Okay, so here it is guys. Now, I know we all got off to a bumpy start for this project, some rocky waters, a few people gone a long the way, but I commend you all for putting up a great show and getting through it. I was not grading you on your process of how work was getting done, as everything seemed HECTIC. For future reference, I think one of the problems was that this project was pretty ginormous, so making multiple threads would prove useful, but on some occasions, it made things a lot harder to follow. Thankfully, from here on there shouldn’t be several multiple threads for one project. Now, onto the review!
When the project was first posted and you guys began working, for most of the first week, I lurked on the site. I wanted to see what kind of work you were doing and what direction you would go with the park. Initially, I wasn’t very happy with the way your park was shaping up (but that might have been because of the confusion of getting through the threads and everything seemed to be a little unorganized, I’m sure some of you will agree.) I didn’t want to judge your project so soon, so I decided to step back from it and I decided not to look into any of the threads for the second week. I wanted to take the whole “I’m gonna be surprised” approach. Because of that, I may not be exactly sure who created what, but this was a team effort, after all.
On a project this massive, it’s gonna be hard to do a simple review, so I’m going to pick out several individual things and give an overview for each area.
-Resort Overview-
I like that you decided to use a new sort of PeopleMover transit system OUTSIDE of the park. A very innovative idea that can bring in a lot of visitors. It’s sort of like the monorail for this alternate theme park. I’m also glad that you included a “Transit Center”. It’s one of those things that would make a Disney park grander, yet Disneyland in Anaheim couldn’t include one simply because the resort isn’t all that large. I thought everything about this section was great, very insightful and detailed. From the route the transit system would go, where it would take you, even down to the street names. Even the mention of future expansion makes this seem all the more realistic.
In Downtown Disney, I like the approach that you took with doing something very different. Points for that. The idea of having this waterfall walkway seems just magical. It has that Disney quality and would also prove to be a very tranquil place to relax. I also really enjoyed the detailed description of the esplanade, including the fountains.
-Enchanted Castle Hotel-
To be honest, I’m not exactly thrilled with having a castle as a hotel. It seems a bit…cheesy. Disney’s hotels usually have a sort modern, sophisticated elegance to them (save for resorts like Pop Century and the All Stars). This seems a bit to childish, perhaps. However, I still think that you guys made it work. I liked the special touch of having the wings themed to the original lands of a Magic Kingdom park. I loved the Little Mermaid pool area for the hotel. It’s one of those ideas that makes you wonder why Disney hasn’t done it yet, so much potential there. The details of the type of transportations that the hotel has to offer really rounds out the accommodations of the resort. So, even if I am slightly indifferent towards the Castle Hotel idea, I still think that you have a very well rounded hotel.
-Main Street U.S.A.-
So, Main Street U.S.A. has become the new Downtown Disney for your park. It’s got all of the essentials. Your shops, restaraunts, movie theaters, quick service eateries and cafes. The works plus more. The one thing that I have to point out though, is that it does seem somewhat unoriginal. It’s basically taking a pre-existing area of a Disney park and turning it into a Downtown Disney. Not that it’s bad, I just think you guys could have been stronger in this area. However, it’s nothing to beat yourself up for, it’s a simple shopping and entertainment complex.
Disneyland Park
On a personal note, I liked that basically everything was thematically connected throughout the theme park. It’s not something that Disney does often…or ever, but you guys really pulled it off!
-Canal Street-
I’ll have to admit, the ideas of San Francisco and Venice pairing up to create a land sound…sorta strange…but ultimately interesting. Great inclusion of the trolleys and the canal boats. Kinda weird to see them right next to each other, thematically. As for the shops, I appreciate your honesty with not really having the ideas down. I appreciate that you at least mentioned a CHOCOLATE shop. Something like that won’t kill your grade, especially in a project this massive.
I LOVED Da Vinci’s Workshop. It’s a nice quaint little area. The detail for this section was amazing. It really felt like I could actually be there. This little area fits nicely into the aprk and really rounds out the surrounding area. I think it’s really perfect. I’ll admit having a Jumpin’ Jellyfish or Golden Zephyr attraction out in the open could prove to be an eyesore (ala DCA), but you managed to blend the attractions in with their surroundings. Excellent work!
I remember in the earlier stages of brainstorming, you had planned both a Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast attraction for the area. I’m glad Mary moved out and BatB stayed. Mary wouldn’t have made much sense in the area. I love the idea of riding into a book for the attraction, it makes everything work more thematically, as the story takes place in France, yet we’re technically in Venice. I think the attraction is really great, a classic dark ride for a story that deserves it.
