend all the money on Ms Rivers?), and with Marvel coming it is time again for a reboot.
I'm not sure if the part in Italics (and the second last paragraph) was you trying to play in the Deadpool persona, but can I suggest cutting out the "comic awareness" in the official entry at least (but please, post it to the chatter thread!) try and keep this all professional as if you really were pitching it to a bunch of Disney execs.
I'm not sure if changing the carrage that much counts as changing the ride system, but I'll give the benefit of the doubt on it. You say there are 8 seats, then say there are 4 different seats, I'll presume that each side doubles up.
I'm not sure about this whole hand motion thing. I get that its been done before, but it seems like a recepie to hit someone in the head, particularly the Frisbee and hammer wind ups, I guess I'd have to see it in practice to be fully convinced.
That aside, as a nice B-C ticket supporting attraction for a Marvel area, I think this is a reaslistic option for Disney that doesn't require them to break the bank (I'm sure their other developments have done that already) I think your ride experience is a great retheme. The name might need to change as I'm not saving the city, I'm going through an Avenger's verson of Hogan's alley.
However, an attraction - especially a disney attraction, has more to it than just the on-board experience. I'd like to know more about the show building, queue area, etc.
You have a solid base here to work from. Just a little bit more and you could be the frontrunner.
----
FigmentPigments
Getting rid of the Kitchy elements of DinoLand I think is going to be very much welcomed by Disney Fans everywhere. Given AK has just had its big renovation in Pandora I can't see them doing another "big bang" change there for some time, but a gradual evolution (no pun intended) to a more sombre experience is certainly viable.
Bringing it indoors is a good move, allowing a thrilling ride in all weathers, and if what I've heard about florida is true, this is well needed.
Your new theme and storyline is great, and actually deals with the "Why do I need to dig if I have a time machine" contradiction the area of the park presents.
I would have liked a bit more of an illustration to show what you're thinking, but the concluding paragraph is a great choice. I can't really think of much else to say.
Hey Judges,
I thought I could clarify a bit, by "land" refurbishment, I was referring to the gift shop/ride/restaurant little pocket around Zydeco Zinger. Very similarly to how Six Flags added Justice League: Battle For Metropolis, and gave JB's Barbaque a new name, and repainted Riddler's Revenge with some queue and station touchups. Thanks!!
-Kenny
For Chad,
I've been doing these types of imagineering competitions for years on another website. This isn't my first go-around.
I knew this week I wouldn't have any time for a detail concept. Rather than simply not submit or drop, I decided to submit a simple project early, because I have the mindset that something is always better than nothing, and submitting early sometimes gets the ball rolling on additional submissions.
I know what the standards are, and I submitted it with full knowledge I spent maybe 15 mins on it. So no need to worry about getting me down.
I'm glad to hear that SpaceMt. Something is always better than nothing, and I look forward to seeing what you can do.
(I worry a bit about being too negative - I am "negative orientated", but I try to balance it).
spacemt354 – The Flash: Time Warp
You posted this in under an hour! That’s gotta be some sort of TPA record, and it’s wholly in keeping with the Flash!
Six Flags has just started to add theming, especially regarding their DC superheroes, with rides like Justice League. I like your conceit to extend the DC brand to nearby attractions like V2. The realism of this proposal is spot on. Such a retheme, complete with surrounding DC Land, is something Six Flags is likely to do. V2’s acceleration totally fits the Flash, and the paint job accomplishes a lot with a little.
Sadly, I feel the experience is still mostly just V2. That’s the Six Flags way, honestly, to give something another name and break for lunch, but I think more could’ve been done while remaining realistic. The queue with comic book cutouts is on-theme but it’s also non-immersive, when I was honestly expecting something more like a recreation of Barry Allen’s origin story with the chemicals and the lightning. I think Islands of Adventure’s Incredible Hulk coaster is a good example of what more you could do, with its wilder queue and its “Hulk out” launch. Enclose the V2 station in like a lab setting, and include SFX and narration to create a narrative of, say, riders entering the Speed Force. Include wild lightning effects for each time the trains pass back through the station. That makes it not just a ride called “The Flash,” but a ride about the Flash!
Your ideas are cogently presented. This is indeed a Six Flags retheme of V2. It’s also sort of the bare minimum for the challenge. I know you’re capable of incredible stuff, and that you had no time this week! No more dwelling on that. I anxiously await what else you have for us!
Kenny Cook – Zydeco Zinger
With another Six Flags retheme – another wholly realistic one, I might add – we see some of the same issues. There’s a new name, a new paint job for the coaster tracks, new landscaping…and that’s about it. As you mention, it’s the same ride experience. This could’ve gone further. Researching Ninja at Six Flags St. Louis, I see it already has VR…themed very randomly to fighter jets. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a VR experience to fit your New Orleans Mardi Gras theme? Flying over the nighttime party streets, all to zydeco music?! Maybe as a disembodied voodoo spirit – I’m picturing it like the demon POV in Evil Dead.
