The Mastermind Speech (Season Eight, Final Project)

Mwahaha....MWAhaha...MWAHAHAH....MWAAAHA AHAHAAAHA!!! 

Suckers. 

Alright, this is it. I am now going to lay out EXACTLY what my strategic game-plan was for this season, and how I used to to get me to the finals. Before I begin, I just want to make one thing absolutely clear...in spite of playing an aggressive tactical game this season (and that doesn't even get into the creative side of my gameplay) I absolutely respect and love and and EVERY one of you guys. So, You Want to be an Imagineer is such a success because of the sense of community it inspires, and you guys are to thank for that. Even though I might have creatively and strategically dominated this season, each and every one of the fifteen people that made it onto the standings in their own way was extremely memorable in their own right. Like I said, even though I played with aggressive strategy, never once did I play with any sort of malicious intent. I just want to make that point PERFECTLY clear before I move on. 

So, I guess the place to begin is my motivation. It didn't matter what group of people I ended up being pitted up against, in my first time out playing So, You Want to be an Imagineer, this great game that I had the absolute pleasure to basically nurture into the thing it is now throughout its eight seasons, I had one goal and one goal only. Play the most strategically dominating game that I possibly could. Me and MEW have had a long-standing analogy since the early days of our partnership in running this game, and that's that the game needed its very own Richard Hatch. Basically, someone to take the core foundations of the game, grab them, and run with them. That's exactly what I've been doing this season. My overall goal was to basically play a hardcore strategic game and then lay it all at the final project, and that's just what I've done. I didn't really play strategically for myself, just because I knew that I'd probably make the finals either way, but rather, I played strategically so that I COULD lay out how a hardcore strategic game could be played. I believe the word "strategy" is kind of a taboo word when it comes to this game. I aim to change all that. After I've gotten my hands on this game...strategy should be an absolute necessity. 

So, exactly what WAS my hardcore strategy you may ask? It's hard to know exactly where to begin in terms of this season. In the first project, I was sizing up EVERY opponent left and right. Of course, I already knew a GREAT deal of this cast due to the fact that this season was originally going to be an All Star season (which it STILL more-or-less ended up being in my opinion), but what I was looking for was exactly how much dedication the individual people were putting into this game. Jessie stood out to me right out the gate as someone who was playing under-the-radar intentionally. I was really impressed with Monkey's activity on the first project compared to the first season, Adv was just as good as he was last time around and I knew he'd probably be around a while. Basically, I knew where I stood when it got down to my "Team", it was the new "Wild Cards" that I was a bit more concerned about. This brings us to the most controversial of my strategic moves...Disneyson1. 

In the first project, me and Disneyson worked together rather closely on the Tower project. I remember absolutely being blown away by Disneyson's amazing work ethic, but at the same time, this guy was going to be my MAIN competition. I knew unless I did something drastic, he'd make it to the finals almost guaranteed. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, except since I WAS playing so strategically, I knew I'd have to deal with him in one way or another down the road. A key concept in my strategy from the get-go was going to be to strategically eliminate a major power player, and sadly, Disneyson just perfectly slid into that role. A little more on that later. 

So in round two, when the teams split up into Wild Cards vs. All Stars, I knew I had a solid five in Team All Stars with myself, Trevor, Jessie, Monkey, and Adv. BigDisneyFan and OSU Phantom on the other hand, were more or less expendable. I enjoyed this because it basically gave my team plenty of breathing room to get rid of people in case we lost without it really hurting the core structure of the team, which was the five people I just mentioned. The thing was, I didn't plan on loosing...Ever. I quickly approached my assistant Team Leader Trevor about the idea of the two of us working together on a strategic level, and from then on, me and him established a very clear strategy to win every project. Basically, I wanted Team All Stars to be the most dominant team in So, You Want to be an Imagineer history. In spite of the Wild Cards being AWESOME in their own right, I'd have to say I think I succeeded in that goal.

It wasn't just about winning though, it was about sending a message to the Wild Cards that there was no way they COULD win. This is where my psychological warfare came into play. I used emotional manipulation A LOT during the course of the season. Basically, the message me and Trevor wanted to convey to the Wild Cards is that there was no WAY they could win. We were the All Stars, they were the left-overs. Of course, I didn't ACTUALLY feel this way about the Wild Card team, but like I said, the point was to manipulate. So yes, all the trash talking, all the egotistical "YEAH...WERE GONNA WIN THIS AGAAAAAINNN!!!" speeches in the All Star work threads, they were purely to get the message into the Wild Cards heads that they were somehow inferior. This was a MAJOR part of my strategy that played out throughout the entire season. My overall plan was to fracture the unity of the Wild Card team while at the same time establishing an UNSTOPPABLE core force within the All Star team. Again, judging by how the season played out, I'm pretty sure that goal was also met with a pretty good degree of success. After all, four of the "Core Five" that was established VERY early on out of the All Star team made it to the semi-finals. 

After a round came and went without so much as a peaking interest in this fabled "Stalfos Power", I figured that was basically mine for the taking. The only problem of course, was that as Team Leaders, neither me nor Trevor could actually obtain it. Instead, we decided to bring in a third person into the little "alliance" we had brewing. That person was Jessiestudio. Our reasoning for choosing Jessie was simply because we figured there MIGHT have been a loose alliance going on between Monkey and Adv considering they were on the same team throughout Season Seven and had that connection. Jessie, on the other hand, seemed like more of a free agent. I PMd Jessie, proposed our evil plan to oust Disneyson via the Stalfos Power, and basically told him he was guaranteed safety that round so he could do a Blue Sky write-up to win the thing in the first place. All went according to plan, and by the end of round three I had the Stalfos Power in my grubby hands, with a powerful alliance of three to go along with it. 

Come round four, all hell broke loose. I must admit, on the day that we were set to blindside Disneyson, I wasn't really sure how I felt about it. Personally, it was kind of hard for me to do considering how much Disneyson obviously loved this game and how hard he was playing. I think the thing that made me morally accept what we were about to do was the fact that in spite of sending him home early, with this power move we were basically going to make Disneyson an unquestionable LEGEND in the fabric of the game. Well, the big move came and went, the Wild Cards were completely fractured, while I felt more secure about my alliance then ever. Going into the first of what was going to be a good many Team Swaps, I felt utterly confident about the events that had taken place and ready to further my strategy further. 

