Posted August 9, 20231 yr As some of you know, before we started work on Disney's America, Wagi and I had worked together on another project that sparked our interest, the proposed Wonderful World of OZ park that was going to be built by the Goddard Group in where else? North Dakota! No, in Kansas, just outside of Kansas City. As with many other parks, this one never got past the planning stages due to political shortsitedness, and the park was scrapped. But did that stop us? Hell no! Here's a couple of concept drawings for the park; Wagi already posted these teasers; I'll start tour pictures over the next few days! Edited August 9, 20231 yr by citytrader
August 9, 20231 yr This is seriously cool! Love the map layout too, I can't wait to see what you both have been up to! there's this illusion of the reality, but it's not really really real, like it's beside and inside and inside and beside, but never on top.. nevermind, just kidding but not really
August 9, 20231 yr 3 hours ago, citytrader said: No, in Kansas, just outside of Kansas City. I wonder if Goddard Group considered the potential confusion for tourists who may not know that Kansas City, KS is only a 7-minute drive from Kansas City, MO? I suppose the main tower would have been enough of a beacon to drag them over the river if they ended up in the wrong neighborhood... 3 hours ago, citytrader said: I'll start tour pictures over the next few days! Yes, I want to see all the nooks and crannies up in there 🤓 Something, sometime, eventually...
August 9, 20231 yr Author Kablary, I remember reading that they were going to build on the Sunflower Ammo Proving Grounds, or something like that. One of the big initial headaches was going to be searching for buried or unexploded ordinance. Imagine the headlines, "Tin Man Blown Up by WWI ordinance!" Not the kind of publicity they wanted, I'm sure! 🤣
August 9, 20231 yr Author Welcome to the Wonderful World of OZ! I think we're in the right place! Time to pull into the parking lot. Only $5.00 parking! What a bargain! Wow! That's a lot of tour buses! Hope it's not too crowded! Maybe we'll park in the parking deck instead of the lot. What an interesting sculpture. The characters look like Baum's originals rather than from the 1939 classic! Ticket booths up ahead! Stay tuned!
August 9, 20231 yr Love the entrance sign with the Yellow Brick Road winding its way underneath; very evocative of the movie.
August 9, 20231 yr Oh, I can't wait to see inside the park!! Agreed with JB, that entrance sign is super cool! there's this illusion of the reality, but it's not really really real, like it's beside and inside and inside and beside, but never on top.. nevermind, just kidding but not really
August 10, 20231 yr There's no place like home.....but a theme park sounds great! Looks awesome! I still have the sets that were made in RCT3 with the thought of large areas in studio parks.
August 10, 20231 yr love the high arch entry....very Universal-like. And the parking booth is a nice touch. I don't think I have ever seen anyone do that in the game yet.
August 10, 20231 yr Author Thank goodness we didn't need to take the parking lot tram. Pretty station though. Ticket booths. We got our tickets online, so no wait there! What a grand entryway! I can just glimpse the park through that arch. I'm so excited! Looking back at the entrance plaza. I think this going to be a great day!
August 11, 20231 yr This looks freaking awesome! Those arches for the entrance are done beautifully! Side note here: Am I the only one here that looked at those "Oz" posters and thought of the Las Vegas' Cirque du Soleil 'O' show? Anyway... I really like how this project is coming along - keep it up! There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow; shining at the end of every day.
August 13, 20231 yr Author Thanks everyone! Heading through the Art DEco entranceway (a homage to the movie), we enter Main Street Kansas, a bucolic picture of small town America, similar to that other place! I guess we are in Kansas! A Gulch building. Noticed there were several of them around the square. What a quant little food court; The town square band stand has live entertainment throughout the day. Love the sound of those old-fashioned barbershop quartets! They even have a Baum Museum. Have to check it out when we have time. Edited August 13, 20231 yr by citytrader
August 13, 20231 yr By golly, Main Street Kansas does indeed look a lot like that "other place". I'm sure it's just a coincidence . Please tell me that you have a Gulch Gulpee drink stand! I'm worried that the piano is gonna fall off the edge of the band stand.
August 18, 20231 yr Well, well done, sir! The planters, The architecture, the plaza, the museum, etc. is all really freaking cool! There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow; shining at the end of every day.
August 18, 20231 yr On 8/13/2023 at 7:25 PM, JB said: I'm worried that the piano is gonna fall off the edge of the band stand. That's what Industrial Strength Duct Tape is for...
August 18, 20231 yr Hmm, Duct Tape didn't occur to me. I was thinking more along the lines of Gorilla Glue. 🦍
August 20, 20231 yr "Similar to that other place" what are you hinting at 😉? This park is really beautiful already and I am excited to see how you handle some of the realms of the Wizard Of Oz.
August 25, 20231 yr Author Thank you all for the very kind comments! Our tour continues! Moving further along Main Street, we pass the department store; A Cigar Store and City Hall; A Hat Shoppe and Haberdashery; A quant little cafe; Hardware store; Even a Barber Shop; Hey, how clever! Most of the business' along Main Street are named from the people involved in the MGM classic Movie! At the top of MainStreet is the home of Miss Gulch. Doesn't look like she takes good care of her property; Next up, we take a look at the Gale farm! Edited August 25, 20231 yr by citytrader
August 26, 20231 yr A fitting abode for Miss Gulch. Is that from the workshop? It looks like the Addams Family house, or maybe the Munsters house or maybe the Bates Motel. I like seeing all the goods sitting outside Thorpe's Hardware. Do they have to bring all that stuff in at night and put it back out in the morning? Probably not; I'm sure there isn't any crime in this quaint little town.
August 29, 20231 yr I'm really liking the quaintness of it all. Apart from the architecture, the whole area looks inviting and safe. Nice job! There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow; shining at the end of every day.
February 23, 20241 yr "They're baaaaaack!" No, we didn't wander off to fix a sandwich and then completely forgot about this...well, at least I didn't, I can't vouch for Citytrader... We had to break the park up into multiple benches again, which allowed us to add the amount of details we like to have (or at least the amount of crap I always seem to tack on...). The first bench is nearing completion, featuring the entrance areas, Main Street Kansas and most of Munchkinland. And forget that part where I said I didn't want to make a bunch of TMTK items for this project...I'm over 400 pieces already... *sigh* Anyways, we'll soon be taking a tour of the first bench, many of the things shown previously above remain...many of the things previously have changed. This screens shows just one - the new entrance centerpiece. As Citytrader always mumbles "there's more to come!". So you still have time to make other commitments before we get started!
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