Indyland?

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
This is an awesome thread. (y)

I love the idea of a "Lucasland" (which just wasn't meant to be).

In this potential Lucasland, Lucas could also maybe go to his buddy Steven, and put Universal's E.T., Back to the Future and Jurassic Park rides(2 of the 3 of those no longer exist).
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Nurhachi1991 said:
How cool would it be to get harassed by cast members dressed as Nazi's and ask to see your papers?(y)

Assuming this Indyland takes the family friendly route, such a conversation could go like this:


U-Boat Captain: I am making notes, Captain, and when we win the war, you will be brought to account

Mainwaring: You can write what you like. You're not going to win this war.

U-Boat Captain: Oh, yes we are!

Mainwaring: Oh no you're not!

U-Boat Captain: Oh yes we are!

Pike: [sings] Whistle while you work / Hitler is a twerp / He's half barmy, so's his army / Whistle while you work.

U-Boat Captain: [pointing at Pike] Your name will also go on zee list. What is it?

Mainwaring: Don't tell him, Pike!

U-Boat Captain: Pike.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
WilliamBoyd8 said:
Shanghai Disneyland

What wonders will we see?

:)

In the family friendly version or the adult one?

For the latter all manner of 'delights' were available in 1930s Shanghai. And to keep you on your toes there'll be the constant risk of getting mugged, or being invaded by the Japanese (again). Not to mention the Green Gang and a Lao Che itching for revenge.
 
Attila the Professor said:
I always figured Rocket would insist the park opens at Machete Landing, as in our other discussion about an immersive Indiana Jones world...

It would be a shame if it wasn't!

The only thing I would insist upon is segregated areas for children and adults.

The adults may enjoy watching the kids faces on "It's a Small World," but the kids can stay in the Shanghai Bumper Cars* outside The Club Obi Wan Casino...

*Points awarded for rickshaws overturned
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
JuniorJones said:
May 25, 1990. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg today announced plans to build a giant theme park called Star World, with attractions based on scenes from their films. Between them, Spielberg and Lucas have directed or produced the dozen top-grossing movies of all time: Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Return of the Jedi (1983), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Gremlins (1984), Close Encounters: The Final Edition (1985), Indiana Jones Phones Home (1987), 1942 (1988) and The Gremlins Eat Princess Leia (1989).

A spokesman for the film makers' corporation, Luke Spielberger Ltd., said that the attractions will include a Poltergeist funhouse, a scuba dive through shark-infested waters, an American Graffiti drag strip, a Millennium Falcon journey through the Twilight Zone, an E. T. flying-bike ride and an Indiana Jones snake pit. The restaurants, or cantinas, will feature gremlins serving popcorn and candy bars. Each afternoon the Ewoks Marching Band will parade through the park playing the works of John Williams.

The spokesman would not confirm reports that Lucas and Spielberg intended to buy all six major Hollywood studios, and then raze the back lot as sites for Star World. But he struck fear into moguls' hearts when he asked, "Why settle for the Force when you can have the Empire too?"

By Richard Corliss

This for the fun of it. And then there's this, from this fellow who does conceptual build-outs of what he feels the various Disney theme parks (real or imagined) could be in some ideal form, as he conceives of it. Here's the map of what he's envisioned for the upcoming Shanghai Disneyland, based on this concept art. And here's what's interesting to us:

Ideal Buildout said:
OLD SHANGHAI:

In the northwest of the artwork there is a land that looks like Main Street, U.S.A. I interpreted this to be a romanticized version of Shanghai in the 1930s when it was known as ?Paris of the Orient.? This park?s re-imagined version of Haunted Mansion is here, based on a mysterious Chinese tea house. There is Club Obi-wan - run by gangster Loa Che - and a new version of the Indiana Jones Adventure that takes riders careening through the Shanghai Antiquities Museum to the Emperor?s lost tomb (terra-cotta army).

You've sort of got to figure that Indyland would have two modern type cities somewhere in it. Shanghai makes sense as one. My mind tends towards something European for the other...perhaps Rome, or Venice, of course, water elements being a must. And is there a campus area? There really ought to be, complete with a museum.
 

Nurhachi1991

Well-known member
Montana Smith said:
Assuming this Indyland takes the family friendly route, such a conversation could go like this:


U-Boat Captain: I am making notes, Captain, and when we win the war, you will be brought to account

Mainwaring: You can write what you like. You're not going to win this war.

