Theme Park Apprentice 2 Challenge 10: Fantasyland Coaster

Top 3

From Tim W
Posted December 22, 2010 at 2:29 PM
Have you ever wondered why Fantasyland in Disney World does not currently have a coaster, but its counterpart in Disneyland does? Well apprentices, you will be addressing that issue in this challenge. Disneyland has the Matterhorn roller coaster, one of a kind in any Disney Park. Therefore, this week, you will be creating a unique roller coaster to be placed in Fantasyland in Disney World. So for your own unique coaster for the Fantasyland expansion, you must include: the name of your coaster, a storyline, and the placement of your coaster. Also, include details of what the outside will look like. Please state when there are inversions, or other coaster specifics that occur. Now I know there has been a rumor circulating for quite some time about creating a Seven Dwarves Mine Coaster, however, nothing has been ever confirmed. Some say that this coaster will be built to replace Snow White’s Scary adventures. Personally, I can’t ever see this happening. This is the only theme that you cannot build a coaster on this week, besides a clone of any coaster real or formerly imagined for Fantasyland. So good luck, and I will see two of you in the finale!


I'm sorry for the short amount of time on this one, but I would appreciate it if your ideas were still submitted by sunday at the latest. Lemme know if you need an extra day or two.

From Anthony Murphy
Posted December 22, 2010 at 5:52 PM
I call Hercules as a theme (Hydra actually)

I am finding this a tough challenge because

A. Must be themed (as all Disney attractions are)
B. Fantasyland only themed (not Adventureland or Tomorroland Movies- Aladdin, Buzz, etc)

From James Koehl
Posted December 22, 2010 at 6:55 PM
I'm taking "Huey,Dewey and Louie's Downhill Derby" as a working title. Tim, How can we mention placement other than in Fantasyland since they're rebuilding so much of it? Post by Sunday evening? Yuck. I can do it, but it won't be pretty (assuming I can post at all).

From Tim W
Posted December 22, 2010 at 7:27 PM
I realize it is sort of a time crunch for everyone here, and it is the holiday weekend, so if its easier for everyone, I could make the coaster ideas due by next wednesday. And then have the finale after that.

From James Koehl
Posted December 22, 2010 at 7:42 PM
That would be better. I don't know if I need until Wednesday, but that would be fine with me. Whatever Dan and Anthony want I'll agree with. Thanks for the extra time offer!

From Dan Babbitt
Posted December 22, 2010 at 10:38 PM
Doesnt matter to me.

From Tim W
Posted December 23, 2010 at 7:41 AM
Alright they will be due Tuesday, December 28th. Which means the finale challenge should begin by that Thursday, the 30th. I'm going to make that challenge due the 7th.

From Mike Gallagher
Posted December 23, 2010 at 10:49 AM
Anthony, your posts on here demonstrate that you have a wealth of knowledge about amusement parks, and I was hesitant to post this, because it's not my intention to sound facetious or sarcastic. But you DO know...although there's no real "theming"..that Hydra currently resides at Dorney Park, having replaced Hercules some years ago? They built a slight backstory, but again, no real theming. I'll be interested to see your ideas on theming.

From Anthony Murphy
Posted December 23, 2010 at 4:12 PM
I thought some park did have a roller coaster named Hydra, but that was as much as I knew. Mine was based on Disney's Hercules.

I am having a bit of writer's block over this one too! It also does not help that this is my third TPA and I have created many themed Disney roller coasters which some could fit!

I am torn because I wanted to do a Flying Carpet Roller Coaster, but I feel that it belongs more in Adventureland, not Fantasyland.

From Tim W
Posted December 23, 2010 at 4:56 PM
^I feel it could belong in Fantasyland! I'd allow that, and it actually sounds like a great idea!

From Dan Babbitt
Posted December 23, 2010 at 8:39 PM
Dont worry about writers block Anthony because we all have it at some point in this competition.

Im a procrastinator a heart and thats the reason Im usually the last one to post but its also when I have my best ideas or at least the idea/proposal gets me by to the next round.

