Wabigbear

The bench Rich has the Japan Pavilion close to the edge of what appears on that bench, where in reality (PC reality anyways...) more of the park exists just past it. Here's a screen that shows a glimpse of how it flows together into the next area... And this from the opposite direction. You can see the lakeside path that leads past The Pike area of the fair and connects with the Colonial areas in the background... The fairgrounds is actually quite large around the central lagoon... These night-time shots show the size... In this last screen you can see a glimpse of several historical vignettes at far right that can be viewed from the parks steam trains...much like the diorama's found at Disneyland (but without a roof...)

It was pointed out that "Mickey was in Disney's Fantasia, yet he wouldn't be 'born' until 1928. This Exposition is set in 1904... hmm" I use the same excuse as to why Mr Toad's Wild Ride, which was set in the early 1900's, or Mickey's Philharmagic, set in the current time, exist in a Medieval Fantasyland themed to the 1500's or so. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Citytrader wrote: Back to the Louisiana Purchase Exibition of 1904 as imagined by the Disney team! The Pennsylvania State Exibition building; A classic Cignet ride; The imposing Palace of Fine Arts; The Magic Whirlpool ride; To be honest, there is not a ton of information on the interior of this ride building. You went through a whirlpool and then saw various tableaus crypticly named things like "demons kindergarten", "bridge of sighs", and "dance of the phosphorescent phantoms", most probably painted backgronds with lighting effects. But here at Disney's America, Wagi has created a homage to the classic film Fantasia! The eerie entrance area! All Aboard! A dark and scary graveyard! That mountain looks familiar; Who is that on top of the mountain?!? Thank goodness we escaped from there! Wait, do I hear water? Look out! Buckets and buckets EVERYWHERE! The final area of Embassy row we will look at is the Japan pavillion, located right on Lake America. No captions needed here! Next up, one of the quieter corners of Disney's America!

Yep, the Alps are indeed cutouts. Surprisingly similar to what they used at the actual fair in 1904! And yes, they are available in the Workshop... The Autobus is modeled on one they actually had at the fair...well, as close as I could make it anyways... I didn't try to replicate too many actual fair buildings, they were huge and very ornate, but hopefully you'll get a feel for the real thing on a smaller scale... Also used a number of buildings from the Workshop, either whole (like the Siam Pavilion or Grand Carousel building), or parts of (like the rotundas on the sides of the central arch...).

Citytrader wrote: Continuing past the Pike, Embassy Row comes into view. Countries from all over the world came to Saint Louis to exibit. The building of the Kingdom of Siam; This structure houses the Netherlands and it's beautiful tulip beds; One of the larger exibits was the German Pavilion, with a recreation of the Alps, Biergarten, Restaurant, and lovely scenery; Tired feet? Try riding one of those new fangled Autobuses, guaranteed to get you around the park at six miles an hour! Filming a commercial for Disney's America; The Grand Carousel is one of the highlights of the St. Louis World's Fair! Here's another great shot of the Biergarten! (See what happens when you leave him unsupervised??? Get's things all out of order... Wagi) The Cascades spill out from under the Festival Hall down into the lagoon;

Citytrader wrote: Jim Key really was a wonder. There are some excellent articles out there about him and his trainer William Key, and a movie is planned with Morgan Freeman starring. it is said that President William McKinley saw Beautiful Jim Key perform at an exposition in Tennessee and declared, “This is the most astonishing and entertaining exhibition I have ever witnessed.” The horse did a lot more than stomp his foot. He picked out letters on a board to spell out words, and answered math questions the same way. So even if he was trained to do it, he was pretty smart to remember it all. Continuing down the Pike! Hereafter was a ride through Heaven and Hell; Next to the Hereafter was the Wireless Telegraph tower that broadcast all the way to Pittsburgh! The Battle Abbey had large tableaus of great military battles throughout history. It was one of the only attractions that lost money during the fair; The large two level Popcorn Hall;

Actually most of The Pike was Rich's work in this section, I just filled in a few spots! While this is not a 'totally faithful recreation' of the buildings of the 1904 Fair, hopefully we've been able to create something in the same style. This was a fun, yet challenging, part of the park to create...

Citytrader wrote: Bench Two of Disney's America is not very large, in fact it only covers two lands, but they are very impressive lands indeed! The bulk of the work on this bench was done by Wagi. I think I created the one popcorn cart in the corner! Seriously, this bench will hopefully transport you back in time to the amazing World's Fair of Saint Louis in 1904! Still considered one of the greatest World's Fairs of all time, and it actually turned a profit! The Disney Imagineers worked tirelessly to recreate the essence of the Fair. Guests start their journey by crossing the river into the fairgrounds; They then arrive at a reproduction of the Pike, a mile long cavalcade of wonder and whimsy, where you could witness Creation, go to the Afterlife, travel by balloon to the North Pole, follow a river through the Tyrolean Alps, or travel by rail through the wilds of Siberia. Here are a few attractions painstakingly recreated for Disney's America; Ride through Siberia by train; Dive into the depths of the ocean on the Submarine Ride; Meet Jim Key, the educated horse. His promoters claimed that the horse could read and write, make change with money, do arithmetic for "numbers below thirty," and cite Bible passages "where the horse is mentioned."

