Theme Park Apprentice 6 – Round 1 - Challenge 1

First time doing this, so here goes nothing. Please be kind. :)

KING SOLOMON’S MINES

Location: Busch Gardens Tampa

Ride Type: Dark Ride

King Solomon’s Mines is housed in the massive new Mount Solomon, a fictional mountain that runs within the Suliman Berg mountain range. It takes over the land once used for Gwazi and the brewery and the central employee parking area. It stands just over 225 ft and can be seen looming from everywhere in the park.

The show building is five stories high, with the first, third, and fifth floors featuring the show elements and two two story drops included.

The section of the park is now known as Kukuanaland after the location featured in the novel King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard. At the foot of the mountain is a gift shop (Treasures of King Solomon) and a small eatery, Haggard Cantina It also houses the entrance to Quartermain base camp, a series of archeological tents that will form the outside queue area of the ride.

Queue area - The queue passes through various tents which contain different replicas of archeological gear and African artifacts. There are also a few animal pens featuring small animals native to the Southern African countries such as Zambia, including aardvarks, hyraxes (small creature related to the elephant), pythons and a Nile Monitor. The queue also features a few televisions discussing the legend of King Solomon’s mines, the resting place of much of King Solomon’s vast fortune. Much of the novel is referenced, including Allan Quartermain, the adventurer hired by aristocrat Sir Henry Curtis to find his missing brother who was searching for the mines back in 1885. They will discuss how the original expedition included an African native named Umbopa, who turned out to be the rightful king of Kukuanaland whose power was usurped by the villainous King Twala and a mysterious African witch named Gagool.

Once you’ve reached the end of the queue, attendants will let you inside a small building on the side of the mountain. This is the head office for the camp and where you will learn about the adventure ahead.

Pre Show

Guests enter a small room which fits roughly 100 people. Archeological gear is scattered along the white walls. In the front of the room is a large screen with a table jutting out from the center, which is to give the illusion that what you see on the screen is just an extension of this room. The video shown on the wall is high def, shot at 60 fps to create a more realistic look. A few archeologists can be seen moving about the room on screen, placing things on tables and grabbing gear. It’s actually a loop that runs continuously while the room is loaded with guests. The archeologists disappear off screen and the film loops over. Once the room is filled, the archeologists can be seen leaving and then the pre show movie begins.

A man (played by Jon Hamm) wearing the khaki uniform of an archeologist appears and smiles at the guests.

ROGER QUARTERMAIN: You must be the interns I sent for. Excellent, excellent. Let me introduce myself, my name is Roger Quartermain. Yes, you recognize the last name. I own and operate the Quartermain Foundation, a research facility designed to seek the truth out of some of the most legendary artifacts in world history. I am also the great grandson of fabled adventurer Allan Quartermain who back in 1885 took on a quest to find the very thing that man is still looking for, the lost King Solomon’s Mines. Something that I believe we have. (shows a map) See, my great grandfather had a map, which had been passed down from each generation. When my father died recently, he left me a map, which Jose Silvestre, an explorer from Portugal drew with his own blood. I believe that this mountain, here (points to spot on map) is Mount Kukuana, today, conveniently known as Mount Solomon. This is the land of the lost Kukuana tribe. Ken, get in here.

Ken enters.

ROGER: This is Ken Ignosi, descendent of King Ignosi, who hid out among the crew of Allan Quartermain as a man named Umbopa. My great grandfather helped his great grandfather restore his reign among the Kukuana.

KEN: And I, Dr. Quartermain, plan to return the favor. I am more than a royal descendant. I’m also an engineer who has developed a special vehicle for exploring treacherous terrain. I call it the Umbopa One, named after my great grandfather’s secret name. Drive it in.

The Umbopa, an all terrain jeep, driven by an older woman (we will know her as Gail, but she has a secret) enters the room, crashing into tables and causing some archeologists to run.

ROGER: Please be careful, Gail. Sorry, she’s a bit old, but a great assistant. Been a researcher here in Zambia for, how long?

GAIL: A long time.

ROGER: Thank you again for your help. (turning to the guests) Now, you are very important to us. See, we need the help exploring, and I know you crave adventure as much as us, so we’ve got a special Umbopa One just for you. It can climb mountains, maneuver through the twists and turns of caves and if needed, take to the waters. All terrain indeed. Well, let’s go out there and see if we can find the lost treasure of King Solomon. You’ll head out there where you’ll receive final instructions. Today, will be a good day.

