Imagineerland: 2020

Saturday, December 19, 2020

New Frontiers

Last year, I developed a couple new projects for my professional portfolio that I then posted over on my other website, tf1design.com. I decided to share those projects here as well since a lot of people still check out this website. Some of these may look a little familiar, but there is a lot of new work in these posts. I have 6 posts with these portfolio projects coming up through the next few weeks.

This is an original attraction concept for an interactive sci-fi ride into the future of humanity. The attraction uses a trackless ride system to allow for a variety of ride paths and experiences while traveling through the space so that each vehicle can experience a unique story, custom to their chosen interests and ideals.

The entrance to the attraction is through a modern transit hub where passengers can dispatch to the future of their choosing. The queue is entered through a glass walled pavilion. The queues continue to wind through the transit station and view a futuristic vehicle display, destination and arrival boards, informational exhibits, and modern waiting areas. Guests then pass through a transit gate and enter a preshow space that introduces the concept of the attraction. We are in a round room where the walls wrap up to form a seamless dome above us. This is used as a projection space to show a continuous video loop about the possibilities of the future. It specifically highlights a selection of focuses that we can choose to explore on the way to our future: transportation, health, technology, and culture.

The queues lead through a arched tunnel that continues the video presentation and then arrives at the loading platform. Four trackless vehicles load at one time, each seating eight guests. When dispatched, the vehicles rotate and enter a set of intro rooms, two vehicles in each. Here we are asked to choose our future, referencing the focuses introduced in the queue. A thin linear touch screen panel in front of each row lights up with stylized buttons for each choice. All eight passengers get to choose, and the computer complies the results to customize the attraction for the opinions of the group. There are 165 different combinations of results that could all lead to a different custom attraction.

The pair of vehicles then slides out through a door that just opened and into a video dome that shows an introduction movie. The central space of the attraction holds a carousel of 4 video domes that sets of vehicles can slot into as it slowly rotates. The domes are sized to able to fill the full horizontal field of view and the majority of the view above. The movie shows an exciting montage into the idea of futurism, including views of what we thought the future could be in the past and what we think it could be today. It ends with us being invited to travel into our own idea of the future. At that moment, we dive down into the darkness of the ocean and our pair of vehicles move back away from the screen and through an opening door.

The vehicles turn to find themselves inside a modern scientific submarine. Narration lets us know that we have arrived in the future we selected. At this point, the two vehicles begin to follow their own unique ride path. The in-vehicle audio and media elements in the set change to tell the vehicle specific story. There are a couple primary show locations in each scene. In the sub, there is the front control panel with a view out to the ocean beyond, the research station desk on the far side of the sub with smaller windows to the ocean, and the center of the sub where there is a suspended robotic viewfinder to interact with. The ocean is dry for wet and uses lighting effects and rear screens to simulate our trip underwater.

A vehicle that was mostly interested in transportation might go to the front controls and learn about the engine of the sub and how fast it can travel. For technology, they might interact with the viewfinder, or for health, they might go to the research desk to see progress on underwater health experiments. The idea in each scene is not to be overly educational and information heavy, but just to briefly present an inspiring view of the future.

There are a couple human figures in the space, working at the other desks of the sub, but we do not interact with them. These human figures are included throughout the attraction to add life and activity. Another common element through all the scenes is the inclusion of robots. Nearly every scene includes some kind of robot that performs a utility to assist the residents of the future. We often can interact with them, if they are relevant to the story of our vehicle.

The sub soon docks and our vehicles exit through the opening rear door and slide into the dock. This is a circular space with glass walls that look into the dark and deep ocean. There is also a central glass lockout tube, where we can see diver swimming up. We hear narration that tells us we are in an underwater research base that is like its own little city. Our vehicles can either go left or right around the tube and then travel into one of two research base rooms. The left room is a lab space with windows to the ocean and a variety of science experiments that are being monitored at the work stations. The right room is a control center with a large desk and display panels where the operations of the subs and underwater base are being monitored.

The two vehicles rejoin and move into a restaurant space, with narration telling us about the food of the future and the importance of aquaculture. Robotic chefs work at a counter and a huge funnel shaped glass tank fills the space above us. Server robots deliver trays from the chefs to the tables of the restaurant. The vehicles then move around a corner and into a darkened hall. Narration tells us that underwater isn’t the only place we can go in this new future. Our vehicles back up onto one of a pair of elevator platforms. In time with the sound of a rocket launch, we are swiftly lifted up into space and the scene above.

When we arrive at the upper level, the two vehicles slide forwards and turn down a futuristic looking hallway. We approach an opening and the scene ahead of us is revealed. We are on a spacestation and ahead of us is a huge window that shows the stars beyond. The space we are in is unique because it is actually mirrored above us. In this spacestation where gravity is artificially modified, both the floor and the ceiling are used by occupants. The vehicles can turn to the left or right to head to different scenes. On the left is a kitchen scene and on the right is sunken seating area that looks out to space, the ship control station, and a look into the power system. Another window on the interior of the curved space show a projection of the rest of the spacestation we are in.

After stopping at scenes in this open area of the spacestation, the vehicles head down a hallway and then pass through the bottom of a centrifuge room. We are at the base of what appears to be a huge ring room with windows looking out to space in the center. Mirrors are placed at the edges of the small built section to make the ring appear to continue. Narration through these hallways and the centrifuge would be specific to the interests of the vehicle. The vehicles continue down another hall and enter a space elevator lobby. Doors open up in front of us and each vehicle pulls into one of the elevators.

The vehicles rotate to face a set of narrow windows where we can see the stars. We suddenly simulate a rapid descent down to Mars and the doors on the other side open up to reveal a Mars Base. This futuristic base is formed of cylindrical rooms that are buried in the sand of the planet.

A large window on the far side of the first room shows the Mars horizon and a Rover vehicle parked by the red rocks. The scenes of this area include a storage bay and gym in the first room, a classroom and a rover control station in the second room, and a medical bay and repair station in the third room.

