I am addicted to creating theme parks using Khan Academy’s Disney parks course. And now I’m applying it to the greatest children’s franchise ever created, The Magic School Bus! (reboot notwithstanding)
So as per the other theme parks I’ve designed (based on Disenchantment and Goosebumps) I’ve come up with several different rides, restaurants, and exhibits tailored to capturing the feeling of the show. I want to start with an aspect I hadn’t thought about for my previous parks which is the ride operator uniforms. Ms. Frizzle’s dresses for each episode are an iconic part of the show and I’d love to feature that in the parks. Therefore the parks employees will wear shorts and t-shirts decorated with the motif of the ride they work on. More on that later.
Let’s start with the first ride that immediately came to mind, Eruption. This is a Dropzone-esque ride that takes place inside a volcano, where instead of being slowly taken up and then dropped, riders are shot into the sky, mimicking of course a volcanic eruption. Fog machines will create steam so parkgoers can view the ride from afar.
This is also a good time to mention I want every ride at this park to be kid-friendly. There will be a good mix of kiddie rides and coasters, but you won’t find anything with height requirements or thrill rides like Leviathan or Kingda Ka here.
Moving on to what would likely be one of my favorite rides, Going Batty, a flying/hanging coaster where riders sit in carts resembling bats and are catapulted through a dark ride, flying through the night to the sounds of echolocation, dodging giant mosquitoes and lit by the full moon. This could be housed in an above ground cave or as an underground ride.
Next is Ralphie’s Germ Shooter Adventure. Like many swivelling 3D rides, you’ll be seated and armed with blasters to shoot invading pathogens while working your way throughout the human body — screens changing from the bloodstream to the nasal cavity to the lungs.
Another winding dark ride plants riders on the backs of giant ants as you plunge into an anthill. This will be a quick-moving coaster so as not to linger on the terrifyingly huge insects for more squeamish parkgoers (like me). This ride will just be called The Anthill.
Continuing on there will be another hanging coaster called Buzzing Around where you can ride a honeybee through the sky, pollinating flowers and going through honeycomb and into the hive.
I’d also like to include a mine cart coaster inspired by the Magic School Bus geology computer game.
So, those are the major coasters in the park. Now we’ll take a look at some of the other attractions. One would be a 4D Busasaurus ride through the Cretaceous period, of course. Then a haunted house attraction based on the MSB episode in the sound museum with haunted harps throughout. I’ve given a lot of thought to a water park but think it would be pretty self-explanatory so I wont go into a lot of detail, besides that it will of course be themed around the water cycle.
There’d also be a couple cute kiddie rides. Similar to Dumbo The Flying Elephant will be a Taking Flight airplane ride and a Hopping Bullfrog ride, and of course one of those little schoolbuses that go up and down.
Other attractions would include live exhibits like an aquarium, butterfly conservatory, and herpetological spa. And of course an interactive planetarium, perhaps another 4D ride through space in an IMAX structure like the cinesphere.
Then, based on one of my favorite MSB episodes, a journey via taxi cabs through an urban city at night to view the wildlife that live close to humans like raccoons, possums, and coyotes in the style of It’s A Small World.
As far as food and souvenirs go, The Science Shop would house every kind of child-friendly chemistry kit possible, while rock candy carts surround the geoglogy-themed area. The main restaurant would be an enormous Cafeteria serving delicious version of lunchroom classics: sloppy joes, chicken nuggets, Jamaican patties, and lots of 90s snacks. The Teacher’s Lounge will be our adults-only coffee bar where parents can relax and caffeinate while kids are on guided tours of the park’s many attractions.
How fun does this Magic School Bus theme park sound? Not only would I love to attend but I want to work there, which is really saying something.
What’s your favourite MSB episode? Have another idea for a ride? Let me know in the comments below.