U-Boat Captain: Oh, yes we are!

Mainwaring: Oh no you're not!

U-Boat Captain: Oh yes we are!

Pike: [sings] Whistle while you work / Hitler is a twerp / He's half barmy, so's his army / Whistle while you work.

U-Boat Captain: [pointing at Pike] Your name will also go on zee list. What is it?

Mainwaring: Don't tell him, Pike!

U-Boat Captain: Pike.


Haha I was thinking more along the lines of SS officers going up to guests and going Papers please! The guest would be like what paper? Than the SS officer would hand them a coupon for 10 percent off the Indy grill BBQ!!! (y)
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
So I've been holding out on you a little bit, because there <I>is</I>, in a sense, an Indiana Jones land at one of the Disney theme parks already. That's the Lost River Delta section of the Tokyo DisneySea park. I've shown you a couple images from it already.

Lost%20River%20Delta%2008.jpg


tds+7.jpg


21.jpg


gallery005.jpg


LRD+Skeleton.jpg


Lost+River+TDS.jpg


4755069876_6c10ff4829.jpg


Now, I've never been to this beaut of a park, but the land ("ports of call" in this park) is pretty clearly built to provide a reason for the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction to have a home, in this case set in 1930s South America rather than in India. Indeed, this was one of the many "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" precursors to feature the Crystal Skull, along with, at the very least, the McCoy books and Desktop Adventures. And, obviously, any Indiana Jones park would include a jungle region as a matter of necessity, just as any sole Indiana Jones land in some other park is almost certainly going to be jungle-based. (Because the jungle is lush, and the desert is not.) Machete Landing, anyone?
 
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Montana Smith

Active member
Attila the Professor said:
So I've been holding out on you a little bit, because there <I>is</I>, in a sense, an Indiana Jones land at one of the Disney theme parks already. That's the Lost River Delta section of the Tokyo DisneySea park. I've shown you a couple images from it already.

Lost%20River%20Delta%2008.jpg

That's almost Jock's actual aircraft, right down to the SW inspired registration. Couldn't get much closer to Indyland.

062.jpg


This looks like a fantastic set:

gallery005.jpg
[/QUOTE]
 
Attila the Professor said:
You've sort of got to figure that Indyland would have two modern type cities somewhere in it. Shanghai makes sense as one. My mind tends towards something European for the other...perhaps Rome, or Venice, of course, water elements being a must. And is there a campus area? There really ought to be, complete with a museum.
I was shooting for greater representation, but the Park could always go the Busch Gardens route, (hopefully not as silly as the Irish section of the park).

What would you make the centerpiece of the park? A gothic spired University?
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Rocket Surgeon said:
I was shooting for greater representation, but the Park could always go the Busch Gardens route, (hopefully not as silly as the Irish section of the park).

An Indy-ized World Showcase? Is that the notion, but with everything in a geographically appropriate location? Maybe. But structurally it might be a bit of a disaster. Where's the entrance to the world? And you'd have a half dozen deserts, and a handful of jungles, and various outposts of civilization...I think you need to consolidate things.

Rocket Surgeon said:
What would you make the centerpiece of the park? A gothic spired University?

Good question. Thing is, I'm not sure it has a centerpiece in a traditional sense. It's a park about adventure, and so you need to get a little bit lost in it. Take a gander at this:

Passport to Dreams Old and New said:
How to Hide a Castle

Cinderella Castle is big. Really Big. Like, 198 feet big. It can be seen from a mile away. And in the designing of Walt Disney World, WED had to deal with this new kind of visual center point in the initial master planning process for the first time. Sure, The Matterhorn was (and still is, after 45 years of foliage growth) equally huge, but that was built four years after Disneyland?s opening and there was no good way to account for being able to see a future mountain from, say, Frontierland.

P1010448.JPG


The Magic Kingdom?s solution was to choose its? battles. The front areas of the lands are among the most important for allowing guests to slip into the fantasy of being in another place and time, as well as screening out lands which do not have a complimentary appearance (for example, seeing Space Mountain from Adventureland). This was achieved through actually not using forced perspective in the areas nearest the hub: buildings like The Adventureland Veranda and The Heritage House are, in fact, nearly 100% scale and restrict your view of the castle by hugging pedestrian space close to the buildings.