Going into the Team Swap, I wanted to get rid of OSU Phantom as fast as I could because he hadn't posted ANYTHING at all since the Haunted Mansion Holiday project and was the biggest dead weight in the cast. BigDisneyFan, on the other hand, was really starting to grow into his own in spite of his rough start this season. Since the first project post-Disneyson was another "one big group" project, it was an easy consensus on all ends to send OSU home, leaving us with ten players still left in the game. By this point, another problem that was starting to develop was the fact that Trevor had been less and less active. I always thought of Trevor as more of a socially strong player and a rather mediocre "creative" player, in spite of his best efforts. Despite the fact that me and Trevor had been in an alliance since round two, I felt that he was starting to become a dead weight. BigDisneyFan, like I said, while probably not on a path to win or anything, was at least showing more effort than Trevor, which is why I felt a little odd at the fact that Jessie eliminated him over Trevor in tenth place. Jessie had kept our alliance in tact, the only question was, was it worth sacrificing better players now that Trevor had basically become the "dead weight" of the entire cast? 

At the same time, the second "Team Outcasts" twist was announced. I knew I had Jessie and Trevor's votes to NOT bring Disneyson back, so right there that was a third of the entire voting block. I think our little alliance is really what kept Disneyson from coming back. Sorry DS, next season is your season, this season was PURELY the property of me and Jessie. Speaking of Jessie, the two of us had basically become full blown partners in crime while Trevor was basically our tag-along. We knew we couldn't keep tagging along Trevor forever. After Disneyrules was voted back over Disneyson, there was again ten people left and the project we were on was the one with the five teams of two. This whole time, there was ONE particular other player that, while I never did officially approach him with the idea of an alliance, I knew would be a really good person to have on my side. That person was CostaFreak, who is probably the most dedicated contestant in the HISTORY of the game, having competed more times than anyone, making the finals twice, and playing a great game this season. I knew CostaFreak was also playing with strategy, so I basically adopted the idea that me and him had an "unspoken agreement". Having said that, I got VERY concerned when Trevor and CF were paired up on the same team. I knew at this point Trevor was all but doomed, so I sent CF a vital PM that basically said he needed to pump out a high quality project on his own without trying to bother with brainstorming. I do kind of regret NEVER informing Trevor that I did this and ESSENTIALLY throwing him under the bus, but like I said, Trevor had just become TOO much of a dead weight. So come those results, CF did deliver a great project, but both him and Trevor were shockingly eliminated in spite of CF pulling out the second best project of the five SOLO. This entered into the most utterly MAD round in the entire history of the game. Season Eight, Project Eight. 

Disneyrules dropped out shortly after the project was announced, ensuing a SLEW of angry posts mostly due to the fact that he "stole" the returning contestant slot from Disneyson, in spite of the fact that it was my alliance that voted back Disneyrules to begin with. In addition to this, I was having problems of my own. With Trevor gone, Jessie and I decided we needed to rope in one more official alliance member. We decided on Monkey, and he quietly became the third person in our evil trio. In addition to this, I also had a HUGE tactical mission lined up, which I liked to call "Operation Fight Club". While Operation Fight Club was one of my only tactical ideas that never fully saw fruition, the point of it was for me and Jessie to basically infiltrate the remaining cast and manipulate them into actually playing for US to win. It was aggressive, ambitious, and ultimately didn't really go anywhere. The key was inner-personal relationships, we figured. The trouble I ran into was the fact that now that the teams had been split four/four and me and Jessie had an established alliance of three with Monkey as well as CF as our unofficial "Fourth Beatle", the teams basically put me, Monkey, and CF, read...three fourths of the ENTIRE alliance on one team with Imagineer2017, the person that probably took Disneyson's elimination the hardest out of anyone as our Team Leader, with Jessie as the sole Team Leader of the other team with three people who weren't in our alliance. (Though technically, me and Jessie always thought Adv was basically the second "unofficial" member of the alliance seeing as though he DID start out with the All Stars and had been playing hard all season) the cold hard fact was that if the team I was on lost, we would loose one of our alliance members, no matter what. It was then that I pitched the idea to Jessie to actually throw a project. In all honest, THIS, right here, was the lowest I ever got in terms of my gameplay. Honestly, I had bad feelings about it from the start, and ironically, the judges hated my team's Personal Spaces idea so much that Jessie's team ended up winning anyways, in spite of him actually trying to throw the project. Ethically, I have decided that throwing projects is kind of wrong and should really NOT be a part of any overall strategy. While strategy in itself is never a bad thing, you should never INTENTIONALLY play to NOT have a good project. That's the point of the game to begin with. Of course, all hell freaking broke loose with Project Eight and that round became a non-elimination. In the midst of all this crap hitting the fan, I made my single most effective strategic move I made all season...calling off the strategy. 

Yep, at that point in the Final Seven, I felt that me and Jessie had already played such dominating games that to CONTINUE to play so aggressively tactical would only put targets on our backs. We got overly cocky with the whole "throwing a project" thing, and after all the chaos that had ensued, PROBABLY to some degree based on my aggressive attempts to fracture the Wild Cards in the first place and create an air of animosity, I decided to just call the whole thing with me, Jessie, Monkey, and whoever the hell else, off. No more "Operation Fight Club", we were going to have a nice, clean fight to the finish. I believe that this move essentially, like I said, removed the target from both our backs and gave us the "public support" needed to continue in the game without looking like total diabolic ****-disturbers. 