Exiting through an open door, the vehicles enter a transition space and slow in front of large digital screens. Narration now tells us that the future is progressing back on earth too, and the screens show us traveling back through space to our home planet.

We back out through an opening door and enter a modern earth farm. We are in a covered outdoor pavilion that opens up to a large force perspective farm disappearing into the distance. Farming drones hover around above the field. Scenes in this space include a look into a crystal mine shaft, a hydroponics grow tube, and an overlook over the farm fields. All vehicles then pass through a lab space where there is a control desk overlooking the farm. A people mover track runs through upper level of this building and looks into this farm scene.

The vehicles exit the lab and head towards a train parked at the edge of the farm area. The narration tells us that we are now headed to the city. Below is a fly-through schematic animation of the previous two scenes, starting at the space elevator and ending at the train. This model and animation were created to study the interior design and flow of these scenes.

We enter the back of the vehicle and turn to face a set of windows that view a screen, showing the farm exterior. Once the rear door closes, our high-speed train heads from the farm to the city, with the trip shown out the windows. We quickly arrive at the city transit port, and the vehicles turn and exit the train. The transit port is a large multilevel volume with multiple gates on the second level. An opening at the ceiling shows various ships and planes flying by above. This is a dense and active futuristic city.

The two vehicles split up here. One continues through the transit port area and pass a booking desk and a small cafe. The other turns to pass through a market-place, passing a variety of items and foods for sale from robotic salesmen. Both then exit the interior of the transit port building and find themselves on a skybridge between two building facades. This is an elevated public walkway above the city. We see the people mover pass here again in front of force perspective street end. Both vehicles then enter the front door of an apartment. Narration explains that the home is the best example of how the progress of the future benefits modern life. The vehicles make their way through the foyer, where there is a robot butler, and then a pair of bedrooms. The last space of the apartment is the open plan living room and kitchen. Out the window of the living room, we can see a large cityscape scene in the distance. All the rooms of the apartment are dressed with high tech furniture that incorporates all the elements that the attraction has previously covered.

The vehicles exit the apartment and travel into a domed central space, revealing a massive model of a future city at the center of the room. Our vehicle slowly moves around the edge of the city. There is movement all over the city, created by projection mapping and physical effects. The dome above shows the stars and a passing spacestation. The narration here summarized our trip and leaves us an inspiring message about the potential of the future.

Our pair of vehicles back out of the dome room to one of two elevators. Once the vehicles are positioned on the lift, they rotate 180 degrees to reveal a huge city show scene ahead of them, with multiple buildings and a raised people mover track, plus a skyline rising beyond. We are invited to step into the future city ourselves as the elevator lowers us back to the ground level.

At the bottom of the elevator, the vehicles move forward and reach unload. Guests leave the vehicles and can explore the future city post show. This includes an interactive news stand, a robot talent show that uses both physical robots and musion robots, and an information center where guests can find information about any of the concepts or products from the attraction. The exit from this area leads into a retail space and then back out to the park.

The attraction plan was created in SketchUp. All sketches were created in Procreate. The animation was modeled in SketchUp and animated in 3ds Max.

Library of London

This attraction concept is a dark ride through a mysterious library where guests encounter the most iconic characters from British Literature after they have escaped their stories.

The ride is set in a fictional branch of the Library of London, sitting on a park square. The Georgian styled building features oversized ornate entrance doors guarded by a set of bronze lions. The queue entrance to the right of the main facade leads to an outdoor wrought iron railing queue before heading inside through a side door.

The side door leads into the main atrium of the library. The atrium space includes a domed mural ceiling, a stained glass rear window, and a statue on a plinth at the center of the room, labeled as the founder of the library. Books and art line the walls, creating a space dense with visual interest. The main queue turns into a new room, labeled the North Stacks.

The North Stacks feature more books and art, but also a collection of display cases that show artifacts that are labeled as replicas of famous items from books. The paintings on the walls appear to show famous scenes from literature, except with a man that happens to look like the founder of the library in the background of them all.

The queue then passes back through the atrium on the way to a room labeled South Stacks. This room looks similar to the last, except it has a mezzanine above and a staircase leading down to a level below. This is a large and dense section of the library. There is also a door to an external overflow queue. After the queue merge point, the combined queue leads into the load room, labeled the Private Collection Stacks, where guests load into a set of four vehicles.

The vehicles are meant to be some kind of book cart and are detailed with wood, wrought iron, and red plush seating. They are traditional bus bar tracked vehicles but can independently rotate 360 degrees. The group of four dispatches and the ride begins.

The vehicles pass through an arch in the bookcase and through an opening door, into the main collection. The ride starts slow to set the tone. Straight ahead, we pass a bushy tan cat sitting on a plush wingback chair, curiously watching us. We then slide by a row of book stacks that appear to go on forever, using a mirror trick to extend into the darkness. We see the cat walking between the stacks, following us. Ahead, the aisle of stacks continues in the distance with a projection extending the set. This effect is used in multiple places in the ride to suggest the scale of the library. In each case, the screens are built at the end of real bookcase sets so that it seamlessly extends the real space.

Instead of continuing straight down the assumed path, we turn right down an aisle, through a big iron gate that is labeled RESTRICTED COLLECTION. The cat continues to follow us, walking behind the books and visible through the gaps. As we travel down the aisle towards a fireplace, the books around us slowly start to shake and glow with a mysterious blue light. Suddenly the fireplace at the end begins to grow and become filled with a vortex projection effect, almost drawing us in as we move faster.

The cat sits on a chair by the fireplace, holding on as it is sucked in with us. At the end of the aisle, the vehicles spin out into a cloud of fog and rotate to face a projection surface, showing the vortex filling our vision. We see the cat and various books fly by as well. The vehicles continue on into a dark room where we see glowing books flying into place to form a bookcase wall. This is a projection mapping effect on a physical set piece.

