Theme Park Apprentice 8: Challenge 2 - Flat Ride

June 12, 2016, 12:38 AM

Challenge 2: Flat Ride

In the amusement park industry, flat rides are by far the most common attraction. Sometimes called carnival rides or spinners, flat rides come in many sizes, shapes, and forms. Some are simple rotation based rides, such as a carousel or twist. Some involve movement along a level plane, such as a bumper car ride or a whip. Some are more observation based, like a Ferris wheel, and some provide serious thrills, like an enterprise. However, putting a basic flat ride in a theme park is not must enhance the experience to make it fit.

The Challenge:

For this challenge, you are to take a standard flat ride and transform it into a signature attraction. You may use a stock model flat ride or a reasonable variation on one, but you may not create a ride from scratch. How you enhance your attraction is entirely up to you, and you are welcome to add anything that will not compromise the safety of the ride. Heavy theming, enclosing the ride with special effects, adding interactive elements, creating a custom program, etc. are all fair options for this challenge. The size of your ride is up to you, but whatever you create should be a must ride experience at your park.

What qualifies as a flat ride? Generally, flat rides are defined either as rides where all motion takes place in a plane, or as attractions where riders remain at a constant distance from a fixed point on the structure. This means spinners, pendulum rides, and swing rides all qualify for this challenge. We will also allow small tracked rides (such as a whip or himalaya), attractions where riders drive around an arena (such as bumper cars), and drop towers (provided all motion is vertical). Roller coasters and dark rides (as well as other larger tracked rides) do not qualify for this challenge even if there is no elevation change.

The Proposal:

For this challenge, your proposal should be 3-5 pages and should include:

-The name of the ride and its location in your park
-An overview of the attraction...think of this as what you’d find on the park’s website
-Technical specifications for your attraction, including ride type, manufacturer (if applicable), and approximate ride duration
-A detailed look at the attraction, beginning at the entrance and ending at the exit
-Anything else you feel is necessary to complete your proposal

The Deadline:

All proposals must be submitted by Saturday, June 18th at midnight.

Replies (18)

June 13, 2016, 3:49 PM

I am planning on doing an indoor tea cups ride based on Beauty and the Beast. It will involve guests in cups spinning between platforms while featuring AA's and set during the "Be Our Guest" scene in the movie. I know Tokyo Disneyland just announced a Beauty and the Beast trackless dark ride with a similar concept for the "Be Our Guest" scene. Would this proposal be OK or would it be too much of a rip-off?

This is the attraction I was talking about.

Edited: June 13, 2016, 4:10 PM

Coming to FlashBack: The Theme Park

A new way to experience the South English coast.

A new way to get away from it all.

A ride for all of the Family

An experience that allows you to earn achievements.

Its time to get: Up, Up and Away.

June 13, 2016, 4:34 PM

Christopher, as long as you keep it a tea cups ride and don't make it a trackless attraction your concept is fine. We are also generally fairly lenient when it comes to announced but incomplete attractions as the exact experience isn't known until the ride opens.

Edited: June 18, 2016, 8:50 PM

World of Tomorrow, Rendezvous Park


"Join science-fiction hero Flash Gordon, his sweetheart Dale Arden and his good friend, the great scientist Dr. Hans Alexis Zarkov, on an exhilarating space adventure as they defend the friendly inhabitants of planet Mongo from Ming the Merciless, the ruthless Emperor of the rogue planet who will stop at nothing to capture Flash, take Dale as his bride and conquer planet Earth!"

At Rendezvous Park & Pier in Atlantic City, guests will blast off into outer space on "Flash Gordon's Rocket Ships", an updated version of a classic amusement ride from the early 1900s reimagined for the 21st Century utilizing new and innovative ride technologies from modern day theme parks.


Ride Type
"Flash Gordon's Rocket Ships", based on the 1930s Alex Raymond comic strip, will be an updated Traver circle swing ride fashioned after "The Rockets" at Kennywood Park and "The Circle Swing" at Luna Park. The Traver circle swing is named after Harry Traver, an American engineer and early roller coaster designer. As the founder of the Traver Engineering Company, Traver was responsible for the production of many gentle amusement rides like the Tumble Bug, the Caterpillar and the Circle Swing.

Traver circle swing ride

Ride Vehicles, Ride Duration and Ride Capacity
The ride vehicles, modeled after an Art Deco stylized rocket ship from the Flash Gordon comic strip of the 1930s, will feature six fully enclosed rockets, air-conditioned for guest comfort, with a maximum capacity of twelve guests per rocket seated with two people in six rows for a total of seventy-two guests per three minute ride cycle. The hourly ride capacity will be 1080 guests. A height restriction will require guests to be at least 36" tall to ride.


The rockets will be suspended by steel reinforced wires extended from the main ride tower. Inside each rocket, three high definition 3D screens will act as virtual windows, like on Universal's Hogwarts Express - one screen will display the action from the front/cockpit of the rocket and the two other screens will display the action along the sides. Overall, the three screens will afford a virtual 270-degree view. An additional circular-shaped screen displayed near the cockpit will act as a communication portal between the characters of the attraction and the rockets. The speed of the spinning rockets will vary to match the scenes of the attraction but will remain mild to keep guests from get sick. The rockets will spin their highest and fastest during the climax of the attraction but only for a few thrilling seconds. Lighting effects, surround sound audio and a rousing musical score will also enhance the ride experience, as well as smoke effects from the rocket's nozzle during lift-off.

"I can see the wires..."

Surrounding Area and Queue
The 90-foot tall steel structure of the elegantly latticed, 1930s inspired ride tower will dominate the World of Tomorrow section at Rendezvous Park. A small exhibit hall next to the ride tower will house the queue. The first half of the queue will feature the Flash Gordon comic strip with large painted murals on the walls. Broadcasts of the 1930s Flash Gordon radio serials will be heard throughout the first half of the queue as well.


In the second half of the queue, guests will crossover into the Flash Gordon comic strip and enter Dr. Hans Zarkov's laboratory where he first created the rocket that brought him, Flash Gordon and Dale Arden to planet Mongo. In the story of the attraction, Dr. Zarkov has been in constant contact with his laboratory on Earth and has been collecting scientific data from his current interstellar trip to Mongo. Unfortunately, he has been captured by Ming the Merciless and has been trying to contact anyone able to receive his transmissions. Using a small communication device he has hidden from his captors, Dr. Zarkov pleads with the guests in his laboratory on Earth to come to Mongo and save him. Dr. Zarkov mentions that he built additional rockets stored just outside his laboratory that were intended to reach planet Mongo, but before Dr. Zarkov can continue with any additional information, the communication is interrupted by Ming the Merciless, who dares anyone on Earth to come to planet Mongo and find Dr. Zarkov. After the communication abruptly cuts out, a door opens in the laboratory that leads guests through a narrow corridor to the load platform of the rockets.

Off-ride spectators will have an opportunity to stand near the base of the intricately constructed ride tower and view the rockets as they "whoosh" by in flight. Special LED lighting effects will add a "WOW" factor to the attraction at night - like a swirling disco ball with a pulsating glow that will intensify the look of the spinning rockets.

Ride Experience
Once guests are buckled into their seats with their 3D googles in place, the rockets will lift-off from the load platform and begin to spin as they clear the ground. As seen on the screens inside the rockets, guests will blast off on a quick interplanetary journey to planet Mongo and once there take part in one of six randomly chosen adventures accompanied by Flash Gordon in an effort to rescue Dr. Zarkov. It turns out Flash may know where Dr. Zarkov is being held prisoner.


The six randomly chosen adventures of "Flash Gordon's Rocket Ships" will take guests into six different regions of planet Mongo where Dr. Zarkov is held captive by Ming - The Caverns of Mongo, The Forest Kingdom of Mongo, The Ice Kingdom of Mongo, The Undersea Kingdom of Mongo, The Jungles of Mongo and The Fiery Desert of Mongo. In each adventure, guests will encounter many of the unique locales of the Flash Gordon comic strip, including Kira, the kingdom of the caves, Sky City, a metropolis that floats in the sky, Syk, the castle of the Witch Queen located on the side of a cliff surrounded by flames, Arboria, the hidden forest kingdom of Prince Barin, Tropica, the jungle kingdom of Queen Desira and Mingo City, the capital of Ming's empire. Guests will also encounter many of the unique characters from the comic strip as well, including Prince Vultan of the Hawkmen, King Jugrid of the Lion Men, Queen Azura and her Blue Magic Men, King Kala of the Shark Men, Princess Aura and Prince Barin, and of course Flash, Dale, Dr. Zarkov and Ming the Merciless.


The six adventures will center around Flash Gordon and Dale Arden on their search for Dr. Zarkov. Eventually, the adventure will turn into an all-out battle between Flash Gordon and his allies from the different regions of Mongo against Ming the Merciless and his evil army. As the tension builds and the action intensifies, the rockets will spin higher and faster until Dr. Zarkov is rescued and Ming is defeated. The rockets will then return safely to Earth landing back at Dr. Zarkov's laboratory.


Flash Gordon's Interplanetary Gifts
The exit of the ride will lead into a gift shop featuring Flash Gordon toys, comics, apparel and collectibles for purchase.

Flash's Junior Rockets
Younger guests not able to ride "Flash Gordon's Rocket Ships" can ride a junior version of the rockets housed next to the gift shop.


Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon is another wonderful example of a pop culture phenomenon from the 1930s that defined a genre of storytelling with imagination and foresight that continues to influence the stories of today and tomorrow. Like "Tarzan of the Apes" in World Expeditions, "Flash Gordon's Rocket Ships" will be a fantastic addition to Rendezvous Park with the perfect mix of classic storytelling and innovative ride technology newly-realized into a beautifully immersive attraction.


Edited: June 16, 2016, 4:07 PM

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Saltan’s Tsardom, Buyan Park

“Set sail with Sadko the Adventurer and brave the perils of the Seven Seas!”

Among the many beloved Russian heroes of old, Sadko is perhaps the most unique. While most are knights-in-shining-armor, Sadko is a lover, a trickster, a merchant and a sailor. One could call him the Slavic Sindbad. His sea-faring exploits form the basis for one of Buyan Park’s most audacious experiences, “The Last Voyage of Sadko.”