An explosion can be heard past the doors of the room.

ROGER: Dale, please be careful with the explosives.

DALE (O.S.): Sorry, doctor, just wanted to make sure they were in proper working order, which they are not. Too big.

ROGER: I’ll be right there, (to guests) load up and prepare for the adventure of a lifetime.

Ken and Roger leave. Gail turns toward you.

GAIL: (sinisterly) Yes, enjoy your adventure. Who knows, could be your last. (starts laughing)

As she laughs, the doors open to the side of the room and lead you into the loading area.

LOADING AREA

Looks very close to the room we just saw in the movie. The queue wraps around and splits into two paths. One path leads up stairs and places you on the loading area on the opposite side. There are two load areas. The Umbopa One appears like a standard open air SUV. It has five rows of four seats and a lap bar comes down to protect you.

As you queue towards the load area, monitors tell you the safety procedures about boarding the vehicles, staying seated and arms stay in the vehicle at all times. Each loading platform has two vehicles it can load at a time, allowing to load four vehicles at one time.

The vehicles are EMVs similar to Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom and Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland, the chassis moves separately from the platform that holds the tires to help simulate very movements and is able to turn completely perpendicular to the frame. The vehicle runs along a track.

Guests board the vehicle. The vehicle moves forward, waiting for its turn to traverse the course. Roger Quartermain can be heard in the vehicle’s speakers.

ROGER: Okay, we’ll catch up with you out on the field. Keep an eye out for dangerous animals as we approach the mountain.

The vehicles accelerates and heads into:

SCENE 1 - The Field

A long corridor with video screens running along either side. It will connect the vehicles to the show building. The screens will help create the illusion that you are moving through an African filed complete with various CGI wildlife running around. On the screen to the right, Roger Quartermain’s vehicle, which holds Roger, Ken, Gail, and Dale with his boxes of explosives, pulls next to you. As you drive along the corridor, Roger stands proudly.

ROGER: Beautiful, huh? Almost like looking at a movie. Okay, just through those rocks and then up the mountain. Make sure you hold on tight. Hopefully we don’t come across any dangerous creatures.

The vehicle exits the corridor and heads into:

SCENE 2 - Animal Gauntlet

Here’s where things get rough, you turn left and quickly, an animatronic Rhino appears in front of you, causing the vehicle to swerve to the right and speeds up where an animatronic lion drops down and lifts up on its hind legs and roars, whereas you swerve quickly to the left, where an animatronic hippo shoots up from the water (getting guests a little wet) and you turn quickly to the right, speed down the straightaway and see an animatronic elephant stampeding toward you. The chassis spends 90 degrees as you move forward, creating the illusion that the vehicle is doing a sort of drift, and comes to a stop just under the trumpeting elephant. Then, the vehicles speeds forward to:

SCENE 3 - The Ascent

The vehicle climbs up the mountain (it goes up to the fifth story, but a screen moving to the left of the vehicle creates the illusion that you’re climbing quite high).

ROGER: Well, that was close. I hope we didn’t lose any of you. It’s odd that you don’t normally see those dangerous animals near each other. I wonder if they are protecting something.

GAIL: Of course not, they are dumb animals.

ROGER: Look, the entrance to the caves.

The vehicle reaches the top of the ascent and turns into

SCENE 4 - Cave entrance

The vehicle turns a corner and narrowly misses hitting the close walls of the cave.

A screen fills the cave walls as we see Roger’s vehicle ahead of us, also turning suddenly to avoid some close cave walls.

GAIL: We are close, Roger. I can feel it. There, there is the entrance to the cave.

Here, the vehicle track splits off into three different paths. Each path leads to the next scene, which is a scene that is stationary, so the three separate rooms allow more guests to come through the scene instead of having to wait for the vehicle ahead to play it out before being able to move.

The vehicle enters another cave which seems to have a large boulder sitting next to it (which happens to be a door to the cave)

SCENE 5 - The trap

The vehicle moves into a room which appears to have no exits. Roger and company sit in their vehicle on a screen directly in front. However, Gail is not in the vehicle. The guest vehicle slides forward and stops and is now on a rotating platform.