There are a couple other aspects of my strategy that I want to touch on briefly. One was my ever-changing avatar/signature combination. This season, I really wanted my avatars and signatures to REALLY play into the idea of getting into all your heads. Rather it be Russell Hantz's face informing you that I was NOT to be messed with or Fabio's face giving you the false allusion that I was just "playing cool", or Pecos Bill's mouth hanging open last project taunting at the fact that I was REALLY confident about my Blue Sky Project, each and every one of my avatar/signature combinations was carefully chosen to relay a VERY specific message to the rest of the players. And lets face it, avatars and sigs are something you see EVERY time you log onto this board. There was no way my messages were going to go unnoticed. In fact, over the course of the projects, I really tried to make the messages sink into your guys' heads. The last tactic I used, while this is on a more subtle level, was strategically "liking" posts. Now let me clear, every time I "liked" a post this season, I did legitimately like what that person had to say, but there were a couple times were I specifically chose to "like" posts in an attempt to get people in question over to my side. A good example of this is when Disneyrules came back into the game and I "liked" his official announcement that he had decided to return. In my mind, though this obviously never played out, I figured if I could get Disneyrules on my side right off the bat, that would just go to further fracture the Wild Cards. 

And now...here we are. If you were a Wild Card this season...I'm sorry. Haha, that's about all I can say, really. Coming into this game, I really had it in my head that I wanted to cause freaking CHAOS from the inside, and I think the fact that the core All Stars stuck together so well while the Wild Cards really were a rag tag dysfunctional family was proof in the pudding that my mind games worked. Again, even though you guys kind of fell victim to my strategy in a pretty major way, keep in mind that I absolutely respected each and every one of you, including the much-criticized Disneyrules. So now I have made the finals. And you guys ALL helped me get there. Well done guys, well done  In all seriousness though, I have to say this Final Three is pretty much perfect. Jessie had a similar but more subtle strategic gameplan himself that I'm hoping he'll lay out in a serious fashion, while Monkey is essentially the "underdog" of this final three. Ironically enough though, this Final Three is the EXACT core alliance that was established immediately following Trevor's ouster, though that was kind of an accident. 

So there you go. I hope nobody takes all this strategy with ill-feelings. Like I said, my hope for playing such a strategic game is to simply inspire others to follow in me and Jessie's footsteps. While each and every person was great in their own right, you guys have to admit that me and Jessie RAN this game in a way that has never been seen before now. I think that while the creative side of this game is important, inner-personal relationships and strategy is equally important, especially in the early rounds when people are still getting to know each other. I have no idea if you guys are going to want to shake my hand or crucify me, but all I can say is I went into this game with VERY specific strategic goals and I achieved all of them. This is just the START of the Final Project though. I always had it in my head that I'd pull the rug out from you guys when I got into the Finals, and here I am in the finals. I really don't know what else there is to say. You guys are all amazing...I'm just evil. Truth be told, this is just the result of a Survivor nerd looking into strategy WAAAY too much, but whatever. I am extremely proud of the way I played this game both on the strategic end and on the creative end, and I like I said, I can only hope that I'll inspire more people to play with similar aggressive tactical games in the future...

Season Eight, Project Four: Audio Animatronics? That's right, Jose!

Team All Stars: 

Putting the Neptune in "Neptune's Kingdom"

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk holds a very unique place in theme park history. It's one of the very last seaside amusement enterprises in the entire country, but beyond that, the place just has a seal of quality about it, with two National Historic Landmarks in the Giant Dipper rollercoaster and the 1911 Charles Loff Carousel as well as many other highlight attractions and an overall sense of almost Disney like attention to detail that really puts the place above the competition. The Boardwalk (as it has been affectionately called by my family for years) was and still is an utter staple of my early years, and continues to be one of the most treasured amusement enterprises in all of Northern California. For that reason alone, I'm surprised the place has never so much as been touched by this game's inspiring Imagineers. Well, I'm here to put an end to all that. 

For this project, we were asked to simply come up with an audio animatronic character for anywhere in the world and make a project out of it. I knew I wanted to do the Boardwalk, I just didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. Then, I recalled the Neptune's Kingdom Family family fun center located within the Boardwalk's property. This Fantasyland of nautically themed mini-golf and arcade games had a PROFOUND affect on my development as a theme park enthusiast. There are already about five crude but effective pirate AAs within the 18 holes of the miniature golf course within Neptune's Kingdom, so I figured this would be the perfect place to unleash our new Audio Animatronic creation. 

The character we chose to represent is the mighty King Neptune himself. We thought he'd be an interesting character to try to tackle because not only is he the name and face of Neptune's Kingdom and doesn't have any sort of representation within the area itself, but also because the character gives us a lot of areas to work with. The image of Netpune himself as a god of the sea was kind of derivative of Posiden anyway, so the possibilities for the character are almost limitless. Only one question then remained, exactly how are we going to present this new AA to the public? 

For the answer, I dug into one of the most obscure parts of Boardwalk history that I am aware of. Before I get to the solution, let me give you the general layout of Neptune's Kingdom so you become more familiarized with it moving forward. Here is what Neptune's Kingdom looks like from the sidewalk. That's the Hurricane rollercoaster in the distance, for anyone who was wondering.



There's this entrance, and then there's another entrance on the Boardwalk side. The entire Neptune's Kingdom establishment, as well as the Casino Arcade, Coconut Grove Night Club, the famous Martinelli's Candy Shop, and a variety of midway games and giftshops, are all located in one GIANT structure that is located at the very west end of the Boardwalk. If you were to walk in to Neptune's Kingdom through the Boardwalk side, the first thing you'd come across is a display of Laffin' Sal from Playland. This famous display has been the subject of many Youtube videos and oddly enough seems to be the only thing IN Neptune's Kingdom that anyone actually bothers to take pictures of and film. Typical sheep mentality I guess... 

Moving on, there's also a counter service eatery at Neptune's Kingdom called Barbary Coast, which actually serves as one of the Boardwalk's prime dining establishments (yeah...if you want classy dining, go to the wharf. The boardwalk is all ABOUT the snackage.) Basically Barbary Coast is an "everything under the sun" kind of restaurant, meaning that you can basically get anything from classic hamburgers and hot dogs to Boardwalk specialties like Deep Fried Cheesecake (which I must say...is AMAZING) all under one roof. There's some tables scattered around the main entrance of Barbary Coast (which doubles as the Boardwalk side entrance of Neptune's Kingdom) as well as a larger dining room off to the side. For this project, were going to be taking a ridiculously in-depth look at this particular dining room. A little obscure corner of a little obscure Family Fun Center. The big thing about this dining room is that it contains a small stage and used to play host to an Audio Animatronics presentation that, while obscure as all hell to anyone you ask and completely forgotten, ignored, and pushed under the rug by Boardwalk history, actually played a pretty significant role in my development as a theme park enthusiast. This little show went by the name of "The Adventures of Captain Ned and Seaweed the Wonder Parrot". 

