More General stuff

This is a drawing I made back in 2000 for my proposed park.  I have been going to Disneyland since I was a young boy, and first visited Epcot in 1992.  While riding Small World one day, I thought about how it would be cool if the pavilions of Epcot's World Showcase were arranged like that.  The pavilions would flow together, and smaller attractions, shops, and restaurants could fill in between them to represent other countries.  Later I read about the proposed Wescot park and thought it sounded pretty interesting, but not without flaws.  

The pavilions would need to be smaller than those of World Showcase, and probably packed closer together.  I'm thinking that each could include either a table serve or counter serve restaurant, unlike at Epcot where they often include both.  Disney could also use forced-perspective more at this park than they do at Epcot, where they have the benefit of a lot of space.

Back in 2000 I proposed a seventh area, which would serve as the central hub, called the Global Village. Surrounded by the seas of the world, and connected to the other areas by bridges, it would also serve as the park’s Tomorrowland/Future World, and feature attractions with a modern or futuristic setting.  The other areas of the park would be most modern/urban near the hub, and would become more historical/rural away from it.   After more consideration however, I decided the park would be better without it.

This park is mostly designed for a third park in Anaheim, but with some modification, it could be built in Tokyo or Paris, as well as for a park in one of the China resorts.  It would not work as well in Florida, as it partly borrows from Epcot’s World Showcase as well as Animal Kingdom (although it has no live animals).  

I wanted a park that could focus would be on recent Animated Features, with attractions designed so that they could be easily updated to spotlight a more recent Animated Feature as needed.  Live shows and “Meet and greet” areas featuring the Animated Characters, which can be easily revamped to stay current, would also be highly featured in each area of the park.

The greatest strength of this park is that the themes of the lands are broad enough to accommodate almost any attraction, including existing ones from other parks.   For instance, if this park were located in Paris, successful attractions from parks in Anaheim, Florida, Hong Kong, and Tokyo could be added which are not at Disneyland Paris or the Paris Studios.  Also, the park could easily include any or all of Epcot’s World Showcase pavilions, or just parts of them, such as their films, which can also be updated periodically without having to revamp the entire attraction.  Further, if built in other countries, the continents could be rotated to highlight certain areas.  For example, if it is decided that a Chinese park should have a “Main Street USA”, the North American area could be used an entrance, while a Tokyo park could have an Asian one.  The basic layout would remain the same, and would be easy for visitors to remember since it is based on the actual globe.  While an encircling railroad would be too derivative of the Disneylands, transportation could be provided by a railroad within the park and/or by boat across the central lake.  

Since history doesn’t change, using a global history theme as a framework for the park means it would not require major revamps to stay current.  Adults would enjoy the “World Showcase”-like eating and shopping opportunities in each land, while kids would enjoy the shows, “meet and greet” areas, and basic kiddie rides.  Teenagers care more about thrills than themes, so use of basic designs for the thrill rides, with changeable cues, would keep them happy without spending a lot of money continually on updates.