estuary
About
This project began summer 2024 with my Dale Scholarship Award at Princeton. After traveling to 17 theme parks in 7 European countries over 1 month, taking copious notes on each of the parks, I returned home with greater knowledge on the theme park medium, and I spent the rest of that summer using my new knowledge of European theme park design to design a theme park land of my own, Estuary.
This project is a theoretical land situated in Knott’s Berry Farm’s Western Parking lot, accessed by a theoretical tunnel running underneath Western Ave from the rest of the park to this area. Keeping within the park’s California biome theme, this land is inspired by what Orange County was before the park and sprawl, orange groves and wetlands.
story
Melding with the tides, reeds, channels, and brush, Esther in her youth lived quietly and alone. Peacefully, but alone. She waved to the sun as it rose and dove, spoke with the moon as it tugged and nudged, and danced with the wind on its daily migration. She only improved with age, growing taller reeds, wider channels, thicker brush, and most importantly, a tall strong Valencia orange tree. The nutrients from this tree began to attract life. Species of all shapes and similar sizes began to flock to Esther, and Esther fell in love with the inhabitants. She provided and they crawled and marched across her body, tickling her with their small feet. They called their new, quaint town Estuary.
However, word spread too far and too wide. She drew from deep within her to provide for all the new residents, but the greed of those who came to expect her services grew too large. She collapsed and dried, no longer able to speak with the tugging moon or dance with the wind. She petrified into a stone-like stiffness, hardened from dehydration. The channels that once flowed across her body now fossilized in place, except for one small sliver of the stream feeding directly into the Valencia orange, where her soul has been rumored to retreat.
The Estuary townspeople are now stranded and faced with an urgent choice: to engineer a way into finding water for themselves or to find Esther beneath the orange tree.
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DESCRIPTION
This serves as the main E-ticket attraction of Estuary, designed as a family-oriented slow moving boat dark ride throughout the whole land before passing underground.
STORY
While much of the town has pivoted focus since Esther’s disappearance to engineering solutions to fix the water crisis, a select few have held out to finding and appealing to Esther for a life in harmony with her.
A young child, Faith, the granddaughter of the first resident of Estuary, always had quite the connection with Esther. It seemed as though the world would bend around her, and it is only more apparent now that most of the world is petrified over. Whenever Faith walks by, the reeds sway again and the water re-liquifies. While much of the town believes Esther is gone, Faith knows that she can still be saved.
Therefore, Faith, with the help of her grandmother, has banded her family and closest friends together to form the Finders Collective. She and her team have been working hard making rafts and surveying the tree to determine where Esther is and how to approach her; however, they need you, the new Estuary townsfolk, to pledge a covenant of gratitude and reason rather than greed. With the guidance of Faith and the rest of the Finder’s Collective, you must embark on the daring journey downward, along the remaining canal, beneath the orange tree, to find Esther and give her strength. The future of Estuary depends upon your bravery.
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DESCRIPTION
Well Drop is a high-thrill supplemental attraction, designed as an adjusted Intamin Sky Jump that drop further and further underground.
STORY
Since Esther’s disappearance, Estuary and the townpeople have lacked water resources. Therefore, some have taken to digging deeper into the underground aquafer to meet water demands. Drop into the well and help Estuary get its water!
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DESCRIPTION
Turbine is a Gerstlauer Sky Fly, serving as another high-thrill supplemental attraction in Estuary.
STORY
With the lack of water, overreliance on hydroelectric power has led to the need for alternative electricity sources. Percy and Pelican have recruited you to test out their experimental bird-and-wind-powered turbine. Percy will be on the ground to give you flying tips while Pelican will be pushing your arm from the other end. They need you to push the flaps back and forth to spin your vehicle, generating power. The more you flip, the more you help your community!
Progress Photos
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Progress Photos
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Progress Photos
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Progress Photos • Progress Photos • Progress Photos •