This show was modest, but exceeding charming to at least one audience member who had the pleasure of seeing it. Basically, Ned was a bumbling old sea captain who wished to live out his days on the sea, he loved to talk but could seem a bit harsh at first until he warms up to you, he'll tell you anything you need to know about the sea. Sadly though his jokes are rather dry and don't get nearly as many laughs as his mistakes. Ned also had an eye patch but he doesn't act so much as a pirate but a salty old sea captain. Meanwhile Seaweed is this happy young, but mildly shy at first, parrot who loves to just help out however he can, he cant do much being a parrot and all but he still tries really hard, he even tries to help out, once he gets to know the audience he begins to crack some actually humorous jokes to help make Ned's talks not so boring. Seaweed is always in a good mood and when ever Ned is in a sticky situation it is generally Seaweed who helps out and saves the day, with his heart of gold and will to do good.

The show centered on these two, obviously, and would also have a historical context. Usually, every show would feature banter between Ned and Seaweed, a historical segment on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and some nautical history thrown in for good measure. It was classic "edu-tainment" at its finest. What really made the show work, however, was the interaction between the two characters. Think of the two of them as kind of a predecessor to Patchy the Pirate and Polly the Parrot from Spongebob. One is a little bit too set in their own ways for their own good, and the other can relate to a modern audience and just wants the show to come off as entertaining as possible. Together, Ned and Seaweed quietly told their sea tales and did their banter for years to audiences who weren't really paying attention, until finally the red curtain didn't come up and the sign advertising the show was taken out of the dining room. I'm pretty sure the original Ned and Seaweed AAs are still behind the red curtain, but the park fails to acknowledge their existence and have just left them to rust. Did I mention that this element of the Boardwalk has constantly been snubbed by the people in charge? 

Regardless, Team All Star saw this formula and decided to run with it. Not only are Captain Ned and Seaweed going to be making their grand comebacks to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, but their new show will also be used primarily as a showcase for the mighty new Neptune AA that we have in store. The dining room will be completely enclosed into an additional show building. While you can still take food into this new theater, Tiki Room style, an additional dining area will be constructed where the Cannonball Arcade sits today, just off to the side of Barbary Coast. (Don't worry, it's just a bunch of ski-ball machines, I don't think that particular area will be very missed...) The new showbuilding will take the form of Ned's fishing boat, and will add another interesting visual kinetic to the already busy main walkway of Neptune's Kingdom. 

As guests walk explore the arcades and minigolf courses, they will come upon what appears to be a worn out, beached ship. As curious guests walk closer, they will notice that the boat appears to have been wreaked there for a while. The wood appears to be rotting a bit and has faded from a dark brown to a pale grey. The sails on the boat are also very tattered. The most striking detail of the ship is the large hole in the bow which serves as the entrance. Guests will approach the rocky beach which holds the wreaked ship and cross a bridge which leads to the preshow area and theater.

The pre-show area will be installed where the Smuggler's Den arcade currently resides. Yes, I know were getting rid of some arcades for this project, but remember that literally THE largest arcade on the entire west coast is located steps away from Neptune's Kingdom, so in the grand scheme of things it would only affect maybe only the hardest of hardcore video game aficionados who go to the Boardwalk just to get their game on...but I don't think it will really be all that big a problem. 

Before entering the show, guests find themselves in the preshow area which is themed as a cargo room. Weapons and flags adorn the walls as cargo nets filled with crates hang from the ceiling. Also scattered throughout the room are barrels of gun powder and rum. The preshow room obviously is meant to set the stage for the madness to come. The show we have constructed here is not only a compelling plot from beginning to end we feel, but also a brilliant way to showcase our new AA technology we have at work. The show will basically be an homage to all things nautical and all things AA. It will have elements of the Tiki Room, CBJ, and even a bit of T2 thrown in for good measure. At the end of the day though, it should stand on its own merit as an excellent tribute to the nautically inspired. Get ready for an Audio Animatronics presentation...yes, I have to say it...All Star Style.

The Show

As guests enter the theater, they immediately can recognize being "at sea", which is an aspect that is important to the overall presentation. Basically, we are supposed to already be at sea with Ned as the story starts. There's Tiki Room style benches with padded seating on the sides of the room. As guests take a seat and look around, they can see fishing memorabilia lining the walls as well as photos from some of Ned and Seaweed's previous adventures. There's also four large shuttered windows in the building which will serve very similar functions to the Tiki Room windows. (Keep in mind throughout the whole project that the Tiki Room was a HUGE influence) In addition, there's also a slight rocking motion that can be felt. This rocking motion will be created through an innovative new technology makes the entire theater a motion simulator due to hydrolyzed air pressure being pumped under the theater. The rocking won't be intense enough to knock guests out of their non-seatbelted chairs, but will add another layer to the "add sea" element of the presentation in a very effective manner. Thunder and lightning can be seen through the shudders of the windows. At the end of the room there's a large stage with a traditional red curtain covering it. 

When the show starts, the lights dim and the curtains come up. In addition, the shudders on the windows give way and we are treated to a visual look at the full force of the storm we have suddenly found ourselves in the middle of. Ned is standing lightly off to the left of the middle of the stage with a ship's wheel in hand, Seaweed steadfastly perched on his shoulder. There are another three large windows up on the stage, and guests can obviously see that Ned is struggling with this storm. 

The storm set piece kicks off the show and provides a bit of drama and action right off the bat. It takes Ned a few seconds to even realize that there are guests in the "theater", and when he does he reacts in a very surprised way and almost threatens to kick us off the boat before Seaweed reminds him that we are here to see as guests to witness the adventures of the famous Ned and Seaweed first hand, to which Ned responds "Famous? When we did that gig in Santa Cruz, NOBODY paid attention to us. The baby rides were more popular." (Of course, this is our own little jab at the duo's roots in obscurity). Seaweed responds by saying "Well, they're here now, so you better give them a show." At this point, the storm kicks into high gear and we are treated to some powerful "waves" produced by the motion simulator element. Finally, after about two minutes, the storm clears to Captain Ned's great relief. 