Sadko weights anchor in Saltan’s Tsardom, an all-new land which rises from the ashes of Noble Tsardom. With a renewed focus on folklore, this area becomes the principality of stock character Tsar Saltan, a key figure in tales of Buyan Island. His palace and grounds combine Russian design with Eastern influence. Saltan is a patron of the Russian arts, which allows this land to carry over many of the attractions from Noble Tsardom. He is also a great lover of nautical exploration. To that end, a monumental sea wall and marina on the outskirts of Saltan’s fortress are where “The Last Voyage of Sadko” begins.

Façade – The Three Ships
While it is a mystery as to what sort of experience lies within, the attraction's larger-than-life entrance promises something as legendary as Sadko himself. Guests are drawn first by the tremendous woven sails which flap in the simulated wind, then by the ornate craft below which hold them. Three of Sadko’s sailing ships rest at the base of the great sea wall. Each vessel is of a very different style – Indian, Viking, Venetian – and each is the absolute pinnacle of beauty. All around their bases are shipping goods from throughout the known world.

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Before the central Venetian ship, there is a humble wind-blown sea rock. For all the grandeur which awaits, this is a quiet and private scene. Sadko’s red cap rests on the stone, as does his gusli - a stringed instrument very much like a lyre. For Sadko was originally a humble gusli musician, and would often play his lonely, lovelorn songs at the shores of Lake Ilmen, Gateway to the Seven Seas. This particular gusli plucks away a tune all on its own, a melody taken from Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Sadko” opera.

Queue - The Venetian Ship
Guests proceed up a gangplank aboard the Venetian ship, past a small hand painted sign (bilingual, in two alphabets) declaring “Crew wanted!” Guests, now Sadko’s future crewmates, queue up upon the mighty deck. They are invited to test the rigging, spin the ship’s wheel, and peer through nautical spyglasses at the other sights of Saltan’s Tsardom. Should overflow queue space be required, cast members may lower bridges to the two adjacent ships.

Below Decks
Eventually guests descend stairs to below decks, to a chamber sparkling with the wealth of a merchant marine. Ceiling-mounted lanterns gently swing, which suggests the rocking of a ship and anticipates the ride to come.

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More treasures the world over sit piled up, from Egyptian statues to Arabian silks to Spanish armaments. And yet, three works of art hold special prominence, mounted together in a row on the aft wall. The queue naturally leads past these artworks, which tell of Sadko’s life and his increasing fortunes:

-- The first piece, a crude charcoal sketch on animal hide, depicts Sadko with his gusli at the lake’s edge, where his song enchants the radiant mermaid Princess Volkova.

-- The second, a fine Russian Orthodox painting in gold enamel, shows Sadko upon a rowboat catching three golden-scaled fish, to the astonishment of three foreign merchants – an Indian, Viking and Venetian – who watch from three familiar ships. The Sea Tsar, massive emperor of the waves, assists Sadko from below.

-- The final artwork, done in priceless stained glass, finds Sadko commanding his three hard-won ships. He holds a cup skyward in honor of the Sea Tsar, who looks on from the depths, Princess Volkova by his side.

Finally a cast member in a sailor’s uniform arrives with an announcement. Captain Sadko requests that his new crew join him topside. Magnificent double doors open.

Guests, numbering 160 in total, move on to seemingly the same Venetian deck from earlier. In fact, this is a new enclosed room. Now it is nighttime, and the stars twinkle against the chamber’s black-painted walls. All gather before the raised quarterdeck. Lanterns highlight a hand-carved prayer on the deck’s proscenium:

“Hail to thee, O Tsar of the Sea,
I lift my cup and drink to thee.”

Pre-Show - Sadko Addresses His Crew
All assembled, the quarterdeck illuminates like a stage. Captain Sadko enters from his chambers like a priest on Sunday. Sadko is a fantastic creation, among Buyan’s finest, a fully-articulated Garner Holt animatronic on unseen tracks bedecked in multicolored robes. Sadko issues a speech to his new crew. (To aid non-Russian speakers whenever extensive dialogue is employed, Buyan’s mobile app provides translations in dozens of languages.)

Now is the dawn of a new journey,” Sadko explains, “the maiden voyage of my latest and loveliest ship, the Volkova.” Sadko proceeds to speak in wistful tones of his beloved Princess Volkova, daughter of the Sea Tsar. Her aquatic world he can never know, though he has sailed the Seven Seas these many times attempting to do so. Sadko then speaks more excitedly of high-seas adventure, finally producing his cup. Distant lightning crackles. “Before every voyage, tribute must be paid to the mighty Sea Tsar, who has rewarded us all so abundantly!” Sadko extolls all to join him in reciting the quarterdeck pledge. He lifts his cup. Many guests joyously join in; inevitably, a few remain silent...

Music from Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Sadko.” The selection from roughly 7:30 to 10:00 represents what is heard on the ride, while the passages immediately before and after cover loading and unloading.

Sadko recedes into the darkness. Rimsky-Korsakov’s adventurous soundtrack swells as a portside gangplank appears. All 160 new crewmates follow this wide walkway through an arch – through the room’s black wall – to a floating dock where the stately Volkova sits moored in the morning dew. The cries of terns and the salty scent of the sea air lends to this scene’s effect. On the distant horizon line, a red sun rises. Sadko’s flagship is truly a sight: Russian in style, whose gossamer sails depict Princess Volkova as a vision of pure loveliness.

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Ride System
It becomes apparent that “The Last Voyage of Sadko” is a pirate ship (swinging ship) ride. This familiar carnival classic places guests in a ship-shaped gondola, which proceeds to swing back and forth to ever-greater heights. Buyan Park reimagines this timeless standard as an immersive new E-ticket! The gondola now sits entirely enclosed within a semicircular OMNIMAX dome. As it swings, the dome displays high-def film (48 fps, IMAX Laser 4K) simulating an ocean voyage. Other multi-sensory effects, from sound to scents to water sprays, add to the illusion. Buyan uses Intamin’s Flying Bounty model (as seen in Kings Island’s “Viking Fury”), which holds 160 people at a time with a height requirement of 40”. With a unique ride program of 2:30 and a loading/unloading time of 1:30, Buyan anticipates a 2,400 hourly capacity. Should this capacity somehow prove inadequate, a second pre-show room and theater can easily be added.

Ride Experience - The Volkova Sets Sail
Sailors call from throughout, bellowing “Cast off!” and “Heave to!” As the voyage commences, the loading platform telescopes into the shadows, to add to the “at-sea” effect. Similarly, the pendulum’s supports are painted black, minimizing their intrusion. The Volkova sets sail and swings, gently at first. A wave pool underneath simulates a current. Likewise, projected IMAX footage shows the dawn give way to morning as the Volkova reaches open sea. The ship’s rocking is synchronized with footage of ocean waves. A merry voyage is underway.

Storm at Sea
Squalls ahoy!” cries a voice from the crow’s nest! Storm clouds gather with supernatural swiftness, as the ocean waves grow increasingly fearsome. A horrible tempest overtakes the Volkova! She swings back and forth with renewed ferocity. Great splashes of water shoot vertically from the wave pool below. Water blasts from above simulate rains. The skies grow darker, until all that is seen are leviathan waves lit by sudden flashes of lightning!

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With the ship reaching greater heights and sharper angles, riders are subjected to thrilling momentum forces. An unearthly voice booms forth from the inky beyond. “Sadko! SAAAADKO!” Lightning reveals it is the merman Sea Tsar, towering above the torrents the size of a battleship! (Since riders face in either direction, sights such as this are shown on both sides of the dome.) Sailors’ voices quiver. “The Sea Tsar! Someone in the crew forgot to say the pledge!” “They’ve doomed us all!

Into the Depths
The swinging Volkova reaches her zenith, 43 meters up at a thrilling 75 degree angle! As riders plummet, the ship crashes through the waves and sinks under the surface of the sea! A blast of air chills riders. Projection effects line the dome’s ceiling, while the wave pool is invisible in the dark. The maelstrom continues to rage overhead. Whirlpools appear from below as tornadoes. The Volkova floats ever deeper into the watery abyss, as her erratic swinging slowly ebbs.

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The Volkova’s movements grow calmer, leaving riders exhausted yet exhilarated. The ship stills amidst the great shimmering minarets of the Sea Tsar’s Undersea Kingdom. Sharks and octopi glide past. All movement ceases. There is peace in this watery realm. A blue glow reveals Princess Volkova herself, hovering beatifically over her lover’s ship. “Go home, Sadko,” she says, “You have angered my father and you mustn’t stay with me. Your good fortune upon the sea now ends.

Post-Ride - The Grotto
In a sudden flash, the ship is again at her original harbor, returned magically as in the original legend. The telescoping dock returns. The exit leads Sadko’s former crew through a seaside grotto, where starfish and coral recall the mystical Undersea Kingdom. A haunting, unearthly gusli song echoes, Sadko’s final sorrowful lullaby to his lost love Volkova.


“The Last Voyage of Sadko” reframes a beloved amusement ride into an all-new immersive experience. With elaborate theming and physical thrills, it stands neck-and-neck with the finest roller coasters on a much smaller footprint. All this is augmented by a heartbreaking tale of love and adventure, the sort of heart which sets Buyan Park apart.

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Edited: June 18, 2016, 6:39 PM

Wicked Tsunami: The Ride

Location: Beach Bay, South Carolina. This area is themed to the seaside towns that dot the coasts of the Carolinas. Just so you know, this town is completely fictitious. This area also features a mini boardwalk with boardwalk rides, and a shooting dark ride themed to finding an abandoned ship, La Perla Azul (the cars are Vexler Inc. submarines). It is made very obvious that Vexler Inc.'s Headquarters and testing grounds are in this small town.

Story: (Please note: This is an original storyline and any resemblance to any other movie or book is completely unintentional). Vexler Inc., a submarine company has a new prototype submarine that they need to test out. You have been recruited to try out their new submarine.

Ride/Queue Facts: This is a Huss Suspended Top Spin with an hourly capacity of 1140.

Facade: The facade is themed to Vexler Inc. Headquarters. It looks very modern. It is a cinder block grey building, with red and tan metal sheets in the shape of rectangles and squares covering the borders and dead space. On the lower left hand side of the building are 2 big and modern glass doors. Next to the entrance on the left is a jet ski that says "Vexler Inc." on it. On the right is a nautical wood sign that has the side edges ripped off. It is staked into the ground and says in bright orange coloring "Wicked Tsunami: The Ride". The i in tsunami is a lighting bolt that flickers. There is an extended queue in front of the building, and will probably be used on a regular basis. The outdoor queue is protected by umbrella looking sun screens. The outside area and the queue have regular grey concrete slabs, and the outside queue line has black rails. The outdoor queue is solely switchbacks, and has TVs showing Seaworld's TV show, Sea Rescue. At the ends of the switch backs, and in front of them, are beach toys and chairs, and other fun beach articles to look at.