As I noted in the first thread on this park, Disney's America is a park based on the unbuilt Disney America Park planned in Virginia. Citytrader and I worked on a version of this park in rct3 years ago, and decided to try it again in Planet Coaster. Rather than recreate what Disney had planned, we decided to expand upon those original plans, dropping some and adding many others. For one thing we decided to highlight several exhibitions - World's Fairs - held in the US that came to symbolize the country as it was and how it imagined itself to be in the future. The first fair was the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia which celebrated the nation's Centennial. Many different inventions were on display there, even the arm of the Statue of Liberty was on display before it was erected in New York harbor. The second World's Fair was in 1904 in St Louis marking the Centennial of the Louisiana Purchase from France, and the third World's Fair was the 1939-40 New York Wold's Fair, marking the 150th anniversary of George Washington's first inauguration as President of the United States. It was also the first Fair to focus on the Future "The World of Tomorrow" Other events and eras we touch upon include "The Golden Spike" celebrating the completion of the trans-continental railroad, the Woman's Suffrage Movement, The Right Bros at Kitty Hawk. We see the Great Depression, the rural farm-life of the 1930's. Walt Disney is celebrated with the Hyperion Studios campus. Ocean-side amusement parks and boardwalks are explored, along with a visit to that Great American Show - The Circus. The Greatest Generation is viewed at Victory Field. We cross the heavy steamship traffic on the Mississippi River and visit New Orleans in the 1920's where Bonnie & Clyde lead us on a chase. Past the Big Easy restaurant we circle back to the Halls of Ellis Island where immigrants from around the world first stepped on American shores, then on to Enterprise, where industry revolutionized the country. A short journey from there and we visit Rushmore Station, a tribute to our National Parks and the "Wildest Show in the Wilderness" - The Country Bear Jamboree. So now we'll continue our tour with Bench Two of Disney's America...

And that concludes a tour of Disney America Bench One.... Citytrader wrote: First of three FIVE benches of Disney's America created by Wagi and citytrader finally released! This park is very graphics intensive. The files for the pictures are located here; https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ymdqt1svuojzxtz/AAAZIP9gfD1nCgCyK3PoOIUPa?dl=0 Most pictures have a DA prefix attached, so should be easily deleted if you wish to. The park is a monster and thus has been split into three FIVE benches. Bench One takes almost fifteen minutes to load on my fairly new machine! This part of the park includes the Entrance area, Liberty Square, Sleepy Hollow, 1876 Philadelphia Exposition, St. Louis 1804 including the Lewis and Clark River Raft ride, Native America, and 1849 the Gold Rush. The other two benches may be released during our lifetimes, but no guarantees!!! (They were released, no guarantees that the two AFTER that will be, although they are almost entirely done...) Make sure you download Wagi's eight million pieces of CS developed for the park! Not a lot is needed for this first bench, but moving forward... Finally, a very special thinks to anyone who contributed time, effort, or ideas to our project. And of course any Workshop items we used, which are referenced throughout this thread. Please like and comment! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2557021966

Citytrader wrote: The last area in 1849 is the Wild West show;

Citytrader wrote: Passing back through old St. Louis, we head over to the California Gold Rush of 1849! Welcome to Gold Rush; Gold Rush is a recreation of a typical boom town of the 1849 era; Small food court... You can even pan for gold! Heading to the other side of 1849, you pass a dentist's office/barber shop where guests can have their teeth pulled for free! Found this great quick draw ride on the workshop, and dressed it up a bit and it fit in with our theme perfectly! Very special thanks to St1jn1978 for the use of this great ride and facade! A nicely themed Tornado ride seperates two roads; A recreation of Sutter's Mill highlights our E ticket attraction; A log flume, of course! The flume climbs high into the Sierra Nevada Mountains; Even through old caves and hollows in the mountains; Before splashing back down! One more stop in 1849, then it's time to "Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis, Meet me at the Fair"!

"A Gathering of Nations" was one of the areas that wasn't really a part of the original plans, but came about when trying to think about what Disney had offered in it's other parks in the past, and what they might offer in the future. AND...because there was a chunk of land without anything on it and I have an aversion to empty spaces...