I loved how the Clock Tower serves as an icon for the park. I promised myself that I would never fall in love with a hypothetical imagineered Disney attraction…but Mickey’s Clock Cleaners was the best thing ever! Everything about it was phenomenal. The detail, the showscenes, the flow of the attraction, the special effects, even how the use of music and how the main theme repeats in a variety of ways. This attraction used all aspects of a ride (scenes, music, effects, intensity) to its best. You said that this was an E-Ticket for the park, it DEFINITELY is! Even having the attraction in the main icon of the park makes it stand out so much more. Fantastic job!
-Nature’s Wonderland-
I think the idea of having the entire land in a dome seemed somewhat contradictory to nature, but the backstory really filled in some details. It makes much more sense and the entire land seems awesome. I really enjoyed the Journey through Nature’s Wilderness attraction. It’s like Jungle Cruise, BTMRR and parts of Animal Kingdom all combined into one. It’s pacing is great too. It starts off fairly slow, then turns into a rollercoaster, it’s great! The rafting attraction also really complimented the area. I think this attraction worked perfectly.
As for Global Expeditions, I’ve never seen anything like this! I thought it was really good! Pretty captivating. I loved the scenarios of traveling through different environments and climates, this is a really innovative attraction on our hands! I thought this was a pretty EPIC ride. It’s a lot like Dinosaur! In some ways, even better. You know the classic, “let’s-go-on-an-adventure-oh-no-something-bad-happened” type of attraction, lol. I really did like it.
As for the Firebird attraction, oddly enough, I actually thought a lot of it was very beautiful. There were moments when I was confused (mainly because I didn’t really know how an effect would be achieved), but besides that, this is another heavy hitter attraction in your park. It really was great.
-Columbia: The Floating City-
Hm… elevators. I knew it. While I’m not a fan, because they seem pretty exasperating having to get on and off the floating city, I suppose there is no other way to have it done. However, if they were REALLY BIG “Aerovators” that wouldn’t be a problem. I really like this land. Very futuristic and innovative, with elements of aircrafts and flying.
Hm…I never pictured Mary living in a Utopian floating city. Well, I guess she does have that secret life of hers we don’t know about…ew, I don’t want to even think of that. I think that this attraction is another great dark ride for the park. This matches the quality of the Beauty and the Beast attraction; both are so good and would make excellent attractions in the park. I even loved how you strayed away from the film in order to include Mary’s life outside of being a nanny. Excellent job!
And the entire ideas for Uncle Albert’s and The Royal Zeppelin are absolutely genius! Some seriously amazing, detailed restaurants there! I think both of them fit perfectly into the land and offer that freat Disney dining experience.
-Toontown-
Did I mention how I love that there’s a consistent story flowing throughout the park? Yes, I did. I’m mentioning it again.
The Toontown Tower Hotel…EPIC. Loved it. Droopy, ahh, excellent character choice. He made the attraction so enjoyable. This attraction just screams Toontown to me and it’s main character isn’t Disney. I loved how you utilized this attraction to be a hotel for ALL of the toons, making cameos for non-Disney characters available. I loved the inclusion of the different silly, story and homage scenes and how each of them are completely different from each other. That really adds in the re-rideabilty factor. The Scooby Doo twist at the end MADE that attraction for me. After reading that I was just like “DONE.” It’s hysterical. I did NOT see that coming. It was perfect. This attraction is above and beyond what I expected. You brought in all the right characters, had all the right show scenes and executed a perfect attraction in my book!
I wish that the Toontown Trolley would make its way to a real Disney park. This another attraction that really complimented Toontown and the park, as a whole. Reading this attraction, it was like actually watching a cartoon short, just like the Clock Cleaners attraction. I was captivated the entire time. It was really amazing. I LOVED the pre-show! That was incredible. The mix of all of the Disney characters interacting with eachother for the safety video, it was great. I even love the whole backstory of Big Boss wanting the visitors to go on Donald’s Tram because he doesn’t want to fire him. And the Aracuan Bird made an appearance, a pretty rare find! Also glad how this attraction weaved in more non-Disney characters.
I feel that with an area as crazy and hectic as Toontown, it needs a relaxing spot. That’s where Lake Toon and the TooNature Reserve come in. I think these areas perfectly balance out the rest of Toontown and offer a much more relaxing area. Nice touch with Steamboat Willie. Also, great job tying in the Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fud attractions together!
One thing, I sorta wanted to see more non-Disney characters involved. We had some ACME characters, but the only real attraction that embodied what I wanted was the Toontown Tower. However, besides that, I loved this Toontown. A lot of sight gags, jokes, comical relief while facing danger, craziness and fun. I feel like Toontowns nowadays don’t have that, but your Toontown was great. It’s probably the best put together land in this park.