Queue, Room one: You are now in the receptionist area of Vexler Inc. It is relatively small in area, but is very tall to give a forced perspective that this building is huge. It is also very modern and has a color scheme of grey and white. There is a receptionist desk at the back of the room with a sign on it that says "Will be back when exploration is done." There are a couple of purple posters with white lettering that say things like "Explorations never stop, so neither do we" and "Keep fighting, Keep Pushing, Keep Enduring. Vexler Inc." There are also some silver chairs and tables at the left side of the room. Also, there are typical office things, like trash cans, magazines, door leading to other places, pens, paper, etc. Behind the receptionist desk is a silver Vexler Inc. sign that glows with a light blue light behind it.

Queue, Room two: You are now in the main part of the queue. After leaving the office through the doors that say: Research and Development, you arrive. The main queue is very large and is in the shape of a square. When you first enter, you can see a 2 sets of cubicals with various scientific things on them: Humidity readers, maps, microscopes, and a lot of paper and pencils. I forgot to mention earlier that the color scheme for this section is nautical brown and white/grey. You then move into the more open part of this room. The queue moves around the center of the huge room, so you can fill the center with theming.In the middle, there are benches with stools, paper, empty tanks, and spare submarine parts. In the center of the theming area is a white board with various math equations. Please note that there is a lot of high level quality theming in this ride, if you are wondering what some part of theming looks like, think of it as if Disney did it. On the walls are nautical maps and objects "found" on previous expeditions. Also in the center of the room is a nautical looking telescope and globe. On the globe, all the Seaworld Parks are listed and a big red star is placed on the location of Mission Bay. Just when you are about to exit the room, there is a sign next to the door that says, Exploration: Location: Beach Bay Objective: Test Submarine 3P729. You enter through the brown, beat up doors that say Production and Manufacturing to the next room.

Queue, Room 3: You enter a very rundown looking room. It has faded brown and grey paint and dim lighting. It's has a bit of rust on the walls. You see a giant yellow submarine with black wheels in front of you with a man (actually just a very good animatronic) working on it, to add the the realism, he's humming. The room is rectangular and to the left of it is the receptionist area (location wise, you don't actually know this). Please note that the attendant will let you in, in groups of 38, as that is the Top Spin's Capacity. The door closes with a thud, and he suddenly spins around. He says, " Oh hello there." He then stops painting and talks to you about the ship and Vexler Inc. The buzzer in the wall suddenly buzzes and then says," Send in the recruits." He picks touches as button near him and the wall next to him opens, revealing a boat elevator. The boat slides into it and the wall shuts. He says "ok" and the doors on the other side of the room opens. He waves and says "good luck." The animatronic should look like an older gentleman that has light grey hair, and very peachy looking skin, his height should be about 5' 8". This rooms has no switchbacks and is an open standing room ( like Tower of Terror's Library scene). The boat is on a rail system, so when the doors open it just slides in, and never actually goes up and down, just in case anyone was wondering how that would work.

Queue, Room 4: This is the final room before the ride. The queue attendant (dressed like a scientist) assigns you a row, 1 or 2. Please keep in mind that is is a slightly modified Top Spin, as both rows face the same direction. You walk up about 15 stairs and stand on a metal platform in your lines. There is rusted metal all around and the room looks like an old shipping port room. The walls are a blue-ish grey and the lighting is dim. There are pipes, metal grates, buttons, and levers all around. The cast member from below walks up the other set of stairs (to the right) and stands up and an old crate. She introduces herself as the head coordinator of the trip, she goes through and gives you the low-down on loading and locking your "air pressure balancing device". The large screen behind her goes to fizzy (like the static tv) and then bursts to life, showing the submarine sitting in the water, covered by a metal roof, and also on the sides. The metal wall behind the submarine says, you guessed it, Vexler Inc. She tells you that the submarine is ready, and it's time to go.

The Ride: You enter through the large metal air-lock doors. They open and you walk down to the furthest seat available. The seats face the left, and you can only see a giant metal wall, and blue all around you. In front of you, if your in the front row, is a giant control panel with many buttons and levers, and buzzers. This is the 2nd customized feature of this Top Spin. The "tech crew" walks down the aisles, checking your restraints. Once the wall clear is given, they walk off the rows and through the airlock doors. The lighting turns dim, and suddenly, the floor slides behind you, hidden behind the vehicle. A voice says," All right volunteers, we're remotely controlling the ship, so just follow our lead and let us know if you see anything." The metal wall in front of you suddenly slides up and you realize that you're just below the surface of the water. The voice says, "This is captain Kenneth Cook, and we are clear to dive." The Top Spin arms move down (with the car of course) and the projection on the screen syncs with it to make it feels like your diving. As you go down, you see rocks, grass, and beautiful fish swimming around. Sounds of water and fish and the ocean in general are playing. You gently rock for about 20-30 seconds as the screen simulates your submarine moving through the water getting deeper and deeper, as it moves towards a cool looking underwater canyon. Your sub moves closer and closer towards the edge of the canyon, gently swinging and floating around. The music sharply stops and so does the car. Suddenly, the screen starts shaking violently, and so does the car. It's an earthquake! The Car moves up and down, flipping and swinging crazily. (The entire dome is doing this same motions on all sides, so when you flip upside down, you continue to see the shaking, so it makes this experience completely immersive.) During this shaking, this car has stealthily moved to the middle of the dome. The shaking and screen movement stop, and the car stops flipping, and it just sways back and forth. The screen shows fish and other animals swimming in fear, and rocks and dust almost everywhere. A voice crackles on," This is the captain speaking, we are returning you safely to shore now. Please do not pan-" and then the voice suddenly dies. During this the video shows the submarine moving up to the ocean's surface. The car moves up to the top of the dome, All you can hear is a tv static sound. The video shows the ocean being still, too still. All the buzzers, buttons, and other equipment start lighting up and making noise. It's a tsunami! A giant wall of water hits the submarine and the submarine flips like crazy. During this time, blue strobe lights flash and everyone is probably screaming. This flipping continues for a minute, totaling 7 flips, and a lot of almost flips. The video during this time is very shaky and is meant to show you being caught up with the Tsunami. The car continues flipping and rising towards the top of the dome, the flipping slows and you suddenly see that you're at the peak of the Tsunami. It starts to crash, and the car rapidly moves down while swinging violently. When your sub hits the ground (in the video), everything goes black and all you can hear is the roar of the Tsunami. After about 5 seconds in the dark without any sounds or video, a dim light appears on your left, showing the doors. The seat belts/OTSRs and doors open and you make your way out. Once the cart is clear and the exit doors are shut, it moves from the bottom of the dome (where you unloaded) up to the middle to reload. This way you don't see any other riders.

Important thing: The Top Spin and Video are synced so whatever happens in the top spin happens in the video.

Gift Shop: After unloading you enter a gift shop that looks like a shipping container, and just continues the general ocean theme.

Car: Please note that you can't see anything on the screen except for the ocean projections. You cannot see any glass, as if you are looking out a window as there is none projected, or attached to the car due to the violent motions. The car is themed to a submarine

Thank you all for reading my ideas, I know that this may seem like a motion simulator, but it is not, as this is a top spin with projections synced to the movement of the ride vehicle. I know that some things I said might have been a bit confusing, so I would be happy to take any questions. Please excuse typos :)

Edited: June 17, 2016, 4:10 PM

Up, Up and Away

The Pleasure Gardens - Flashback: The Theme park

Elevator Pitch - Up Up and Away provides guests a safe and secure way to get the “Hot Air Ballooning” experience Guests Ascend to the heavens in balloons, offering a new way to see the scenic and historic sites of Portsmouth, as well as our beautiful pleasure gardens, before safely returning to earth.

Base Ride - Intamin Double Ferris Wheel

Although the ride is going to be modified to provide a unique experience, We’ll start with the Double Wheel. This is a ride type that debuted in 1973, and was further enhanced by a “Triple” version in 1976. However, since 2004 none of these rides have seemingly been in operation 00 the last closed at Hersheypark in October that year.

The Double wheel offers the park a number of advantages that warrant its return to theme parks. Its impressive size ensures that the ride will be a landmark in its own right, and its scarcity ensures a novelty value that an observation tower or classic ferris wheel cannot replicate. However what is perhaps most useful in its design is its efficiency - Whilst one arm is providing the ride experience, the other arm is ready for loading - allowing for the ride to handle large crowds without skipping a beat (HersheyPark’s great wheel had a capacity of 2000 guests per hour)

Our Twist - Hoisting the Gondala.

On a classic Double Ferris Wheel the gondala lies in the station area for boarding when the arm is in the “Down” state. On “Up Up and Away”, the ‘Down” state is still two and a half stories off the station platform.

In order to bridge the gap, the Gondala are hoisted up and down by a cable. For safety reasons this is done at a slow pace, and there is absolutely no rotation in that arm during the “hoist” - Rotation is only done when the arm is in the fully raised state. In addition, a wind break will be built to at least the one and a half story mark to reduce any impact from the wind (if engineers recommend it, this will be extended higher).

Although this does increase the load/unload time, and thus reduce capacity, the already naturally high customer capacity should ensure that the ride remains one of the highest capacity in the park.

Ride Experience - Normal Operation

The Arms for the ride are patterened off MontGolfier’s balloon (above), and the ride gondala themselves are classic hot hair balloons with what appear to be wicker baskets (They’re actually made of sterner stuff), with the balloon part in simple primary colours. Most of the Gondala fit 8 each, which particularly on non peak days allow a spacious experience, two on each arm have a regular seating capacity of 6, with the extra space allowing wheelchair users to experience the ride.

The queue to the area spirals down around the load areas, as the part of the windbreak for the station area, leading to a brick paving stone station area.

Guests board the balloons, and when all the gates are secure, the hoisting can begin. The Ride does contain a speaker unit, when the balloon is moving upwards (either being hoisted on the rope, on the way to the “Up Arm” position, or during the up parts of the rotation) a sound is played from the balloon that creates the impression that there really is a gas jet creating a flame to encourage the balloon upwards (there are also light effects to support this illusion).

When the Arm reaches the full “Up” position, the rotation begins, not at a thrilling pace, but a nice gentle pace emulating the balloons being pushed around by the wind.

