Third Gate Progress: The Theme of the Park

This week, I am going to talk a little about my planning for my design of a Disneyland Resort 3rd gate. As I have said before, this plan is going to take me much longer than the expansion plans for the existing parks, but I still want to keep you updated with my process and the progress of the plan.

So I have decided that the every other week text posts will periodically be used for updates and explanations of what I am doing. Design posts will continue on the other weeks with updates to other projects.

At this point, I have roughly decided on the properties and the theme of the park, but have not started actually laying the park out on the site.

This first time, I am going to give an overview of the properties I selected and how that defined the theme.

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So first, it has to be understood that realistically, this will be an IP heavy park. That's what Disney would build today and what will make the park popular. Additionally, the modern trend of parks is single property immersive lands. That trend, started by Harry Potter, allow guests to step right into the movies that they love and creates more transformative environments. So I wanted to at least make an attempt at this strategy.

However, even with these realities, I want to find a way to incorporate these elements into a cohesive and immersive overall theme, comparable to the rest of the Disney parks. This will not just be IP kingdom.

The other part of my strategy, which I had discussed in my post about how IPs should be properly used in the parks, is that the Disneyland Resort needs more variety of themed settings so that a larger variety of IPs can fit. The existing parks cover a good amount of settings, but there are multiple environments that major Disney films are set in that are missing.

So with these goals, I turned to a list of Disney films and began to mark potential IPs.

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My first pass was for anything that I think is popular enough to be in a theme park OR anything that I think could make a good themed environment. A lot of things here.

I eliminated things that I don't think Disney would build anymore because they are too old or unpopular, and things that have an obvious place in the other parks, just don't actually exist.

From that, I made a top list of things that I wanted to try to get in this 3rd gate.

Here's the list, in chronological order or release:

Mary Poppins
TRON
Aladdin
The Lion King
Hercules
UP
Wreck it Ralph
Inside Out
Zootopia
Moana (future release, but looks worthy of the parks)
Coco (same)
Gigantic (again, same)

Plus, I previously decided that Marvel would be located in this park since the Marvel area I proposed for DCA is rather small.

And I could realistically see the same being done with Star Wars by having a second land in this park, just like Universal has done. Spread the crowds and add a new, differently themed world.

That is a good sized list, but reasonable for this park. Now to transform that into a theme.

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I spent a week or two or three looking at the list and thinking about how they could work together.

I discussed before in my theme of Disneyland post that a park both has a theme that defines what is in the park, and a structure that frames how the elements are presented. I will be looking for both here, and they will influence each other.

First, I considered the existing theme park themes heavily.

I thought about a Hollywood Studios park. That would be easy to fit the properties in, but would be redundant to the Hollywood area of DCA, and frankly would be too easy.

I thought about DisneySea. It successfully made single theme environments based on existing films. But I wasn't convinced I could make all the properties I selected work in this theme. Plus, this theme requires a lot of water, which takes up a lot of valuable space, which would not work in a park that has to be on the small side.

I thought about EPCOT, or WESTCOT. But since they can't seem to figure out the EPCOT they already have, I don't think this could work. But this inspired part of the final solution.

When I looked at the films I selected and thought about why they did not fit in the current resort, I realized that many of them have very specific international locations, where the film really depends on that foreign setting in a way that is different than many of the classic animated films that could easily be transposed to a generic Fantasyland setting.

This international mindset combined with the success of EPCOT and the goal of making more focused lands centered around a property led me to investiage the idea of an international park, framed around a series of "worlds" that correspond to real life locations around the world.

Almost a IP World Showcase. This is especially ironic, since this is exactly what I am against in the real EPCOT. However, that is not because of the validity of placing IPs in international settings, but because of the more realistic and mature tone of EPCOT combined with its history as an edutainment park. So, in this new park, I think it could work because it is not being framed as real representations of countries, but as fantasy worlds inspired by real life.

The majority of the films in my list easily fit in this theme. Some are a little more complicated, but can still be structured as individual "worlds" that we travel to in this array of foreign settings. Zootopia and a Star Wars world essentially have the same international relationship to what we are familiar with, just imaginary fantasy worlds instead of fantasy inspired real settings.