From James Koehl
Posted December 23, 2010 at 9:38 PM
^And here I thought it was part of some Master Plan you have for Theme Park Apprentice domination (cue the evil laugh). Me, my ideas usually come pretty early to me and I get so obsessed with them that I have to get them written out and posted ASAP before I drive my wife nuts with them! I have a 45 minute drive to and from work and I find I spend lots of that time working out ideas (then and when I'm in the bathro...er..my library).

From Dan Babbitt
Posted December 23, 2010 at 9:52 PM
Me its either 2 hours before the before the deadline where the pressure of posting gets me thinking and my gears working or its when Im trying to go to bed when an pops in my head and keeps growing and growing until I have to write it down before I forget it or to relax myself because I wot forget it!

I dont go for the home run in my ideas right away if I have a great idea for an attraction I will try to fit it into the week or if I think its an awesome idea I will write it down and weight until later ideas until later rounds where it gets harder.

From Tim W
Posted December 24, 2010 at 12:47 PM
Have a Merry Christmas Apprentices. I'll be back on the 26th!

From James Koehl
Posted December 24, 2010 at 3:00 PM
Thanks Tim, and to you and yours, and to all other contestants past, present and future, have a great holiday season!

From Anthony Murphy
Posted December 26, 2010 at 10:30 AM
Cave of Wonders Coaster!

By the way, in my perfect world, the Magic Carpets of Aladdin in Adentureland will be taken out.

In this exciting indoor and outdoor roller coaster, we grab a carpet for adventure though the Cave of Wonders. To describe the kind of roller coaster this is, it is a swinging roller coaster with the track above you. Ptyerdon Flyers at IOA to describe a solid example of the kind of roller coaster I am taking about. The entrance will be under a caravan in front of the Cave Of Wonders that appears to be closed. When leaving the station, we make a turn over some water and the Tiger Head opens up and growls touch nothing but the LAMP! However, as we go up the lift hill towards the lamp, we see an animatronic Abu on a hill next to the lamp touching a jewel. When he finally touches it, we hear a roar and we make a turn were we see a passage way closing. We then go into the main room of the roller coaster where we dodge above and below scenery, go though fog, see earthquakes, miss volcanoes, and see Abu on floating rocks in lava. Since our “carpet” is a bit free, the ride might be different each time even though the same track is going to be used and we can swing guest very close to scenery as if they are going to hit them or other carpets in the attraction. The finale begins when Abu gets a hold of the lamp, and rubs it, causing a “pepper’s ghost” Genie of the Lamp come out and create a hole in the cave for us to escape (the exit is really a holigramed wall that changes into a hole. We then make it back to the caravan entrance.

From James Koehl
Posted December 28, 2010 at 4:38 PM
Huey, Dewey and Louie's Downhill Derby

Scrooge McDuck, the richest duck in the world (est. net worth of $17 trillion), kept hearing people who had won large sums of money in lotteries or sports championships say' "I'm going to Disney World!". Since his investments make him a fortune about every twenty-four seconds, he decided to check out the place and see what all the excitement was about. He loved it, and so did his grand-nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, then discovered that Walt Disney World had neglected to purchase a plot of land at the rear edge of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom Park. He bought it himself for the location of his new Orlando home. While scouting out the area for his new mansion, he found that the best views of the park were blocked by the various Disney Mountains (Space, Big Thunder and Splash), so he decided to build his own mountain, Richduck Heights, and erected his huge mansion of the same name on the summit of it.

Uncle Scrooge enjoyed the warm Florida weather (he is eighty-years-old) and spent much of the year working from his office in the mansion, while his grand-nephews would spend all day happily riding attractions and exploring the various corners of the Magic Kingdom. One day, when the boys came home for lunch, they found Uncle Scrooge hurriedly packing a suitcase.

"Uncle Scrooge? Where are you going?" asked Huey.

"I was auditing the books of the money in my Money Bin in Duckburg and I discovered that I'm five cents short! I'm flying out to Duckburg immediately to find out where it is."