ROGER: Where’s Gail?

A screen, unseen by the guests, has dropped down behind the vehicle, covering the entrance. The platform rotates and the guests see the video playing on the new screen. Gail is standing at the entrance cackling. She pulls out a small ancient statue and holds it over her head.

GAIL: I am the descendent of Gagool and I will have my revenge on all the descendants of Quartermain who killed here. You will die in here. Galanda Moot.

The stone door comes crashing down, blocking the exit.

ROGER: Well, that was unexpected. We’re trapped. We’ve got supplies, but not sure how long they’ll last. Dale, what are you doing?

The platform rotates again so that you’re facing Roger and company. Dale has his explosives out and appears to be placing them around the cave.

DALE: I’ll make us a way out.

ROGER: I thought you said there were problems with the explosives.

DALE: Well, they’re boom is a bit too big.

KEN: I think we should find another option, these Umbopas are quite versatile.

DALE: So’s my dynamite. Fire in the hole!

The cave shakes as smoke erupts from different vents throughout. The room becomes bright red and the platform begins to shake. Suddenly, the platform drops straight down to the third story, quickly, with the video screens helping create the illusion of a huge drop. When the platform lands, water canons shoot water at the vehicles, creating the illusion that you’ve landed in a an subterranean river.

SCENE 6 - The river

A screen next to the vehicle appears. The vehicle moves forward as we see Roger’s vehicle moving along the suddenly fast moving river. Only Roger and Ken are in the Umbopa. There are water troughs surrounding the track, creating the illusion that we are in the river. The three tracks will combine into one track again.

ROGER: I’m glad these things can swim.

KEN: I think we’ve lost Dale.

ROGER: A moment of silence for our fallen comrade.

KEN: I’d like to interrupt that moment of silence with some loud screaming.

From a waterfall, another huge elephant emerges, spraying water on the vehicle, loud trumpeting. The vehicle takes a hard turn into:

SCENE 7 - The snake room

A dark cave. The sounds of slithering can be heard, and dark snake like shadows can be seen against the walls. Roger and Ken drive in.

KEN: Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?

ROGER: Be careful, Ken. We haven’t found the treasure yet, so we can’t afford a copyright infringement trial.

KEN: Ugh, there in the car.

A tube in the seats inflates and creates the illusion of snakes moving under the guests.

ROGER: Ken, move toward that glittering gold light.

KEN: Yes, Dr. Quartemain.

The vehicle veers left into a:

SCENE 8 - The Treasure Room

A large room filled with treasures, gold, silver, bright gems. A screen appears behind the treasure, and Roger’s vehicle can be seen driving amidst the gold.

ROGER: Beautiful, just beautiful.

GAIL: (O.S.) Feast your eyes on the last thing you’ll see. Grandimal Gazoo!

Suddenly, animatronic skeletons with spears and swords pop up from the treasure. CGI skeletons attack Roger and Ken. The vehicles speed away from the skeletons whose swords come close to the guests. The vehicles turn the corner and see a large screen showing a video of a large staircase with a mighty gold statue of King Solomon. Gail stands beneath the statue, shrieking, moving her hands as if controlling the skeletons. The vehicle chassis turns to see the Roger’s vehicle. Roger is holding a lit stick of dynamite.

ROGER: Sorry, King Solomon, but we’ve got our lives to think about. I’m sure you’ll think it the wise move.

As Roger tosses the dynamite, the vehicle turns and sees it hit the statue, with a loud explosion, causing flames to erupt from the treasure room and the skeletons disappear. The floor falls from underneath, creating a slope that the vehicle speeds down to the ground level as video shows rocks falling, indicating that the treasure room is collapsing under the cave in. The vehicle vibrates as it hits the bottom of the slope.

SCENE 9 - The field

The vehicle turns down the tunnel similar to the beginning. Roger’s vehicle pulls up next to the guest vehicle.

ROGER: Well, the mines are lost forever, but at least we survived. We will never be able to share with the world its riches.

KEN: That’s not entirely true, doctor. The Umbopa is a special vehicle that while we were in the treasure room, it was gathering treasures. We can return with the beautiful remnants of King Solomon’s Mines.

Roger reaches into the trunk and pulls out a King Solomon’s Mines t-shirt, snow globe and key chain.