Further along, subtle architectural embellishments seek to harmonize with the spires of the castle: Liberty Square?s flagpoles and pointed cupolas, Tomorrowland?s old entrance spikes pointed skyward.

In Adventureland is a rather odd spire near the exit of the treehouse. This author had wondered about its? significance for years and years. Invisible from Liberty Square and all angles save one, it serves no purpose. Yet find the right angle, and the most subtle and brilliant example of visual harmony you?ll find anywhere suddenly becomes clear.

P1010935.JPG

All of which is to say: you'd need to harmonize the University structure. It couldn't be something big like, say, the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh:

cathedraloflearning2.jpg


There is a precedent for such parks with a hub that doesn't have a iconic center point.

Disney-MGM Studios, prior to the onset of its gigantic sorcerer's hat, had a replica of Graumann's Chinese Theatre at the end of it's Main Street-style Hollywood Boulevard, but it wasn't visible from every point in the park by any means.

pho_disney_mgm_map.jpg


Disney's California Adventure, which is not a hub-and-spoke layout park, has its Grizzly Peak visible throughout the entire park.

D--lp-gen-Media-guide-land-40--1310_400_300.jpg


Tokyo DisneySea works similarly, with its volcano, Mount Prometheus, visible throughout, as seen here, from both its Mediterrean-themed entryway and from the Cape Cod-based section of its American Waterfront area.

P01-1.jpg


American+Waterfront.jpg


It's a striking image, especially juxtaposed against what we see in the second photo, and you have to wonder whether it is appropriate to have something similar in our hypothetical Indiana Jones-based park. Something natural, or ancient, might well work better than some Barnett facsimile. However, there is at least one more option, that taken by the unbuilt America theme park that was to be built in Virginia.

http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/...l Singapore/Disney and more/parkrendering.jpg

That's a replica of Ellis Island near the center, and a Civil War-era fort across the body of water from it. There's colonial architecture in the upper-left portion of the image, and some manner of 1860s-era village around that portion as well. Some iconic structures, but nothing that's an iconic weenie, visible throughout and giving you some sense of orientation as you traverse the park. Maybe that would have changed as the plans moved forward, but it doesn't look likely - that's the level of painting you get where the layout is pretty well determined. Maybe the body of water would have served that purpose, to some extent, but it's not visible from everywhere, so that's hard to say.

Now, as a non-existent park, it's hard to say whether such a layout <I>sans</I> centerpiece structure would have worked. DisneySea is a variant lying between a hub-and-spoke structure and the sprawling California Adventure layout, the latter of which has lands that are only accessible from one other land, unlike DisneySea, which still allows you to flow around the park in a hub-and-spoke-esque structure, but without a hub area.

Take a look at that layout:

disneysea.jpg


And the same, pivoted around 90 degrees:

tokyodisneyseamapvl1.jpg


Now, I've never been there. But that layout has a sprawl to it, with elements bleeding into one another primarily by virtue of the waterways. (Can't help but think a little bit of some of those maps in the second Lego Indiana Jones game, those hub worlds that represented either an entire film or a third of KotCS.) The place is gorgeous, and seems to reek of adventure.

The entryway itself - I don't know that that's the University. That probably shows up in some corner of the park, out of the way, a focus for some of the learning, and with some museum-based attraction. You can tour Indy's home, meet him perhaps, that sort of thing. A place that feels safe, a haven from the adventure where you can throw in some of the meatier edutainment along with some stuff for the kids. The entryway would be, instead, some adventurous port of call. I mentioned Machete Landing earlier in the thread, and maybe that's the case. On the other hand, you don't throw people into someplace dangerous as soon as they enter the park, at least you don't usually. Maybe this park is different. Disney's Animal Kingdom has a generic Oasis area; DisneySea has a Mediterranean Harbor; all of the parks thus built on the Disneyland model have a Main Street, or a version thereof. Maybe people do need to get their bearings. But something tells me that you don't want that to be at the University. Of course, until someone comes up with something better, then I suppose Barnett is it by default.

Which isn't to say that it's the centerpiece. I think <I>that's</I> a mountain, likely dressed differently on different sides, if it's anything at all.

Think that could work?

Raiders_12.jpg
 
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Attila the Professor said:
An Indy-ized World Showcase? Is that the notion, but with everything in a geographically appropriate location? Maybe. But structurally it might be a bit of a disaster. Where's the entrance to the world?
Well if the park was in Paris...when in Rome.