Dewey asked, "Uncle Scrooge, can we stay here? Please? We'll be good, won't we guys?"

"Yes, Uncle Scrooge," Huey and Louie answered in unison.

"Well, all right. I'll only be gone a few days, but when I get back I better not hear about any problems. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Uncle Scrooge!" they answered.

Scrooge McDuck grabbed his suitcase and headed towards the front door and the limo waiting to take him to the airport for the cross-country flight to Duckburg, Calisota, which is on the west coast of the United States between California and Oregon (probably). The boys followed him to the front porch to see him off. While the driver put his suitcase in the trunk, Uncle Scrooge turned to the boys and reminded them with a shaking of his finger at them, "Remember, do not get in trouble while I'm gone! They're still not happy about the soap you put in the water in the Jungle Cruise- the elephants were taking bubble baths for a week!"

"We're sorry, Uncle Scrooge. It won't happen again," they answered with their heads down, looking contrite but inwardly still laughing about the sight of the bubbles coming from the elephant's trunk!

"I'll be back in a few days," he told them, but not before giving them a quick group hug. He then got in the limo and it took off down the winding drive to the bottom of Duckburg Heights. The boys waved as they watched it drive off through the Magic Kingdom, down Main Street U.S.A. and off towards the airport.

The boys stood there on the front porch of the magnificent Richduck Heights Mansion, with all of the Magic Kingdom spread out below them.

"What do you want to do?" Huey asked.

"We could ride Big Thunder Mountain," Dewey answered.

"No, I'm getting tired of it," responded Louie. "We ride it every day. I know every turn and hill by heart."

The boys suddenly realized that they were getting bored with the Magic Kingdom. Is it possible to have too much of a good thing?

Huey said, "I know what you mean. I wish they would put something new in, some new attraction for us boys."

"I bet I could design something fun," Dewey answered.

"I'll bet I could design something better than yours," Louie responded.

"I could do better than both of you!" claimed Huey.

And thus Huey, Dewey and Louie's Downhill Derby was created. The boys each decided to design and build their own new roller coaster, and invite the visitors to the Magic Kingdom to test-ride them.

The entrance to Downhill Derby is through the elaborate main front gate of Richduck Heights, where the boys have covered the estate's fancy wrought-iron with hand-painted signs advertising "Huey, Dewey and Louie's Downhill Derby". Visitors enter the estate grounds and see Scrooge McDuck's "mountain" with his beautiful mansion standing majestically at the summit. The road ahead of them leads up and around the back of the mountain, where it enters an entrance building built into the back of the mountain. As they ascend the road and approach this building, they begin to notice some strange constructions that have been built all over the mansion, the mountain and the surrounding grounds, constructions built from scrap lumber, old barrels, stacks of suitcases, and just about every type of leftover junk you can imagine. The Downhill Derby is a state-of-the-art roller coaster, designed for speed and safety, but its structural features have been carefully themed to look as though the boys used whatever junk they could find to create their coasters.

The Entrance Building is about half way up the back side of the mountain. Visitors entering it find themselves in a beautiful marble entrance hallway of a mansion inhabited by a very rich duck. There are oil paintings of famous ducks, including the Mallard Lisa

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Duck With Pearl Earring

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and statues such as Feathertiti

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and Venus De Mallard

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A wide staircase leads visitors up to the ballroom, where groups of up to 250 are shown an animated short Disney movie explaining the history of this attraction, as described at the beginning of this proposal. After the movie, visitors proceed to climb several more stairs and queue through several other rooms in the mansion, including Scrooge McDuck's Museum of Foreign Tender, which has on display actual unusual forms of money from centuries past and around the world. Finally visitors reach the top of the mountain and the starting point of their adventure. (Note: this attraction is fully handicapped-accessible and all levels are served by elevators for those visitors unable to climb the stairs.)