So I think this can work for a park. However, this is the structure of the park, not the theme of the park. What ties together this idea of international worlds? EPCOT is structured as a World's Fair of international countries, but is themed as an expression of the progress of man.

To be honest, I think just saying international worlds could work. It's not a comprehensive theme, but it is unique and explains the properties and the structure of the properties. This is probably what would actually happen.

A better solution would be to tie a secondary theme or story that explains why we travel to these foreign worlds. There could be many solutions here, but I have decided to latch onto one particular idea that Disney has already invested development in and that I know is known and popular.

That is the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. Potentially the premier modern theme park story that is underused, S.E.A. is used around the world to tie together a group of attractions and fictional people who all strive to explore the wonders of the world. It's being used more and more frequently now, with even the recent announced addition to Typhoon Lagoon using the S.E.A. theme. It is obviously a favorite concept among the imagineers in power right now. So I am doubling down on it to be a whole park.

I think this could perfectly tie together our trip around the world, and it doesn't even need to be heavy handed. It does not have to be called the S.E.A Park, or even branded with S.E.A. The elements of the park just need to reflect this sense of exploration and adventure, and some specific attractions and settings should include the group and its members.

So my plan for the third gate of Disneyland Resort will be a theme park about the worldwide (and universe wide) travels of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers.

I think that is a solid concept for a complementay park for the resort and I am excited to start developing it soon!

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I don't really know a timeline, because developing a whole park can take any amount of time. But my plan is to give you updates as the plan develops.

If you like this concept, let me know in a comment below, and let me know what IPs you wish I included that I didn't mention. If its a good idea, I might be able to fit it in!

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I'll be back next week with the last part of the main park expansions.

Disneyland Resort Phased Expansion Plan Part 7 - Phase 3 of California Adventure

As promised, I now have the other half of my phase 3 expansion plan for California Adventure.

In the previous phase for this park, I proposed the addition of a Marvel backlot area in Hollywood, developed a Route 66 themed area that leads from Buena Vista Street to Paradise Pier, and replaced Pacific Wharf with a Beach town aquarium area. All these moves were to solidify the new thematic concept of the park, that it celebrates the ideals of California: Adventure, Life, and Creation.

At this point, Adventure is fully developed in Grizzly Peak National Park, and Life is developed with the series of areas that follow Route 66 across the state, from the desert to the beach. So this third (and the next fourth) phase continues to develop Creation, specifically with the development of a Pixar Place land to the south of Tower of Terror.

I have strong feelings about the placement of Pixar in this park and this specific location. First, I definitely believe that many Pixar films are of high enough quality to be in the parks. And should be in the parks as soon as possible, so even waiting until my 3rd phase might have been a mistake.

But the placement of these films in the parks is usually difficult because Pixar films create diverse, unusual, and detailed worlds that are difficult to shoehorn into existing spaces. A few films could fit other places, but many are so unique that there needs to be a different solution. Therefore, I agree that the best solution for Pixar is to create a Pixar specific land that can bring together these diverse worlds.

Next, in order to create this kind of combined land, it seems like the overall land needs to carry a Pixar Studios theme, relating it to the creative brand of the studio to relate the diverse worlds. That potentially fits in perfect with my designation of the Hollywood area as the spirit of Californian Creation. What better example of Californian Creation and Innovation than Pixar Studios.

Last, as for its placement in the park, I think it is obvious that it should go in this area in the south expansion plot because it would then be right next to both A Bugs Land and Carsland. That would allow both of these lands to be annexed into the new Pixar Studios subland of Hollywood. In my view, this works out so perfectly, that I am shocked it is not whats going to actually happen, at least if the rumors of this plot for Marvel are true.

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So, on to my plan for Pixar Studios. I analyzed the list of Pixar films to judge their popularity, the potential of the themed environment and attractions created from the property, the potential for it to be located somewhere else in the resort in the future, and if it is already present in the existing parks. After this analysis, I decided to add Monsters Inc, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille to the existing Bugs Life and Cars areas. Toy Story and Finding Nemo are already present, The Good Dinosaur and Brave are not popular enough, and I have plans to fit WALL-E, UP, Inside Out, and Coco in other locations (3rd gate).

In this phase, I am adding Monsters Inc and Ratatouille, saving The Incredibles for the fourth phase.

