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Walt Disney World's Epcot is divided into two parts: Future World and World Showcase. Let's look at the World Showcase:
a lagoon surrounded by pavilions of that are supposed to offer atmospherically the essence of each of the 10 nations that make up showcase. One finds an architectural theme or two, generally a ride, a restaurant representative of the local cuisine, shops that offer products of the nation, theatre like attractions of the nation and on and on. Obviously what's there is fairly well known.
Now the "imagine" part: Let's make believe WDW is building a 5th theme park. We'll give it the name of a themed park Disney was going to build in DC's VA suburbs, Disney's America. This new park would be a different concept:
Four "lands" to showcase America:
• The American Story: US History (basic theme of the planned DC park)
• 50 Nifty United States: in the outline of the USA, one walks from region to region (akin to NYC's long gone Freedomland)
• Culture/Innovations, USA: America's contributions to the world
• CITY SHOWCASE: Like the World Showcase in Epcot, but this one highlights US cities around a lagoon.
*****
If you desire, you will make make a plan for your city (or any US city of your choice) to design a City Showcase pavilion for it (remember, your pavilion is located on a lagoon so you can and should incorporate the waterfront into the pavilion):
• What would that design be? (layout, architecture)
• Any buildings recreated in miniature (like Epcot's Effiel Tower, Doge Palace, Aztec Pyramid)
• If you have a restaurant (or two): how themed (one sit down and one counter service?)
• Is there a ride? What is it?
• Non-ride attractions like theatre, exhibit, etc.
• Two or three shops that represent your city
and, of course, if you create a visual, by all means upload it for us to see.
And....obviously.....this is all for fun....so if it sounds like fun to you, hey: go for it!
OK, I'll try to contribute to my own invention here:
Chicago: Sticking into the lagoon will be a mini Navy Pier...with ferris wheel and a Chicago hot dog stand (I'm going with Superdawg), From the lagoon will be a circular track of a roller coaster that will represent the Chicago Loop el trains. The space inside the tracks will represent Chicago's Loop. Inside will be one restaurant (Lou Malnati's, deep dish pizza) a Chicago architectural shop, and gangster related 1920s shop. Heading further inland from the lagoon would be a miniature Chicago River with a miniature Wrigley Building and Tribune tower facing the Loop across the river. This inner most part of the pavilion would have a thrill ride called "Escaping the Great Chicago Fire" and will also include a miniature front facade of Wrigley Field, the inside of which would be a Chicago sports museum.
For Sure
1. Boston and New England
2. New York City
3. Philadelphia
4. Washington DC-Baltimore
5. Miami
6. Nashville
7. Detroit-Motown
8. San Antonio-The Wild West
9. Las Vegas-Grand Canyon
10. Los Angeles-Hollywood
11. San Francisco
12. Alaska
Maybe
1. Chicago
2. Rocky Mountains
3. Birmingham, AL
4. Seattle
5. St. Louis
The challenge for Reno would be separating us from Vegas. So the following are some ideas:
- The scenery should be mountains, sagebrush, and shrubs, not flat desert
- Lake Tahoe: maybe a water ride? The pool should have a deep blue lining, cf. the famous "Keep Tahoe Blue" stickers
- Divorce: it'd have to be done in a lighthearted Disney way, like Sarabi the lion dumping Scar?
- A mining gift shop where you can get a bunch of (cheap, fake) silver stuff, to evoke the Comstock Lode and Virginia City?
- You could actually lump in all of Northern Nevada and do a Loneliest Road in America theme, with a roller coaster traversing a really long distance and passing a bunch of ghost towns on the way
Sounds like an idea to resurrect the early 1960s park Freedomland (where Co-Op City is today in the Bronx), where the cities were scattered around a map of the US. That park had San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago, and New York City represented. That park was 205 acres, pretty close in size to Epcot, and was logically arranged according to geography, though what was north in the real world was actually facing east in the park. With that said, encompassing the horseshoe shape of World Showcase, I'd allow both coasts to get their due.
Going counterclockwise from Miami, this is how I'd lay the park out:
1. Miami (Florida in general really, with a coaster and a hurricane simulator)
2. Atlanta (representing the South in general, with soul food restaurants and a dark ride chronicling the region's two main struggles: the Civil War, featuring Gone With The Wind-inspired scenes and the Civil Rights movement)
3. Washington DC (Rides aren't main attraction here, but replicas of the city's most famous attractions, the White House and the Capitol are cool walkthroughs, much like the castles in Disney. Also features "meet-and-greet" with various Presidents.)