Riders find themselves on the very front porch where Huey, Dewey and Louie came up with the idea of the Downhill Derby competition. They can see the Magic Kingdom spread out below them, with Space Mountain to the left and Splash and Big Thunder Mountain to the right and the Castle in front of them. One thing about the porch is different, though- it now contains the launch platforms for three side-by-side roller coasters, each different in design and each looking like they were built from scrap lumber. Huey's coaster is painted red, Dewey's is blue, and Louie's is green, and the twelve-rider coaster trains (two across and six back in two attached 6-rider cars) and their rails are painted those colors. The support columns supporting the tracks and the themed junk decorating the attraction is not necessarily painted completely the same colors, and some aren't painted at all, as though they ran out of paint and time to do more than slap a quick coat on it. It looks like a high-tech soapbox derby.

The launch of the coasters is unusual if not unique. Riders are already at the top of the lift hill, so instead of climbing up a hill, going over the top and then starting the downhill plummet, riders here get the feeling of being pushed over the side of a cliff, because once the cars leave the "porch" they are immediately going down the front of Richduck Heights, very fast and very steep. This part of the ride is a basic gravity coaster with no inversions- in fact, there are no inversions at all in this attraction, so that relatively young children will be able to experience it with their family. This is not a kiddie coaster, though. It moves!.

Each of the three coasters follows a different path, while occasionally meeting each other side-by-side or even passing in opposite directions. The tracks will weave around and even through the mountain (where the boys have dug large tunnels, leaving piles of dirt and rocks and their shovels behind stuck in the dirt) and occasionally passing through the lower parts of the mansion, such as the kitchen, basement storage rooms and even part of the line queue. Finally, they all converge on the ground level at the base of Richduck Heights and enter the Greenhouse, a large glass structure with rows of plants and flowers such as marigolds, silverleaf and money plants, all appropriate for a duck as rich as Scrooge McDuck. The cars all come to a stop and it looks like the ride is over, but instead of this being the exit platform, it is the launch platform for the second part of the ride. Riders see all three of the boys (AA) in a large control room they have constructed in the greenhouse. They all have their hands on a large control lever.

Huey: "Our friends over at the Rock 'n'Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios had an extra one of these."

Dewey: "They told us we could use it in our coasters."

Louie: "So hold on!"

They pull the lever back, and all three coasters take off at 60 m.p.h., propelled by linear induction motors, racing out of the greenhouse and careening across the beautifully- landscaped lawns and gardens that surround the base of Richduck Heights. As before, each coaster follows its own path, leaping over carefully manicured hedges (and even sometimes under them through more tunnels that the boys dug), across the swimming pools and reflecting ponds

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(and raising a splash as in Disneyland's Matterhorn,) and using the side of Richduck Heights for sharp banked turns. Finally the three coasters converge again as they enter a large brick building, the garage for the estate. Thanks to computer controls, they come to a stop at exactly the same time. It's a tie! A video screen in front of each coaster shows the boys looking at their respective coasters, and in unison say, "It's a tie!!"

Huey: "Now what are we going to do?"
Dewey: "Build another coaster?"
Louie: "Nah. I don't want to build another coaster."
Huey: "Hey! How about a better Jungle Cruise?"
Dewey and Louie: "Nope. That's too easy."
Huey: "You know, Uncle Scrooge will be back soon. We better get this cleaned up before he sees it!"
Dewey: "You're right."
Louie: "We'd better get to work!"
All three address the riders: "Thanks, folks!

The riders exit the coaster cars and proceed to the exit building, where the usual pictures and souvenirs are available.

(Note: We got a few more pictures posted, but of course the ones we most wanted to post wouldn't post. We still hope you like it!)

From Max Kobernick
Posted December 27, 2010 at 1:12 PM

From Mike Gallagher
Posted December 27, 2010 at 3:44 PM
I agree, Max!

From Dan Babbitt
Posted December 28, 2010 at 10:40 PM
Guess whose heading back to Fantasyland!!!!!
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That’s right! J. Thaddeus Toad, Esq., or Mr. Toad, is heading back to the Magic Kingdom to set up residence again after a long exciting and exciting adventures to "Nowhere in Particular" has decided to return to this happy haunt of his!

