Middle-earth amusement park

[Bêthberry]

Okay, let's do this with a little more thought as to how it would be organised, working along the lines of the Grévien & Cie company, which runs such amusement parks as Parc Asterix, outside of Paris, rather than Disney.

So, first of all, would we have different domains, where rides, galleries, stores, cafes would reflect the local culture? Thus, a Shire domain, a Rivendell, a Lonely Mountain, and so forth. A rollercoaster in The Shire domain, or in Fangorn Forest, would be wooden, like the Tonnerre de Zeus at Parc Asterix, but a steel multi-looping ride would more likely be found in .... Mordor?

Of course, the entrance would have signs saying "Quenya spoken here" (in Quenya), or "Sindarin spoken here" (ditto). Directional signs throughout the site would be in runes and English, possibly.

Another point to consider would be the primary Age the park would be set in. It would make most sense to set most of it in the Third Age, as likely that is what people know best. That might allow a time travel section, where we could go back to The Second Age and its battles. Or even have a multi-media section where we experience Eru's initial song. Imagine a ride which recreates the flood of Numenor! Raincoats for this one, please. This would allow for the very exciting futurama section where we could envision a Seventh Age of Middle-earth. Not our own world with its industries and machines and pollutions, but a wholly imagined "what if": a 'modern' vision of Middle earth in keeping with attributes most popular from the early ages. (yes, I know, this would not be in keeping with Tolkien's sense of the long defeat, but hey, this is all about experiencing an imaginary concept.)

An entertainment section, with musical shows, comedy routines, concerts, might be called The Party Tree. Rides where chairs spin round and round might be set in the Lothlorien section, suggesting flets. If we allow PJ his version, we could even have a shield boarding run like a bobsled run in Helm's Deep.

We could develope games appropriate to each domain too, although I wouldn't think that a ring toss game called Dwarf toss would be PC.

And of course, when the park closes at night--10 pm or 11 pm?--there would be the obligatory Gandalf's Fireworks.

[Elfchick7]

I like how you think, Bêthberry. I agree it would definitely be divided into domains.

Also in the front entrance/exit, before guests actually enter ME, there would be a tribute to Tolkien. Maybe a short film about him, then a bookstore, then the main park.

[Sauron the White]

Some really great ideas here. I want to invest in this...... NOW! I really like the idea of street signs in runes --- great idea. Gandalf's fireworks each night is wonderful. I wonder if they could do that screeching dragon?

Bethberry & Elfchick7 - what would you do with the Land of Mordor? That could be really something special. The entrance would be The Black Gate --- of course. Or maybe a back door entrance braving Shelob in that maze. This could be amazing.

This thread topic was already discussed in another thread, "Middle Earth for Real?". A pity that some do not read past threads.

[Sauron the White]

Mansun - when I started this thread I posted this

Apologies if this was done before but I am new here and could not find this in the archives.

Sorry if this wastes anyone time or bandwidth.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Mansun, Sauron,


It's always helpful to leave a link to another thread. I think you meant this one from October 2006....here.

Actually, the discussion of a theme park actually sprouted up in an even earlier thread back in 2003 : here. That is often the case. You may think you've found the earliest mention of something, but there are actually traces going back even more years.

There was a time when the Barrow Wight asked that no one open a thread that was a duplicate of another because of bandwidth consideration. The mods were told to eliminate all duplicates at sight. Several years ago, that policy changed because of changes in the general site. We definitely encourage people to look up older threads. It's great to continue the discussion on those or even link to them. But there is no prohibition against opening up another thread, even if it happens to be a dup.

Hope this helps.

[Elfchick7]

Thanks Child of the 7th Age, its always nice to read past threads. (Seriously)

To answer your question Sauron, Mordor would definitely have a constant thick fog - provided, of course, by perpetual fog machines. There would be a dead marshes boat ride with low skiff-type boats. There would be a Tower of Barad Dur a la Tower of Terror ride, with orcs and other minions of Sauron pictured throughout the beginning. A stairs of Cirith Ungol roller coaster. Also a Mount doom roller coaster which would end with almost plunging into the falming magma after gollum and the ring....