The historic Dockyard is on the left, HMS Warrior (an early ironclad steam-powered warship) is in the middle, Spinnaker Tower is on the right

From here you can see the Beach, The Historic Portsmouth Shipyard, and huge swaithes of the South English Coast. Out to sea you can see the Isle of Wight, as well as many of the impressively large cruise ships that visit this part of the country.

If you have the official “FlashBack: The Theme Park” App, you can use our app for a little augmented reality - the app will use your phone’s camera to help you identify local landmarks and hidden features in the gardens. If you use the app to take a photo of several of these landmarks you can earn achievements that can lead to vouchers for discounts off in park food and merchandise.

As the other arm fills with riders, the rotation slows down, and comes to a stop, and the gondala begin to descend back to the “down” arm position. The balloons then descend via cable into the waiting area.

Changes to Ride Experience - Winter Wonderland


The ride takes on an “Elf Overlay” when Winter Wonderland is open. Instead of just a generic baloon ride, the ride is now home to “Santa’s Elves Air Force” where elves are helping santa watch for good and bad boys and girls, and keep his list up to date.

The Balloons are changed slightly in that the balloon is now enhanced with a Ribbon, making the balloon look like a gift. The Ride otherwise operates as normal, and the Flashback and Winter Wonderland apps operate as normal.

Edited: June 17, 2016, 7:02 PM

I know this was discussed during the last Theme Park Apprentice, but I would like to ask the judges to re-read my submission tomorrow evening as I am currently editing it to help clarify my ideas. Thank you!

Edited: June 18, 2016, 9:33 AM

(OOC Note: I thought about the judges' comments on Neverland, and I agreed that the land seemed out of place in my theme park. This actually occurred to me before I sent in the initial proposal, but I stuck with it because I had included the land in the park map I had sketched. I am replacing the land with Royal Waters, which will be outlined before my ride's explanation.)

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The Undersea Musical Adventure
Royal Waters
The Undersea Musical Adventure invites guests from all ages to take place in the Royal orchestra of King Triton’s court. With interactive elements, an alternate musical experience, and stunning effects and display, the Undersea Musical Adventure is a beautifully composed ride that is truly designed for everyone.

The Undersea Musical Adventure is housed at the center of the land Royal Waters, which is located near the land’s New World and French Court. The major IP’s of this land include The Little Mermaid and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. The land's facade includes colorful bushes to imitate coral reefs. Prince Eric's ship serves as a backdrop to the land as well as a walk through attraction.

The entrance to the ride features a playfully colorful yet elegant sign. Corresponding to the Royalty theme, the posts for the chain fence resemble a cylindrical coral piece topped with an attached clam shell and pearls. The queue twists around the ride and also runs along a wall. The wall is tiled with a beautiful scene of the interior of an undersea palace. As guests turn to enter the queue wrapping around the ride, an animatronic Sebastian with a baton, invites them to join the royal orchestra.

The boarding process occurs as a cast member admits a select number of guests to a sectioned off part of the queue. After last group of guests leave from the exit, the new group of guests are invited onto to begin loading. The guests have the option to choose where they sit, based on a first-come, first-served basis. This process is repeated for each ride.

Ride Experience
Each car is designed to hold two adults, with variations allowed with children as long with approval from the attending cast member.After guests are comfortably seated cars designed in the fashion of an open clam shell, and then safety bars are checked by a cast member. The ride begins. The sound of trumpets from The Little Mermaid soundtrack song, “Fanfare."

This can be heard from the center of the ride, from which the entire ride circulates around. The center features a shell-inspired tower of sea creature animatronic musicians. As each of their parts begin, their section illuminates with a distinguishing color. Outside of the tower on a thick column, an animatronic sebastian with rhythmic arm movements conducts the entire orchestra.
Facing the guests at the front of each car is a music stand. A prominent pearl is centered in the stand. When pressed, the pearl illuminates with a specific color. This color corresponds to the illuminated animatronic musicians. The car begins to rise via an imitation of a water spout being emitted from the whale’s blowhole. During the lifting process, audio of the animatronic musicians playing the part corresponding to the button’s color is heard more prominently. After seven seconds of movement in a lifted position, if the button is not pressed once again, then the ride descends to its original position. After the song concludes, all cars descend to their original position for departure.

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Alternate Experience
In the place of “Under the Sea,” the instrumental “Kiss the Girl” plays, with a truncated “Fanfare” still in place for the introduction.

The ride's platform is made out of a synthetic wood that is not susceptible to water atrophy.
Ride System
For boarding purposes, the whales are submerged under the water. When the ride begins, the guests move up two feet and the whales surface.
The cars are lifted using a thick fiberglass fiberglass tube supported with hydraulics. At the top of the tube, water is emitted from a separate source to stimulate splashing, all giving the illusion that the whale’s spout support the clamshell car. The cars are spaced so that the water emitted by the cars that are extended do not hit the cars in the lowered position.

The pearl buttons only become active after the brief “Fanfare” introduction as the ride begins. Both songs, “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl” feature several highlights from various instruments throughout the song, whether it comes from the beginning of a verse or a short instrument solo. Within five seconds of pushing the button and its illumination, the trademark instrument for that particular part of the song will play. Two or more cars can play the same instrument part at the same time, and different instruments can play together at the same time, depending on the music.

The Undersea Musical Adventure is accessible to guests with disabilities. A specific entrance is designated for guests in wheelchairs.

The Undersea Musical Adventure is truly an exciting experience for everyone. With variability possible in each ride, guests can do repeat visits while also having a unique experience each time.

Edited: June 18, 2016, 6:52 PM

Lumiere’s Dancing Dishes.

Be our guest as you spin and dance with Lumiere and Mrs. Potts in an enchanted celebration..

Basic Stats.

This ride will be located in the Fairytale Festival area. It is a traditional teacup ride with a Disney twist. Ride time is 2:15. The ride vehicles are over-sized anthropomorphic tea cups (with eyes, mouth and a handle nose like Chip) that seat 4-6 people with a central spinning wheel in the middle. There are four cups per turntable with four turntables in the main ride area for a total of 16 cups and about 64 guests per ride cycle.


This attraction will be located in the Fairytale Festival section of the park which is themed to a medieval faire in honor of the arrival of various Disney friends from faraway lands instead of being transported to a specific location. Lumiere’s Dancing Dishes will be housed in a “village haus” style building with a large marquee out front. To complement the attraction’s storyline, there will also be a quick service restaurant entitled Lumiere’s Kitchen which will offer views of the main ride area. (Similar to what Pinocchio’s Village Haus does for Small World)


This is going to be a themed environment attraction rather than a story-driven experience. The idea is that as Belle and the Beast arrived into the village for the Fairytale Festival, they invited Lumiere, Mrs. Potts and Chip to come along and join the celebration. Lumiere decided to bring a “taste” of the castle’s kitchen over to the festival, so he brought along his band of enchanted kitchen objects to put on a show for the festival guests. They decided to open up shop in the village’s main “dining haus” to offer guests with a “meal” they will never forget.


As guests enter the village haus, they make their way through the kitchen as we see where Lumiere and the rest of the enchanted objects have been at work preparing for their “guests”. As guests make their way through a series of switchbacks, they pass by a series of sights which set up the ride experience. We see a table with various baking ingredients laid about that someone has been at work and an oven with the smells of cakes, pastries and other delights cooking in a nearby oven. We also see the dishwashing area with piles of dirty dishes and a dripping faucet. Nearby, guest pass a large cupboard where we see Chip’s “siblings” sleeping inside. Occasionally, one of the cups might wake up and smile at the guests before going back to sleep. (This effect is done with static/AA cups with projected faces)

Pre-Boarding Area:.

As guests pass through the kitchen, they are led into an ornate holding area which leads into the main ride area. Guests are broken up into individual cups and are led to one of 16 dishes laid about the room. As the guests are about to enter, we hear Lumiere making an announcement over the PA welcoming everyone to the celebration. The doors open and we are then lead out into the ride floor area.


I have posted the link to the “Be Our Guest” song with the appropriate time marks for you to look up a particular element I describe."

Ride Area:.

The room is themed to an ornate banquet hall, reminiscent of the ballroom from the film. While not an exact copy of the ballroom ala Be Our Guest Restaurant, you can see related aspects such as the blue and gold color scheme, similar style columns and a grand chandelier which drops down during the ride sequence. The ride has four turntables with four cups on each for a total of 16 cups. (There is also space between the cups for them to move between turntables.) In the center of the room is a table with a large cake, where an AA of Lumiere will appear when the ride sequence starts. At each of the four corners of the room are tables with a different AA vignette that occurs during the ride. When guests are entering/exiting the ride floors, the most of the props are on turntables, hidden behind the wall which come alive during the ride sequence with the exception of the cake in the middle where Lumiere pops out.

Ride Sequence:.

Once guests are seated in their cups, the lights dim as Lumiere rises out of the central cake as a full AA figure with a projected face (ala Enchanted Tales with Belle) and sings the first part of the song. (0:00-0:17)


Once Lumiere finishes that part, the cups begin their spin sequence as they now can spin 360 degrees and can freely move between turntables (similar to TDS’ Whirlpool or DCA’s Ladybug Boogie). Throughout the ride and at their appropriate moment in the song. Each of the corners start to open up and reveal their particular show element based on their timing in the song.

Corner 1:.

Cupboard of dancing dishes which do various formations depending on the ride sequence (e.g. Eiffel Tower, Sleeping Beauty Castle, Burj Al Arab (local landmark)) (Projection Effects) (0:39-0:46)

Corner 2:.

A table with dinner prepared including Cogsworth popping out of a dessert dish looking disgusted from the celebration. (AA’s and static props) (0:55-1:02)

Corner 3:.

A choir of singing beer steins and can-caning feather dusters (AA’s) (1:17 and 2:42)

Corner 4:.

Mrs. Potts with a choir of tea kettles (spews mist and bubbles at the riders) (AA’s) (2:11-2:36)

(For reference, the ride’s music track goes from 0:00-1:33 and 2:10-3:30).

As the vehicles spin around the dining room and the show elements go off at their cue as the celebration keeps expanding until we reach the climax of the song (2:58-end) as a chandelier of dancing utensils drops down from the ceiling above Lumiere (3:08). As the final part of the song plays, the lights begin to dance via disco balls and dancing spotlights at the base of each of the four corners’ vignette. Once the song ends, the room goes dark as the four corner vignettes turn behind the walls to be hidden from the loading/unloading guests. As the cups come to a stop, Lumiere thanks everyone for “being their guest” and invites everyone to come back soon before descending into the cake. The guests make their way out of the dining room and back into the main Fairytale Festival area.