4. New York, featuring a "Little Old New York" section that resembles Nieuw Amsterdam with canal rides and the park's main shopping/souvenir area, and a Coney Island section with a couple classic midway rides and a wodden coaster
5. Boston (and New England in general, sort of like Plimouth Plantiation, features the swinging Mayflower ride and a Merry-Go-Round)
6. Pittsburgh (located between New York and Chicago, a giant steel coaster and a steep incline are the main attractions, along with a tribute to the great Fred Rogers, the Neighborhood of Make Believe featuring a trolley ride and puppet show)
7. Chicago (The second largest pavilion, featuring three main rides: a showcase of the Great Fire in the form of a roller coaster that hurls through burnt buildings, a Ferris Wheel to honor its inception there, and massive freefall from a 1/5 scale of the Willis Tower. )
8. Kansas City (Lots of classic Art Deco architecture, but the main attractions are a massive tornado ride and a giant maze that could consist of corn or wheat, with lots of surprises along the way, such as part of the Yellow Brick Road from the Wizard of Oz)
9. Denver/The Rocky Mountains (features ski lifts, an underground mine train ride, and a bobsled-style coaster)
10. Seattle (and the Pacific Northwest, features a log flume and a futuristic VR coaster inside an advanced motion simulator)
11. San Francisco (Features a standing roller coaster inspired by SF's hilly streets, twisted Lombard street, and even an earthquake rumble while on cars that look like their famous trolleys, along with a CommuniCore-like area that showcases the hot new innovative interactive technology)
12. Los Angeles (The main performing stage of course is the main attraction, but also features a huge hanuted house showcasing the "ghosts" of past celebrities, all while taking place in rooms inspired by grand historic buildings like the Bradbury and Roosevelt Hotels). Also includes the largest video arcade section in an area inspired by the Santa Monica Pier. Lots of midcentury modern-inspired architecture.
Sounds like an idea to resurrect the early 1960s park Freedomland (where Co-Op City is today in the Bronx), where the cities were scattered around a map of the US. That park had San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago, and New York City represented. That park was 205 acres, pretty close in size to Epcot, and was logically arranged according to geography, though what was north in the real world was actually facing east in the park. With that said, encompassing the horseshoe shape of World Showcase, I'd allow both coasts to get their due.
Going counterclockwise from Miami, this is how I'd lay the park out:
1. Miami (Florida in general really, with a coaster and a hurricane simulator)
2. Atlanta (representing the South in general, with soul food restaurants and a dark ride chronicling the region's two main struggles: the Civil War, featuring Gone With The Wind-inspired scenes and the Civil Rights movement)
3. Washington DC (Rides aren't main attraction here, but replicas of the city's most famous attractions, the White House and the Capitol are cool walkthroughs, much like the castles in Disney. Also features "meet-and-greet" with various Presidents.)
4. New York, featuring a "Little Old New York" section that resembles Nieuw Amsterdam with canal rides and the park's main shopping/souvenir area, and a Coney Island section with a couple classic midway rides and a wodden coaster
5. Boston (and New England in general, sort of like Plimouth Plantiation, features the swinging Mayflower ride and a Merry-Go-Round)
6. Pittsburgh (located between New York and Chicago, a giant steel coaster and a steep incline are the main attractions, along with a tribute to the great Fred Rogers, the Neighborhood of Make Believe featuring a trolley ride and puppet show)
7. Chicago (The second largest pavilion, featuring three main rides: a showcase of the Great Fire in the form of a roller coaster that hurls through burnt buildings, a Ferris Wheel to honor its inception there, and massive freefall from a 1/5 scale of the Willis Tower. )
8. Kansas City (Lots of classic Art Deco architecture, but the main attractions are a massive tornado ride and a giant maze that could consist of corn or wheat, with lots of surprises along the way, such as part of the Yellow Brick Road from the Wizard of Oz)
9. Denver/The Rocky Mountains (features ski lifts, an underground mine train ride, and a bobsled-style coaster)
10. Seattle (and the Pacific Northwest, features a log flume and a futuristic VR coaster inside an advanced motion simulator)
11. San Francisco (Features a standing roller coaster inspired by SF's hilly streets, twisted Lombard street, and even an earthquake rumble while on cars that look like their famous trolleys, along with a CommuniCore-like area that showcases the hot new innovative interactive technology)
12. Los Angeles (The main performing stage of course is the main attraction, but also features a huge hanuted house showcasing the "ghosts" of past celebrities, all while taking place in rooms inspired by grand historic buildings like the Bradbury and Roosevelt Hotels). Also includes the largest video arcade section in an area inspired by the Santa Monica Pier. Lots of midcentury modern-inspired architecture.
Great stuff. Love the SF hills coaster. This is a no brainer, but you did include a twist and turn down Lombard, right?
The challenge for Reno would be separating us from Vegas. So the following are some ideas:
- The scenery should be mountains, sagebrush, and shrubs, not flat desert
- Lake Tahoe: maybe a water ride? The pool should have a deep blue lining, cf. the famous "Keep Tahoe Blue" stickers
- Divorce: it'd have to be done in a lighthearted Disney way, like Sarabi the lion dumping Scar?
- A mining gift shop where you can get a bunch of (cheap, fake) silver stuff, to evoke the Comstock Lode and Virginia City?
- You could actually lump in all of Northern Nevada and do a Loneliest Road in America theme, with a roller coaster traversing a really long distance and passing a bunch of ghost towns on the way
Divorce pavillion, qallowng backward walk up the aisle?
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