Skyway Hill Armchair Imagineer Idea: Castle Remnants

[darkfairycthulu]

Sure, I like the old skyway station, and a good tribute to the old ride, but seeing as the ride will likely never return from Yesterland, why not use the hill for something else suited to Fantasyland? Granted, I know this is a obscure film, relatively speaking, but why not have some of the ruined remains of the Horned King's castle up on the hill, merely as a scenic piece? Give a underloved Disney film some representation, and have a explanatory storybook plaque at the bottom (a la the Sleeping Beauty castle books), to give a brief overview of the story of the H.K. and his power, and the castle ruins...it would be something distinctive at least.

You could even have some limited effects, like a partially broken statue of the King himself, missing a arm perhaps, halfway down the mountain with eyes that glow occasionally, and the rusty, abandoned Black Cauldron nearby with a few skeletons and armor lying about the base: http://animated-views.com/wp-content...cauldron01.JPG

A simple effect could be done, same principle as the Evil Queen over the Snow White entrance, featuring the little goofy evil sidekick creature Creeper peeking out of the Cauldron sporadically: http://www.animationartgallery.com/i...DC/WDCTSV3.gif

I certainly won't argue the Black Cauldron is Disney's best film, or well known, but I think with the right presentation and explanatory storybook style plaque, it could be a distinctive and unique piece of general Fantasyland scenery. Your thoughts?

[Oblivion]

I kinda like this idea. But it would never happen. Black Couldron isn't well known or liked enough for Disneyland to use this idea.

But that dosen't mean it's a bad idea. It's actually a very interesting idea of what should be done in the area of the old skyway.

[Eric5675]

I think it's a great idea, but just too scary for Fantasyland. I think your idea is better suited for the hill in the HM queue. Granted, it wouldn't use stuff thfrom the Black Cauldron but the effects and themeing would be perfect there.

[pianoman13]

This is a cool idea, and I don't see why Disney would reject it because it's from a lesser known movie, becaue it's not an attraction. Little things like this are what make Disneyland so special.

It's just a little random and freaky for being outside of an attraction in Fantasyland, all I'd say is to take out the skeletons. Other than that, great idea!

[Noctourne]

Cool idea, but I'd suggest making it Maleficent's castle to tie in with Sleeping Beauty's castle. You could have the same general idea, but add a creepy green glow inside the castle, some thorns, and instead of Creeper in the Black Caldron, you could have her goons in various places. I agree, however, that it could be a bit to frightening for just being in the open. Even the scary parts of queues are hidden from view until you enter the ride. Walt said to keep the facades pretty and do scary effects inside.

[Vasooki]

I like the idea of Maleifacents Castle, because then people would understand why it was scary-ish, like the inside of SWSA.

[AtomicBear]

I like the idea too.

One variation is that it could be set up as an area that has remnants from many different villains in the ruins and could also serve as a meet and greet for scary characters. If the characters were not there it would be a great photo op for visitors as well. Maybe they Black Cauldron could be there as a water feature and they could even have a cave that would have a virtual magic mirror that you could interact with.

[Noctourne]

Originally Posted by AtomicBear

I like the idea too.

One variation is that it could be set up as an area that has remnants from many different villains in the ruins and could also serve as a meet and greet for scary characters. If the characters were not there it would be a great photo op for visitors as well. Maybe they Black Cauldron could be there as a water feature and they could even have a cave that would have a virtual magic mirror that you could interact with.

Very good idea! I've always found the villains very under-represented.
Perhaps the could also recreate DLP's dragon cave- an awsome effect that would be quite cheap to pull off. They could dig out the show building under the hill, decorate it like the cave in Paris, and redo the chalet into a castle on top. Perhaps inside the cave would be the meet and greet area, but due to the small space, it would hae to be one character at a time. If that was so, there could be a virtual Magic Mirror like the one in DCA that would show a background specific to the villain (green fire for Maleficent, a potion cabinet for Snow White's Queen, etc.), and sice it would be a great photo op even without characters, you could have the interactive mirror as a fun prop between meet and greets, done with the living character initiative. Since it would be everything that Disney already has, they could make an amazingly themed area for bargain basement prices.

Another fun decoration could be doors with effects like the goons in the walk throough, or even the eye effect from the original walk through. Since it would be a fairly large room, there wouldn't be the problem of bottlenecks, and it would give people waiting to meet the villain something else to look at.