Retheme Duplicative Hamlets

[super7]

Another location I'd love to see used is where Circo has been. Retheme Festa to Greece, including pantheon, then add an indoor attraction themed to the Greek myth of the labyrinth. A dark ride based on that could be amazing.

I always thought having multiple areas themed to the same country was a weakness of BG. There are many European countries that have been missed. Just look how amazing Europa park is with all of its countries.

At a minimum Fesra should be Greece and Rhinefeld should be Switzerland

 

[Zachary]

I always thought having multiple areas themed to the same country was a weakness of BG. There are many European countries that have been missed. Just look how amazing Europa park is with all of its countries.

At a minimum Fesra should be Greece and Rhinefeld should be Switzerland

You should consider starting a concept thread for low-friction/low-cost ways to convert some of the duplicative hamlets. I know lots of people have considered replacements for Festa and New France, but your angle is sorta unique!

 

[halfabee]

I'd love to see Rhinefeld become Austria, and New France become Switzerland. Then Alpengeist, and by association the Alps, would make perfect sense in the middle of it all, and Switzerland would start that conversion project with 90% of the rustic charm an amusement park would likely aim for in an old-fashioned Swiss hamlet.

None of this will happen, to be clear. But it would be great, and they could play Sound of Music themes on the carousel. It would even add a bit of thematic sense to that uphill trudge from the water's edge: complete the Austrian climb and you reach a photo op on the side of the path, where you stick your head through a cutout and suddenly you're a Julie Andrews lookalike twirling on a mountaintop. You can even walk to Switzerland from there if you like, just like the von Trapps. Ignore the small matter of the shopping village, the covered bridge, and the abominable snowman as you make your daring escape.

Isn't that corner snack stand in Rhinefeld already named Edelweiss? (Never mind the provenance of the tune...)

 

[belsaas]

I do feel, especially given the relative population of immigrants in America, having New France be instead Norway, Sweden or generally Scandinavia is a winning proposition. It wouldn't even require a lot of redesign: InvadR fits pretty much as is, slap some stav roofs on the wooden buildings and you're basically there.

 

[Zachary]

I created a new thread for @super7's idea in the concepts forum so the indoor attractions thread wouldn't spin too far off-topic.

 

[Mushroom]

I've always thought Festa could be relatively inexpensively rethemed to a Mediterranean marketplace. Most suggestions to retheme the area to Greece involve the more stereotypical "ancient ruins and mythology" approach, but I think this would be prohibitively expensive and even somewhat redundant with San Marco and Pompeii's architecture. A sort of Greek bazaar-themed area would allow them to reuse most of Festa's existing tent structures and layout.

 

[panopticon31]

I do feel, especially given the relative population of immigrants in America, having New France be instead Norway, Sweden or generally Scandinavia is a winning proposition. It wouldn't even require a lot of redesign: InvadR fits pretty much as is, slap some stav roofs on the wooden buildings and you're basically there.

I mean......if it gets re-themed to a Scandinavian country then Invadr's theme will fit just fine.

 

[metalman]

Rhinefeld should be Belgium-Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp- think about it- Chocolate, wine, beer, waffles, and yes Fries are Belgian, not French! Smurfs, The Adventures of Tin Tin. A lot of it is already there, a few tweaks. Its almost in the right location between France and Germany, Crepes in the south, Stroopwaffels in there North. It’s a no brainer.

 

[Merboy]

I love the ideas for new hamlets, but I do wonder if aiming for more and more hamlets/countries would spread the park's resources too thin. More countries with no additional space in the physical park would mean smaller hamlets, which isn't necessarily a problem, but it doesn't seem like it would work the way, say, Epcot does with its massive ring divided mostly evenly... Plus, many Americans seem to have an idea of what Europe is and if you ask someone to name a handful of European nations they'll likely come up with the big ones that already exist. That said, I'm all for expansion and better theming and for goodness' sake let's get Scandinavia or Spain!!!

 

[VB06Hokie]

Or Lichtenstein - they could have a Medieval Times- style dinner show featuring Sir Ulrich. Plus the hamlet could be the same size as the real place!

 

[Jonesta6]

I interpreted this as a call for existing hamlets to be converted, not brand new lands to be created - so @Merboy, not really sure where you'd see a reduction in hamlet size?

 

[Zachary]

I sorta get what @Merboy is getting at. People may have even less concept of the place they're located in if they were in another country-themed area moments beforehand.

I sorta think that's more a problem with the current (lack of) hamlet branding though honestly. The death of things like the New France archway, the Festa Italian banners, etc have removed a lot of obvious borders from the park. Focusing on place-making would become more important if there were additional areas.

 

[super7]

I interpreted this as a call for existing hamlets to be converted, not brand new lands to be created - so @Merboy, not really sure where you'd see a reduction in hamlet size?

Yes the comment is why have 2 Italys and Germany’s.

Apollo, Pantheon, the rapids would easily fit Greecce. Alpenheist and the Skyway easily fit Switzerland 🇨🇭 or another mountainous country. They really could retheme these two sections by simply changing names of rides, shops and food locations and facade updates to the buildings and queue lines.

I will say this for Cedar Fair lately. When they add a new ride at the Taft parks they are doing some great re theming.

