HOMEPAGE / PLAYGROUND / VIDEO GAME / MUSEUM / FEC / RETAILTAINMENT / SPORTS COMPLEX / RPG

EVALUATION CRITERIA

- War, although terrible, is probably the single most exciting event a person can experience. It is this thrill and exhilaration that I hope to mimic, and by accomplishing this in a safe environment where there is war but not death, the attraction is almost unbearable.

-The closest experience to war that I could imagine was with paintball guns. Unlike laser tag, getting hit with an actual, non lethal projectile is something that you can feel, and it is not something that you want to feel again.

- In order to make this concept of war even more attractive, I decided to design the theme park on a massive scale. Up to 1000 people can be fighting at once.

- Along with excitement, I also wanted guests to feel a sense of camaraderie and brotherhood. It is only natural for people to experience this in battle.

- Since the entire theme park is based around an arena that only has 3 or 4 battles a day, I felt that it was important to create the waiting level in order to entertain guests while they waited. It is this level that I hope to make most of my profit from.

- I also wanted to make the park easily accessible to visitors. One of the most discouraging aspects of any theme park is actually getting there. But the system I have designed allows for easy access and painless departure.

ROBIN HOOD'S WAR PARK

Robin Hood’s War Park is a combination of elements that are derived from the elements of a theme park, with some minor adjustments. The park includes an arcade and interactive gaming center, restaurants, bowling alleys and it’s most prized attraction; an enormous paintball arena themed after the war between Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. The parks’ main purpose is to give people of many ages an opportunity to experience the thrill and horror of war on an epic scale and as close to the real thing as possible. This exhilarating experience alone will keep audiences coming back for more. Like a traditional theme park, Robin Hood’s War Park provides guests with a contained experience that can only be re-visited by re-visiting the Park. Shall we take a tour?

The War Park is going to be constructed in New York. Since New York is a major destination for vacationers, it will serve as yet another world wide attraction among New York’s most popular locations.

PARKING

Even though the park itself is huge, the amount of space needed for parking is eliminated due to the fact that the parking garage is on top of the arena. Its innovative design utilizes the advantages of vertical construction in order to compensate for limited space in a crowded area. Entrance into the park is simple, unlike the complex system of roads needed to enter many traditional theme parks. There are four easily accessible ramps leading from the street up to the parking garage. The parking garage itself is ten stories high and provides more than enough parking for both visitors and staff. A small fee of $10 must be paid upon entering the garage. This is a comparatively small fee considering that most people will be traveling in large groups. After parking their cars, visitors descend to the bottom floor of the garage and make their way down a large winding staircase into the Waiting Level, which is the second level of the park.

THE WAITING LEVEL

The Waiting Level is between the arena and the parking garage. Here, visitors can participate in a number of activities. The large space allows for numerous state of the art arcade and interactive gaming units as well as a number of restaurants, bars, bathrooms, bowling alleys and areas for relaxation and socialization. One of the most important functions of the Waiting Level is to allow guests to purchase a War Ticket and to provide an enjoyable place to wait for their scheduled battle. A War Ticket costs twenty dollars. There is a circularly shaped, trench-like dip in the floor that gives visitors a perfect bird’s-eye-view of the war transpiring beneath them. To give this spectacular view, the glass is one way and tilted slightly away from the guests. From here, viewers can examine the players and formulate strategies that will give them the edge in battle.

CHOOSE YOUR SIDE

Once the signal for your battle time has been given, you must follow the crowd of people down the long escalators to the bottom floor. As in any war, there are always two sides. Upon purchasing your ticket, you can either choose to be on the side of good (Robin Hood) or on the side of evil (Sheriff). The two escalators will take you to your perspective side, and eventually you will be on completely opposite sides of the building. But have no fear, you’re among friends. You can purchase tickets in one of two ways. You can either buy them at the Park itself in the Waiting Level, or you can purchase them online. By purchasing them online you are guaranteed a position on the battlefield. A computerized system tracks the purchases on a second-by-second basis to ensure that each side is accounted for and has an equal amount of participants. The maximum capacity for each side is 500 people; so there can be as many as a thousand people fighting in one massive battle. Since the scope of each battle is extreme, only three battles actually take place in any given day; except for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in which case there are four battles that will occur. Once at the bottom, participants will go to one of the ten Ticket & Suit Offices on their side of the building. There, people will bestow their ticket and receive their battle suit.

