Falcon's Fury

[Felipe]

Looks very nice and colorful! BGT is already a beautiful park, and this looks like a nice re-theme for this area. Gonna breathe some new life into it :thumbs:

BTW, awesome video! Gotta give it up again to BGT for these great and interesting looks into the process!

 

[UK-Trigg]

Indeed Felipe. it's really interesting to see these plans and steps towards achieving them, it also serves as fantastic marketing for the new ride.A far cry from the stuffy approach by uni.Well done BGT and thanks Bob for test about update.

 

[Cheezbat]

Interesting...but I hate the name. Timbuktu is way cooler.

 

[Octobers Fade]

Interesting...but I hate the name. Timbuktu is way cooler.

Agreed.

 

[Andy]

Interesting...but I hate the name. Timbuktu is way cooler.

Agreed, I guess they are transitioning away from the "real" African theming??

 

[Felipe]

Interesting...but I hate the name. Timbuktu is way cooler.

Tru dat.

 

[Teebin]

^ The first time I saw the name, I figured they were going for something that sounded similar to "pandora".
Hmmm, I wonder why they would do that.:look:

 

[shiekra38]

^ The first time I saw the name, I figured they were going for something that sounded similar to "pandora".
Hmmm, I wonder why they would do that.:look:

You know Avatar would fit really well at BGT

 

[Octobers Fade]

I think we can take the "rumor" tag off the thread now.

 

[Andy]

I think we can take the "rumor" tag off the thread now.

:thumbs:

 

[Disneyhead]

My guess is that that are trying for a utopian take on Pangia.

 

[natespf]

My guess is that that are trying for a utopian take on Pangia.

That's what I am thinking. If you break down the word "Pantopia" it basically means something along the lines of "all paradises". What I took from the explanation is that they are taking bits and pieces from different cultures, which falls in line. I am not liking the name specifically, it sounds so packaged and unnatural.

They are going to paint the buildings that are staying and throw up some decorations. Seems like it will have more of a PoE feel in the end.

 

[GAcoaster]

The thing with it is, it will be just like Crossroads. Yes it will be rethemed, but it's not like they really use the name for anything other than maps. The name usually just kind of disappears...

 

[natespf]

The thing with it is, it will be just like Crossroads. Yes it will be rethemed, but it's not like they really use the name for anything other than maps. The name usually just kind of disappears...

This is a crossroads for Busch Gardens, as they are stepping away from the overall theme of the park. I wonder what it means for future projects.

Does anyone know when they stopped calling the park Busch Gardens Africa? (instead of Busch Gardens Tampa)

 

[GAcoaster]

I was referring to the "Crossroads" area of the park which is what the theme of the Cheetah Hunt area was called, but yes, it is a crossroads for the park's history as well.

This will open up MANY new possibilities as well. As it is there is an Australian themed area in an African themed park. The Dark Continent/Busch Gardens Africa ship sailed long ago, and it's time to embrace it being an "adventure" themed park which gives all kinds of new theme possibilities as well as the idea of expanding the animal collection to be even more global and the park can now represent that with more "exotic" themes and less Africa specific. It also makes it less prickly as social perceptions change. In reality Busch Gardens had to evolve a great deal over time as more people look back at "colonial" Africa and its horrible oppression and atrocities less romantically and nostalgically. Expect SeaWorld to make similar changes over the coming time as they get away from the Shamu/orca/killer whale focus and try to broaden the appeal to change with the times.

 

[shiekra38]

I was referring to the "Crossroads" area of the park which is what the theme of the Cheetah Hunt area was called, but yes, it is a crossroads for the park's history as well.

This will open up MANY new possibilities as well. As it is there is an Australian themed area in an African themed park. The Dark Continent/Busch Gardens Africa ship sailed long ago, and it's time to embrace it being an "adventure" themed park which gives all kinds of new theme possibilities as well as the idea of expanding the animal collection to be even more global and the park can now represent that with more "exotic" themes and less Africa specific. It also makes it less prickly as social perceptions change. In reality Busch Gardens had to evolve a great deal over time as more people look back at "colonial" Africa and its horrible oppression and atrocities less romantically and nostalgically. Expect SeaWorld to make similar changes over the coming time as they get away from the Shamu/orca/killer whale focus and try to broaden the appeal to change with the times.

Never understood why Busch bolted themselves down with Africa as it clearly gets very repetitive...I would love to see them run with the 'Worlds of Discovery' concept and make each corner a different continent and the center be Pantopia...

Sea World has already made leaps from where they used to be (i.e. Waterfront, Manta, Antarctica)

 

[maxairmike]

The problem with completely changing around the park themes is managing animal placements and facilities. Their animal collection and facilities are heavily tilted towards African, and rearranging and rebuilding habitats is no small or cheap undertaking, as you need to either keep the current environment while a new one is built, relocate the animals to temporary off-show facilities while both the current environment is demo'd and the new one is built, or just find a facility able to take the animal(s) if they are decided to be removed from the lineup completely.

 

[GAcoaster]

Never understood why Busch bolted themselves down with Africa as it clearly gets very repetitive...I would love to see them run with the 'Worlds of Discovery' concept and make each corner a different continent and the center be Pantopia...

Sea World has already made leaps from where they used to be (i.e. Waterfront, Manta, Antarctica)

They really went with the Africa/Dark Continent thing in the 1970's and 80's as they ramped the park up to be a real theme park from where it started as a bird gardens and brewery tour. They built The Old Country as a real theme park from the ground up and they seemed to like the concept/results so they wanted to turn BGT into the same kind of thing with a very distinct overall theme/cohesiveness partly to compliment and distinguish it from Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and partly to step up their game and better compete with the Orlando parks. The idea with the Dark Continent was sound since Africa is a HUGE and diverse place and they could create real distinct themed areas within an African themed park just as they had done in Williamsburg with a European themed park.

The new trend in themes for parks has been less specific time/place creating (because you can never really do that, especially when you actually get guests who have visited or live in the places you've re-created) and more of the generic create a feeling of a place but not any particular place. Port of Entry is a perfect example where it is a blend of cultures and styles to create "exotic" rather than any particular place. The Waterfront area at SeaWorld is another great example. It's the waterfront of the Mediterranean but not any particular country or time. The extreme detail of something like World Showcase is nice, but it's expensive and you still risk offending or demeaning a culture by boiling a whole country down to less than a city block.

 

[bobwadd]

We should see another section going up in the next 24 hours as that was always the plan. They had to allow the grout around the base to set for a predetermined amount of time. :thumbs:

 

[bobwadd]

I'm currently at BGT. I'll try and post an update tonight if the WiFi at the hotel is fast enough.