#the theme park

[duhragonball]

Cold Water

All right, so let's talk about this Dragon Ball theme park that doesn't exist.

@jasminewave brought this to my attention last week and I mostly got interested in the Saudi Arabia connection. I saw some hype about the park news on Twitter, and people excitedly asking "Where is this?!" I guess they were too blown away by the announcement to actually notice any of the mentions of its location.

I mean, it's not like they're keeping that a secret. This 56-second "trailer" features a newscaster reporting that people are converging in Saudi Arabia in search of the Dragon Balls. Then the narrator says "coming to Saudi Arabia". Even if you don't look up "Qiddiya", the answer's right there in the press release.

There's nothing substantive to the video. A lot of special effects, shots of people interacting with buildings and other attractions based on the Dragon Ball franchise, a kid shoots off a Kamehameha, some women ride a roller coaster, you get the idea. But none of it is real. I mean, the roller coaster was probably real, but they probably filmed actors in a different park. They may plan on building a roller coaster shaped like Shenron, and they may plan on building a replica of the Capsule Corp. building, but it's not what they showed in the video.

That kind of irks me, because I've seen plenty of people get swept up in the hype for this thing. They're excited because they saw this:

And they think it's the coolest thing in the world and it's a real place they can go to right now. Except the Dragon Ball park looks a lot more like this:

This is a still from a video on Qiddiya's YouTube channel, so it's not like I'm talking behind their backs here. The video's from three weeks ago, and it shows a lot of footage of the construction work going on at the site. It's a lot of cuts of construction crews and equipment, with powerful, uplifting music playing in the background. This is what Qiddya looks like in 2024. The Saudi government has big plans to construct a bunch of parks and other attractions on this site, but it'll take years to finish it all.

To put this in perspective, they're also building a Six Flags park in Qiddiya, and that project began construction in 2021. I found a message board called "themeparx.com" where people share photos of resorts and parks that are under construction. And the Six Flags looks a lot like this:

I mean, it's coming along. There's some other photos that show roller coaster tracks and other structures that you can recognize as theme park-related, but you can tell it's nowhere near ready for the public. And this is about two years' worth of construction. It'll take a while before this thing has its grand opening.

And let's be clear: The Six Flags construction started in December of 2021. Six Flags Qiddiya was announced way back in 2016. The Dragon Ball theme park was announced last week. So this construction site we're looking at could very well be a peek into what the Dragon Ball park might look like eight years from now.

Now that I think about it, that makes some sense. Qiddiya's also supposed to have a water park too, and I wondered why they planned all these theme parks for the same location, but they're not building them all simultaneously. By the time the Dragon Ball park is ready to build, the Six Flags will probably be ready to open, along with whatever else is ready, and that gives them time to see how well the whole thing performs. If Qiddiya succeeds, they can move ahead with the next wave of projects. Or if it fails, they can scrap the whole thing, or just stick to the initial set of attractions. I guess my point here is that they might not even build the Dragon Ball park. A lot can happen in a decade, and plans might fall through between now and then.

What I find irritating is how they basically "announced" the thing with a slick video "trailer" that uses images of a park that doesn't actually exist. At best, it's based on a bunch of conceptual artwork and blueprints. At worst, someone just slapped a bunch of stuff together. The park images in the video remind me a lot of the Conton City map in Xenoverse 2. Just a bunch of familiar settings from the anime, all smooshed together into a single area. It wouldn't take much effort for a skilled CGI team to make a similar layout for a hypothetical park. So there's no guarantee that the imagined park in the video has any ties to the park they're actually planning to construct.

I find the whole thing misleading, because the "announcement" and the video are presented like a commercial, promoting the park like it's a real thing you can go to right now and it'll look like it does in the ad. It'll be years before we can see for ourselves how this turns out, so why bother hyping it up at all? Wait until it's done, and then promote it.