In conclusion, Lumiere’s Dancing Dishes will be a unique representation of the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast by combining a classic ride system, state of the art AA’s and the film’s signature music to create another Disney Parks exclusive found only at DisneyToon Dubai.

June 18, 2016, 6:43 PM

Hi. I would also like you to read my submission again as I have changed the Plotline and location and fixed some typos. I feel like my submission is much stronger now and thank you if you decide to re-read it.

June 18, 2016, 9:46 PM


In Toho Studios Park’s futuristic sci-fi area called Neo Tokyo, there is the family-friendly flat ride Astro Boy’s Flyers! Far frem the land’s Akira-inspired cyberpunk slums, the land’s subland dedicated to happier science fiction like Astro Boy and Speed Racer invited smaller children with bright, happy colors and curvy, cartoony Googie style aesthertics. Astro Boy is very important to Toho Studios Park, because he was the very first genuine anime and manga. A big towering sign announces the exticing ride, with singular blocks for every letter. Visitors are drawn by the Astro Boy ride’s amazing spinning and kinetics!

Astro Boy’s Flyers is a spinning aerial carousel, like Dumbo’s Flying Elephant in Disneyland parks. But before we get to dscribing the ride, we must go to the queue!

The QUEUE : starts in a sleek futuristic building to look like the laboratory of Dr. Tenma. It is now the distant 21st century ,a time when humans and robots coexist . Pictire is like The Jetsons, oor like the Mega Man games which were heavily inspired by Astro BOy! Dr. Tenma’s laboratory is the Ministry of Science,

Now, a little context for readers who do not know. Astro Boy is an android creation of Dr. Tenma, who wished to replace his own son following a tragic car accident which vaporized his son Tobio. Astro Boy could not love Dr Tenma as much as his son did, because of the Uncanny Valley, so Dr. Tenma sold astro Boy to the circus! Here in the Circus Astro Boy performed for the mean old cruel Hamegg, until very violent and convoluted circumstances led Astro Boy to become the property of Professor Ochanomizu. Professor Ochanomizu was a good man who wanted Astro Boy to become a superhero and fight crime, so Astro Boy did that. He magically gave Astro Boy the robot seven superpowers with which to battle evil. Guests are later going to board their very own makeshift Astro Boy flying robots to test out these super powers themselves!

But for now, they are in the queue of Dr. Tenma’s laboratories. Inside there is lots of hanging wires and old strange retro-futuristic scientific equipment . A big animatronic of Astro Boy (a robot pretending to be another robot! Haha!) on a gurney! In live with stage effects and such, the PRE-SHOW recreates the creation of Astro Boy, which is like in a Frankenstein movie with amazing lightning and bubbling crockpots. This pre-show lasts for 3.5 munutes and is amazing!

Guests continue down boring barren grey hallways. The line moves slowly enough here that Professor Ochanomizu’s voice can be projected throughout to slowly explain in exceptional detail the rest of Astro Boy’s backstory (explaining of above), and establish the premise of the ride’s premise. The guests are now going to be riding and testing new Astroy Boy-shaped flying vehicles, because Professor Ochanomizu also wants them (the guests) to become crime-fighting su0erheros like Astro Boy too!

Finally steel, gray doors open to the spiner carousel arena! There are eight Astro Boy cars around a central tower, made to look like a big old funky robot like Gigantor who Astro Boy might fight! Each car sits two riders. Each ride cycle takes two minutes, so hourly capacity is maybe 320. maybe Toho Studios will later built another Astro Boy spinner to make it larger!

Riders fly over a pit of shooting colorful water !Professor Ochanomizu speaks to them on an intercom on their Astro Boy vehicle. He explains that they are to now use the many buttons in front of them to try out all of Astro Boy’s seven superpowers!
First is 100k horsepower strength! Guest press a button for this and all the Astro Boys in the curcle fly around really fast!

Second up is jet flight. Button pressed! Flames shoot visibly (but safely!) from each Boy’s boot feet, and all the Boys rise upwards to the ride’s xenith.

Thirdly, high intensity lights in the eyes. Astro Boys fire lasers forward; guests are encouraged to aim pistols at each other!

Fourth is adjustable hearing. Professor Ochanomizu raises the volume on the speakers in the cars so that guest smay hear very loudly all the noises of cars and people all over the place.

Fivth is instant language translation. Guests are encouraged to speak whatever gibberish they can think of into a speaker. Whaterver they say, it comes back as a famous quote from Aztro Boy.

Six is a machine gun in Astro Boy’s BUTT! Toho’s engineers are still figuring out how to make this one work

Seventh is the last one, which is a high IQ which lets Astro Boy know who is good or evil. Guests use a scanner device to examine the random guests they can see wandering through Neo Tokyo. The scanner is like the IQ, which tells them which of the park guests are evil!

Now that everyone has been trained on all 7 superpoers, Professor Ochanomizu gives us a full remaining amount of ride time to go totally nuts using all superpowers as they please! Then the ride comes to an end and guests are usherd calmly to a post-ride shop specializing in Astro Boy Merchandise.

At night, Wild and crazy lights shoot up into the skies and around the ride, making it wild and beautiful!

Sorry my prospoal isn’t longer. This is just a flat ride, and there isn’t much more to say about it!

Edited: June 18, 2016, 11:58 PM


Festival of the Lanterns
Soar on a glowing lantern as it drifts through a stunning festival of light.

Many moons ago there lived a beautiful crane, the pride of the Jade Emperor god. Its wings were twice as long, its feathers twice as soft, and its song twice as enticing as any other crane on Earth or in the Heavens. One day when the Jade Emperor was away from his beloved pet, the crane took a wrong step and fell from the realm of the gods to the land of men. A villager followed the sounds of its cries until he stumbled upon the crane. Enraptured by its magnificence, he immediately decided to keep the crane as his own, clipping its wings so that it could never fly away.

When the Jade Emperor discovered that his precious crane was missing, he erupted in a fury and scoured the Earth. From village to village he went, intent on punishing the perpetrator. When he finally found the guilty man, the Emperor returned to his palace in the Heavens, planning a fiery vengeance on the entire town. His daughter, a gentle soul, heard his vicious plan and warned the town that the Emperor planned to burn the village and everyone in it.

The townspeople were shocked; were they condemned to be consumed by flame? They mourned and grieved, preparing themselves for their final days. Fortunately, a wise village elder meandered through the streets and insisted that they stopped their lamentations.

“On the fifteen day of the year,” he croaked, “every family must hang red lanterns around their house, set up bonfires in the streets, and explode firecrackers. The Emperor will see the town and believe its burning, sparing us from his own flame.”

And so they obeyed, desperately hoping the elder’s prediction would prove true. Every household hung red lanterns, and the streets were flooded with a parade of brilliant lanterns of all shapes and sizes. Controlled fires blazed throughout the night, and the hissing of sputtering firecrackers echoed between houses. When the Jade Emperor peered down at the town from his perch in the Heavens, he saw smoke rising from a village ablaze in vivid red. Content, he remained in his palace and spared the city from his wrath.

From that day on, the village celebrated their salvation with a festival of lanterns, fireworks, and firecrackers. In the Orient at ImagineNations, Guests can experience the festival firsthand as they take part in their very own Festival of the Lanterns.

Ride System
Festival of the Lanterns uses three 75-foot tall parachute towers manufactured by Intamin. Each tower’s six parachutes, which are themed to lanterns, hold six people with back-to-back seating. After a boarding time of about two minutes, the attraction takes 108 people for a two minute flight. Festival of the Lanterns anticipates an hourly capacity of 1,620 riders. With custom programming, every lantern’s flight path will be slightly different.

One of six scenes from the origin story of the Festival is painted on each red lantern. During the attraction, they are illuminated in order, a subtle touch that helps tell the attraction’s backstory.

The Jade Emperor. The lanterns are painted in a similar artistic style, and this style inspires many of the designs throughout the attraction area.

Spiraling up each of the central towers are magnificent dragons. A staple at lantern festivals across China, the dragon is made of a transparent plastic material. As the light inside change colors, the dragon seems to glows. All of the technical components of the attraction are painted black to disappear into the room’s darkness, focusing attention on the lanterns and lights.

The inspiration for the dragon lanterns. The red lantern in the background is similar to the parachute lanterns, with the bench seating beneath the lantern itself.

Queue and Surrounding Area
Guests find the Festival of the Lanterns in the Orient. Branching off of the land’s main street, an narrowing alley lined with vendors of Asian cuisine and curiosities leads to the attraction area. The roofs of the stalls touch each other, blocking external light. Since the attraction itself is housed inside a show building, this provides a natural transition to the perpetual night of the Festival. The walkway also gradually slopes downward, offsetting the towers’ height by lowering the entire attraction area below ground level. From the land’s main walkway, the show building is themed like a pagoda and nestled behind the street.

Once Guests are inside of the show building, the stalls space out, revealing a lively night market around a town square. The three towers rise from the center of the square, with the queue twisting around them. Lanterns are strung between the storefronts that surround the town square. Firecrackers dangle from store overhangs; the market is clearly in the midst of a celebration. Shops and street vendors sell traditional Chinese foods, such as sweet dumplings, fried squid, and egg custard tarts. On occasion, the faint smells of soy sauce, ginger, and garlic waft by. Street performers entertain Guests with marionette dragons. Of course, several shops sell obligatory lantern mementos.

A canal meanders through the square, winding around the towers of the attraction. Connected to the South China Sea outside, junk boats commandeered by Guests float down the waterway as part of a separate attraction. Additionally, several lantern floats are docked in the canal. While used for an outdoor nighttime water cavalcade, the impressive floats are stored inside the attraction’s show building during the day, enriching the environment.

Inspiration for the Chinese night market. Store fronts in this architectural style line the square, with a similar canal running through the center.