Attila the Professor said:
And you'd have a half dozen deserts, and a handful of jungles, and various outposts of civilization...I think you need to consolidate things.
That's what this is all about though right? I don't suggest accurate scale, but these are exactly the places where you find adventure! The unknown should be represented from every continent, animals to foliage. Personally The Atomic Cafe can be the "North American Oasis" a marked difference from the Marhala Bar or another North African Oasis...making both unique and attractive for different reasons.

Attila the Professor said:
Good question. Thing is, I'm not sure it has a centerpiece in a traditional sense. It's a park about adventure, and so you need to get a little bit lost in it.
I agree you have to get lost in a sense, but money makes the world go round and you NEED funds to travel. In any event I think you need a center for civilization and education. I think you have to celebrate history and along with South American, African, Asian temples there has to be the European Temple which to say is a gothic Church and from North America the Ivy League College.


Taking your lead, I think having a visible peak that is impossible to get to holds some promise.
 
As crazy as it sounds as a teenager I designed a massive amusement resort for Chicago and I included an Indiana Jones theme park. Here is a map of the location I picked for it:

maps



http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.677664,-87.528602&spn=0.005633,0.011362&t=h&z=17

The site is on vacant land that is located between a Cook County Forest Preserve to the north and an Illinois State Park to the south. Also in an appropriate and somewhat deliberate nod the land straddles the Indiana border so signs welcoming guests to "Indiana" would have a double meaning:whip:. The site is a former missile installation used during the cold war (also appropriate?) and that is what those concrete remains you see. I imagine building major rides and themed areas on top of those areas and the other open areas and leaving the trees and decorating/enhancing them to look more jungle like. A major attraction I always imagined is a huge Temple of Doom mine cart ride, certainly the most amusement park ride thing we have seen in the Indy movies. I suppose you could also have a Kingdom of the Crystal Skull river rapids/log flume waterfall ride among many of the things others have mentioned. A number of rides and attractions would straddle Interstate 90 with signs drawing people in with a direct exit off the interstate. Also an entrance to the west with a monorail connection to other areas of the amusement resort I designed. I suppose the obvious disadvantage being that unlike the location of the other amusement parks listed above a Chicago location would mean this would be a seasonal park open about six months of the year opening about May 1 and ending the season with an Indiana Jones themed Halloween festival.
 
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Stoo

Well-known member
Attila the Professor said:
However, there is at least one more option, that taken by the unbuilt America theme park that was to be built in Virginia.

---(See: image above in Attila's post #33)---

That's a replica of Ellis Island near the center, and a Civil War-era fort across the body of water from it.
With regards to Civil War-era Virginia:
In the lake, directly in front of the fort, is a depiction of the Monitor and the Merrimack, the first battle between ironclad ships in 1862. (Did you notice that, Attila?)

On-topic:
The proposed Indyland could recreate the Marhala Bar in Cairo. Make a shisha lounge where guests could smoke hookahs, Belloq-style, to their heart's content.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Stoo said:
With regards to Civil War-era Virginia:
In the lake, directly in front of the fort, is a depiction of the Monitor and the Merrimack, the first battle between ironclad ships in 1862. (Did you notice that, Attila?)

Of course. Just shying away from too much detail in case there's strong reason for it.

civilwarfort.jpg


pic8.jpg


There's the relevant concept artwork.

Stoo said:
On-topic:
The proposed Indyland could recreate the Marhala Bar in Cairo. Make a shisha lounge where guests could smoke hookahs, Belloq-style, to their heart's content.

Now we're talking! The Pankot Pleasure Pavilion is another natural restaurant. (The diner from KotCS we can either take or leave. I don't think it makes the cut.)

Stoo, what do you think about a Young Indy presence?

chicago103 said:
The site is on vacant land that is located between a Cook County Forest Preserve to the north and an Illinois State Park to the south. Also in an appropriate and somewhat deliberate nod the land straddles the Indiana border so signs welcoming guests to "Indiana" would have a double meaning:whip:. The site is a former missile installation used during the cold war (also appropriate?) and that is what those concrete remains you see. I imagine building major rides and themed areas on top of those areas and the other open areas and leaving the trees and decorating/enhancing them to look more jungle like. A major attraction I always imagined is a huge Temple of Doom mine cart ride, certainly the most amusement park ride thing we have seen in the Indy movies. I suppose you could also have a Kingdom of the Crystal Skull river rapids/log flume waterfall ride among many of the things others have mentioned. A number of rides and attractions would straddle Interstate 90 with signs drawing people in with a direct exit off the interstate. Also an entrance to the west with a monorail connection to other areas of the amusement resort I designed. I suppose the obvious disadvantage being that unlike the location of the other amusement parks listed above a Chicago location would mean this would be a seasonal park open about six months of the year opening about May 1 and ending the season with an Indiana Jones themed Halloween festival.