I developed the new area with a roundabout in the center, with 5 streets branching off to the 5 properties in the land. At the center of the roundabout is a statue of the Pixar lamp and ball. The surrounding buildings use the Pixar brick and black steel, and then this style fades into the surrounding worlds of the films. The largest new world is Monstropolis, which is on the east side and accessible from the path by the Tower of Terror. This pathway would be the primary access from Hollywood land proper. The path would pass under a Pixar Studios gate and the Red Car Trolley backstage barn would be relocated across the path.

The Monstropolis area is highlighted by the Monsters Inc factory building with city facades forming the streets around it. Inside the factory building is the often rumored Door Coaster dark ride. The queue pases through the lobby, into a scare floor, and then loads in a door maintence bay. The first half is a dark ride as Mike and Sulley play hide and seek with Boo, and the second half is the low thrill suspended coaster through the door warehouse. The city street buildings outside in the land hold a counter service food location, retail, and a meet and greet with Mike and Sulley. The street would continue south to the Incredibles area in the future.

The Ratatouille area is much smaller and fits in where the current Luigi attraction is. The area is a single building with a Parisian courtyard and fountain. Inside on the left is a table service Remy's Restaurant on two floors. To the right, at an alley, is the entrance to the small attraction for this area, a cooking demonstration with Remy, similar to Turtle Talk and the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. The interactive digital show presents Remy teaching us how to cook and answering questions about Paris. The scale issue is solved by setting it up as Linguini filming Remy and projecting it on a big screen for us to see. Similar to Honey I Shrunk the Audience, the projected setting is true scale and is meant to be real life on stage, not on stage.

One of the spurs off the central round about connects to the road leading into Cars Land and another leads directly to A Bugs Land. A Bugs Land is slightly reconfigured with Heimlich's Chew Chew Train removed. the rear entrance from Hollywood completely removed, and the entrances on the Cars Land side slightly moved. The path from the Route 66 area also has a Pixar gate.

In the corner between the Cars Land and Bugs Land roads is a small meet and greet pavilion, formed of two semi circular covered pavilions. These would hold various Pixar characters that don't already have a place in the land.

As mentioned before, the south area of this expansion plot is to be used for an Incredibles area in the next phase.

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I'll be back with the last part of the current resort expansion in two weeks, and, at some point, a post detailing the start of my planning for the third gate.

Thanks for reading and leave a comment below if you liked this Pixar expansion. 

Disneyland Resort Phased Expansion Plan Part 6 - Phase 3 of Disneyland

For this post about Phase 3 for my Disneyland expansion plan, I will be splitting it into two posts, one for each park. This is entirely because I have finished one park, Disneyland, but not the other and I did not want to keep you waiting for another week.

The third phase is intended to open in the year 2030 and includes the opening of the third gate as well major as additions to both parks to balance crowds. As I have said before, I will not be including the third gate at this time, because developing a whole new gate takes alot more time and thought than just adding to an existing park. I may do a post soon that details the start of my planning, but it will not have a real site plan.

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For Disneyland park, this phase brings additions to both Fantasyland and Tomorrowland since the other lands of the park are fully built out and do not need improvements or additions.

In the previous phase, Fantasyland was expanded north by replacing Toontown. The addition brought a Frozen boat ride and large indoor Arendelle village as well as a Tangled trackless dark ride.

In this phase, the Fantasyland Theater is replaced with two new attractions that are on a new path that leads back around the Storybook Canal Boats to connect to the main area of Fantasyland.

From the castle courtyard area, the path curves around Storybook Land, taking up the space formerly holding the Skyway Chalet. First, to the left is a small French village building, designed with the same level of fantasy realism in the rest of the land. The first facade is Maurice's workshop. Inside, guests experience the same Magic Mirror effect as in Storytime with Belle and are transported directly into the dining room of the Castle. Instead of being a meet and greet, this is a full on animatronic show like the Tiki Room. Guests are seated in the round around the large dining room table. Lumiere, standing on the mantle of the large fireplace, greets us and then starts up the performance of Be Our Guest. Animatronics on the table and above come to life all around us. Guests exit back out the mirror on the other side of the building and walk back out to the pathway.