A tall, red arch adorned with teal porcelain tiles and golden detailing marks the entrance to the attraction’s queue. A single rider line also begins here, helping to ensure that the attraction performs at maximum capacity. The queue twists around the bases of the three ride towers in the center of the town square, over a few foot bridges as boats pass underneath. Along the way, stone shrines depict scenes of the Jade Emperor story. Guests also circle around several stalls selling vintage scrolls that illustrate an elaborate spectacle of lanterns and fireworks. Attentive Guests will notice that different scrolls show different types of fireworks in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Under the pyrotechnics, villagers can be seen holding their arms in various positions: straight above their heads, crossed, around their necks. Perhaps if Guests mimicked these poses while on the attraction…

Ride Experience
Guests take a seat, the lantern directly above their heads. As the soothing, traditional Chinese music begins, the lanterns slowly rise at varying speeds. One lantern from each of the towers rises to the highest point in the room. Their lanterns momentarily glow brighter, illuminating the story scene painted on the lantern. This repeats in chronological order for each of the scenes, gracefully telling the backstory of the Festival to Guests on the ride, in the queue, or even just wandering the stores.

As the final of the six lanterns rises and shines brightly, depicting a firework celebration, all of the other lanterns rise to join it to the crescendo of the music. The dragon lanterns wrapped around the tower shoot sparks from their mouths, fireworks are projected on the dark walls of the room, and firecrackers hanging from storefronts tremor as they prepare to explode. The lanterns strung above nearly all of the walkways, including the queue, turn on and off in synchronized patterns. As the ride reaches its climax, the entire room erupts in a visual spectacle. After a few seconds of celebration, the lights return to normal, the music softens to a quiet, and the lanterns return their Guests to the ground.

While the attraction itself tells a subtle story, the centerpiece of the experience are the interactive elements throughout the show building. Each lantern parachute is equipped with motion sensors aimed at the Guests. They detect simple arm motions from riders, triggering elements throughout the room. For example, making an x-cross with your arms above your head triggers a firework projection on the wall directly across from you or on the ceiling above you. The same motion synchronized with the other two passengers in your row makes a dragon firework that temporarily sparkles as it flies through the night sky. Different motions and combinations of motions result in various displays, creating immense repeatability. Guests can study the scrolls in the queue for a good starting place, but Easter eggs are aplenty.

The fun isn’t limited to projected fireworks; physical sets can be interacted with too. With similar, simple motions, Guests can temporarily change the color of the dragon lanterns that wind up the ride system’s tower. Even the storefronts have interactive elements. The large monkey statue on the top of the souvenir shop? Guests in a certain lantern who wave their hands over their head will see the statue wave its tail and stick out a stone tongue. Elements like this are scattered throughout the room, different for Guests under every lantern.

When Guests disembark, they’re invited to wander the stores surrounding the town square. With delicious food options, seating for the indoor firework display, and prime souvenir shopping, the fun doesn’t stop with the attraction.

The colorful, beautiful lanterns of the night market. Storefronts like these incite a sense of exploration and immersion, transporting Guests to the distant Asian continent.

Festival of the Lanterns elevates a classic flat ride. With its immersive themed area, subtle yet clever storytelling, and interactive elements, every ride is a different experience. Guests of all ages will enjoy soaring above a lively market as they create their very own Festival of the Lanterns.


Edited: June 19, 2016, 12:36 AM

The deadline for Challenge 2 has now passed. Thank you to everyone for your submissions. My critiques will be posted by Sunday afternoon, but due to previously planned events both Blake and DPCC will be out of town for this weekend. Both have informed me that they will try to get rankings submitted by Sunday evening so that the winner and elimination for this challenge can be announced, but they will not be posting critiques until they return, so expect their critiques on Monday or Tuesday. This is the last week where I am aware of any judge schedule conflicts at this time.

In the meantime, Challenge 3 has been posted, so go ahead and get started on it as soon as you are ready. This one is a little more complex than the previous two, so feel free to ask questions in the challenge thread as needed.

June 19, 2016, 5:19 PM

Okay, here are my critiques.

Keith (Flash Gordon's Rocket Ships): Flash Gordon is something that was extremely popular in the past yet has died out in current times, so using it for your park is a good way to reintroduce the character to the current generation. Your choice of ride makes a lot of sense as long as you can make it more reliable than Disney's Golden Zephyr. The capacity of your attraction is appropriate for a flat ride, and with a height restriction of 36" almost everyone will be able to ride. That said, adding a junior version of the attraction was a nice touch for those who are too scared to ride the main ride. Using screens to provide views outside the ride is a great move on a flat ride due to spatial limitations prohibiting practical sets. However, I feel the 3D is not a good choice here due to multiple screens being in use. The queue and pre-show of your attraction do a good job of introducing the characters and story, and I do like the decision to keep the ride exposed in order to add kinetic motion to the area. The ride itself is a fun adventure, and I like the decision to use multiple adventures in order to increase re-ride value. I would appreciate more description as to how the ride works...does the spin speed vary in order to simulate different g-forces? The tricky thing here is that rotation won't be felt inside a cabin, only force, so going around at a constant speed wouldn't work well. Overall, however, you've got a really good concept that just needs a little more description. This is a very fun ride for all members of the family and is definitely a top tier flat ride.

Douglas (The Last Voyage of Sadko): A Russian Sindbad? Interesting. The exterior of your attraction fits nicely with Saltan's Tsardom and does a good job of attracting guests, though it may be difficult to look convincing in an indoor environment. The queue for this attraction is extremely detailed and is almost an attraction in itself. I like the interactive elements, as flat rides often have a queue that pulses. Pre-shows are very important with highly themed flat rides due to the amount of waiting around, so I'm glad to see you included a very good one. The transition from here to the ride is very well done, though I hope you have a large enough walkway to efficiently accommodate everyone. 160 people at a time is huge for any attraction, and you are using a pirate ship roughly three times the size of a common model. However, this gives a flat ride better capacity than a Disney E-ticket. A pirate ship is an obvious choice for this attraction, but I personally think something like Zamperla's Disk'O Coaster (like Cedar Point's Pipe Scream) may be a better fit for mimicking the ocean as the pendulum motion is a bit limiting. You've gone to great lengths to immerse guests in the setting, but I wonder if the combination of projections and the swinging motion of the ride may be too much and contribute to excessive nausea. Without a static reference, motion sickness could be a serious problem. You have cleverly based the story of your ride on a premise that involves the guests, a nice twist to keep the guests as characters vs. observers. Once guests are submerged, the true beauty of the ride shows, though the motion sickness issue is still present. I'm disappointed by the abrupt ending and was hoping for a bit more of a resolution, though if that is how the legend goes I guess you have little choice in the matter. Overall, this is a decent attraction for those that can stomach it, but I have a feeling it will have similar issues as Mission: Space with motion sickness. While it isn't as convincing as a different ride system could be, I do think it works decently and it would definitely be worth trying. I just feel this could be a case where a really impressive queue leads to an underwhelming ride.

Kenny (Wicked Tsunami: The Ride): A top spin is a very interesting choice to represent a submarine voyage. A suspended top spin is even more interesting given that submarines are typically enclosed. Right off the bat, I'm going to say that capacity is impossible as it would require 30 cycles per hour. Your ride appears to be about 2:30, so with 1:30 for loading you'd get 15 cycles per hour. Add in separate loading and unloading positions and you're probably looking at a cycle time of at least 5 minutes, giving you a maximum of 12 cycles and 456 riders per hour. This is low for a major park, but acceptable for a flat ride. Your queue and facade all sound excellent, but I would suggest trying to trim your descriptions here in the future. Tell us where we are and point out anything specific to the plot of the ride, but listing various things we'd expect to see that are merely decorative is not required. I'm not sure why you need two separate pre-show rooms for your attraction and it seems like they could easily be combined into a single show. The seating configuration for this attraction and the control panel further confuses me as to why you made it suspended...a regular top spin has two rows facing the same direction, and having a floor would be more appropriate for a submarine. Your ride has a very intense program, even for a typical top spin ride, and I fear this may cause problems with guests either not paying attention to the projections or getting motion sick from focusing too much on them. I do like the progression of your ride, however, and while an earthquake probably would not be as extreme on an underwater vehicle as expected a tsunami certainly would produce crazy turbulence. Unfortunately, the ending of your ride ruins it, as you're implying that everyone died by just going black. At the very least, show some time of resolution scene on the screens as guests exit. Overall, this isn't a bad ride, it just has some problems that need to be fixed. Tone down the motion and add a resolution scene, and you'd have something unique for thrill seekers.

Chad (Up, Up and Away): Not only is an Intamin Double Wheel a defunct attraction that deserves to be revived, it is also a nearly perfect choice for your attraction. Your modification of hoisting the gondolas up and down is a great touch to add to the ride, and doing it slowly mimics a balloon taking flight. With 8 per gondola, you definitely have enough capacity for your park, and I like the accommodations for wheelchair users without transferring. Your queue area is pretty basic, but that isn't bad given your attraction. The ride experience itself is nice and gentle, without too much motion but with plenty of time to sightsee. When trying to imitate a balloon flight, it is important that guests get a good view of their surroundings and you have done that. I like the interaction with a smartphone, but I feel like this may exclude some people and think you should provide a device on request to guests who do not have a phone. As for the Christmas variation, retheming the ride slightly is a nice touch. I just hope you add extra augmented reality features so guests can identify misbehaving children on the ride. Overall, you have created an outstanding flat ride that fits very nicely within your park. My main issue with this attraction is that there is very little to plus it, and other than the unique ride system it isn't really a must do attraction. However, for a standard flat ride it is excellent and it would probably be the most popular non-headliner at your park.

Karina (The Undersea Musical Adventure): Royal Waters must include Little Mermaid, and you've done a good job of incorporating it. Your entrance and queue are pretty basic, but there is enough detail present to set it apart from a basic switchback queue. Your ride system sounds very much like a next generation Dumbo attraction and fits with the Little Mermaid theme very well. The ride itself is simple, but it is a fun ride for younger children. I like the animatronic musicians in the center, as it gives the ride a centerpiece. I'm a little confused how the pearl works...guests press it, their car rises, and the corresponding musician plays? It may be more fun to assign guests a particular part in the song and have their pearl light up when they're supposed to play their notes. The better the guest plays, the more their car rises. Simply pressing it to rise is a little bit of a missed opportunity. Overall, you've created a good attraction for younger guests, but it lacks any element to become a must do flat ride. It's not a bad ride at all, it is just fairly basic and falls a bit short of what it could be. Take this ride, add a clever interactive feature, and maximize the theming quality, and you could have an outstanding flat.