Mr. Toad has given up his obsessions, which almost killed him many many times and almost bankrupted him many times, of boating, horse drawn carriage riding and lately bi-plane flying and gone back to his first love of motor car driving.

Mr. Toad has brought back the Jalopies wants to take you on a personal tour or his village including Toad Hall and the treacherous Wild Wood!

He knows of his reckless driving and has taken some precaution to his Jalopies including new safety harnesses, breaks and some other things that will get you to have a fun and safe ride through Mr. Toads place. We only hope that Mr. Winky and his Weasels don’t get in the way!

Before I go onto the ride itself I want to tell you the type of ride it will be. Mr. Toads Wild Ride will be a Spinning Roller Coaster like Primeval Whirl with a new "spin" (I couldnt resists the pun!) on things. Not only will the vehicles go horizontal but also verticle and go on its side. Heres a link of an example Tony Hawks Big Spin (HD POV) Six Flags Discovery Kingdom California .

The ride will be indoors and the outside will look like Toad Hall. The que will wind its way through Toad Hall with pictures of Mr. Toad many adventures, past residents, his friends including Mole, Ratty, Mr. Badger, Otter and his son Portly, wanted and beware posters or Mr. Winky and his Weasels gang. Even though they wont be taken the place of but as fun pictures to have these small and out of the way portaits of one a portrait of a pet semetary of hole in the ground in front of s statute of a toad and second being a portrait of Whinnie the Pooh and friends welcoming back Mr. Toad! These 2 pictures you will really have to find!

As you get to the garage in the back of Toad Hall you are invited to jump onto the new renivated Jalopies and go on a ride with him! In the ride vehicles there will be speakers, installed by Mr. Toad, so he will communicate with you it whats going on.

As you take off up a hill Mr. Toad is telling you some of his adventures he had until you get to the top when all of a sudden you see Mr. Winky and the gang at the top of the hill holding parts that look like it should be on the car and Mr. Toads calmly states that they holding the breaks to the car to hold on!

Here is where the wild ride really starts! As Mr. Toad is attempting to fix the breaks you go through the Wild Woods nearly hitting trees, rocks, and residents of the woods including old Mr. Badger. You then go through, up and over the village and sometimes into buildings including Mr. Wink's Tavern which he destroys by the way, into Toad Hall which you can see guests waiting in line!, and into the Jail.

Back outside again you nearly collide with train and then it culminates with Mr. Toads friends helping him and stopping the car.

Well, being a jovial and good natured man er animal er what ever he is he decides not to prosecute Mr. Winky because first Mr. Winky's tavern got destoryed and will take a lot of time to recover and second Mr. Toad thought that was a wild and great adventure!

Though they arent any inversions, this roller coaster does provide guests with unique experiences that will provide great thrills for all types of guests. This will be a great 2nd step coaster for any young, or new roller coaster fan bcause of the spinning effect and unlike Primeval Whirl there will be banks and curves that will get you looking down at the floor at times!

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From Dan Babbitt
Posted December 28, 2010 at 10:46 PM
The hard thing with this round is to who it should be marketed too!

I didnt know if it should be for kids, adults, a mixture or something else entirely!? So this one got me really thinking and again cam right down to the wire. i actually would be still waiting because for some reason I thought there was still 4 of us and I was waiting on one more because again I wanted to see where everyone was going and you guys didnt disappoint and each one picked a design on either ends of the spectrum so no help from you! ;)

From Tim W
Posted December 29, 2010 at 7:00 AM
Alright, thank you everyone for responding. Now for my review.

Anthony: I liked your theming the best. I think the cave of wonders coaster is a great idea, and I wish Disney Imagineering thought of this concept instead of creating a Dumbo clone with carpets. I definitely think the special effects such as the final scene sound amazing and would really create a great coaster for the fantasyland expansion. Well done.

James: Your coaster is by far the most original this week. I really enjoyed the storyline of the coaster. The only thing I found myself distraught about was the fact that I would have liked this in toontown. However, I think you could be on to something by integrating some aspects of toontowwn into fantasyland, so not all would be lost. You have a real knack for creating coaster storylines, but I think that currently this would work very well to revitalize DHS's Animation Courtyard.

