- Dec 24, 2015
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Correct me where I'm wrong but...Now, from the other perspective not being a LOTR fan. I’d expect Hyrule for Zelda. It’s the mainstay location for all the games (or most, to my knowledge. Big fan but not an expert), and I honestly believe it just wouldn’t make a ton of sense to make another land other than Hyrule for Zelda.
If you look at Zelda compared to many of the LOTR locations, I think you can see that while different, they’re similar enough to not work in the same exact theme park. The same resort? Absolutely, just not the same exact park imo.
Hyrule is a country, which has many different locations, no? Hyrule Castle is just one location, though probably important enough to represent in the land in some way. "Hyrule" is the important part which I think we all agree needs to be included, but I think they have some flexibility on what specific locations to include within Hyrule.
If I were Universal, I'd overlay Lost Continent as Zelda for 'cheap' (far under a half billion), instead of leveling the entire land and starting from scratch. The only thing I'd build from scratch is one attraction to replace Sindbad. Here's how I'd do it:
- 1) Repaint the rockwork around Mythos and Poseidon's Fury. Remove anything Greek God related and replace with Zelda themed ruins. Poseidon's Fury becomes a walk-through attraction featuring Link solving puzzles and fighting baddies (staying true to the spirit of the games). Each room is rethemed, but the basic structure / path /concept of PF is kept in tact. (I'd probably have a narrator instead of Link speaking, to keep in theme of the games... Link doesn't speak, right? Could Zelda be the narrator?)
- Example of Zelda ruins:
- Zelda shrine/temple:
- 2) The bazaar outside of the old Sindbad theater becomes Gerudo Town or Kara Kara Bazaar:
- Gerudo:
- Kara Kara:
- 3) Sindbad's theater becomes a Wind-Waker sailing attraction, starting at a port (I don't care if a port is actually located near Gerudo or Kara Kara, it would be here). Guests board a boat similar to Pirates, destination is Hyrule Castle, with appearances by Tetra and her pirates, as well as references or narration by other popular characters (Ganon, Zelda, Link). I'd include a brief scene with a shark attack, as homage to Jaws. The ride would look somewhat cartoony (cell shaded), making it very much distinct from neighboring Hogsmeade and potentially LOTR.
- This ride could be an actual boat (similar to Pirates at Disney) or at could be a dry omnimover with simulated water (replicating the SLoP / Yoshi omnimover would save a lot of money). Either way, it would be an indoor family friendly ride, addressing the concern that IOA doesn't have enough family friendly attractions. (If I'm not mistaken, SLoP's footprint isn't massive, so this could actually fit within the space of the Sindbad theater area, no?)
- Universal would have some flexibility on the story, it doesn't have to stick to Winder Waker or any single game. They also have some flexibility on the Hyrule Castle and how a boat would travel through it, which could be through canals or a possible flood.
On the other hand, for LOTR I'd feature Hobbiton, Mordor, and possibly Rivendell, depending on how much I could fit there (assuming this would take all of Toon Lagoon + Amphitheater). These lands would be very much distinct from the aforementioned Zelda lands and attractions. I imagine the investment into LOTR would be much larger, due the greater name recognition the franchise holds.
I think doing Zelda for a 'cheaper budget' (below a half billion) has a much greater chance of actually happening, which is the most important part.
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