The vehicles continue into a more well lit section of the library and rotate to face the first iconic character scene. Across from us is a bookcase wall covered in vines with a balcony half way up. The set design concept for this section of the attraction is that the architectural setting of each story has been rebuilt in bookcases, as if the library magically reformed itself in the image of its books. A huge tree with a canopy fills the space above us, but it appears that the leaves are actually made out of book pages. Romeo stands part way up a ladder, trying to get Juliet’s attention with his famous lines, but she is too distracted by the cat, who is sitting on the ledge. The cat’s presence is changing the written events of the story, and that will continue through the attraction.

The vehicles continue to slowly move around the corner to see a projection extension of an open aisle of the library. We see various characters from famous books wandering back and forth. To the left is Hamlet, standing aside the track and trying to say his famous line, but he repeatedly sneezes before he finishes. The cat is standing between his feet, and he is apparently allergic.

Continuing underneath a set of bookcase arches, guests turn to face a giant Gulliver tied down. He is surrounded by miniature Lilliputians trying to hold him down, but they are struggling because of the cat laying on Gulliver’s chest and swatting at them.

The vehicles slowly rotate left to see a projection of softly falling snow and then continue into the next scene. We arrive in Ebenezer Scrooge’s bedroom just as he is being visited by the ghost of Marley. A large fireplace is built into the rear bookcase, and paintings fill the wall, all showing Scrooge alone with his treasures. Scrooge is cowering in a chair below the massive floating ghost, suspended from the ceiling by the chains that wrap around him. The cat can be seen hiding under the bed, peaking its head out to watch. As the vehicles continue past the scene, the room darkens. In the bed curtains we the shadow of Scrooge being met by the Ghost of Christmas Past. They then start to float and fly away, but we see the cat fly away with them as well. Their shadows continue and pass across the bookcase wall to the side of the bedroom.

The vehicles move around a bend in the darkness to the next scene. They face a dark alley of bookcases, where we see a projection of the silhouette of a man stumbling in the darkness, transforming into some kind of creature. The cat walks through the darkness aside the figure. Continuing to the left, the vehicles face three windows in the bookcase wall, where the silhouette of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde can be seen again, suddenly popping into view. The cat is sitting on a chair in front of the window, hissing at the figures as they pop up.

The vehicles rotate 180 degrees as they go around the corner and face a time machine bobbing up and down in the air above a laboratory floor. The time traveler sits in the floating vehicle while the cat is holding onto the back of the vehicle, its head peeking out from above the rear circular panel. Large windows in the bookcase behind show a randomly changing background as the vehicle chaotically jumps through time.

The vehicles rotate to the right as they leave that scene to look at another projection set extension of the library. This shows the main area of the library starting to be overrun with classic characters from literature and causing true chaos. Characters such as the Red Queen and her cards, Captain Hook, Merlin, Frankenstein, Long John Silver, and Robin Hood could be included in the scene.

The scene continues on the other side with the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Watson standing by the track and another projection of the library chaos behind them. Watson is holding and petting the cat. They are calmly discussing what to do about what’s happening in the library. After consideration, Sherlock arrives at the theory that we the guests caused this when we entered the library, so the obvious solution is for us to leave. He points us away towards the exit and the vehicles continue towards it under a bookcase arch.

A force perspective set shows the aisle continuing far ahead of us, but we turn to the right and find ourselves back at the gate we started at, so we exit back into the normal section of the library. We pass a scene where it appears that books are swiftly flying back onto the shelf of a bookcase, restoring order to the library. A projection blends with a physical bookcase to create this effect.

The vehicles pass the cat once again sitting peacefully on a chair, watching us. The vehicles continue back through a hall of bookcases and arrive at unload. An exit corridor leads into a retail space on the north side of the square. Along the hall, there are a series of paintings, showing scenes from the books we encountered, but something is different about all of them. The cat is featured in all of them, and our vehicle is even visible in the background of some of them. Our adventurous journey into the library has apparently accidentally changed literature.

All plans and models were created in SketchUp and Illustrator. All sketches were created in Procreate.

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Legendary Kingdom

Legendary Kingdom is a concept for an original theme park that brings cultural myths and legendary places to life. The theme celebrates the adventure and mystique of places that we’ve only imagined, but that we can now step right into. Each land recreates a place that has an important connection to a legendary story.

See the site plan above for reference as I walk through the concept and lands of the park, starting with the organizational theory.

The layout of the park is set up as a circular loop of lands around a body of water with an island in the center, acting as the hub and icon to the park. I consider this a compound loop park. The form was organized with a series of oriented sightlines that connect visual icons throughout the park in order to promote movement. Areas of compression and release were also introduced into the park to encourage flow, specifically at transition points between lands. Both of these concepts about how urban space can be shaped were studied in my college interior architecture courses and easily translate to the layout of a theme park.

Each land is one distinct location with a single setting. The lands are represented as alive and complete, not as the ruins that we so often think of these historical places as. The lands were distributed across the park to balance the scale of lands and locations of feature attractions.

The entry land of the park is the City of Troy, chosen for its mythological history and connection to the classics of legendary literature. This is an urban Greek city that is alive with activity.

The entry gate takes guests through a Greek city wall and into a town square that is surrounded by low rise buildings, holding the retail and restaurants that typically make up an entrance land. Side streets branch off into a dedicated market on the left and towards an indoor Greek theater on the right. Straight ahead is a view of the park icon across the lagoon, Mt. Olympus. The mountain rises high above our view and by force perspective seems to touch the sky.

The land ends with a terraced amphitheater along the edge of the water for nightly shows on the lagoon, mountain, and sky above. There is also a dock for a transportation boat that takes guests around the park, stopping at two other lands.