From Tim W
Posted December 29, 2010 at 7:01 AM
Dan: I would be thrilled to see Mr. Toad come back to MK. However, I'm not sure that you should change this ride into a coaster, when people love, know, and miss the dark ride. It's still a good idea to have as a coaster, but I think you could have been a little bit more creative with this challenge, rather than reusing a theme that has been used.

From Anthony Murphy
Posted December 29, 2010 at 8:48 AM
This is going to be a tough one!

From themepark guy
Posted December 29, 2010 at 9:27 AM
I agree, they are all great.

From James Koehl
Posted December 29, 2010 at 6:56 PM
Tim, I thought that Toontown is going to be closed/replaced or something. Granted this ride would be more appropriate there than in Fantasyland,and DHS would be great also, but by the time they get it built Toontown might be replaced by a pretty princess flower garden. The original Disney characters need someplace in MK to live.
BTW, were you really distraught? Wow, and I thought I got carried away with this competition ! ;+)

From Tim W
Posted December 29, 2010 at 7:54 PM
I really liked your idea, and thought it was unique and original. I was just more upset rather than distraught that this couldn't be placed in toontown, because I think it would have been a marvelous addition.

From Tim W
Posted December 31, 2010 at 7:32 AM
As I look at this vote, for the second time this morning, I am disgusted! It seems we have another little rat playing games with the vote. When I last checked at 11 o clock last night, Anthony and Dan were tied. So I reopened the poll, hoping to break that tie, but knowing it would be extremely close. However, When I woke up, it seemed there was over 50 votes placed. And then in the past half hour, nearly another 50 placed, with the majority going in favor of Dan's attraction. I'm not going to play the blame game on Dan, because I do not believe him to be the type of person who would try to fix this competition. I believe, that this is some annonymous person who is being a bit of a jack a** right now. I will continue to try and solve this problem and eliminate people like this person who has more than likely casted over 100 votes in a manner of short time. The part that gets me the most is that its a game, the apprentices do not win 1 million dollars, nor do they have their ideas submitted to a theme park company. It is only for fun, but it still should be fair.

Now its been 65 since i've posted this...Been a few more minutes, now 80 more votes from this morning

I cannot possibly take the results of this poll knowing that they are being tampered with as I speak. The person doing this can have his little fun, but we HAVE to go to the tiebreaker this time. I will be tallying up your complete amount of votes throughout the competition. It will be decided that way who will move on. I hope you all understand.

From James Koehl
Posted December 31, 2010 at 7:45 AM
Tim, I think that's completely fair. What's unfair is that you have to go through this. I doubt you had expected this when you thought up this game.
You deserve an extra glass of bubbly at New Years Eve!

From Tim W
Posted December 31, 2010 at 9:44 AM
I've had a bit of some time to relax, to think about things, and clear my head. While I am furious over what happened with the vote, and wanted to go to a tiebreaker, heres what will happen instead. All 3 of you will be moving on to the finale challenge. Now that takes one more person away from voting for the final, so instead I came up with a solution. I will be asking all of the apprentices (the ones that did not drop out), to give me their vote for the final vote. Along with that, we will be having a sitewide poll as normal that will count towards 1 vote. I will still be placing my vote as well, and I am asking Robert to place a private vote too.

From Tim W
Posted December 31, 2010 at 9:51 AM
So Nick Markham, Jeff Moon, David L, Adam Nodjomian, Andy Milio, Tim W, Robert Niles, and the public are the 8 votes that will be counted.

As for the future seasons, I am not sure as of right now if I can deal with future competitions as soon as a month. I have dealt with dropouts, fixing of votes, and non responses. Quite frankly, its become irritating and little fun for me to design a competition for people who don't appreciate what I have created for them, and show me their appreciation by complicating things for me. So as of the end of this competition, Theme Park Apprentice will be going on an undetermined hiatus. Thank you for all the followers and participation that I had from people, and I hope to be back as soon as I'm ready with the next competition.

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