All this talk about Marvel, Disney, and Marvel Island at Universal’s Islands of Adventure has got me thinking about theme parks. You see, Marvel Island may remain renovation-free, but that doesn’t mean other islands at the park haven’t suffered a little bit of a loss of focus over the years. And it was pointed out to me that it’s uncertain whether a few rides based around Jurassic Park is relevant enough, or just plain enough, to carry a whole section of the park.
Now, part of the park – and part of the island with the least cohesive vision, in my opinion – will be redone for the new Harry Potter world. This pretty much ties up the fantasy market. But what if you could design a themed world for some other part of the park?
Coming up with a movie or series that has an immediately recognizable atmosphere, both interior and exterior, to support a whole section of a park (not just a ride) is harder than you might think! The best one I could think of was Lord of the Rings… but again, I feel it’s too similar in feel to Harry Potter.
What I think Universal could use is a cool, high-tech, sf-based world, with aliens and UFOs and who knows what else… but all I could come up with was The X-Files, which is not much more relevant and current than Jurassic Park.
And Universal isn’t the only park that could use some fresh blood; Disney could use something new that isn’t Stitch or Toy Story. Maybe Marvel could fill that gap – or maybe just a Disney property they haven’t considered.
So put on your thinking caps, as it were. If you could design a world for a theme park – either Disney or Universal – based on something relevant, iconic, and preferably different than the exisiting worlds, what would it be? How about individual rides?
About j
oooh, ooh! Okay, I know this is super-indulgent, but whatever.
FIREFLY. The possibilities are endless. Nuff said.
Bah! I was going to say Firefly.
How cool would a Firefly theme park be?
If anything, a Firefly ride would be amazing. One of those back-to-the-future style moving chair rides. Nathan Fillion and crew on the big 3-D screens…
Argh! Of COURSE!
I literally talked about this for an hour yesterday, with a friend who even went to the Serenity premiere with me, and yet neither one of us came up with Firefly. D’oh!
Well, I don’t know what they have already, but Incredibles is Pixar/Disney, isn’t it? It’s probably a bit redundant with the Marvel thing but I could see a series of different attractions based on possibilities from that movie alone, starting with Edna’s costume lab – zooming back and forth, maybe the fire seems like it’s going to come a bit *too* close… And that’s before you start getting to the superheroes and all those cool robots and everything!
I’ve always thought a theme park that was designed to look rundown, that somehow all of the fairy tales from childhood had gone horribly wrong; Halloween town on crack. Imagine rounding a corner and coming to a ramshackle cottage, looking like it hasn’t been taken care of in years. in the yard, are 7 graves, each gravestone unique, but hard to make out. Further down the road is a palace, overgrown with vines, and inside are many standing corpses; and at the heart, an emaciated, mummified remains of a woman with golden hair and a beautiful dress.
@jtptan – You know, Incredibles is one of the few Pixar films I haven’t seen? Everyone tells me it’s hilarious, though. I don’t know, offhand, if they made it during their little split with Disney, or if Disney’s adding them into their park, but so far it doesn’t seem to be as heavily promoted as Stitch.
@Malckuss – If you don’t know about it already, I think you would like what a lot of theme parks do for Halloween. Halloween Horror Nights at Universal is probably the most well-known, but there are others – seeing a theme park sort of “off” at night, where half the rides are shut down, is pretty cool.
@ J – I lived nearly 7 years in Orlando and managed to avoid Halloween Horror Nights every time. I’m a scaredy cat AND i hate the idea of the actors harassing me. I mean, I KNOW they aren’t allowed to touch you, but when I was teaching high school, the kids would tell me stories about being chased clear across the park by chainsaw guys. Not for me. ;p
On a funny note, apparently there is a “code phrase” that only the Universal employees know that gets the actors on the streets of the park to not bother you. As you walk around, listen for an odd phrase that doesn’t seem to fit. One year it was “I would like a magic wand.” If you say that phrase, the chainsaw guys assume you work there and will move on to paying guests.
I am going to have to agree with E on the no Halloween theme. I am from Valenica right by Six Flags Magic Mountain and I have been dragged to Fright Fest a few too many times. I will never forget the time I was soo freaked out that one of the actors actually had to come over and try and calm me down. >_<
I will also have to agree that a Sci Fi Theme park would be beyond awesome! Especially if you could have different areas for some of the most popular shows. (I could see this being problematic if you put the Star Trek area by the Star Wars area with fan disagreements, but I would still go).