The first land to the right is Atlantis. This take on the city presents it before it had been sunk and lost to time. A canal runs right through this city center, bordered by tree lined plazas and ornate building that have a combined Mediterranean/Middle Eastern style. There is also a “water peoplemover” that runs through streams recessed below the city center and crosses the canal on raised bridges.

The central island section of the city is dominated by a grand domed structure that acts as the City Center. This building holds a table service restaurant on the second level that overlooks the land and the entrance to the “water people mover,” which loads on the underground level. The people mover gives a tour of the city and looks into underground show scenes and the other attractions of the land. Next to the central building is a covered carousel with aquatic animal vehicles. The rest of the buildings on the central island hold retail and dining.

On the opposite side of the canal are two major attractions. To the north is a trackless dark ride that takes guests on a musical tour of the fabled city. To the south is a suspended EMV dark ride where guests board personal submarines for an encounter with the legendary kraken and the other creatures beneath the city.

Following Atlantis is Pirate Bay, set in a secretive village that the most legendary pirates call home. The land is a rustic and run-down Dutch Caribbean village with a large Frigate Pirate Ship in dock. The ship and the dock area can be explored by guests, where they might find a secret treasure stash. Across the water is a rocky reef and the decaying wreckage of a smaller pirate ship, half sunk. The main Frigate ship might periodically fire cannonballs at passing boats, but always missing with a splash.

The main attraction of the land is an original boat ride into the world of Pirates, where guests are led into battle against the British Navy led by Blackbeard himself. The other significant attraction is a special effects walk through show in a pirate voodoo shop. After walking through a mysterious and effect filled shop space, a pirate master invites us into a main theater for a demonstration of pirate magic. Along the way, Davy Jones is accidentally raised from the depths, creating a chaotic flood and a water tornado that overtakes the theater.

The rest of the village contains retail and dining, including a table service restaurant and an outdoor counter service market that overlooks the water.

After an empty land left for future expansion, the next land is El Dorado, the city of gold. Inspired by Mayan architecture, this area of the city is dominated by three pyramids decorated in gold with waterfalls cascading down. The water streams across a plaza and down into the river below. Across the river is a gold mine mountain range and another golden pyramid. The land is set during a traditional Festival of Gold so the city is vibrant with activity and decoration.

The mountain holds an indoor mine car roller coaster that takes a rapid trip into the brilliant gold caverns that provide the mineral to the famous city.

Back on the main side of the land, the main attraction inside the central pyramid is a spinning dual track dark ride. Guests participate in a traditional festival day race through the city that takes them through the icons and the backstreets of the golden city. In front of the pyramids is a Disk’O flatride that slides back and forth in a water filled basin, peaking above the wall at the middle and ends to look over the land. The far left pyramid holds a counter service restaurant.

The plaza area of the city includes retail, dining, and an outdoor public stage. The last major element of the land is a large indoor theater where a Mayan inspired musical/stunt show is presented that celebrates the festival.

The Nile Valley is next along the river. This land portrays a town alongside an active pyramid excavation site that has long been though to be the focal point of an ancient curse. An archaeological team that has recently unearthed a tomb has accidentally brought the curse to life. The pyramid and excavation site sit on one side of the river, while the small town is across a bridge.

The town contains a shopping marketplace, restaurants, and an Egyptian Antiquities Museum attraction that is a haunted house style dark ride.

The excavation site area includes three more attractions that tell the story of the tomb and the curse. The main attraction is an indoor EMV coaster where guests join the archaeological team for an adventure into the depths of the pyramid. In the rocky cliff side next to the pyramid is a 360 degree dome movie. Guests enter into the active excavation of a temple atrium and gather in the center of the room, scaffolding surrounding them. A live actor archaeologist accidentally sets off the curse, causing the scaffolding to fall away in an earthquake and the power of the curse to fill the room for an exciting action adventure. Outside, along the water’s edge is an excavation play area, where guests can unearth mysterious artifacts.

Next is the land of Mount Penglai, an important site in Chinese mythology, which was thought to be the home of the Eight Immortals and the elixir of life. The land is set in a fantastic mountain range, with iconic stone spires and cascading waterfalls running down the force perspective range. The main palace courtyard is raised from the ground level path, accessed by a set of grand stairs under a central ornamental gateway and ramps on the sides.

The upper courtyard includes the main attraction, set inside the palace. On an EMV dark ride, guests go on a quest for the elixir of life but encounter the ancient Chinese wizard that protects it, sending them on an exciting journey through the lost caverns and halls of the mythic mountain kingdom. The courtyard also includes retail and dining in a main counter service palace hall.

The lower level path area features two attractions, both themed to the action of flying through the mountains. Along the main path, a chain swing lets guests fly between the rocky outcroppings and over the water below. Across the path and hidden in the mountain range is an Intamin Ultra Tower attraction, a media based indoor drop tower. Guests explore the exotic and dangerous valley that surrounds the hidden kingdom while on a magical flight.

The last land of the outer loop is Camelot, where knights and dragons are in a long running battle for control of the realm. A forest and a village sit on opposite sides of the river, with the battle damaged castle rising above as the land icon.

The forest area is centered around ruins of an old castle that have been lost to time and vegetation. This area includes an outdoor family coaster through the forest, a exploration play area in the castle ruins, and an archery shooting dark ride where guests take target practice through the ruins while having close encounters with many of the mythological creatures of the forest. Riders use hand gestures to fire “arrows” that interact with physical props and digital backgrounds.

The village half of the land includes the feature attraction of the land. Inside the castle is a classic boat ride adventure into the world of knights and dragons, culminating in a battle right in the lair of the dragon that we float through. Attached to the castle is a table service restaurant in the knight’s gathering hall, where guests are entertained by both musical and sword fight entertainment shows during the meal. The rest of the village is made of retail and dining, including a traditional tavern.