Afterward, Ned and Seaweed take the time to give themselves a proper reintroduction to Boardwalk guests, including more humor regarding the fact that these two are obscure. ("We don't blame you if you've never heard of us...we blame the Boardwalk!") There should also be a bit of a historical context interwoven at this point to keep within tradition of their original show. The two start talking about what caused the storm, as the weather had predicted clear skies all week when they set sail. Seaweed suggests that it must have been Neptune unleashing his wrath, at which point Ned starts laughing hysterically. "There's no such thing as Neptune, you bird-brain" he snidely remarks. Suddenly, the three windows at the end of the stage are shattered and a huge cloud of fog fills the room accompanied by an ear-splitting array of thunder claps. When the dust settles, we see the god of the sea appear mightily in the center of the stage. He takes on an appearance that is something along the lines of this...



Neptune has an epic white beard complimented by long, flowing white hair. He also sports that badass looking tail you see in the picture, which he can use to swing towards the guests for very effect suspense. Neptune also sits in an elaborate sea-shell throne in our production. "I AM KING NEPTUNE" he LOUDLY proclaims to Ned during his memorable grand entrance. Ned is terrified, but wanting to maintain his image as a noble captain (something I remember him attempting and failing to do A LOT during their original show) stands up to the Sea God. "You don't look like any King I've ever heard of", Ned snidely remarks, "You just look like some sort of over-sized fish-FREAK!". 

Needless to say, this upsets Neptune just a wee bit, and he starts unleashing his wrath upon the entire theater. The "Neptune's Wrath" sequence of this show will be the centerpiece and also the area in which we most showcase our new AA creation. A big focal point of the creation will be his face, which starts off normal but as his "Wrath" goes on and on will get more and more red. The red shade will illuminate the entire figure. His face is also VERY emotive, and special care will be given to make sure its among the most expressive AAs you've ever seen in that department. The sheer size of the Neptune figure, in everything from his body to his elaborate throne to his intimidating tail, is strikingly large proportionately to Ned and Seaweed and the rest of the ship. It will be one of the largest "humanized" AAs (as in, not a Yeti or dinosaur or anything of that sort) in existence. 

During his wrath, Neptune unleashes all his powers, from his influence over the elements to his control of the sea community. First, he starts by unleashing waves inside the theater which splash onto the stage (the first couple rows...you WILL get wet!) then begins brewing another giant storm. We feel the storm beneath us through the MS technology. Ned, stubborn as a mule, still refuses to acknowledge Neptune's power, so Neptune calls upon his fish friends, whom start pounding on the windows (this effect will be achieved through Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage style projections), threatening to flood the entire theater. After one last insult by Ned ("Is that all you've got? I eat fishes for breakfast") Neptune finally reaches his breaking point and almost literally blows his top. At this point, the entire figure is glowing in a hot red color scheme. He unleashes a HUGE wave onto the stage that sweeps Ned away with the tide, leaving Seaweed stunned on the floor. A few seconds later, a giant glass tube emerges from the center of the stage containing a stunned Ned, who has been trapped in a water cyclone by Neptune. Finally, Seaweed speaks up and says that if Neptune could release a rage like that, he MUST be a powerful being. ("And, between you and me", Seaweed whispers, "the guy's kind of an idiot...") With that, Neptune is calmed down and sweeps Ned back onto the stage, this time soaking wet. Ned is outraged, but Seaweed quickly puts his wing to Ned's mouth in order to not upset the Sea King any further. With that, Neptune promises the duo blue skies ahead, and bids them ado, going offstage in another flood of fog. Afterward, Ned and Seaweed do a little "you ALWAYS do this" kind of banter, before bidding goodbye to the guests. 

Conclusion

And that's our show for you. We hoped you enjoyed it and were able to follow the plot. The key aspect of this project is our main AA creation itself, which is Neptune, so in that regard we absolutely knew that he had to make a BIG impression within the show itself in order for us to get our point across. As I mentioned at the start of this project, Neptune himself currently isn't represented at all in Neptune's Kingdom outside of some vague pictures like the little self portrait you see of him in that picture I posted of the main entrance. I feel that in finally giving Neptune's Kingdom a big, Neptune centric attraction, while at the same time dusting off a couple obscure relics of amusement park history in the form of Ned and Seaweed for a comeback, we have created something that is BOUND to appeal to guests. Remember, the Neptune figure will be HUGE in size and will utterly dominate the entire stage. He will be one of the largest non-"monster" AAs ever created, and also by far one of the most emotive. In fact, his emotions will be the big driving point of his entire character. 

Neptune should have quite the variety of capabilities as an AA, a glowing trident that causes certain effects to occur based on color such as blue for dousing the audience in "waves" and green for rocking the ship with "shark battering rams", a face that can get progressively redder the angrier he gets, a sparkling crown, a glowing aura of light, the ability to flap his tale, and the ability to spray water at Ned with his trident like the King Trident fountain that used to be at Disneyland. So not only will this Neptune figure be one of the most visually intimidating "human" AAs ever put together, it will also be one of the most multi-functioning and technologically advanced AAs out there. With this project at large, we aimed to make something GREAT out of a relatively obscure piece of amusement park history. I just hope we did our job. This has been Team All Star with project four.

Team Wild Cards:

The hustle and bustle of New York! You never really believed all that talk of the dazzling lights and super-stimulation, crazy amounts of information, and everyone trying to get your attention. It’s like a whole world encapsulated into a single, never-ending city. You’ve enjoyed this trip with your spouse and your little 6-year old kid Jenny, who’s been begging to go to New York ever since she saw Enchanted, but you can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they enter Times Square. You know that you’re going to try to find the manhole cover Giselle popped out of when she came to our world, and you’re going to try one of those famous New York hot dogs. But something catches your child’s eye when you enter the hustle and bustle of Times Square:

“The Disney Store!” Kids seem to have a certain eye when it comes to finding magic, and honestly you’re not sure if you could have found the store yourself. All the stores fight for attention, each with their bright lights, crazy marquees, flashing monitors, and overall craziness. You feel like you need a break from this headache of a vacation, but your child pushes on, holding your hand at all times, to make it through the throng of people that populate the city. Maybe you can find a place to sit down or something in the store…



Finally, you enter the Disney store. It seems pretty low-key compared to, say, the Toys R Us across the street. Your kid, Jenny, really loved that dinosaur animatronic over there. But something was… wrong about it. It sort of looked cheesy, and its mouth had a delay, so when it roared it opened its mouth a second after the sound. I mean, you could tell it was fake. 