-Port Lumaria-
I lived the idea for the carousel, very elaborate and neat. Would look great at the entrance to the land. The description for the Encounters of the Fourth Kind was short and brief, but I understand what the main premise of the attraction was. I feel like Journey to the Center if the Earth was a fantastic attraction and really rounded out the land. It was a really great attraction, pretty much what I would have expected. Lol, sorry Lumaria’s review is so short.
Wait…it’s over? Ugh, I love reading through what, 40 some odd pages in one night? Tiki, I HAVE THE PATIENCE OF A SAINT. Sat and read through the whole thing…so I’m probably really belligerent right now.
So, in conclusion, I really really liked your resort. Like most resorts, it had its strong areas and then it’s not so strong. However, I’ll do the overall bad comment first. There were some areas of the park that just really didn’t feel like a Disney park to me and the Main Street U.S.A. area turned out. I know, I know, you guys didn’t have a lot to work with. That’s really the only main thing. I didn’t thing that there was one aspect of your project that was bad.
Overall, I give this project a B+.
In fact, I loved a lot of the project, I thought the entire Canal Street with Da Vinci’s Workshop and the BatB and Clock Cleaners attraction. I thought the Firebird was great. (I’m mainly just picking highlights), I loved the Mary Poppins and JTTCOTE attractions and thought all of Toontown was great. Those are just SOME highlights, every attraction, shop, restaurant, every word made this resort what it is. I think, for an alternate park, you guys did a very good job and you should all be proud of the work you did. Sorry for all of the confusion in the beginning. It paid off though! Don’t get rusty, though, this is only the beginning…
ManEatingWreath:
To begin with I never stated that the resort HAD to be in Anaheim (My bad). The point of the project was to take the concept of the original Disneyland (And all its sister Magic Kingdoms) and turn it into something entirely original using that same hub format and name that we all know and love. The purpose was to have you as a team take the same optimistic perspective that Walt and his original Imagineers had when they first looked at the orange groves that would eventually become Disneyland, not ACTUALLY be Walt and his original Imagineers looking at the orange groves that would eventually become Disneyland. I should have made the instructions a bit clearer. Sorry about that.
The second I saw the words "Disney's Anaheim Transit Center," I got hooked. The airport-like atmosphere of this useful transportation area is one of the best ideas regarding transportation that I've ever seen. To top that off you guys even gave it theming. One can say that the Mickey and Friends parking structure is themed, but you guys actually gave it detail, like ponds and a futuristic feel, rather than rotting pictures of Disney characters and an industrial concrete building. I'm not entirely sure if the rental car agency and steam train are entirely necessary though. While the layout and design of the center may be a source of traffic and frustration for guests, it was a great idea and definitely one of my favorite parts of the project. And don't even get me started on the esplande. Once again you guys took something rather boring and turned it into something cool. I would have never thought of how well fountains, gardens, ticket boothes, and waterfalls would mix with music and theme park crossroads. Also, the fact that you left room for future expansion made me wonder "What if..." A great detail to a great portion of the project.
At first the Enchanted Castle reminded me heavily of Excalibur in Vegas. I didn't really like the idea, I felt as if it was too "Las Vegas" to me. But I was wrong. I LOVED the theming of the place, especially the Little Mermaid pool. I WISH it was real so I could play in the "Under the Sea" area, lol. I like the idea of having a special Magical Express service to provide transportation between the hotel and the local airport, that was pretty cool. I also liked how each room (Including the spa) was themed to a certain movie or time period. The horse-drawn carriages were also a nice touch. Very romantic and very princess-like. Even though I'm not much of a princess-fan, I would definitely want to stay here...but for some reason I had the picture of the Grand Californian Hotel in my head while reading this...and I don't know why, lol. Maybe it's because they both rock.
I gave a limit of five clones for your resort, but I only said that the limit of clones was for Disneyland, not the resort in general. So I guess this unique version of Main Street will just barely slide by the rules this time. I really like how you themed all the modern shops to the turn-of-the-century. Jamba Juice's theming was very clever, as was the T-Rex place. I always thought that having an amateur scientist/time traveler on Main Street would be a good idea...and you guys beat me to it...thanks for bringing it into light! All in all this was another favorite part for me, and I thouroughly enjoyed it.
When I became obsessed with monster movies over the summer, I discovered a film called The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a silent German horror film that takes place in this surreal and bizarre world which was rather unsettling to me. And certain parts of your park were unsettling to me (No offense). It's just...well I felt that some of that special magic one can find at a typical Magic Kingdom was gone. Don't get me wrong, you all managed to pull together a great theme park, but it seemed more like a combo between Epcot, DisneySea, and a post-apocalyptic theme park to me rather than a Disneyland. Again no offense, I'm just stating my true opinion here. I understand completely that this was a big order to fill for your first project and that it is very hard to make a Disneyland and not use any of the original lands. It's just we expected some of that warmth and magic one can get from Disneyland to be there. It was there in some parts...but not all parts...