Last, forming the central island of the park is the land of Olympus, the home of the gods. The land is hidden behind the mountain and is accessed from either the east or west side through mountainous portals. Inside the caldera is a beautiful garden with a Greek Temple. A vast force perspective palace is built up on the mountainside, looking over the land below.

The main attraction is a large scale flume dark ride through the mountain, entered through the base of the palace. The flume ride takes guests into the legendary stories of the Greek gods and monsters, culminating with a drop out a waterfall at the front of the mountain and a splashdown between the ruins of two giant statue feet, with the statue head nearby. The attraction ends with a float through the gardens and caverns.

The Greek Temple holds a family dark ride coaster through the legends, including Hercules. A counter service restaurant and retail are in the main building.

The gardens hold two final attractions. There is a classic spinner flat ride with Pegasus vehicles that fly above the gardens. A small elevated temple on the mountain is the entrance to a walkthrough exploration attraction where guests encounter fantastic creatures.

The park plan and Atlantis model were created in SketchUp. The diagramming was created in Illustrator. All sketches were created in Procreate.

Saturday, December 12, 2020

Balloon Simulator

This is a concept for an original ride system that simulates a hot air balloon flight over scenic and exciting environments. This was initially developed as a ride system concept without a defined theme. I then included it in my concept for the Worlds of Exploration park, where it was used in the Africa land, so I continued to develop the interior design with that theme.

The initial inspiration was to design a new iteration of the standard flying theater that presented a different kind of flight. The hot air balloon theme was an interesting alternative because it would be totally different than what is common and could be presented in a 360 degree format.

The system that I developed is made up of 3 independently moving components: the dome screen, the loading platform, and the seating platform, holding 64 guests at a time. The movement of the three components during a typical ride cycle can be seen in the animation below.

The dome screen and the loading platform are attached to four corner support columns that use electric motors to raise the elements up and down along a track. The dome screen is sized so that it fills the full field of view for the majority of guests. The seating platform is raised and lowered on a set of scissor lifts underneath the platform. A stationary upper section of the fake balloon completes the illusion that it is a full sphere. The whole system sits around a central support column that helps to hold up a service platform above the balloon. Projectors are located in an array above and below the seating platform area, hidden from guest view. The attraction could also be presented in 3D if it is appropriate for the theme and the media.

The three part system has many benefits that help it accurately recreate a real hot air balloon flight. The movement of the dome screen and load platform falling away is able to simulate the moment of take off as if the “balloon” is rising up through the opening in the ceiling. The seating platform is able to gently rise and fall with some shake to simulate the flight. Operationally, it also allows the attraction to load and unload on separate levels to benefit crowd flow.

For this project, I built the ride system in Revit and assembled a schematic level drawing set to present the overall concept. This building assumes a three theater setup for the attraction. The system could be modified to include more or less theaters as needed for capacity. An estimated THRC of a single theater is 640, so 1920 with this three theater building. The full set in pdf form is located here.

I also developed a concept for the interiors of the primary queue space using the African theme from my Worlds of Exploration park plan.

The story is that guests are visiting a hot air balloon tour company that will take them on a flight over the natural sights of the savanna. The primary queue that I designed includes an interior waiting area lobby and an “exterior” flight pad load hall. That section of queue is actually inside the building, but framed openings to a projected sky above create the illusion of an exterior space. That effect would be accentuated with time accurate simulated natural lighting and weather. The balloon tour itself would also be accurate to the time, with day/dusk/night versions presented.

The first section of the queue is dressed as a modern waiting room and office. The two queue lines pass seating areas with modern furniture, a front check in desk, and metal panel accent walls with large TVs that display highlights of the balloon tour.

The second section is the simulated outdoor area. This is where guests would be redistributed into one of the lines for the three theaters. This area continues the modern style but with more rigid exterior materials. Rough metal columns and beams hold up a wood paneled canopy that opens up to the fake sky. Red steel cable ties add accent to the structure above. Stacked stone walls infill between the columns on one side of the queue. The walls on the other side are stucco and textured concrete with stained concrete accent. Metal art pieces add variety and color to the hallway.

Guests are then distributed into one of two identical preshow rooms for each theater. They stand on an assigned number for an introduction and safety video before heading being guided into the theater. The preshow room continues the material use from the exterior section of queue, and features a large map wallcovering that shows the area we will be touring.

Tour operator staff would lead the group in a number order line into the theater space. Guests grab glasses and continue out onto the load platform. The original numbers correspond to the seats in the three row vehicle. At the end of the flight, guests walk back out on the load platform and exit into an exit hallway on the lower floor.

Material call outs and samples are shown on the elevations above. This design presents an African theme that is fairly modern and sophisticated, but alternate designs could show this queue as much more rustic and natural. Other possible themes for this attraction could include a flight through a city from a modern transit hub, a sci-fi steampunk flight through a fantasy location, or a flight through another national park setting.

The video animation was created in 3ds Max. The schematic drawing set was created in Revit. The interiors model was created in SketchUp and Illustrator.

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Catacomb River Adventure

This is an attraction concept for a water coaster/EMV hybrid adventure that takes guests through the lost catacombs underneath a church in the city of Rome. This story idea was originally inspired by my time studying in Rome and a visit to a real life church that was built upon the ruins of an ancient temple.

This attraction is located in a theoretical land that I included in an unpublished park concept. The land is set in early 20th century Rome and includes an urban street and a small forested park along the ruins of the Aurelian Walls. An obelisk marks the center of the land and a large church that holds this attraction sits across the street.

The story of the land and attraction is that an archaeologist and adventurer has been hired by the church to investigate a legend about a Roman treasure hidden in the catacombs it is built upon. The present church was built on the ruins of a 4th century basilica, which was in turn built on the ruins of an early Roman temple. Adventurers through the decades had attempted to map the levels below and find the treasure with no success. This new archaeologist has brought with him a large team and a substantial amount of equipment to make the most thorough search yet. We have arrived just in time to join the search ourselves.