As you go up the escalator to the second floor, you hear the sounds of laughter coming from a large, open gazebo-like structure on the side of the wall… and there are benches there! YES! You take Jenny over to the benches and you sit down as she wanders over to the large group of kids sitting on the floor around the perimeter of the gazebo. You see a giant screen in front of you and a touch screen to the right of the screen, which enables kids to pick what clips they want to see on the screen. 

But the biggest, greenest thing you see right above the touch screen is a big Statue of Liberty… statue. 

But something seems different about her aside from the fact that she’s not giant and floating next to Elis Island. She has a friendly face; large eyes and pronounced lips make her face similar to that of a Disney princess. Her torch glows with an orange-yellow glow. Her tablet reads “July 17” in roman numerals, which is the opening date of Disneyland. And… she’s blinking! Yes, she blinks and seems to BREATHE, just as if she is living. Her head and neck seems to survey the guests around her and the arm that she uses to hold her glowing torch moves and gestures to the crowd. Even her body seems to move, as if she’s sort of shifting the weight carried on her hips back and forth. Nonetheless, her draped dress form is solid as stone, but it simply seems more… elastic, allowing us to see the subtle details of her breath, seeing her chest slightly expand as she breathes in. This is a very advanced Audio-Animatroinc, you think to yourself. And then she begins to talk to Jenny.

Statue of Liberty: Why HEL-LO there! Oh my, you look pretty as a princess! What’s your name, darling?
Jenny: …me?
Statue of Liberty: Of course you! 
Jenny: Um… Jenny?
Statue of Liberty: What a pretty name! Welcome to the Disney Store, Jenny! I’m the Statue of Liberty, but you can just call me Libby. It’s like my nickname, you know? Remember, darlings, that right next to me there’s a touch screen you can use to choose all sorts of cool clips to watch on the big screen!

Wow, Libby’s pretty cool! With the vocal tambour of Flo in Cars, the sass of a true New Yorker, and the kindness of a mother, Libby is the picture-perfect representative of New York! You figure that you’re tired and that you’ve got some time to kill, so why not take a break? You’ll keep your eye on Jenny while she’s entertained by Libby…



What's there to say about Libby? I mean, she's the Statue of Liberty. She's a beautiful statue created in France as a gift to America after our independence was gained. We set her up as the gateway to America for millions of immigrants to New York throughout the years. But no way is she old-fashioned. She's bright, spunky, and vibrant with personality,with the street smarts and practical wisdom of a native New Yorker. She's been around town and can tell you all about the city... but she'd much rather learn about you!

First, a few clips appear on the screen. You see kids (and adults!) picking clips from the touch screen on the side of the BIG screen. A “playlist” (on a third screen) appears just above the touch screen and tells you what the next clip is going to be. Not only do you get to see the clips you selected on the big screen, but you also get to hear Libby make comments of each of the clips. When she wants to talk to guests personally, she waves her torch, which makes the perimeter of the BIG screen sparkle in pixie dust and stops the playlist. A “Disney Store” logo appears on-screen while she talks, and after a few minutes she resumes the playlist with another wave of her torch. Some clips that are loaded onto the Disney Store computers include: 

Classic Disney Songs
Classic Cartoons
Disney Parks Material
Movie trailers and Clips
Home Release clips and trailers
"Music-to-the-ears" music videos/segments
Disney Living videos [from the YouTube channel] 
Disney 365 segments

Suddenly, you notice that the floor is not all it appears to be. You see, sometimes Libby does things that aren’t necessarily on the play-list. For example, she might feel like she’s in the mood to tell a story. Suddenly, the floor turns into a giant screen, evoking grassy plains. A large storybook appears on-screen, with the title reading “Enchanted”. You already know Jenny’s gonna LOVE this…

Libby: So, did you hear this new rumor that a princess was in New York? Heh, took them long enough to notice the princess… me! Ha ha, alright, jokes aside, darlings, there is an actual princess roaming around New York! She came from this Andalasia place, and honey, do I need some fashion tips from her. I mean, look at my dress! Too… 17th century for me... I'm all about progress! And isn't New York's slogan “Progress”? Never mind, I think New York’s slogan is "traffic all over town", darlings.*Sigh*, I wish I was a princess from Andalasia... Anyway, Giselle’s story began when she was getting married to this prince, Edward. She thought she was in love with him, see? So she was going to get married when she met an old lady who pushed her down a magic well! Now darlings, I’m sure that the witch was really more than she seemed, and she WAS! Actually she was Evil Queen Narcissa, Edward’s mom, in disguise! Isn’t that enough to turn your copper green, darlings? Giselle was in New York, New York. City of 10,000 dreams... and one parking spot. And though I love New York with all my heart, it ain't no Andalasia. You’re not going to see the subway and creepy alleyways in a fairy tale, honey. But then, she met a handsome fella named Robert, who wanted to help her in her journey into this unfamiliar real world...

As the page turns on screen, you notice the grassy plains of Andalasia fade away on the floor and turn to the concrete of NYC. The story continues on and appropriate visuals appear on screen while the floor and lighting around the gazebo changes to match the mood of the story. When Narcissa turns into a dragon at the end, strobe lights even flash inside the gazebo! There’s even some audience participation in it.

Libby tells even more stories, from James in the Giant Peach to Oliver & Company. Can you figure out what movies these are from the intros?