There is absolutely the germ of a cool retheme here. Yours is the shortest proposal, and that’s limiting your ability to truly engross us in the Mardi Gras atmosphere. The station is described as a “float holding area,” and “extremely modern.” Add some detail to that! Are there gigantic float heads hanging from rafters? Are they eerie, festive, psychedelic, or what? Same with the queue prior. Your attention to the new landscaping is admirable, but I’m expecting more. What sort of New Orleans facades are there? Is it like Bourbon Street, or the above-ground cemeteries, or the bayou, or…?
And this lack-of-detail extends to the name, Zydeco Zinger. Googling those words, I discover that zydeco is Louisiana dance music, and that Six Flags America has a Zydeco Zinger flat ride, which is nothing like Ninja. I assume all these facts were a part of your thought process, so share your thoughts with us! Give your readers context. Your writing undersells your genuine enthusiasm. Take more time presenting your ideas, and they’ll read stronger!
tcool – The Legend of Sleeping Beauty
Wow, you’ve unofficially remade Snow White’s Scary Adventures! I love that!
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh seems a perfectly generic Fantasyland dark ride, lacking a personality (which the old Snow White and Mr. Toad both had in spades). You’re replacing Pooh with something Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland now lacks – a dark ride with some chest hair, so to speak. I like that, and I like how this could potentially travel to other Fantasylands, maybe incorporated into the Sleeping Beauty castles elsewhere.
Writing-wise, you focused almost entirely on the ride and queue experience. Some context for why you’re retheming Pooh would be nice. What there is, though, is great. This is a really good interactive queue, wholly in keeping with Sleeping Beauty, and it’s the best part of your proposal. A-plus. The ride-through follows the classic Fantasyland dark ride style, perfect for your retheme. It doesn’t really transcend that format but it doesn’t have to. A wholly feasible retheme I would welcome.
It took me a while to remember who Diablo is, or to recall certain other characters. This is the pitfall with adaptations, when writers assume familiarity with the source material (I’m guilty of it). Of course I’ve seen Sleeping Beauty – gorgeous animation! – so maybe just a few more descriptive adjectives (e.g. “the black raven Diablo”) would help jog memories. That’s what Fantasyland dark rides do best, conjure up old nostalgia. You’ve done a good job at doing that already, so this is just a minor point. Overall, really good work.
Deadpool – Be the Superhero: Save the City
Congrats! Here’s a ride I distinctly had in mind for this challenge, especially since it’s very likely more Marvel attractions will be going to this part of DCA, and Mike & Sully Etc. is indeed mediocre. (Superstar Limo was a Lovecraftian nightmare which haunts my subconscious to this day!) I even applaud how you wrote in character. Though Deadpool isn’t a part of this ride (nor a part of Disney’s MCU), reading his commentary was a lot of fun. I laughed more than once! I’d like to see you continue this gimmick.
Good call on an Avengers theme. The title, not so much. Disney is nuts for branding, and would use “Avengers” over “Superhero.”
You’ve modified the existing ride’s bones the most of anyone…and I applaud that. It’s maybe slightly beyond the challenge’s limitations, but it’s also a wholly new experience that’ll get the guests queueing. It ain’t just Mike & Sully with new visuals. I like how you’ve upped capacity. Not sure how guests will load on both sides of the vehicle, since as it stands they load/unload exclusively on the right side. Spinning the car perpendicularly is the only solution I can picture. The other extensive vehicle modifications are perfectly clear, and I like how guests can choose their Avenger, increasing re-rides.
The ride itself sounds like an Avengers Cerebro. (Curse you, Fox, for owning X-Men film rights!) The combination of interactive projections and “live” animatronics is smart, and the Ninjago shooting style nicely differentiates this from Midway Mania across the park. Reading this, I think you’re keeping it a training exercise the whole time. Go further with that! Do like Men in Black Alien Attack at Universal, and transfer from a chintzy training shoot ‘em up to a real supervillain crisis. For this premise, I imagine Ultron gaining control over the battle bots. And while you’ve incorporated Hawkeye and Black Widow, create evens more and more cameos. Each year, the MCU adds 2 or 3 heroes. Bring guests back to see Spidey on the ride when Homecoming is in theaters, later add Black Panther, et cetera. (Ooh, or let riders do web slinging too!)
DCA wait times aside, I would genuinely enjoy this in real life. You win all the chimichangas!