Our adventure starts at the queue entrances outside the church. This area is being used for unloading equipment and there are two trucks parked. One has an unusual looking amphibious vehicle on its flatbed. That is going to be our ride vehicle.

The queue lead into the side aisle of the church sanctuary. This is a large space meant to set the character and setting of the entire experience. The queues quickly turn through a side door and into a gallery space adjacent to the sanctuary. This is a small museum about the history of the building, starting to set up the story. This gallery includes a large stone tablet on a raised plinth, labeled as a Roman artifact that has been unearthed from below the church.

The queues lead around a corner and into a gallery hall. Paintings on either side of the hall show important figures and moments from the history of the church building. Through open double doors, the queues cross a hall and enter a library room. This room has been taken over by the expedition team, and is being used for research and planning. Maps sit on a pair of desks and more are taped up on the bookcase walls. Open books suggest research is being actively done. The maps on the desks call out the church ruins below with a note labeling it as the staging area.

The queues cross back through the hall and out a door into an exterior cloister. This is a traditional double level cloister with a covered gallery running around the edges. The queue leads around the space on the lower level and then back into the building. The following room is a back room being used as equipment storage. Boxes and barrels fill the room and temporary lights are strung between the beams above. The queues pass into a second room of storage, where there are two chalkboards along the wall, displaying important information for our trip. One shows a diagram of the vehicle we will be riding, and the other acts as a screen for a video that gives an intro to the story and safety information. The projector is perched on a stack of boxes in the middle of the room and speakers are wired through the rooms, playing the audio. Finally, the queues lead to a staircase that heads down into the basement ruins level of the church. An elevator is located just to the side.

The stairs wrap their way down a level and lead into the cavernous basement ruins. This is an old chapel that was carved right into the rock, with a series of stone arches above. The queues turn and pass by an open excavation pit, where we see a rope and pulley rig holding up a large stone artifact. The path then leads into the ruins of the main church, with arched side aisles to the left and right. The queues wind through this area on elevated pathways, on top of the rocky debris, and lead to the loading area at the front of the room. In this area, we hear radio messages about the expedition we will be participating in today. In an effort to map the entire cave system, the team is sending out as many vehicles as they can spare. They will all take a different route and report back with their findings.

A river crosses right through the ruins. The bank across the river holds more equipment and a storage tent. Guests are distributed to load at two waiting vehicles. After loading, they float forward for seat check and then dispatch for their adventure.

The vehicle is an original design for a hybrid water coaster and EMV system. It is designed to appear to be an amphibious expedition truck that seats 16 guests. It’s built from rough and rugged materials, including an aged steel chassis and a canvas raft ring. The tops of the wheels can be seen in the dark water.\

The vehicle is actually made of three primary components: the lower roller coaster chassis, the upper vehicle basin, and the upper show vehicle. The coaster chassis rides on standard steel rails under the water. The basin attaches to the top of the chassis with a 180 degree rotation ring, allowing the entire top half of the vehicle to rotate backwards. The motion equipment is housed in this basin section. It is called the basin because it is built with high walls that sit above the water line, keeping the interior equipment dry. The show vehicle then sits on the motion equipment just above the basin, and is attached to the basin with a waterproof gasket. The show vehicle is designed to notch around the high walls of the basin.

The vehicle is able to perform multiple motion modes as needed to support the story. While loading and floating peacefully, the show vehicle rests at its lowest position, just at the water line. In rougher waters, the vehicle can raise up above the water and use the motion equipment and rotation to simulate rapids and turbulence. When the vehicle is supposed to be on land, the motion equipment can simulate varied terrains, dips, and hills. And during the coaster portion of the ride, the vehicle can rotate and shake as if the track is rickety and uneven. Below is a schematic animation of the vehicle in three motion modes: float, rapids, and land. The section view of the animation shows how the vehicle fits over and around the basin.

As the vehicles are dispatched into the attraction, we get a radio message welcoming us to the adventure and instructing us to turn right at the fork and head up the waterfall stairs. This lift to the upper level is dressed as an ancient ceremonial staircase that has been flooded. We bounce our way up it as if we are driving up steps and then settle back into the river at the top. We are fully surrounded by natural caves and this is a calm section of the river. Just as we reach the top and turn the corner, we heard another message, instructing us to split up and go left. A prop vehicle ahead of us turns right into a darkened passageway and we turn left away from it. A rear projection extension of the cave on our left shows the scale of the catacombs we are exploring and we can see another vehicle driving away from us.

We continue to float forward and are told to go around the bend and then keep to the left, but just as we start to turn underneath a stone archway, we hear a rumble and crash ahead of us. As we continue forward, the result of a cave-in is revealed, with splashing water and large boulders settling in the river. That blocks our path, making us pause at first, but then we hear more rumbles so we start to speed away to the right.

We hear a message frantically questioning where we are going, and telling us that we shouldn’t go that way, because that path hasn’t been cleared yet. We soon see a set of stone columns in the cavern ahead and realize that something is different. The river takes us through the columns, revealing a catacomb temple. The river quickens as a whirlpool opens up ahead of us, and cauldrons begin to smoke with fire. We are caught up in the rougher waters and are drawn farther into the temple. A radio broadcast asks us where we are and if we are ok, but is interrupted with static just as a lightening effect fills the room. That causes us to speed up and try to get out of there as fast as we can. The message comes back in, telling us that the rest of the team are coming to look for us.

Exiting between more columns, the vehicle encounters the roughest waters yet and turns a corner to reveal another prop vehicle with a pair of passengers. Behind the vehicle is a rear projected screen that shows the cavern beyond and a massive flood rushing towards us. The prop vehicle is bobbing up and down in the water, and the passengers are waving to us to speed away. Our vehicle rushes forward and into a projection tunnel. Screens on either side of the track fill our full view and blend into the water at the base and darkness above. The track and our vehicle have risen just above the water line at this point, so that the vehicle can freely simulate being caught in a flood in synchronization with the projected media. The screens show us being caught in the wild flood and being washed away though the dangerous caverns. Other similar vehicles pass us on the way. We exit the projection tunnel and quickly travel around a dark corner and then immediately go down the first drop of the attraction.

