Somewhere in Fantasyland could sit a new interactive "shoot-em up" style ride based on Disney's Robin Hood. The ride would have Buzz Lightyear style ride cars, themed for Robin Hood. The guns could be Crossbows with suction cup arrows. The overall theme would be "steal from the rich and give to the poor." I would want the set to be created using 3d Models and AA's, not the plywood based Buzz stuff. The point of the ride would be to shoot as many gold coins as possible. I have given it some thought and I don't think there should be a naritive. I feel that it would overshadow the interactive element of the attraction. The sets should not be too cluttered with coins or props. Just so that it can be more relaxing and immersive. However, there is a twist to this ride, the concept of an "early exit." What is an "early exit" you ask? The total amount of coins your car collects, will determine how your experience finishes. Please take a few minutes to see how this ride would work. I have drawn inspiration from a dark ride in Belgium http://www.sallycorp.com/ASX/tut_h.asx
Now, let's say that there is one exit that people will see no matter how many coins they collect. Then there is another that maybe 1/4 of the cars get a good chance of seeing (Basically obtainable by at least trying). The final scene should be received as a "holy grail" type of thing. Guests should have a 1/10 or less chance of reaching the final scene. Doing this will start the "Robin hood legend." Those that aew skilled enough to see the final scene will spend all day describing it to those that can't seem to make it. The "re-ride ability" factor of this ride would be huge. Truth be told I am more excited about the "early exit/holy grail" concept than the Robin Hood thing. I just thought it suited the concept well.
8 comments:
I really like the idea here. Unfortunately, a lot of the forward thinking and creativity that made Disney great in the past is now gone. It is quickly becoming an average amusement park. Other places have big budget attractions, of which, haven't been outdone by Disney recently. I never liked the idea that Disney is an amusement park, I think I(and a good deal of others) always considered it an Amazement park. Sadly, recently they have failed at providing that. Keep up the good work.
I like that idea of challenging the guests. It makes the ride repeatable on future visits for them.
I like the idea, but I don't like the suction cup arrows. Think of how many arrows would be clustered on to one taget after only a few cycles. Not to mention employees would constantly have to go and collect the arrows from the ride causing down time, or guests shooting them. It would only be a matter of time until there was a lawsuit from either an employee or another guest after getting shot in the eye by a jerk.
The best idea would be a laser based system like Buzz Lightyear.
The suction cups would'nt be real. It would just look like suction cups on the gun itself.(used for collection of the coins) It would be a laser based gun
Dark rides have painted flats, even the ones Walt Disney created himself. It's a necessary evil, and one that the average guest wouldn't know (they DO fly past a lot of them in many scenes). On a slow-moving boat-ride, 3d characters and scenery is important, but a faster dark ride needs to convey a thought or feeling very fast (and early dark rides didn't control the direction the car faces like newer omnimover systems). Therefore, you have to assume that the average guest is going to see a figure for a short period of time. Not to sound like a sharp-pencil boy, but most of the time, 2d painted flats work just as well. And in all truth, that's really all you need. If you want to have something be a focal point, 3d is good, but really, we're talking about a classic Disney 2d, hand-drawn movie. Why not keep the same visual style throughout the ride and movie?
One of the problems I see with a lot of blue-sky imagineering like this is, it's not very practical. Painted flats are used because it's cheap to build them, paint them, upkeep them, and replace them. I'm not against AA's, but really, if they're a dime-a-dozen, they loose their importance. I'm still a hardcore Disney fan, but go back to what Walt's core philosophies were. His additions (to HIS Disneyland) were huge, but he didn't just take idea A and add a film franchise to it, or add AA's, or recycle an idea. Walt was an innovator.
Innovations have given us rides like Matterhorn, The Haunted Mansion, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and the Tiki Room, among others. Even things like Tom Sawer's Island is a unique attraction. And since Walt's time, we've seen things like Tower of Terror, Test Track, and Indiana Jones Adventure (yes, even Soarin'). And you know, they all started out as the same-old concept, but they became something else. Get creative, and don't limit yourself to dark rides for Disney films. Disney parks mean a lot more to me than that.
In closing, I'm not trying to shoot you down here. I just think the problem with Disney parks these days isn't a lack of attractions, it's a lack of new, exciting, and innovative experiences. Walt was always thinking and toying with a new idea, and that's really what's missing.
Ryan, As I said on the heading of the site. I am not taking feasibility, logistics or budgets in to consideration for my ideas. The name of the site is "Amateur Imagineer", not "Disney Owned Accountant." The idea that plywood cutouts work just the same in a ride as 3d sets, AA's or slick projections is a dangerous way of thinking. Your argument is that they are easy to build, maintain, etc. well... so is a blank white wall or a block of wood. However, they are not very entertaining. Also, I have not seen too many plywood cutouts at The Haunted Mansion, Tiki room, Hall of Presidents or PoC. I agree there is a time and a place for some. However, lately it seems that the penny pinchers have got their way and dropped them in as many rides as possible. Lastly, I have been concentrating most of my energy so far on "movie based dark rides". However, I have other ideas that I have not yet published, so stay tuned. I invite you or anyone else to come up with whatever ideas you may have. please e-mail them to me if it is off topic and I will post them in your name. Also, I am looking for contributors to this site to help me. So ryan, if you have something in mind, please give me a shout.
Great idea for a ride. The video clip was great and helped to show what you were thinking. I'd be interested in seeing follow up research from them on guest reactions to not being able to do well enough to see the final room. I wonder if there is a way to reward some people, without taking away from the rest. It would make them want to come back, but what if they really never could do well enough?
There is a laser gun haunted house ride at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, Cali. that triggers effects when you hit the target. Once we figured that out, it made the ride more fun. We wanted to go back on it, to figure out what else we missed, and because there was so much to see. By being so busy looking for and hitting targets, we didn't see everything, making it easy to go back on many times to see it all.
I'm a new visitor to this site and I know my comments are coming a couple of years after some of the previous ones. Just wanted to say that I agree with Ryan when he says:
"Innovations have given us rides like Matterhorn, The Haunted Mansion, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and the Tiki Room, among others. Even things like Tom Sawer's Island is a unique attraction. And since Walt's time, we've seen things like Tower of Terror, Test Track, and Indiana Jones Adventure (yes, even Soarin')."
Right on. Ain't nothin' wrong with a movie-based rides but I feel that most amateur Imagineers cannot think of anything but. I have to say, at least this Robin Hood idea has a somewhat original twist to it.
Post a Comment