Libby: So, I was talking with my BFF… you know, the Empire State Building? Nice fella. Well, he told me there was this big adventure going on in Sidney, Australia and I was really interested, honey, so interested that I wanted to actually walk over there- but I really didn’t want to walk all the way across the ocean, you know? Water and metal don’t really get along. So, I asked old Empire to contact his friend over there in Sidney: honey, y'know him, the Sidney Opera House! Well, darling, he told me all about it! You see, there was this little tiny fish that got lost on the ocean, and his dad swam all over it just to find it…

Tale as old as time... Oh sorry, darling, I just get the giggles when I hear that song. What, honey, you don't know it? Well, that's the famous song in Beauty and the Beast! And that’s a wonderful movie, darling; did you know that it was the first animated movie to be nominated for a “Best Movie” Academy Award? And that’s just the beginning, fellas, it was also a great big musical right here in NYC! I tried to go see that, but they said I wouldn’t fit into the seats. Well, sometimes standing room is the best kind of room. Belle’s really a girl after my own heart. You see, she was tired of the little city and decided to go on an adventure…

Sometimes, Libby will play a game with the kids. You see, the floor is actually touch-sensitive, meaning that all sorts of cool games happen when Libby waves her torch.

For example, Libby begins to tell the children about how she once went to get a hot dog for lunch one day. "But honey," she would say, "That vendor didn't know lettuce from sauerkraut!" She goes on, telling them about how it took him a whole half hour to make her a hot dog! She challenges the kids to try and make as many hot dogs as they can in 5 minutes! She then invites the children to hop on the marked spaces on the edges of the boards, where there will be lighted panels with arrows and a select key for the kids to step on. She gives them the instructions (press the left key to choose the topping on the left, right to choose the topping on your right, and select to put it on your dog!), and starts the game! In front of each game space, a picture of what she, or some other Disney character, wants on their dog will appear, and kids have to recreate it! When the kids choose the wrong topping, a new hot dog and two new toppings to choose from will appear. When the game concludes, she thanks everyone for the hot dogs… but before Libby can take any of the hot dogs, Pluto comes up on the screen and eats them all!

Other games kids can play include:
• Streets game- Like a game of Red Light-Green Light, cross the busy streets to get Libby's dropped items and bring them back! If you step when the “hand” signal is lit, their character goes back to start!
• Subway game- The Evil Doctor Doofenshmertz messed up the subway tracks! Similar to Pipe Dream, move/ spin the tracks so that the train can get where it's going. (Phineas and Ferb tie-in, )
• Stepping Tones (like in the Imagination Pavilion) w/ NYC sounds
• Super Air Hockey- Libby talking about how one winter, she saw a bunch of people skating, and how it turned into a game of hockey!
• Broadway Show Hustle – Libby talks about when she went backstage at a Broadway show and mixed up the props! She asks for your help to put the props back into their proper place.



Sometimes Libby announces happy birthdays! When you tell people at the cash register that it’s your child’s birthday, the names get loaded onto the screen and Libby announces the birthday boys and girl’s names and fireworks go off on the gazebo’s ceiling while party lights change colors.

The final thing that you see is the Imagination Blast. Sometimes, just after a clip, strobe lights go off and the entire store’s lighting dims. Thunder sounds as clips of Disney villains appear on the screen. Libby tells guests that the villains are trying to take over the store! Her light of liberty can scare them away, though. She asks everyone in the gazebo to clap so her flame will light, and when it finally does, the whole store lights in a flash of bright colors, fireworks appear on the ceiling of the gazebo and on the magic trees throughout the store, and scenes of happy endings play on the giant screen under the gazebo as pixie dust surrounds the screen. Libby’s comment: “Aw, isn’t that just fabulous, darlings? You did it! Thanks for saving the store. Give yourselves a round of applause!”

When you’ve finally left the store and get thrown back into the bustle of the city, you really appreciate that you had a little break from walking and you’re happy that Jenny got to have a lot of safe fun in the city.

Well, Libby, any last thoughts?

Oh, honey, Jenny was such a doll. When she looks back at this trip later, she’ll DEFINTELY remember me and all the fun we had, darling, or I’m not the Statue of Libby-ty…oops, I mean Liberty!

KingMickey's Feedback: 

Ok guys, great work with the projects this week. 

Since MEW isn’t here for the time being, I will be grading the project, selecting the winner, eliminating a contestant and announcing the next project.

I’ll start with Team All Stars. I thought your project was very well put together. Very refined and detailed. I liked the fact that you decided to put an AA in an area that was themed, but had very little representation to the Neptune character. The AA seems innovative and cutting edge, but I feel like its splendor could have been appreciated better elsewhere. I felt that this AA was lost within all of the other theatrics of the show.

At one point, it seemed that I was reading a project about designing a new show, rather than a project about designing a specific AA. It just seemed like the addition was lost among Ned and Seaweed, the motion simulator effects and the other water effects. I also feel that the AA disappeared just as soon as he made his appearance and didn’t really give the audience the time to check it out. It was stated that the possibilities for the character was limitless, but there is essentially no interactive features with the audience other than the special effects, which aren’t the AA’s physical doing, not like Mr. Potato Head pulling his ear out or communicating with the audience.

So, all in all, I thought that your project was solid, just that your AA seemed to be lost amongst the other theatrics of this show.

Now, regarding the Wild Cards, I want to say that even though you guys aren’t considered “All Stars”, you definitely hold your own. Even though your AA was on a smaller scale and may not have been as effect heavy, I feel that you guys utilized it better. I liked that the Statue of Liberty AA was innovative, being able to communicate with visitors. It was a wise decision fitting this character into the new NYC Disney store, but I may have preferred to see it elsewhere other than Disney property, but that’s my own personal taste.

There were moments that I thought the character may have been a bit too Rainforest Café-ish, but the storytelling factor was a nice little edition. I really thought that the interaction with people is what made this AA phenomenal, it wasn’t just an animatronic, but an entertainer. “Happy Birthday, Bobby.”…there’s irony for me. I really hope I wasn’t there that day the picture was taken. I just thought your AA really rounded out the store more and offered a new sort of ambience.

I give Team All Stars a B.

I give Team Wild Cards an A.