Canal Street is a great choice for your Main Street (I love the chocalte factory, lol), especially with the detailed theming, trolleys, and canal boats. Da Vinci's Workshop really caught my attention, very detailed, yet very DisneySea to me. Nonetheless it fit the theme of Canal Street perfectly to me and featured some of the best theming I've seen in SYWTBAI thus far. I particularly liked ParAvalon and the play area. I was pleasantly surprised by the Beauty and the Beastdark ride. It really screamed "FANTASYLAND" at me and definitely hit me with the Disneyland-feel. Great work and great way fitting it in with the rest of the land.
The Clock Tower is a nice choice for your park icon. It was unique, original, and new. I like it. I don't know if the cartoony aspect to it would fit with the heavily-themed Canal Street, but what the heck! Does it make sense that a Bavarian castle can be seen sitting at the end of a turn-of-the-century Midwestern town? I particularly liked the detailed description you gave of the tower. Every minute detail really stood out to me (I LOVED the Oogie Boogie thing). The awesome story behind it (Which you pulled off VERY well) made the icon all the better. Loved it. And I equally loved Clock Cleaners. Another unique attraction with a sense of originality. Loved it. I've always believed that an attraction inside the castle would be a good idea, and you pulled it off, albeit in a clock tower rather than a castle, lol.
Nature's Wonderland was an innovative idea as well. Not too sure if I like the dome idea, but it works. Another great backstory made the land even better than it would be by itself (The park's entire storyline was just awesome on its own, BTW). I agree with KingMickey. This area was just flat-out beautiful, magical, and exciting. I felt as if I was actually there while reading it. And quite frankly I actually wish I WAS THERE, lol. It was pure magic in words and creativity. Great work on this one. I particularly loved the nods to Claude Coats and Marc Davis. They really deserve immortal recognition for all of their contributions to the Disney theme park industry.
Columbia...well...alright I enjoyed it...but I didn't love it. It just didn't really speak to me for some reason. It could be the fact that I'm tired (Busy day), or that I'm just not really captivated by the idea. Sorry, it's a good idea and all, but I think it could have a lot more done with it. But never fear it was a great idea! You really did manage to give it good theming and atmosphere, along with those cool attractions thrown in there.
I was right...Toontown would be one of my favorite projects of the season. I LOVED EVERY LAST SECOND OF IT. The Toontown Tower Hotel is one of my favorite projects in SYWTBAI history. "Going up, sir?" LOVE IT. Every scene in it was nearly perfect. Scooby Doo, the Peanuts, Genie, Droopy, the villains, Casper, the Jetsons, Popeye, Olive Oil, Betty Boop, Oswald, and...WOW this was just an awesome ride on its own. This project really lifted my spirit, as did the Toontown Trolley. Stratofarius you surprised me. You are definitely a force to be reckoned with this season (As are A LOT of you). I laughed so hard during some of the scenes that it wasn't even funny. I particularly loved the addition of Coyote and Bugs. The safety video also reminded me a lot of Star Tours which brought back a lot of nostalgic memories to me. I REALLY wish that I could take this concept and play around with it one day, you really inspired me creativity-wise. I could only dream that it comes into reality one day (As with the Toon Tower Hotel). Too bad we weren't able to see more of Car Toon Spin, I was really looking forward to it. Hopefully DHI will return!
I'm also a big fan of Toontown Lake and the Nature Preserve. Bugs and Elmer fit perfectly together while Steamboat Willy made a great addition to the land in general. All in all this land made me feel as if I was in a different world. I seriously felt like I was walking into the pages of a Dr. Seuss book attempting to avoid Looney Tunes violence in an attempt to meet my favorite Disney characters. If that makes any sense, lol.
I REALLY enjoyed Encounters of the Fourth Kind and Journey to the Center of the Earth. REALLY cool stuff right there. The theming for the land was great and the carousel really put the icing on the cake for me. Great work with this one. I really, really liked it. This, Toontown, the Transit Center, and the hotel were my favorite parts of the project.
All in all your resort was a real treat for me. It had its ups and downs but hey, it happens. Again certain parts did lack that Disneyland magic but other parts were abundant in it. I'm really happy with your final product. We had a rough start and you guys definitely were able to pull together something great from the rubble of that chaos. I'm very happy that this season will commence as planned.
The overall grade of your project from me is a B. Great work, great fun, it just needs a little improvement.
Like Disneyson said before, I really do appreciate the amount of care and love that was put into this thing. Everyone should give themselves a round of applause for putting this thing together.
Special thanks to KingMickey for taking over in my absence.
- Garrett
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