Very interesting. And I quite agree that a mine cart ride is a natural. (Heck, it's reported that the mine cart sound effects were recorded at the Big Thunder Mountain attraction.) Anyhow, do you have any more of your ideas or anything that you'd be willing to put into the conversation?
 
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Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
chicago103 said:
As crazy as it sounds as a teenager I designed a massive amusement resort for Chicago and I included an Indiana Jones theme park. Here is a map of the location I picked for it

lhaq6651.png

prcq6651.png

humq6651.png

snwq6651.png


That's a lot of weather for an adventure park...and a lot of snow
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Attila the Professor said:
Of course. Just shying away from too much detail in case there's strong reason for it.

There's the relevant concept artwork.
Thanks very much for posting the images, Attila.:hat: They have zero to do with Indy but it would be a personal thrill to see those mock-ups in action!
Attila the Professor said:
Now we're talking! The Pankot Pleasure Pavilion is another natural restaurant. (The diner from KotCS we can either take or leave. I don't think it makes the cut.)
We can add The Raven bar and Club Obi-Wan to the restaurant list, too.
Attila the Professor said:
Stoo, what do you think about a Young Indy presence?
A Young Indy presence might confuse some visitors because of it's time period. It would need to be relegated to a specific section of the park and clearly labeled as Young Indyland. Some features could be:

-Jungle Cruise-type ride in riverboats.
-Automobile ride (like Disney's Autopia/Grand Prix Raceway) using Ford Model 'T's and other vintage vehicles.
-Maze of World War One trenches with a fake mustard gas attack.
-Biplane ride on a carousel for children.
-Hot-air balloon tethered in one spot for period atmosphere (like the one in the concept paintings you posted).
-Hanging Basket from "Travels With Father". It could rise & drop like the Tower of Terror ride in Disney's Hollywood Studios.:eek:
-Dun & Duffy's Circus train with a House of Reptiles, Den of Lions, etc. Guests could exit the attraction in a magic box!
Attila the Professor said:
Very interesting. And I quite agree that a mine cart ride is a natural. (Heck, it's reported that the mine cart sound effects were recorded at the Big Thunder Mountain attraction.)
Take the Indy "Temple du Péril" mine cart rollercoaster from Disneyland Paris and put it inside tunnels & caverns.

P.S. I found this concept artwork by the great, Disney production artist, Don Carson:

AdventurelandTruck.jpg
 
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Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
We can add The Raven bar and Club Obi-Wan to the restaurant list, too.
A Young Indy presence might confuse some visitors because of it's time period. It would need to be relegated to a specific section of the park and clearly labeled as Young Indyland. Some features could be:

-Jungle Cruise-type ride in riverboats.
-Automobile ride (like Disney's Autopia/Grand Prix Raceway) using Ford Model 'T's and other vintage vehicles.
-Maze of World War One trenches with a fake mustard gas attack.
-Biplane ride on a carousel for children.
-Hot-air balloon tethered in one spot for period atmosphere (like the one in the concept paintings you posted).
-Hanging Basket from "Travels With Father". It could rise & drop like the Tower of Terror ride in Disney's Hollywood Studios.:eek:
-Dun & Duffy's Circus train with a House of Reptiles, Den of Lions, etc. Guests could exit the attraction in a magic box!
Take the Indy "Temple du Péril" mine cart rollercoaster from Disneyland Paris and put it inside tunnels & caverns.

It sounds fantastic, Stoo. When are we going to get this park up and running? :D

The mustard gas attack will knock 'em bandy. Nothing like a living history lesson. If you were to add the aroma of tasty food to the 'gas' it would help to sell more food on site: stock up on 'Gas Attack Burger Specials' (with extra mustard).

Did you consider the possibility of mud-wrestling displays in the trenches? Lookalikes of Indy's love interests fighting for his attention. Too much, maybe? ;)

In years to come the transcripts of this brainstorming session will be like gold dust for the fans.
 
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