My wish list for Middle Earth.
Yes I know this isn't announced and there are a ton of reasons why this wouldn't happen. But this is my blue sky idea for Universal if it ever would happen.
We enter Middle Earth by going to a dirt wall with cobble stones on the side, you remember Gandalf ride trough it on his horse drawn cart. In front of me there is a condense version of hobbiton that presents itself has a valley with a big hill in front of me and smaller hills to the side with forests. The big hill houses a ride building but it's invisible.
The Green Dragon inn looks stunning and there is a lot to appreciate inside. The Hobbits eat 6 meals a day so there is a ton to choose from. I went for this little platter. Outside a market is going on and a party. Hobbits always have a reason to party.
I visit Bilbo Baggins home and I got to meat him. He still isn't happy with all the visitors but I loves to tell the stories about his journey.
It's time to move on and I walk trough a small forest where I find Orthanc tower of Isengard. The huge black tower is the ride building for a unique drop-tower attraction.
We relive the fight between Gandalf and Saruman in this highly themed building. I have to stand up as if I'm on a lay down rollercoaster. The ride goes up and down but the vehicle with 6 people on 1 arm can make us face down and face up. It can also spin around. So one moment we are shot to the top, rotating on our backs, the other moment we are face down speeding to the ground. There is a whole story in the ride and 4 minutes later i'm ready to continue to Rivendell.
Rivendell is amazing. Hugged against the a ride building covered with rock work this little village has a ton to offer. Great Elven food, and an amazing dark-ride. This trackless ride takes us on a journey trough middle earth. Our fellowship is 6 people big. Gandalf tells us about a ring that needs to be retrieved. He notice there are 2 hobbits in our middle, it are 2 kids. I guess a camera scans our height and it's a fun little surprise. Then we enter the ride vehicle, our carriage gets in stunning scene's expanded by screens. During our journey we visit known locations with unexpected surprised and often we need to make a decision if we go left or right. Depending on the most choices we travel trough Khazad-dûm, the dwarven underworld or over the misty mountains. This ride has many outcomes and options so I need to do that more often to experience it all.
Again a small forest transports us to the next area but meanwhile we enjoy a meeting with the Ents
Treebeard loves to tell stories and it's a fun AA show to stumble upon.
I also saw the stone trolls and when I got close I swear I could hear them speak.
Coming out of the forest I get to white city Minas Tirith. Sure it's in scale but forced perspective has helped the illusion to think it's huge.
Also this city houses a huge dark-ride although 2 levels of the outer rings can be visited. They house a market, shops and restaurants and there is another big e-ticket dark ride. It's a story roller-coaster but this time we are indoors. What it's story is I won't tell you. You have to visit yourselves.
I met a ton of characters but my favorite was lady Galadriel, and what she showed me in the mirror I'm not going to tell.
Sure, this wasn't all there was to do. It's a world and a dense one for that matter, but that is for another visit.