So, Team Wild Cards have won this round, but unfortunately the Stalfos Power HAS been claimed by a contestant and they plan on using it. I leave this time for the claimer of the Stalfos Power to make their decision.
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On a side note, I’m a little bit disappointed with the gameplay that is happening on the boards. I’m not pointing fingers at anybody, but I always thought that the reason we play this game is to become better Imagineers, which is something I strived for in every season. Why is it that people want to become wrecking forces trying to destroy other teams? I’ll say this right now, there is no team in this competition that is UNBEATABLE. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, even as teams. You have to take your wins and losses to heart, when you win, don’t get cocky, you have to be consistent. When you lose, try harder next time, it’s a cycle.

Before long, these teams may not even matter and you’ll be in a completely new situation with new members, it may not be wise to be on their bad side. If there’s anything I learned, it’s to not underestimate your opponents and to have friends in your corner when you’re down and out. They’ll either really help you out in the end or end up completely, well, blanking you over. Yes, we have powers to help you towards your goal, but they’re not made to be purely controversial. They’re meant to enhance you and how you play the game. This game sees enough controversy as it is. If people are trying to purposely stir controversy, I really don’t see how you’re improving as an Imagineer.

Again, trying to stir the pot simply because it’s controversial isn’t a very good reason. You’re game will suffer. It will. Power shifts within an instant in this game, the more you seek, the more is at risk. Be careful with how you try to gain this power, that’s all I have to say.

Jessiestudio Eliminates Disneyson:

After nobody claimed the first super power of the season in the first round I decided i would give it a shot. Over 25 pages on Microsoft Word later I turned in my project, which i may one day just have to post on the boards... Moving on. I was lucky enough to win the power last round but with two "dead weights" on the chopping block I didn't really see the need to. 

However now that this power is about to fade into the history of the game I must either use it or loose it. Looking back on previous seasons I was a little saddened with the use of these amazing awards. I feel like these powers should finally be recognized for the huge influence they can have on a season, so I intend to actually do something with mine.

This rounds nominees for elimination were OSUPhantom and CostaFreak, but again these players have been largely dead weights and with an opportunity to return the game to the all stars favor I have decided to replace OSUPhantom with Disneyson1. I'm sorry about this but it does mean that Disneyson1 you have been eliminated from So You Want to Be an Imagineer. 

The fact of the matter is not that I do not respect you as a competitor but to be honest I am quite afraid of your immense skill level so early in the game. Your ability to pick out an amazing idea and really follow it through is a very powerful gift indeed. I wish you the best in your future imagineering endeavors and who knows, maybe we will see you back sooner than we think.... 

KingMickey's Response: 

As a response, I never said that the power couldn’t be used to your own advantage, but some are purposely staging drama for no reason. It’s pointless. The drama that went down between Cole and I in Season VII or Mater’s drama in Season V, wasn’t staged at all, it just happened, that’s true controversy that actually happened in the game right there. It has come to my knowledge that people have purposely planned to be controversial, which isn’t very real at all. It’s like, as I said to MEW, watching the first four season of a great dramatic reality show, but then in the latest season, all of the drama is pre-planned and scripted.

If you want to create an alliance, fine, if you want to use the power to eliminate people and advance your game, fine, but there’s no need to tell us that you’re purposely making the game controversial for the sake of being…controversial. Just play the game like it is and see what happens. The powers aren’t meant to be some big “Ooh Aah” Controversial moment, there purely meant to help people advance themselves in the game. As seen in Disneyson’s elimination, he was completely eliminated out of the blue. I hope that was a purely strategic choice, rather than an attempt to gain “ratings”…because we’re not even on t.v.

Tiki, I don’t understand why you think the judging favors the newer team. First project, I gave you both an equal review and the same grade. Project Two, I don’t remember what happened during the HMH project, but there was no interactive qualities in either of the project, Project Three I didn’t even grade and I gave the Wild Cards Team a better grade because I thought they utilized their AA in a more complete way, it was nothing against your team. I never said anything in your project was bad, I never even used that word in this competition .As much as I hate to say it, I’m studying Theme Park Management, like hotels and restaurants, technology changes and parks change with them. As much as I don’t admire it, people want interaction or a truly live experience. I don’t understand where this would come from, especially since Disneyson was eliminated. So, this team won two times, lost contestants both times and yet Team All Stars still contains all of their original members and they’re angry?

Disneyson, I’m very saddened by your elimination .You are one of the strongest, if not the strongest forces in the game and you really are unstoppable. It sucks because I see a lot of myself in you and I have worked with you on a personal level, which is why this elimination is all the more harder for me. You are going to be greatly missed by everyone and I hope to see you again soon.

On a side note, if you think Disneyson’s elimination is the most controversial moment you can imagine, you better stand your ground. Things are changing from here on out, for everyone. Born out of this could be a victory or an absolute downfall. Like I said, buckle up.

Disneyson's Reaction:

I'm incredibly sad to be leaving the game on my team's first win. Ironic, right? Well, I sort of predicted that I would be done in by the All-Stars, one way or another, but I never expected this to happen. I am EXTREMELY happy with the work my team did and I know that each and every one of my members are going 

Tiki, you have to understand that you did not lose because you didn't add interactive element nor because you were "old-fashioned" in your presentation. The only problem I saw with your project was that it lacked focus on your animatronic. Your project was more of a "well-rounded" show rather than focused on an Animatronic, which would lead you to victory in any other case... except when the project is based on throughly describing a single animatronic. It was too bad that each of your animatronics had equal characterization levels, because if Neptune had been CLEARLY the star and Ned & Seaweed the clear "extras", this project would have turned out WAY differently. Also, I feel like your project banked on the fact that your audience was familiar with your characters and felt nostalgic about them, which may have hindered you. I hope you are not very angry that you lost, because you created a great product that only didn't win in context to the challenge. I would LOVE to go see your show, Team All-Star, I really would.

And I'm really not too bitter about this elimination, either. It was the strategic thing to do to vote off a team leader. Plus, I'm really busy with my show this week and don't think I could do another project! I know (from at LEAST the first project) that ALL of you are such kind, wonderful, caring human beings. I hope you all continue with your hard work and continue to strive for a high-quality product. I really feel like I was taken from a long-lost family all too soon, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I hope I get to see you all again next season (If I'm eligible) and I wish all of you the best of luck on any future endeavors, Imagineering or not.