Christopher (Lumiere's Dancing Dishes): As iconic as the Mad Tea Party is, I've always felt like it is a bit of a wasted attraction (particularly at the parks without other Alice attractions) with minimal reference to the film. I'm glad to see you've gone with a completely fresh take on the teacup concept for your park. The facade of your attraction is great and having an adjacent restaurant is a nice touch. A queue through the kitchen works, but it would work better as one part of a longer queue rather than the entire queue (perhaps guests start in the entry hall, go through the kitchen, and then are held just outside the dining room). The ride area is excellent for an atmospheric ride, and hiding the more sensitive animatronics during loading and unloading is very smart to prevent guests from getting a bit too close. Using four turntables with cups moving around the floor is a much better choice here than simply having one rotating platform as it allows for more complex stationary animatronics. The animatronic Lumiere in the center is excellent, and you have chosen great additional scenes to hide in the corners of the room. To make sure every guest sees these, it is probably best to have them appear and then remain in place for the remainder of the ride rather than only showing up at their specific moment. The finale of the attraction sounds great with the chandelier and disco lights throughout the room. While not mentioned, it would be nice to slow the ride system as the song slows slightly and then crank it up to full speed for the last few seconds as a grand finale. Overall, you've created an excellent atmospheric flat ride that would be a must do attraction at any Disney park. With how popular Beauty and the Beast was, I'm surprised Disney never built anything like this in one of their parks.

Andrew (Astro Boy's Flyers): Astro Boy is a fairly well known character and a good choice to base a Dumbo type ride on. The backstory for your attraction is good, and putting your queue inside Dr. Tenma's laboratory makes sense. A pre-show isn't a bad choice, but it doesn't make sense to have a slow boring queue following this. After a pre-show, there should be no more than a couple cycles before guests board but it sounds like you've got half the queue afterward. Your attraction does not have enough capacity for your park...why not use a larger platform with 12-16 ride vehicles? As for the ride itself, you have way too many different interactive components, including several that just wouldn't be practical. A faster spin is fine, but it can't be guest controlled since all the vehicles move together. Also, if you can't think of a way to make something work, don't tell us engineers are figuring it out, just omit it. Realistic guns on a family friendly ride, particularly if you're supposed to shoot each other, is also not a smart move. The ride itself is okay, but guests are likely to be so preoccupied with the interactive elements that they will be lost on the ride. Overall, this seems to be an example of too much in, not enough out. You've tried to improve a very common spinner ride, but too many of the features you've added don't really add anything worthwhile to the experience and one or two could be outright dangerous. Unfortunately, in my opinion this one falls into the category of rides that would probably only last a year or two before closing (if that long), and that is not where you want to be.

Andy (Festival of the Lanterns): You've definitely thought through the backstory on this one, and it fits perfectly with the attraction you've created. The ride system is an excellent choice for this attraction and should have enough capacity to accommodate any crowd. Visually, your attraction is excellent, and I imagine it would be almost as fun to watch as it is to ride. Instead of simply sticking your attraction inside a show building, you've created an entire mini-land for this ride to exist in. The queue is very nicely done, and that combined with the surrounding area ensures that guests do not get bored while waiting. Single rider is also a smart choice here. The ride itself is a nice gentle ride that all members of the family can enjoy. While the telling of the story may be missed by casual observers, it is a great way to sequence the ride. The firework finale is excellent, though it may be a little tricky to pull it off every few minutes in a large space like this. You may be best just using wall projections and the dragons, leaving the walkway lights on to avoid causing problems with guests wandering the area. The interactive elements on your attraction are also an outstanding touch, and telling guests some basic ones while keeping hidden Easter eggs adds a lot of re-rideability. Overall, this is an outstanding attraction that is simple in nature but provides a completely unique experience. Of all the entries submitted in this challenge, yours is the one I would consider the closest to a must do experience, and it would be among the most interactive attractions ever created.

June 19, 2016, 10:19 PM

While remaining critiques won't be posted until tomorrow, we have the rankings for this challenge. Here is the official scorecard for Challenge 2.

Challenge 2 Rank:

1. Andy Teoh
2. Keith Schneider
3. Douglas Hindley
4. Christopher Sturniolo
5. Karina Bhattacharya
6. Chad H
7. Andrew_G

Congratulations to Andy Teoh for his winning submission, Festival of the Lanterns!

Unfortunately, Andrew_G, you came in last in this challenge and are hereby eliminated from Theme Park Apprentice 8. However, if you feel that you can do better I invite you to continue following the competition and attempt to earn redemption in a special challenge at a later date. You are welcome to continue submitting proposals unofficially if desired in order to receive critiques and improve your abilities.

For everyone else, Challenge 3 has begun. Take a look if you haven't done so already and get started on your proposal. Your first two challenges were not too bad, but from here on out each challenge is going to become tougher up until the final, so be sure to use your time wisely.

June 20, 2016, 6:12 PM

Hey everyone! You all posted fantastic proposals, and it was impossible to try to eliminate one of you. I'm having laptop issues, so I'm writing this on a mobile keyboard. So, please excuse the brevity and typos!

Keith Schneider - Flash Gordon's Rocket Ships

This is such a cool take on your chosen flat ride! But, I think the IP choice is a bit weak. Flash Gordon is known to most people by its movie adaptation, which is not generally regarded as a great film. Because of this, people may not have an interest in your ride to b
egin with, and it may not draw the crowds necessary to maintain it.Due to the variability factor, you really didn't tell me very much about the story. I feel like I have no idea what happens on your ride. I also wonder how the screens can really tell the story as though guests are in it when it can only move one direction. I assume the screens won't match the motion, which can often be disorienting, you have a decent ride here, and certainly a creative one, it's just missing some vital elements to make it great.

Douglas Hindley - The Last Voyage of Sadko

This is a really interesting take on a traditional ride, and its good to see something so original. Your queue is absolutely incredible. I don't know that there's ever been one as good as this one. That said, your ride feels like it's missing something. Your story is really simple. I understand how hard it is to work a story in here, but if you're going to decide to make a a story in, but if you're going to decide to make a narrative-driven ride, you really have to make sure you have a quality narrative. I've talked a lot about that, but it's not necessarily bad that it's simple, it often makes stories more understandable to guests. That said, I'm a bit confused by your projections. Are we watching a ship or ARE we a ship? And if we're the ship how will you make sure guests know what talking is on the boat as the crew, as opposed to the talking of the Sea Tsar. Overall you have a really good ride here,and I congratulate you on your work.

Chad H - Up, Up, and Away

Chad, this is a really interesting variation on the Ferris wheel, but I worry it just won't attract guests. Now, to THEME park nerds, this is a dream. It's a mostly forgotten ride system merged with another. It's a one of a kind novelty you can't find anywhere else. But, to the average visitor, who, quite frankly, doesn't care about novel ride systems, this is a Ferris wheel. There's really almost no theming to this ride, which oddly makes it fit in your park. But this ride is what I feared from your original proposal. A barely themed old-fashioned ride put together with others like it. Your ride is a theme park lovers ride, but I don't know if the average guest will see it as a must see or as filler.

Karina Bhattacharya - The Undersea Musical Adventure

So, this ride is not narrative driven, which makes it different and difficult to critique. Now, what you have is a solid basis for a ride, but there's not very much to it. This is maybe a C ticket ride. It's not bad, but it's also not a must do. Now, this ride could be greatly improved by making it more like Guitar Hero. Right now, the ride basically consists of guests riding around listening to music and occasionally pressing buttons. But, with a more than one button, playing something that vaguely resembles the actual part in the song would be more interactive, and more effectively bridge the gap between game and ride. But it's not my job to write your ride. But, in the future, if you look at your ideas and think, "how could I take this from good to great", I think you'll be much more successful. I know you can make something great. Just find what your proposals are missing and add it. Really think about the concepts before you start writing. So, you have a good ride here, but I know you could make it great.

Christopher Sturniolo - Lumiere’s Dancing Dishes

Another ride that's not story driven. You've built a fun ride, but again, it's not one that's a must ride. Your "corners" are a fun and unique set-up and frankly, a teacup ride is a perfect choice. But, there's not very much to this ride, and I think it might get repetitive. That said, this is one of those rides that's impossible to critique because it's so simple, but you know Deep down that it would be really fun. Heck, regular tea cups are fun. So, Its just really hard to talk about, because although there's not much to it, it doesn't need any more.

Andrew G - Astro Boy's Flyers

Okay. I get what you're trying to do here, it's just not working for me. You haven't mentioned how any of your "superpowers" are controlled by guests. The powers themselves seem, quite honestly, boring. But my advice for you is more about HOW you write. Saying things like "Its just a flat ride" imply that you haven't done your best work. In your proposal, you should only say positive things about your attraction. This goes for everyone. By saying something negative, you're not being humble, you're just lowering what the judges think of the ride. So be careful of that. You really kind of bashed your ride while trying to convince us (the judges) that it was the best ride out there. And, it shows us that you think you can do better. And if you can, trust me, we want to see it. You straight up told us you hadn't figured out that what could have been the most interesting element wasn't designed yet, and you didn't know how you were going to do it. It would have been better to just say you couldn't include it for logistical reasons. In conclusion, I feel like you had a decent idea that was poorly executed. This isn't a bad ride, it just isn't done yet, if you know what I mean.

Andy Teoh - Festival of the Lanterns

Okay, so, your story is going to be lost on virtually everybody who rides this who doesn't have extensive knowledge of the folklore. But that's okay, because this isn't a plot driven ride. This ride is all about just having fun, and its interactive elements and Easter eggs assure infinite rerideability. This is really a ride that people at your park will love, and will draw a crowd. Overall, this is a really good ride that, honestly, I wish I could ride

Thank you everybody for your proposals, and I can't wait to read more from you!

June 21, 2016, 12:17 PM

Firstly, I apologize for having my critiques in so late. I was working EDC in Las Vegas this past weekend and had some pretty brutal hours (4pm-7am) and didn’t get in until yesterday afternoon. I planned to have these in last night, but my body simply gave out and I slept until about 8am this morning! But enough whining! Onto the content.

Flat rides are undoubtedly a staple mark of any great theme park. From the earliest days of amusement parks, flat rides have dominated the theme park landscape, offering kinetic energy, an abundance of excitement, and spiritual centers for many theme parks around the world. This challenge was not an easy one for many reasons, but the quality of proposals we have this round is exceptional and you contestants really went out of your way to make a seemingly mundane flat ride into a unique e-ticket.


-Flash Gordon is one of those forgotten pop culture phenomenon’s that has been lost to history. I’m glad to see you’ve revived a staple Golden Age Pulp character and setting to bring to your park. It also fits perfectly into your overall theme. The time period themeing of your park is a perfect setting for a Flash Gordon attraction

-You’ve also chosen a visually appropriate attraction, as the Rocket Ships fit both to the attraction as well as the overall theme of your park as a whole.