That takes us back down to the ground floor and the vehicle splashes down in a more peaceful river cavern. There is another vehicle ahead of us, crashed on the rocks. We get a radio message, telling us that the other group is ok, but lost farther upstream. We are to head up on land and try to find a way out, but we should be careful because this is a completely unexplored area. The vehicle drives up on land, using the motion equipment to simulate the bumpy transition. The coaster track and the lower portion of our vehicle are set down into the ground in this area so that the ground to our left and right is at the correct height for our fake tires. The cavern ahead of us is dark enough to hide the track well enough. We start slowly driving through the dark caves, but soon things start to go wrong. We see just in time that a large stone column is falling in our direction, causing us to swerve and then swerve again as a second column falls. This section of the catacombs is rigged with traps.

We speed forward around the corner but stall for a moment when we see two large blocks slowly swinging in our path. We see each swing back and forth once, and then take our moment while they are both at their high points and race through the gap. We continue to race through the next few traps, starting with a tunnel where we hear and feel darts being shot at us, but missing. A fireball at the end of the tunnel causes us to speed out to our left and into a large open cavern.

This room is a projection dome. We slowly creep along a rocky ledge above bubbling water. Suddenly the entire room starts to shake and crumble as an earthquake hits the catacombs. The water bubbles higher and shoots jets up. Our vehicle shakes and slides as if caught in a landslide, and rotates 180 degree around as it begins to leave the room backwards.

The vehicle swiftly slides backwards into the coaster portion of the ride. We slide down a small drop to build speed and then wind through the dark caverns, passing more bubbling pools of water. While making a slow banked turn, the vehicle rotates back to face forward and continues speeding away. The vehicle races towards the only opening in sight but rapidly stops when it is revealed that it is a dead end. A rock wall in front of us shows no escape. Suddenly, we hear rumbling around us and we begin to shake. Then we are launched straight up on what appears to be a geyser.

When we reach the top of the lift, we shoot forward and splash down back into a river, like where we started. A radio message comes in, telling us that everyone has made it out after the earthquake, and that we should head back to base as quickly as we can. As we float forward, a room of treasure is revealed. It is covered in cobwebs and dust, but it is clear that this room is what we were looking for. Just as it is revealed though, the water starts to bubble one last time. We turn around and see more rapids ahead, drawing us forward. The vehicle passes one more rear projection screen that shows another room of treasure quickly being flooded with the rapids. We head around a dark corner and fall down the big and final drop.

The vehicle splashes down and peacefully floats forward. A message comes through, telling us that they just spotted us and that base is just head. While we float through the cave, we pass an assortment of treasure that has washed away with us. Turning back away from it, we can see the unload dock ahead. Guests leave the vehicle and exit up a staircase or elevator to the church above. The exit path leads to a retail space adjacent to the cloister and the street outside.

The attraction plan, land plan, and vehicle model were created in SketchUp. All sketches were created in Procreate. The vehicle animation was animated in 3ds Max.

Saturday, December 5, 2020

Worlds of Exploration

This is a concept design for an original theme park that tells the story of a group of explorers and their amazing adventures around the world. The park is organized with lands representing nine distinct regions of the world.

The story of the park is of a fictional group of explorers and friends who travel the world to while perusing their studies and adventures. The members have varied specialties and interests, leading them to every continent and region. They frequently gather back at their home base, in New York City, to celebrate their adventures and share their discoveries about the world. Each land of the park focuses on one member and their specialty.

Follow along with the overall site plan above as I walk through the park, starting with the design process.

This was a study to design a compact park, as opposed to an expansive full-scale park like Legendary Kingdom. I began with a limitation of a smaller than usual rectangular site and developed a suitable program for the scale I had to work with.

Regarding the form, I developed this park with a traditional hub and spoke layout because that allowed for the best density while maintaining efficient organization. I set up the plan to have eight main lands looping around a hub, plus the front entrance land. From the initial layout diagram, I refined the bubble diagram to develop a strategy for where to place public space and where to place attraction space in each land. The goal was to create an easy to navigate loop of public space with the majority of the higher density attraction space on the exterior of the park. I also studied how to introduce a hotel component to the site.

From that study, I moved on to a rough conceptual site plan to see how the spaces would be shaped by buildings. At this point, I had a plan for land themes and location and the start of a program for attractions. The goal with this drawing was to set the major massing moves of the park layout.

It was an important step to research the real-life locations that these lands were going to be based on. I identified specific locations for inspiration and studied their architectural style and layout. A collection of reference images conveys the intended character and style of each location.

Exterior to the park is an Entry Plaza garden that holds guest drop-off areas, security, guest services, and the other outer park functions for a typical park. The entrance and lobby of the on-site hotel is adjacent to the Plaza area. Two wings branch off from the central atrium lobby, both with prime views into the park. The west wing partially sits over top of a parking deck for hotel guests while the east wing sits over top of the park entrance. A feature overlook restaurant is on an upper level of this east wing.

The main park gates lead into a front garden and then through a pair of passageways under the hotel wing that take guests into the park. The entry land is the Explorer’s Village, the home base the explorers return to. This is an urban city district modeled on Greenwich Village. Low rise brick buildings form a entry square at the front of the park. An elevated train track runs along the north edge. This transportation attraction runs through the center of the park and stops at two other lands.

The street leading towards the hub holds retail and dining locations, all themed to businesses owned by the explorers or meant to support their activities. The central hub is a large public park space and splits to four directions. The park icon building at the top of the hub is the headquarters building of the group. It is an impressively large gothic revival brick building with a feature corner clock tower. This building was modeled on a collection of reference projects that all show the scale, materiality, and tone of the intended park icon.