FigmentPigments – Fossil Flinger
Primeval Whirl is absolutely a ride that could benefit from a retheming, and Disney is absolutely a company that could successfully do so. There are lots of smart decisions here! Enclosing the entire ride is the smartest. In a single move, you’ve eliminated Dino-Rama’s crummy carnival atmosphere, and replaced it with the Dino Institute atmosphere which already exists. Using and clarifying a part of the existing backstory, while removing the extraneous Chester and Hester elements, shows you truly understand how to improve Dinoland.
My biggest issue is a minor one. You mention The Excavator is being added. I assume this is the “dino dig”-themed mine cart coaster from Animal Kingdom’s early development. Between Fossil Flinger and Expedition Everest, another coaster in this corner of DAK seems extraneous. Besides, Fossil Flinger plays with plenty of the same imagery, such as coaster cars hurtling through dino skeletons. I really like the scenery you’ve created, all the interns’ antics. Maybe if a section of Fossil Flinger were to, say, travel underground into a fossil dig the way I assume The Excavator partially would, that would add yet another awesome element to what is already a really successful retheme.
There’s strong writing here, successfully painting the scene for folks like myself who haven’t endured Dino-Rama in person. There are some grammatical issues (e.g. “taking placed behind”) which an additional read-through would correct, but that’s needlessly nitpicky. You’ve taken a real dino-eye-sore, kept its bones (as it were), and given us a ride with bite! Great work!
The point standings are in for Challenge One!
Remember, this is a non-elimination round. In fact for this season, eliminations will only happen if a player drops significantly below the leader, by 100 points. No one is in danger of that yet, as a mere 26 points currently separate first from last.
The points out of 100 are:
FigmentPigments - 95
tcool - 90
Deadpool - 80
Kenny Cook - 70
spacemt - 69
Congrats to FigmentPigments for placing first! Fossil Flinger did everything it needed to do. In fact, you scored exactly the same point total with all three judges, which is totally unheard of in TPA!
For all competitors, take to heart even the negative criticisms us judges hand out, for it's always meant to improve your proposals. Take some time with this next challenge, and do something really awesome!
This discussion has been archived and is no longer accepting responses.
Project 1 - Theme Park Apprentice: Extreme Park Makeover
V2: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom re-theme to --
The Flash: Time Warp
--------------------
In one of the smaller and quaint Six Flags parks across the United States, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California has seen a recent surge of attractions re-themed to DC Comics characters, in particular the new Rocky Mountain coaster, The Joker, which opened in Summer 2016, and Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth, which opened in Summer 2017.
These recent DC attractions compliment the Superman: Ultimate Flight roller coaster, as well as a yet to be rethemed Intamin twisted impulse coaster, V2: Vertical Velocity.
Due to the park's 150 foot height limit on their attractions, it is difficult to add large scale attractions to the park. However, designing well themed lands to the park, such as a completed "DC Land" would help the park into the future. Thus, V2: Vertical Velocity will be rethemed to The Flash, completing the transformation to DC Comics in that section of the park.
The Ride Specifics
-------------------
V2: Vertical Velocity (from now on referred to as The Flash: Time Warp) is a steel, linear induction motor shuttle coaster that launches riders from 0-60 miles per hour (0-96.5 kilometers per hour) in 4 seconds, into a 150 foot twisted incline, which sends riders hurtling back and forth for a grand total of 1 minute and 10 seconds.
The attraction has an hourly capacity of 900 guests and a 54 inch height requirement.
As per the instructions of this scenario, nothing about the attraction itself will change in regards to ride mechanics or specifics.
The New Theme
-------------
Barry Allen's Flash character has become popular not only through the CW show, but also from his upcoming feature film role in Justice League, as well as the Flash solo film scheduled for release whenever DC gets their act together. Kidding aside, The Flash, similar to the neighboring Wonder Woman, Joker, and Superman attractions, is a recognizable brand to even average comic book fans. People know he's fast, so adding him to a launch coaster attraction as the theme, in a DC centric location, makes sense within the context of the park as a whole.
Since the attraction already has a red paint scheme, it makes it quite easy on the eyes for a smooth transition to The Flash. With a new bright red and yellow lightning bolt paint scheme added to the attraction's exterior, it separates the theme from its predecessor, but at the same time doesn't alter the skyline views too much for guests.
Inside the queue will also be an area where changes take place. Inside the enclosed queue, riders will be able to acclimate themselves to The Flash by reading cut outs of comic books enlarged for all to see. A similar design can be seen in the queue for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. It is simple, yet gives people something to do in the lines, and further develops the story of the attraction.
Conclusion
----------
Overall, while a seemingly minor adjustment in theme, it will have a major impact on the future development of the park into well-themed lands. The completion of the DC Land with The Flash: Time Warp attraction, will illustrate the significant of having lands themed around similar properties, and hopefully encourage future projects to follow suit with cohesive themes.