I'm not sure what the point is of these slick video packages. Normally, I'd chalk it up as an attempt to showcase the work being done, as a way to reassure investors or taxpayers that their money is being put to good use. Except this whole Saudi Vision 2030 project is being financed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is under the direct control of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the country. Maybe they're just making videos to show to him personally, or maybe he wanted the videos made to show off to the rest of the world.

Ultimately, it all boils down to propaganda. They're not announcing a theme park because they want people to visit tomorow. They're announcing a theme park to get people talking about how cool Saudi Arabia is for building the theme park. Like I said last week, watching the video packages WWE ran for Saudi Vision 2030, I got the impression that one of the main goals of Saudi Vision 2030 was to promote Saudi Vision 2030. They just want everyone to know about all this stuff they're building, even while they're still in the middle of making it.

I just find it obnoxious, especially when the video's not even a minute long and shows zero images of an actual park, but you see bottom-feeders like Geekdom101 rushing to "report" on the story. He's got a six minute video up where he presumably "reacts" to the official teaser and talks about how cool this is going to be. Maybe he has ideas on what they should put in the park. It doesn't really matter, because I already know he has nothing to say about it, since he only knows what everyone else knows, which is in the teaser video, which doesn't actually show anything. It's all a mirage until there's an opening date.

And maybe the initial hype has already died down, and I shouldn't be giving this non-story more oxygen than it deserves. But it is a Dragon Ball theme park, and we'll probably hear more about it in the coming years, so maybe it's worth writing this down for posterity. I just kind of wish I could skip ahead to the part where it all goes hilariously wrong, like Willy's Chocolate Factory, or the Heroes of Wrestling PPV. That's what's so frustrating about this. At this moment, the Dragon Ball Park in Qiddiya is probably just a stretch of empty desert. At best, there's some trucks or something on the lot. It's not even a failure yet. It's just... nothing.

[abilitayy]

frye becomes a theme park influencer

[sharkuro]

the last 2 are so funny to me.. like.. girl what happened

[kobebibebi]

snow day/tsot/fantasy au redesigns for my au ✨

im not finished with profiles yet soo ill just put this here 🏃🏃🏃

[flwrstqr]

✶ LOSER BF!ENHYPEN HYUNG LINE 𓍼

﹙NOTES 𖥔 ݁ enhypen hyung line as your loser fluff. fem!reader. 𓈃 ๋ 484 wc.

𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐆 heeseung’s shy smile makes your heart flutter as he shyly holds your hand. “i, um, got us matching keychains,” he mumbles, blushing. you grin, squeezing his hand. “you’re such a dork, hee,” you tease, but your eyes shine with affection. heeseung chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “only for you, babe,” he says softly. he leans in, his lips brushing against yours in a gentle kiss. the world fades away, and it’s just you and your cute, awkward boyfriend. pulling back, he grins, eyes twinkling. “you make me feel like the luckiest guy in the world.” you smile, your heart swelling with love. “and you’re my favorite loser, heeseung.”

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐉𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆 jay’s endearing clumsiness always made you laugh. today, he was nervously fumbling with his words, his cheeks turning a rosy shade. “so, i was thinking,” he began, scratching the back of his neck, “maybe we could, i dunno, go see that new movie together?” his awkwardness was adorable, making your heart flutter. you leaned in, teasingly brushing your nose against his. “are you asking me out, jay?” his eyes widened, and he nodded frantically, stuttering, “y-yeah, i guess i am.” you giggled, closing the distance between you two, capturing his lips in a soft, reassuring kiss.

𝐒𝐈𝐌 𝐉𝐀𝐄𝐘𝐔𝐍 he was nervously pacing in front of you, his cheeks flushed. “i, uh, couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he blurted out, stopping in his tracks. you couldn’t help but giggle at his adorable confession. “really?” you teased, stepping closer. he nodded.“yeah, really,” he said softly, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. your heart fluttered at the gentle touch, and you leaned in, brushing your lips against his. “you’re such a loser, jake,” you whispered, smiling. he grinned, his nervousness melting away as he pulled you into a deeper kiss. “but i’m your loser,” he murmured against your lips, holding you close as if he never wanted to let go.