These reference projects inspired a series of study sketches to resolve the general massing concept of the building. That final sketch was then translated into a fully detailed Sketchup model.

This park icon building holds a large trackless dark ride through the archives and classrooms of the headquarters. It also holds a second floor table service restaurant and the signup location of a park wide interactive game.

Starting from the bottom right branch from the hub, the first land is the Middle East. This is modeled on Old Damascus and similar historical cities in the region. I made a deeper study of the architecture and design of this land in order to build a Sketchup model of the overall land. That study began with reference images to understand both the visual features of the architecture and the general urban plan of the city.

While collecting those reference images, I also put together a collection of sketches of interesting and common details I found. This was an attempt to understand some of the character that the real city has so that I could recreate some element of it.

Elevation sketches of the major building faces and then a full Sketchup model of the land were then created to better portray the guest experience of this section of the park.

The land begins on the hub side with a large town square. The elevated train passes by and into a raised tunnel. On the opposite side of the square is the entrance to a covered market street that holds retail and dining. A rug shop in the market holds the first attraction of the land, a suspended flying carpet dark ride through the streets of the town. The covered market exits into an area of narrower streets and dense shopping buildings. The other attraction sits behind these buildings, with the entrance just to the right of the covered market exit. This attraction is a 1001 Nights dark ride coaster that takes guests into the legends of the region. The path to the next land passes through a large covered archway to the north.

China is the next land and was inspired by Old Town Shanghai. This land is split into two areas: the shopping streets and the Chinese garden. The streets area includes retail, dining, and two attractions. The first and larger is a traditional dark ride that is set in an Asian Art Museum where riders travel right into the beautiful and historic settings of the paintings. The elevated train runs above this attraction and looks down into some of the scenes. The other attraction is a sit down animatronics show about the legend of Chinese dragons, ending with a massive dragon that encircles the entire theater.

The garden area is highlighted by a lagoon with a large double level carousel built over it. The authentic garden wraps around the rear of the lagoon. The garden attraction is fully explorable and begins with a small 360 degree interior movie. A table service restaurant sits on the south edge of the water with views towards the carousel.

Polar Regions is a land set in a remote valley of ice. The frigid land is home to a set of sci-fi research base buildings both on ground level and perched up in the cliff sides. The elevated train also passes through the land. The design of the research base buildings was meant to be a fantastic version of real Antarctic research stations. Pylons drive deep into the ice and hold up the elevated main platform.

The largest of the buildings is the entrance to the main attraction, a spinning coaster through the icy tunnels and caves near the base. The other building at ground level is an indoor play area and retail for the land. A large covered ice cave on the east side of the land is the other main attraction. This is a snow rover simulator that takes guests on an adventure across the tundra. A counter service restaurant is in another cave nearby.

Brazil is the next land at the top of the park. This land is set in a rainforest jungle and village, modeled on the historic Paricatuba Ruins. A large and fully explorable multilevel treehouse sits in the vegetation, overlooking the land. The elevated train exits from a rocky cliff side and winds through the treetops. The train stops at a raised station in this land, the halfway point of the total trip. A green mountain sits just past the land, and the train tracks lead into a cave at the rear of it.

The jungle ruins area holds an outdoor family coaster, a spinning dark ride with hot air balloon vehicles, and a “trackless” suspended dark ride through the wonders of the jungle. This simulated trackless system is an idea for a ride system that uses two parallel tracks to create a varied ride experience. The small village section of the land back by the train station include retail and dining.

The path leads over a small stream and into the land of Polynesia. The green mountain that we previously saw rises above us as a volcano, and there are coaster tracks winding out from its base. This coaster in the volcano is the main attraction of the land. Past the volcano is a lagoon with a traditional thatch roof village on the right and a more modern town facade on the left. The lagoon and village is another attraction, a boat ride into Polynesian myths and culture. The ride starts with an outdoor loop around the lagoon before the main indoor section of the ride. Dining and retail fill the building on the other side of the path.

Africa is the next land along the path and is meant to be a city on the edge of a nature preserve. The land is bordered by a mountain range on the far side and a small stream runs through the vegetation, towards Polynesia. This land holds three attractions in the nature preserve area and the adjacent city is made up of retail and dining.

The biggest attraction is hidden behind the mountain range. This is an indoor EMV safari where guests explore the wilds of the preserve and see a variety of animals. Next to the mountain is a covered theater where live shows that retell African fables are presented. The other attraction is signified by a large hot air balloon sitting at the base of the mountain range. The attraction inside is a simulated hot air balloon tour over the landscape of Africa. More information about this attraction concept can be found here.

The following land is Mexico and is set around a town square, modeled on the town of Puebla. The village is dressed to celebrate the Dia de los Muertos festival. A church building on the edge of the square, behind a green lawn, holds a boat dark ride through the celebrating town. In front, by the lawn, there is a teacup style spinning dark ride where the vehicles are all dressed as decorated skulls.

The other side of the square includes a shooting dark ride, the final train station, and an outdoor fiesta theater space where a variety of musical performances are held.

The last land of the park is The UK. This land is modeled on London and includes a section of classic streets and a traditional park. The west wing of the hotel is overlooking this section, so the exterior is designed to keep the London theme. The London streets section includes a history museum that holds an attraction about the legendary knights and dragons of Camelot. There is also a 360 degree dome movie that presents an exploration into British culture as well as retail and dining.

The park section is made of a large hedge maze and a restaurant in a park conservatory. The path from there leads back to the hub and the start of the park.

The park is set up to hold nightly multimedia fireworks shows that are intended to be viewed from all over the park. A primary fireworks launch is located behind the volcano at the rear of the park and secondary launches for low level pyro are spread around the perimeter of the guest areas.

The park plan and Middle East model were created in SketchUp. All sketches were created in Procreate. Image credits for the reference images included on this page can be found here.