Continuing from this building, guests approach a more built up area where the larger addition is, a new version of Peter Pan's Flight. My reasoning for this new Peter Pan's Flight is the same as why I made the same move in my Magic Kingdom Plan. It has become a right of passage ride and I think is always going to have high demand even if other dark rides and capacity are added to other areas of the park. It's line is never going to get shorter. I think the attraction in its existing state is too low capacity and of lower quality than a right of passage ride deserves. Plus, now that we have seen a new version of the attraction in Shanghai, it is clear that the existing can be improved. Honestly, this is the only attraction I can think of that I think needs this relocation and expansion. I know this is controversial because it removes something original to the park, but I think this is worth it overall because of the added quality of experience for the guests who would now wait in a shorter line for a better ride.

So here, I have included a new modern version of Peter Pan's Flight that is roughly three times the size of the existing, including a modern enclosed queue similar to the one at the Magic Kingdom. The attraction follows a similar story path, starting in the Darling's nursery, then through the stars to Neverland, and culminating with an encounter with Captain Hook. The difference is the scenes are much larger and more detailed with modern animatronics and projection effects. The vehicles are also are larger with two rows that could seat 2 or 3 guests. It is an overall improvement on the existing while keeping the same character of the original.

The original attraction is kept open up to the day that this new version opens, and is then closed and removed. A new attraction in that space opens in the next phase of the project.

The path then leads to a split, left to go under the train tracks directly towards the Frozen additions from last phase, and right to  head back towards the train station and Small World.


Moving on to Tomorrowland, there are big changes here. First, the Autopia, the existing People Mover tracks, and the Monorail are all slightly rerouted to create an expansion pad for Fantasyland. This means losing about 150' on the west side of the existing area, cutting it back to just the land above the submarine show building. That showbuilding and the land above is would be much moe difficult to redevelop, so it formed the edge of what I could change. In this phase, the three attractions are rerouted, and the new land is used in the next phase, holding one or two additional attractions for Fantasyland. In this rerouting process, there is also a small show building built on the west edge of the new Autopia, which holds an indoor futuristic highway scene that the cars (and eventually People Mover above) pass through. The monorail is honestly the most affected, because it removes the loop through Fantasyland and around the Matterhorn, keeping the track mostly in Tomorrowland. This is so that future additions to Fantasyland do not have to be built under or around the track.

The biggest addition to Tomorrowland is not an attraction, but improvements to the actual land. In order to rework the aesthetic of the land and relieve crowding pinch points, a sweeping second level is added to the land, defined with organic curves and lined with vegetation. The elevated level has two outdoor access towers, one between the two west side buildings, and one by the submarine lagoon. Both have stairs and elevators leading to this second level. It may also be accessed through some of the show buildings. The idea is to reduce crowding while adding sleek and modern architectural moves to the land. The second level would hopefully make it much less congested and make it more comfortable and relaxing for guests to walk through the land.

Additionally, more trees are added to make it a greener future, the covered portion of Tomorrowland Terrace is expanded to create more seating for the stage, and some architectural improvements are made to the Carousel building, which will get a new attraction in the next phase to complete the land.

The one new attraction of this phase replaces Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Thought it is a popular attraction, it just does not fit the theme or location of the new identity of Tomorrowland. So in this phase, it is replaced with a new dark ride that uses the characters of Big Hero 6 in a technology and robotics showcase setting. I decided that the land could use one IP based attraction to balance the tone of the land, and I feel that Big Hero 6 reflects the same ideals of the possibilities of the future. And the technology showcase scene from the start of the film could perfectly fit in the setting of the land and the technology subarea I mentioned last post.

This new dark ride uses the same track, but is no longer a shooting attraction. Guests tour through the exhibits of the showcase in the queue and then board vehicles designed by Hiro for a trip through the lab, led by Baymax.


Last, another attraction opens in Star Wars land at this phase. The MiceChat plan online shows this area as a future expansion, so I am utilizing it here.


That completes the additions for this park in this phase. The next phase brings one last round of additions to both of these lands.

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Next week, I will hopefully have the Phase 3 plan for California Adventure, and then we continue onto the last phase of my expansion plan.

Leave a comment if you would have done something different to expand and refresh these two lands. Also, what property do you think should go in that new Fantasyland plot in the next phase? I have a few choices and want to see what you think.