ROGER: Amazing artifacts. Ken, let’s set these up in the shop next to base camp so that everyone can see what we found here. (looking at the guests) You can see what great riches your quest helped find. And if you want to take some of them back with you to give to your family as a sort of souvenir, we can make arrangements. I’d adventure with you any day. Enjoy the rest of your own adventure.

Roger’s vehicle pulls off and you round the corner into the:

UNLOAD AREA

It’s a separate room from load. Once guests disembark, signs point down a corridor, reading Treasures of King Solomon, which as you’ve probably guessed by now, is a gift shop.

The attraction will be massive with the new land connecting to Morocco, Bird Gardens, Stanleyville, Pantopia, and Nairobi, so access to the area will be easy from various points in the park. It will be something that’s never been seen in a park outside Disney and Universal which should bring guests to witness something truly unique in the park. Also the theming of King Solomon’s Mines keeps with the African theme of the park. The ride will also reacquaint visitors with the novel that started the Lost World genre that inspired classics like The Lost World (Arthur Conan Doyle’s version), The Land That Time Forgot, and of course, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Indiana Jones.

SeaWorld proudly presents:
Sea of Surprises on Parade!

To help celebrate SeaWorld's 50th Anniversary, SeaWorld has put together a cavalcade of sea creatures that will hit the streets of SeaWorld Orlando for your enjoyment! Performances will be at 12:00 and 4:30 PM and will begin between the Nautilus Theatre and Animal Connections at the Sea Garden, winding past the Sea Lion and Otter Theater, the Sky Tower, Manta (going under the tracks) the Dolphin Theater and ending between Captain Pete's Island Hot Dogs and the Stingray Lagoon. For the second show, it will go vice versa.

As the first float steps onto the parade route, you will hear the ocean in a the 50th anniversary song, Beneath the Blue and the see the first float. It will include the logo for the 50th celebration on a rotating center piece of Shamu.

Each float is based on an animal experience. This does not include the Pets Ahoy show. The music is also music found in all of the attractions with hints of the theme song for the celebration, Beneath the Blue.

The next float is based off of the Sea Lion and Otter Show, Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island. It is half beach half sunken pirate ship with Clyde and Seamore. They, along with pirates will be swashbuckling and having a blast on the moving, pirate island. Seamore and Clyde will be costumed characters and the music playing will be music from their show.

The next float will be based on the Turtle Trek attraction. The float will be made of humongous coral with three big turtles and two small turtles riding the "current" and riding down the parade route. There will be cast members with big poles with turtles on top of them walking by the float.

The next float will be based on the Beluga Whales from the Wild Arctic attraction. The float will feature two big Beluga Whales swimming in front of a big ice cliff. In front of the float, there will be two big walrus waddling down the path with some cast members with sticks with white material to look like snow blowing around. The music here can also be heard in the Wild Arctic attraction.

The next float is from the Stingray Lagoon. Three big Stingray are floating on an ocean current in front of some corral based on the Great Barrier Reef. There will be cast members with puppet versions of stingrays, "waving" to the guest. The music here is recorded specifically for the float. Composer James Newton Howard would composed a brand new piece of music called the Journey in the Deep.

The next float is based off of the Antarctica area. A big wall of ice is in the back and there are five penguins standing on the float. Cast members dressed as penguins are waddling next to the float. The music from the ride is played here.

The next float will be based off the Dolphin Show, Blue Horizons. The float features two dolphins on the side of the float and has the center piece from the show with the girl, the person who leads her through the show, and some of the people who fly as birds. This also pays homage to the birds used in the show. Puppeteers with puppets of birds and dolphins are around the float. The music here would be cool because it features music from the show but intertwining Beneath the Blue and Blue Horizon's them song, Into the Blue.

The last float is based on the Shamu show, One Ocean. There are three Orcas in the front part of the float with a small big with some performers and a costumed version of Shamu. Behind the bridge, is a sign similar to the opening float celebrating the 50th anniversary. The music here is music from the show, One Ocean, with Beneath the Blue and the song, Believe.