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐍 sunghoon’s cheeks flushed a rosy hue as he fumbled with his glasses, trying to hide behind a mess of floppy hair. “you’re so adorable when you’re nervous,” you teased, poking his side playfully. he let out a soft, embarrassed laugh, his hand finding yours and squeezing gently. “stop it,” he mumbled, leaning in closer, his breath warm against your lips. “i’m supposed to be the one making you blush.” with a shy yet determined look, he closed the gap, pressing a tender kiss to your lips. his touch was sweet and unsure, making your heart flutter.

[alethianightsong]

"I miss when movies weren't political-"

ALIEN is about a megacorporation coercing some salvagers into transporting a dangerous creature without telling them what it is, all because the creature could be a great bioweapon for them. When a survivor of this failed transport mission wants reparations, they screw her over to avoid a scandal.

ROBOCOP is about another mega-corporation experimenting with a cop's body and declaring him their property, trying to reduce him to an obedient killing machine who can maintain the status quo for them.

JURASSIC PARK is about a rich billionaire going all out to make a dinosaur-themed amusement park, not caring about the real-world implications of resurrecting giant lizards. He also underpays ONE guy to maintain the entire park's security systems so predictably, that one guy betrays him at a crucial moment.

The best movies weave their politics with plot & character, so you can enjoy them as entertainment but can also notice the themes. Movies without themes wind up being all spectacle and no substance, just noise and color like Michael Bay's Transformers franchise. Yeah, they make money, but they'll be forgotten in 2 generations.

[achillesthv]

♯ 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟭 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗲𝗵𝘆𝘂𝗻𝗴⌖

[egophiliac]

so excited for Kalim to save the day by swiper-no-swiping this dip. you can do it! I believe in you!

god I hope this reads properly

[ffwix]

IM SO SORRY ABOUT BUBBA! I didn’t have enough room

//Bubba, the smartest of the gang, usually a tutor for any child that’s struggling in any academic studies, he’s the calmest and mostly seen with old kids, where some struggle in Algebra or Geometry.//

Anyway, very slight redesign.

Also yes, I’m ignoring everything that happened in chapter 3, cause I’m in denial.

[1980s-slasher-film]

Accommodations are not special, they’re not a leg up, they’re not a benefit. They’re not putting anyone ahead in the race, nor are they taking anything away from others.

They exist to put us on a level playing ground to everyone else, and nothing more.

[returntodreamland]

have a merry magolor day

[strawbrrycuteblog]

enha links pt.5!!

Sunoo

Letting sunoo jerk off above your tan tits.

Doing this until he cums.

Him fucking your thighs.

Jake

Jake doing this for fun.

His hand in your panties.

Humping Jake’s lap while your pussy was soaking.

Heeseung

Seeing the bulge in your tummy from hee’s big cock.

Doing this in heeseungs car but The Weeknd plays.

Exactly how he would do bunny hybrid you who’s in heat.

Sunghoon

Him fingering you like this after being a brat all day.

Cream pies with hoon.

How he’d make you use yourself on him after trying to make him jealous.

Jay

How he would have Sex with you after you asked him to be more rough than usual.

Wearing his favorite colored silk nightgown as you fucked you cunny back on his dick.

Doing this to Jay as y’all were chilling in his room and watching anime.

[bodhrancomedy]

I made a demo reel for Gay in a Theme Park.

I don’t know whether it’s funnier that he’s an actual detective or this is a Scooby Doo situation.

[splatoonusna]

The next Splatfest theme has been revealed, so get ready for some hot Summer Nights! This one asks: "Which would you reserve for a day? A Palace, a Theme Park, or a Beach?" How are you spending your luxurious day off?

The Splatfest kicks off 7/12 through 7/14.

[13thfunfa1r]

she does NOT know

taking the "Funfair goes to funfair" a bit too far

this is why i decided to draw it

[highways-are-liminal-spaces]

Wisconsin, between Chicago and Minneapolis in the late summer