-At 90-feet tall, you’ve effectively created a visual weenie for your attraction and land. It is elaborately themed and allows for guests to see a sight line from anywhere within the park.

-The different adventures adds to the re-readability factor of the ride and really takes it from a curious and unique flat ride into a full-fledged e-ticket. This seems to be the prevailing trend in theme parks going forward and I’m glad to see you’ve incorporated an element like this into the park.

-Your queue does a fantastic job of introducing the character and world of Flash Gordon to the audience.

-The inclusion of a junior version of the ride is a great touch, and would be a welcome addition to the main attraction itself.

-As much as I love the visual weenie of the tower, I’m concerned with how it will mesh with the other themeing in your land and park. It fits into your parks overall theme, but I’m concerned that with a turn-of-the-century/Victorian-era aesthetic, a proto-sci-fi tower in the middle of the park may seem a little jarring. I know this seems contradictory with the comments on how I loved the weenie (I still do), but until I get a more clear picture of how your park is going to be lain out and it’s aesthetic for each land, this is a minor concern.

-As AJ correctly pointed out, while the 3d factor and randomized adventures really set this attraction apart, I think the ride system itself would function as nothing more than a g-force simulator. As a ride experience, if you can pin down the correct g-forces, this will be spectacular. If it fails to deliver those forces, however, you may have a vomit-simulator.


-Firstly, you’ve chosen a fantastic folk tale for an attraction. Sadko is in many ways the Russian equivalent of Odysseus or Sinbad, and his familiarity and popularity among the Slavic world is well-known and beloved.

-While not entirely pertinent to this challenge, I’m glad to see you’ve slightly altered your Noble Tsardom land to something more in line with your parks overall theme. You will be able to keep the bones of your land intact while streamlining the land to fit more with your general theme.

-Your queue and pre-show are almost an attraction in itself and are so elaborately detailed and well done that it would match Disney and Universal’s dedication to pre-attraction queues.

-You’ve really gone all out in making this seemingly innocent flat ride into a full-fledged e-ticket experience. The addition of the enclosed dome allows for a dark ride atmosphere in a traditionally open-air flat ride.

-The addition of a wave pool is a smart choice, and really gives the ride experience an authentic feel.

-The storyline of the attraction is well-paced and syncs well with the ride systems traditional experience.

-Like AJ pointed out, I’m a little concerned with motion sickness issues. If everything is done perfectly, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Yet considering you have people viewing things from different perspectives, this makes the projection effects difficult to sync properly. Most other simulator-esque rides have riders all facing one central screen to better control what an audience sees and experiences, thereby allowing designers to really reduce motion sickness issues. Now that people will be seeing the projections from so many different perspectives, you’re going to have a difficult time ensuring a less-nauseating experience for many riders.

-I’m a little confused on how you attempt to create the sensation of “crashing through the waves”. While this scene is unique and exceptional, the suspension of disbelief factor is diminished when the audience has a real wave pool underneath their feet, one which they won’t actual crash trough. While the wave pool may be reduced visually in the dark, you would have a very tough time making it invisible, especially with all the other things you have just made the wave pool perform (rough seas, water blasts, etc.). This would mean that, at best, the pool would be a wild sloshing bed of turbulent waves, and with the bright projections, this would be apparent to the guests.

-This leads me to my last point. The ride ends rather un-climatically. While not a bad ending in theory, it seems a little disjointed and confused.


-You’ve resurrected one of the true lost gems of flat rides. The Intamin Double Ferris Wheel is certainly a unique and welcome addition to the standard flat ride line-up and it’s increased rider capacity is certainly a welcome feature.

-The Gondola design of the hot air balloons is beautiful and welcome. The MontGolfier balloon is both historically relevant and perfectly in tune with your parks theme (though it was originally a thoroughly French phenomenon if I remember correctly).

-This ride would provide fantastic views of Portsmouth and the surrounding area, making it the ideal sight-seeing attraction in your park. It’s the perfect, relaxing, and stress-relieving attraction for your park and a much welcome addition to any theme park.

-The inclusion of the app is interesting and smart and is a perfect way to integrate current technology with a theme park attraction. The slow and relaxing nature of the ride would allow guests time to actually use the app rather that the app being a separate distraction.

-Your holiday overlay is fun and cute and would be really enjoyable to see during the holidays.

-Apart from setting the loading areas on a raised platform, I fail to see how this attraction was modified to make it truly unique, as was part of the challenge. While the ride itself is great and a welcome addition to your park, it didn’t sufficiently satisfy the conditions of the challenge as laid out in the challenge description.

-Apart from the hot-air balloon motif, the aesthetic of the attraction doesn’t do much to add to your parks overall theme.



-Like Douglas, I think you made a smart move re-theming one of your lands. The Royal Waters matches up much better than the previous Neverland land you originally proposed. Good call there.

-If you’re going to make a Royal Waters land, you would have to include Ariel and the world of the Little Mermaid in it. This is a smart choice on IP and a welcome addition to the land and park itself. Both children and adults alike will be familiar with The Little Mermaid and both will be able to enjoy this attraction in equal measure.

-The inclusion of the animatronics is well-done and appropriate. You have provided just enough character without overdoing it for an exterior placed flat ride.

-The detail of riding on a whales spout is both visually appealing and wonderfully appropriate. You may have another staple mark of flat ride design on your hands in the same vein as how Dumbo turned spinners into standard flat rides into hallmarks of Disney Theme Parks across the world. A perfectly appropriate and cute addition to the ride itself.


-Perhaps I’m not envisioning it correctly, but I fail to see how the interactive component does much to add to the ride. Furthermore, if a child fails to press the button, the whales spout will descend. Putting myself in the mindset of a child, I could see how this would be both incredibly disappointing and disheartening. You don’t want a child to feel like they failed something and then are being punished for it. On something like Dumbo, children are free to take their flying elephant as high as they want at any time they want. This is part of the appeal of the attraction so taking that freedom away is a major detriment to the ride experience, especially for little kids.

-Apart from the aesthetic and musical additions, this doesn’t really differ all that much from the standard spinner model flat ride experience. It still is different enough to separate it from a traditional flat ride, but per the details of the challenge, this isn’t something that fundamentally transforms the flat ride experience.



-Beauty and the Beast is one of Disney’s flagship films, and I’m personally surprised that Disney hasn’t done more with the property inside their parks. Your inclusion of the IP into your park is much needed and welcome, and the way you’ve incorporated the IP fits perfectly in line with your park’s theme as well as fills the much needed ‘tea cups’ role which every major ‘Magic Kingdom’ park has all around the world.

-Your queue and pre-ride experiences really do a great job of keeping in theme and setting the mood for the ride experience to come.

-The inclusion of the AA’s is well-done and welcome. The Be Our Guest sequence is arguably the most memorable from the film and really adds a lot of charm to the film. Recreating this theme in an attraction setting is necessary and appropriate. Good job.


-I think you’ve got a clash of aesthetics going on here in regards to your façade and queue. Beauty and the Beast is a distinctly French tale, and both the film and story itself are set in the opulence of French aristocracy. The Village Haus motif is meant to invoke a Bavarian and/or Italian ‘small-town’ feel. This is a sharp contrast to the grandeur of French nobility, where Beauty and the Beast takes place, primarily.

-Having the rooms open up at various intervals is, quite honestly, unnecessary. While it does add a ‘surprise’ element, the fact remains that at such a small ride length, you’re actually doing yourself a disservice. Add to this that the ride will be viewable from the queue and it really diminishes the overall ‘surprise’ effect you’re aiming for. A great idea in theory, but in practice I think it would be better left out.


-Astro Boy is an iconic character in Japan, arguably as popular as someone like Mickey Mouse here in the states. He’s a great and necessary inclusion in any park which features Japanese Anime and Manga culture.

-The queue is interesting and unique, and would give riders a great experience before boarding the attraction.

-The inclusion of the interactive elements would be fun and certainly give this traditional spinner a unique twist.

-The theming of the ride itself is appropriate and fun and would act as a great weenie for the land.

-The interactive elements, while welcome and seemingly fun, seem a bit disjointed. You have some great ideas here, but without more concrete details as to how they actually function and work, it’s tough to say if they would work in practice.

-Additionally, I think you’ve got too many interactive elements going on for such a short ride. Some of the elements, such as the flame jets, and the IQ scanner would be fun, but most of the others seem excessive or outright dangerous (encouraging guests to shine LASERS at other guests screams ‘lawsuit’). You have some good interactive ideas, but unfortunately most of them just seem impractical or unnecessary.

-Back onto the interactive elements, as with Karina’s attraction, part of the appeal of spinners is that guests have the freedom to choose how high or low they want to be and at what times during the ride. By making one interactive element effect all the other cars, you’ve severely limited the riders in their decisions. You had a good idea in theory but in practice I think you would have been better off if each element was unique to each car itself rather than effecting all the cars.

-A machine gun firing out of Astro Boy’s butt, with no explanation as to how it works or what it would do in the ride, is both crude and uninformative. Perhaps if you had some description as to what the ride effect would be would give us a more clear picture of what the experience would be like.


-Your queue and pre-show are attraction worthy itself and would be on par with the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or Indiana Jones Adventure queues. It would easily be in the running for best queue on earth.

-The interactive elements are interesting and fun and would encourage re-riding. The addition of easter eggs would be a game and experience into itself, much like the ‘Hidden Mickeys’ entice many guests to stay in the park longer or come back to find these gems of easter eggs.

-The storyline is simple yet elegant and is in perfect keeping with your overall theme.

-I’m glad to see you’ve excluded a large drop, instead focusing on the kinetic and visual elements rather than a major thrill factor. This takes a classic flat ride into a highly immersive dark ride experience.

-This would be a centerpiece attraction at your park. That’s no small feat considering the limitations of the ride system itself.

-I’m a little confused as to how ever rider would be able to see every lantern to view and experience the story being told. If the three towers have lanterns which fact different directions, it would be difficult to have all guests view each lantern individually.

-I’m a little concerned that most of the ‘magic’ of the ride would be diluted by allowing guests in the queue to see all of the visual eye candy which should be reserved for the ride experience alone. Perhaps enclosing the top portions of the towers itself would keep the best elements as a surprise? As it stands, guests in line could see the grandeur of the attraction without actually experiencing the attraction, thereby diminishing the overall effect.

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