Then the parade make two show stops. Its starts with the music of Beneath the Blue being soft, like a lullaby. Then, the opening day speech of SeaWorld is heard and the music stops. Then the music "explodes" and a new arrangement of Beneath the Blue is played. This one of celebration and joy. All of the floats come alive! The pirate ship's cannons blow, the turtles starts to swim, the beluga whales spit water and you hear them make a laughing sound, the stingrays bob up and down as they are moving with the ocean, the penguins all start to waddle around each other, the dolphins around their floats move around the float with the bird aerialists doing tricks as well, and then the orca move up and down as like jumping out of the water but instead of splashes of water, it is confetti! This goes for a few minutes as the music is starting it climb to the climatic finish. When it hits its last chord, fireworks fly from each float. When it hits the last note, confetti in colors of purple, green, blue, and yellow are let go. The "animals" all go back to their original positions and the parade continues. The show stop does happen one more time.

The animals would be some of the biggest audio animatronics ever created! They would also be so lifelike that you would think they were real.

There would be a dinning package used with Terrace Garden Family Buffet, Dine with Shamu, and Sharks Underwater Grill and Bar. They would get a ticket and report for the 4:30 show at one of the two special showing areas. One is by the Pelican Preserve and the other is by the Oyster's Secret shop. There would also be a show package with the three restaurants said above but with the nighttime show, Reflections and a SeaWorld Rescue Tour.

So come to SeaWorld for the premiere of the new daytime, Sea of Surprise on Parade! It will be a "whale" of a good time!

Theme Park Apprentice 6- the Obituary

The judges have decided to end Theme Park Apprentice 6 and the Theme Park Apprentice "franchise" that its founder, Tim W. created back in April 2010. The lack of participation from so many who signed up to play made us realize that the time has come to put it to rest. We were surprised, considering how many did sign up and how enthused they seemed, but only two actually posted and we, as judges, decided there just wasn't enough interest to continue. To those who did post, we appreciate the hard work you did, and to those who were hoping to participate in the next round, we apologize for this decision.

Theme Park Apprentice in all its editions and variations, including Water Park Apprentice, the Next Walt Disney and the Tournament of Champions, had a major impact on many lives. Friendships were created, latent talents were given a place to grow and mature, and dozens of amazing rides, attractions, lands and theme parks were created and shared with hundreds of Theme Park Insiders. All of us involved in Theme Park Apprentice in all its many forms over these years take with us terrific memories of the hard work, late night writing sessions, and most importantly the fun we had creating new rides, new attractions, and new theme parks all over the world.

Thanks to all who took part in Theme Park Apprentice over this years. If you get a little bit nostalgic, search the TPI archives for some of the remarkable proposals that made Theme Park Apprentice so important to so many of us. It's hard to believe it is over, but we will always have the memories.

What!!??!?!?!?!? That is so sad! I know the competition is off but can I still have a critique on my proposal please?

Thats such a shame, I'm sorry it came to this.

I'm not sure if the other judges got critiques written, but here's mine.

TPA6 Round 1 Challenge 1

Arthur Carlson- Your proposal was very well written technically, easy to follow and visualize. It was obvious that you either did extensive research on the theme or knew it very well. The story you told was fun to experience, technologically realistic and would be an immediate hit for the park. Your concept satisfied the requirements of the challenge in a very good fashion- with some problems.
First was where you stated that the loading area could load four vehicles at once, but when the ride path split up it split into three paths. This would leave one vehicle "spinning its wheels" while waiting for the first three to clear "the trap". The other was at the end, where they pulled out cheap tacky souvenirs as artifacts from King Solomon's Mines. I really have never seen such a blatant commercialization of an attraction- it would have been much better to just have them show some real "artifacts", then have replicas of them available in the gift shop along with the t-shirts, etc. The proposal was extremely well done up to that point- then it became the theme park version of the Little Orphan Annie Decoder Ring from "A Christmas Story"- a lousy commercial.

Brett Angwin- "Sea of Surprises on Parade" was an interesting choice of attraction for the purpose of this challenge. Will a parade be enough to bolster attendance? Possibly. Your enthusiasm for the concept was obvious, as was the research and/or familiarity you showed with SeaWorld. The integration of the various theme songs with the floats and the extensive use of animatronics, along with using the entire parade as not just an entertainment to observe but also as a live performance to experience showed good imagination and creativity.
Your written presentation had a few typos, but the thing that I noticed most was the fact that you had six paragraphs in a row starting with the phrase, "The next float..." It got repetitious. You needed to find a way to change the start of each paragraph to emphasize the uniqueness of each float and keep the reader's attention. A proposal should not read like a shopping list- each paragraph needs to grab the reader and pull them into it, getting them as excited about the proposal as you obviously were. Your inclusion of dining packages seemed at first to be a bit strange, but as I thought about it more I decided that it was a really good idea, emphasizing the importance of this parade to the entire SeaWorld experience.