Citytrader wrote: Our bi-annual update!!! Just beyond St. Louis 1804, you come into A Gathering of Nations, which depicts Native American customs and traditions before the arrival of the Europeans. Many different nations are represented; The area also has a few family friendly rides themed toward Native America;

Thanks for the kind words wolfpaw, they are much appreciated! Both Rich and I are history buffs, so the research part comes naturally I think. We also created a version of this park in rct3 years ago, so it was great to try it again in Planet Coaster. Be careful what you wish for...there is indeed 'more' yet to come. What started out as a plan to break this into two parts ended up being on five benches. There isn't much room left (and neither one of us wants to work on it past the middle of the century...), so I 'think' we're about done on this project. Besides the five benches, there was also around 640 individual TMTK objects made for it...so yeah, it kept us busy and out of trouble (me anyways...Police Reports may disprove that claim for citytrader...). Anyways, thanks again, and a sincerely things for creating a new home to inflict our work on others!

When you enter the ride you are at Camp Dubois, where Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery set out, northeast of St Louis. The ride then somewhat follows their journey across the plains, through the Rockies, then down to the Pacific Ocean where you arrive at Fort Clatsop - which is the same fort station by operateur with signage with the other name pointed in that direction... The ride isn't totally historically accurate, I believe they explored the Yellowstone area on their way back... Citytrader posted that the slowness in posting updates was due to him... Ha! He ignores the part where I take a bench to work on, and two months and 150 TMTK objects later I say "oh, did you want to work on this?" While it's now split up onto three benches...he doesn't get it to work on it any faster as I'm usually messing around with at least two of the three either building structures, or - more likely - making something with the TMTK I think we can't live without. Even on the rare moments he has time on his hands, the bench he has an idea for is probably being hogged by me!

Citytrader wrote: We pick back up in Yellowstone... After a few more twists and turns, you arrive at the Oregon territory! A bear encounter; Entering the Pacific Northwest; Arriving at Fort Clatsop in Oregon Territory!

I've always loved the look of some of the huge landscapes of the American West that were painted back in the late 1800's/early 1900's, and felt they would blend better with some of the objects available in the game, which are a mixture of very realistic textures along with some things that are a bit more Impressionistic. Peeps would already know they aren't looking out over a real landscape, so the realism of a photo I felt wasn't totally necessary. And I think Disney would be more likely to use painted vignettes (like they do on the backgrounds of the Disneyland Railroad dioramas) than photos. Originally I built the ride with several buildings holding the vignettes inside, but hiding the building exteriors multiple times just didn't turn out right, so they are, in fact, open air sections of the ride with the painted billboard images on one or both sides which were easier to blend in with trees and rockwork.

Citytrader wrote: The final area of bench one that we have to explore is the Expedition of Discovery area, Saint Louis in 1803. This bucolic area of the park is rolling farmland and has almost a wild west feel to it; The E ticket attraction here is of course the Expedition of Discovery water ride. We will be joining Lewis and Clark as they explore the Loiusiana Territory and find a northwest passage to the Pacific. Let's take a look; Our expedition leaves Fort DuBois in Saint Louis; Herds of buffalo cover the Great Plains; Leaving the Great Plains and entering the Rockies; A small Native American village; Climbing to the top of the Rocky Mountains. It's pretty cold! Entering the hot springs of what will one day be Yellowstone! Is that old faithful in the distance?

Citytrader wrote: Continuing our tour of Disney's America, the next land we will visit is the iconic Liberty Square! Entrance to Liberty Square from Patriot Plaza; Paul Revere loves entertaining the crowds; The centerpiece of Liberty Square is the recreation of Independence Hall, which houses the Hall of Presidents. The square has the Liberty Tree, with 13 lanterns hung, representing the 13 colonies. One of the most popular restaurants in Disney's America is Gadsby's Tavern serving up colonial and contemporary faire; The Christmas Shoppe; A few small snack stations; A carryover from my last iteration of DA, the E ticket attraction for Liberty Square is the famous Boston Tea Party; The queue carries you through a typical colonial seaport; The ride itself;

Citytrader wrote: Start your journey with Ichabod as he heads home from the Van Tassel parlor; Some noisy crows try to warn you of danger ahead; Why did someone leave that nice axe here in the forest? Lots of bats out tonight! Looks like light in the clearing up ahead... "For once you pass the bridge my friend, the ghost is through, his power ends!" The bridge is just ahead... what is that?!?! Ayyyyyy!!!!

Citytrader wrote: Representing the colonial period of American history is the quaint little hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, where mystery and terror reign; The foreboding church. Looks like the gravedigger is burying yet another headless victim! You have to look closely to find the reason for all this dread; The Van Tassel family mansion is open to guests for a party! Katrina Van Tassel has read all the old witch's tales, and frequently has nightmares about becoming a witch herself! A very special thank you to ramses.sam for his wonderful Baskerville Hall, which fits perfectly into the area!

I love the building I used for the New York World's Fair entrance, it's an Art Deco Entrance Building based on the PPA by slowly from the Workshop. All I did was to add the flags, banners and the NYWF lettering to it and it's perfect as-is. One of my favorite Workshop finds!

Yeah, well a guy's gotta sleep sometime...

Citytrader wrote: Happy 4th of July from Disney's America! (And a hint of what's yet to come...) Contrary to popular belief, I was not around for all of the above time periods, just for most of them!