TICKET AND SUIT OFFICE

In order to prevent theft, battle suits are only given to people after they enter the building. They range in size to small, medium, and large and are made to fit loosely. The suits are fed by a vertical conveyor belt to each Ticket & Suit Office from an underground staff facility. This underground facility is charged with the duty of rinsing and disinfecting; so when the suits reach its perspective thrill seeker, they are clean and sanitary. The material used allows for paint to easily wash off. Robin Hood suits are blue, Sheriff suits are red, and each suit is numbered for tracking purposes.

BATTLE PREPARATION

Once inside the building, guests follow the crowd past a large wall and into the second waiting room where a series of 18 lines separated by a metal bar await your choice. Here, guests gather their party together and prepare themselves for battle by putting on their suits. The lines are only there to ensure organization and unity until the countdown finally occurs. Once the countdown is over and the sides are equal, the doors to the building close. The war has now begun.

THE CIRCUMSTANCES

A heavy sliding door encloses the guests inside the large room and the lights shut off. After a few moments of darkness a large projection screen illuminates on the wall above the 18 doors at the front of each line. A man appears on the screen and conveys to the audience the situation. Sheriff of Nottingham sympathizers have found a way to travel back in time. They intend to raid and destroy the town of Nottingham and reverse the effects of the past. Robin Hood sympathizers have stolen the information needed for mass time travel, and they intend to prevent the Sheriff forces from committing this horrible act. Victory for either side can only come by capturing the other sides’ flag, or by eliminating all its opponents. Of course, Sheriff sympathizers and Robin Hood sympathizers watch a different preview in order to set the stage for war.

TIME TRAVEL

Once the circumstances have been conveyed, the lights illuminate once again and the 18 doors begin to open. The doors are monitored by a staff member. Each door leads to a Time Travel Pod which travels down a long stretch of track to the opposite side of the building. Families and groups will remain together throughout this experience. Each pod carries up to twenty people. Each line leads to a door, and once a party reaches their perspective door, they move inside the narrow pod. The door closes behind them and they start their trip into the past. Lighting, sound effects and the motion of the pod provides guest with the feeling of time travel. Television monitors overhead turn on and give a brief tutorial on how to use the weapon and basic strategies of survival. The pod then increases speed until it reaches the other side of the building. To hasten the amount of time needed to transport all members, multiple pods will be moving down each track.

THE LAYOUT

WEAPONS AND DISTRIBUTION

Once your party reaches the other side, the doors will open into a new world where your first task is to acquire a weapon. Themed staff members hand out the paintball guns upon arrival. The guns are unique in many ways. Each one is exactly the same so that no one person has an advantage over the others. They are equipped with a safety device that allows staff members to arm and disarm the trigger. All triggers are disarmed until everyone is ready for battle. This prevents guests from prematurely firing their weapons. Triggers can also be individually disarmed by a handheld transmitter gun. This feature prevents individuals from continuing the battle even after they’ve been hit. If a person runs out of ammunition, he or she must find the nearest anchored ammo station. There are several of these stations positioned throughout the battlefield. This feature saves people from having to carry their own capsules, and it also adds to the excitement of battle.

WAR ! ! !

The rules of the game are simple. If a person gets hit, they must hold up their hands and move to the Dead Zone. The Dead Zone is located on the outskirts of the battlefield. After getting hit, visitors must make their way up one of the many ramps leading into the Dead Zone. From there, they can move up and down the Dead Zone, viewing the action from behind one way panels of glass. Positioned in towers high above the action is a group of staff members that monitor the kills they see. The contrasting paint is clearly visible on the suits, and if someone continues to fight despite the fact that they’ve been hit, the staff member will disarm their weapon using the transmitter gun. Robin Hood sympathizers begin the battle in Sherwood Forest. The forest contains many artificial trees, rocks, bushes, ramps, huts, dips, and countless other objects that make Sherwood Forest what it is. In contrast, Sheriff sympathizers begin the battle inside Nottingham Castle. They too will have their own collection of objects such as wagons, watchtowers, bridges, exc. that can be used as cover. Another duty of staff members is to further simulate war by controlling such actions as falling trees and blowing debris in the air. The battlefield is so massive and littered with obstacles that at the start of the battle, no side can see the other. A side can only win the war by capturing the other sides’ flag and bringing it back to their side.


The main purpose of the theme park is to simulate the exhilaration of war in an authentic and safe environment. This thrill alone is enough to inspire guests to return, and with more people.