Thanks, James, for the critique. I agree with the criticisms, I think I missed the four loaded cars, three paths error. Also, the treasures at the end I meant to be a tongue in cheek joke about exiting through the gift shop but can certainly see how it can be taken as blatant commercialism. I'm glad you took the time out to critique. Again, thank you for that. Certainly, I'd be interested if this does get rebooted. I had a blast putting the proposal together, and glad that it was viewed positively.

Arthur, I meant to comment favorably about your use of humor throughout the ride but overlooked it- I wrote the critique late at night. Sorry! Perhaps a mixture of artifacts and souvenirs- he first pulls out some "legitimate" artifacts, then reaches in and, with a rather confused look, pulls out a t-shirt with the logo on it, looking like "what is this doing in here?"
Just a thought.
I'm really glad you had a good time writing the proposal. I think we all hope that something can happen in the future- I truly believe that TPA is too much fun to allow to end before its time. I hope that this is just a bump in the road and that we can do something to bring it back.

Thank you James. So is this is it? Well, thanks everyone for the fun. Hopefully it will return soon.

Well, this sucks. I was really looking forward to participating this year. Are there other similar competitions that will continue here or elsewhere?

OK. It seems to me that there is still some interest in keeping the Theme Park Apprentice franchise going somehow. Personally I couldn't be happier to hear the comments on this and the other threads expressing disappointment at what has happened. I can't make any promises other than this- we will do our best to resurrect TPA, hopefully soon (and don't pin me down as to when- we want to do this right). We did get this edition up and running quickly, perhaps too quickly, and we will go back to the drawing board, look at everything we did and didn't do, look at past editions and try to see what worked and didn't work, ask for input from competitors past, present and potentially future, and from non-participants who are enthused about the concept from an observers point of view.

I feel that the situation that developed in TPA6 was unfair to everyone: the judges who really did put a lot of work into getting it organized and started, the competitors who started out in round 1 and did post, the competitors in Round 2 who never had a chance, and possibly to those who intended to participate but for whatever reason didn't come to the party at the last minute. Pointing blame is useless and counterproductive in a game that is supposed to be fun, has been fun and could be even more fun in the future- heck, we actually have a physical prize to award this time! We will see what can be done.

Send any suggestions or opinions, good or bad (if they are bad, at least be nice- we aren't getting paid for this, you know:+) to any of the judges, myself, Jeff Elliott or Andy Milito. Send them private or post them public on this thread or the other TPA6 thread. Let us know- we want input. We don't claim to have all the answers (well, Jeff does but we just let him believe that and do the right things anyway).

So I am declaring Theme Park Apprentice as being disinterred from the grave, and we will attempt to reanimate it. Dr. Frankenstein (Jeff Elliott) and his assistants Egor (Andrew Milito)and the lovely Helga (myself)will go to work in the laboratory and attempt to replicate Dr. Frankenstein's grandfather's work at reanimating the dead- or at least the very sick.

Help us where you can, and that goes for everyone. If you have ideas, share them. If you signed up and didn't post, let us know why- we aren't going to be angry at you (well, not very ;+) Let's see what we can come up with- we don't have a choice- we still have that strange helmet to get rid of!

Glad to hear you are hoping to revive this honorable tradition! I think that the timing of this years event was for me, just bad luck. Should this be revived when my schedule is less hectic I shall be more than happy to throw another hat in the ring

Has there been any decision on what to do yet? Maybe we could just do a finale challenge, just for laughs, and whoever wants to submit can submit?

No decisions yet. Jeff and I will be getting together in a few weeks and I'm sure we'll be doing some talking about this, and we'll definitely be keeping Andy Milito in the loop as well. Any suggestions you or anyone wants to send us will be appreciated, as are the ones already sent to us. Thanks for the continued interest in TPA!