Coopperhead Strikes theming alone is amazing plus they changed the area to Blue Ridge Junction

Area 72 at Kings Island was done with minimal updates to the area, but it’s a great theme that goes with Orion In a previously un themed area.

And KD is getting the jungle Xpeditiin update to go with Tumbili. I’m more excited to see the theming updates thst ride that ride.

Pantheon would have been the perfect opportunity to convert to Greece. But then they didn’t spend a dime on a themed station for that ride…..


Even though New France (Canada) has nothing to do with Europe, it’s at least a completely different country than Aquitaine. And the rustic buildings are beautiful. It’s just that Viking catapult that’s so out of place……

 

[CastleOSullivan]

Rhinefeld is supposed to be a tribute to Busch family heritage. In fact, I even heard a long time ago that August Busch III called that area of the heart of Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I would love to have Austria or a broadly Scandinavian themed area, but I’m not in favor of changing Rhinefeld since it’s too important to the park’s branding.

That said, I am all in favor of retheming areas like New France that don’t fit in with the continental European theme very well, or retheming a barely-themed area like Festa Italia. If the park was able to expand the Alpengeist mini hamlet, I would even say they could retheme that area to Switzerland, since there’s no deep historical significance to the Busch Gardens brand with that area until the ride debuted in 1997.

 

[BGWnut]

I always thought having multiple areas themed to the same country was a weakness of BG. There are many European countries that have been missed. Just look how amazing Europa park is with all of its countries.

At a minimum Fesra should be Greece and Rhinefeld should be Switzerland

I'd love to see Rhinefeld become Austria, and New France become Switzerland. Then Alpengeist, and by association the Alps, would make perfect sense in the middle of it all, and Switzerland would start that conversion project with 90% of the rustic charm an amusement park would likely aim for in an old-fashioned Swiss hamlet.

None of this will happen, to be clear. But it would be great, and they could play Sound of Music themes on the carousel. It would even add a bit of thematic sense to that uphill trudge from the water's edge: complete the Austrian climb and you reach a photo op on the side of the path, where you stick your head through a cutout and suddenly you're a Julie Andrews lookalike twirling on a mountaintop. You can even walk to Switzerland from there if you like, just like the von Trapps. Ignore the small matter of the shopping village, the covered bridge, and the abominable snowman as you make your daring escape.

Isn't that corner snack stand in Rhinefeld already named Edelweiss? (Never mind the provenance of the tune...)

The flags that fly around the Alpengeist plaza are in fact all the flags of the Swiss Cantons(their version of states). Due to this I have long argued that the area between the gates to Rheinfeld and the covered bridge is in fact Switzerland. This makes some sense because Rhinefeld is themed more to the area of Germany that borders Switzerland and the general Black Forest area. While Oktoberfest is more Munich themed. As someone that has traveled to both areas, you can definitely tell a difference between the two.

Either way, that's my argument that the park does actually have Switzerland, they just don't admit it.

 

[super7]

One thing i like about BG is that a very high majority of the original park still stands. I only wish KD was that way, but Paramount and KECO ravage parts of it in the 90s (lake, railroad, woods around Grizzly, Lost World, skyway, safari etc)

Thst being said rethemes can happen, be improvements and retain the original park. The Ireland retheme is a gray example. It was a huge improvement over Hastings IMO and eliminated double Englands.

 

[halfabee]

The flags that fly around the Alpengeist plaza are in fact all the flags of the Swiss Cantons(their version of states). Due to this I have long argued that the area between the gates to Rheinfeld and the covered bridge is in fact Switzerland. This makes some sense because Rhinefeld is themed more to the area of Germany that borders Switzerland and the general Black Forest area. While Oktoberfest is more Munich themed. As someone that has traveled to both areas, you can definitely tell a difference between the two.

Either way, that's my argument that the park does actually have Switzerland, they just don't admit it.

Admittedly, part of my enthusiasm for a New-France-to-Switzerland conversion is my long running conviction that no part of Canada, no matter how French, really belongs in a European theme park, and that rural old Switzerland would be a convenient destination theme. But now I am convinced that a Scandinavian country like Norway would work even better than Switzerland, which as you astutely note seems like an unofficial "shadow hamlet" already.

Regarding Lichtenstein, it would be a good theme for the seating/viewing area next to Alpengeist. Hang some flags to identify it -- otherwise it looks just like its surrounding countries, which is all I remember about it in real life too.

 

[warfelg]

I think rethemeing duplicative hamlets to another country that's too similar is a mistake. It loses a sense of place. The biggest thorn(s) for the park to me are Pompii being "Italy" and New France. Despite having differences, to a majority of Americans Germany, Switzerland, Austria is the same thing. Ditto for Grecko-roman themeing.

San Marco area could become your Spain themed area, making the place around Pompii more built out to be Italy, and turning that area around Apollo and Pantheon more gladiatorial themed does the trick. New France should be more of a French Countryside themed area or Scandinavian as it is culturally different enough to a vast majority of Americans to be different.

 

[halfabee]

San Marco area could become your Spain themed area, making the place around Pompii more built out to be Italy, and turning that area around Apollo and Pantheon more gladiatorial themed does the trick.

I'm not sure I follow the gladiator theming around Apollo/Pantheon.

 

[warfelg]

I'm not sure I follow the gladiator theming around Apollo/Pantheon.

It's to clean up the theme from being just general Italy with Eastern Europe to being just more Rome specific.