45th Anniversary
- Thread starter GrandpaD
- Start date
I'm sure it's here in the forums somewhere...here's what BGW had to offer 45 years ago..
Brambo
Cyberdyne Systems Software Engineer
Let's go back to the "simpler, lustier era: Germany of the 19th century".
That's the first time I have seen the exact target date for England's era (1603) and the "official" approximate diameter of Le Scoot's buzz saw blade (7 feet).
I'm sure everyone else knew that, but they're new to me
I'm sure everyone else knew that, but they're new to me
Huh? I’m just wondering how packed the park would be on a daily basis if admission were still that cheap. It sure would be interesting to see.
Yeah, I mean clearly the place would be hideously mobbed and losing money overall on just about every guest.
I suspect the composition of the crowd would be different from the norm, too: lots of people who wouldn't have shown up that day at more normal prices, but jumped at the chance to do so for almost nothing. And who either didn't at all anticipate or didn't at all care that the park was going to be crammed to the gills with humanity.
Lost folks and cheapskates and scooters, oh my!
As to the question of whether or not the place would be full: the park hits capacity sometimes at normal operating net admission prices.
I imagine many of the people turned away due to the park reaching capacity would be madder than a flaming bucket of copperheads.
I suspect the composition of the crowd would be different from the norm, too: lots of people who wouldn't have shown up that day at more normal prices, but jumped at the chance to do so for almost nothing. And who either didn't at all anticipate or didn't at all care that the park was going to be crammed to the gills with humanity.
Lost folks and cheapskates and scooters, oh my!
As to the question of whether or not the place would be full: the park hits capacity sometimes at normal operating net admission prices.
I imagine many of the people turned away due to the park reaching capacity would be madder than a flaming bucket of copperheads.
Geez, at no point did I suggest that it would be economically feasible or that it’s something the park should do. I was musing about how slammed the park would be if, hypothetically, prices never adjusted from opening day. Why are you picking fights with everyone lately?
Back on topic, were the phone booths in Banbury Cross there when the park opened? They’ve never made sense with the Elizabethan-era theme, but with the brochure specifically dating the area at 1603 as @halfabee mentioned, they seem more out of place. Does anyone know the answer?
The bobby in the lower picture seems a bit out of place as well for 1603.
I've said it before, with all the love for BGW a heart can muster, but the hamlets were clearly designed by someone who has never been to any of these countries. They are so stereotypical and almost a caricature of real places.
Still fun and beautiful, but about as culturally accurate as Outback Steakhouse.
Pretty sure that was part of their intended charm - we 'dumb Americans' wouldn't know the difference anyways.
And to be fair, the park's depiction of each country was all I really could envision when hearing real-world references to the same countries, especially England and Germany, when I was growing up through about college.
Last edited:
Also, you probably wouldn't want to spend much time in a substantially authentic replica of any mid- to large-sized European town circa 1603.
The smells alone... traveling the street on foot... sized up the minute you arrived by every footpad and vagrant in town...
The smells alone... traveling the street on foot... sized up the minute you arrived by every footpad and vagrant in town...
The time period that each hamlet is set in hasn't been a permanent fixture. Just like with some TV shows, movies, and media some things are left intentionally vague. One example is Riverdale. You can't pin down the exact time period and intentionally so. It gives the story more personality. I personally believe this gives the villages their identities inside the park and not just based off real life locations. I think it can be used for good story telling.
While there are some more caricature type features, originally I would say things were actually more accurate. Over time and especially in the park's more recent years, they have decided to 'dumb down' the park's complexities and make it more caricature-like. Some examples would be the ditching of village names in favor of the generic country names. Banbury Cross is no longer the unique Banbury Cross as it was envisioned by the original designers. It is now just England .. a cheap knock off of what the real England is. The only reason some places have kept their village names is likely to identify the separate villages. For example, Octoberfest and Germany. Two separate areas, but it is all still Germany.
There are other examples of the park's recent changes such as the odd colored paint scheme that Oktoberfest went through. The bright colors are definitely not indicative of what Oktoberfest was originally designed to be. They were a cheap method of re-theming and revamping an entire village on the cheap. Same with the flags in England. A cheap way to re-theme an area into something it wasn't meant to be.
Each village had its own identity that was more in tune with its themed location. However, in a desperate effort to cheaply re-theme and update, many of these villages have lost their identity.
Despite that, the bright colors still feel incredibly out of place for me. Even though I've lived my fair share of time in Germany and have seen bright colors used in celebrations, it feels off and fabricated.