Merlin have announced a new pilot midway attraction to open in Berlin in 2017 which is an internally developed brand (shock, there is no IP)! Which will be a new imagineering of the world in miniature attractions. It will be new interactive way to learn about a cities history, culture and individuality using modern and traditionally methods and special effects.
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New Merlin Midway: Little Big City
Rob
TS Team
This sounds very interesting, it's pleasing to see a new non-IP concept for a Midway attraction. You would imagine something like this is more likely to attract tourists than say a Shrek attraction or something else that is near identical to what you can find in other cities.
Here is a link to the website which features a video.
Here is a link to the website which features a video.
Tim
TS Member
Bump!
It's been a while since anyone has talked about Merlin's least known Midway, Little Big City.
There are two of them, Berlin (2017) and Beijing (2018). As the name implies the attraction is a model village, with an emphasis on the history of the host city.
I recently had the opportunity to visit the one in Beijing. As I know most of you won't get chance to visit one of these I wanted to share a few parts of the experience:
The attraction takes place over multiple levels, starting with a lift to the top floor and progressing down. The first room after the lift is a projection based pre-show, greeting guests into the attraction and inviting them on a journey through time... At least that is what I could gather, as I don't speak Mandarin.
The pre-show ends with the projected walls sliding apart to reveal the model village. The upper level is dedicated to the founding of the city and the folk laws that defined early Chinese culture.
Each area (like the one above) represents a time in history with several historic events. There's normally an interactive element (such as the horse race above) and there's a big emphasis on projections to bring the scenes to life.
In this scene the buildings and background are all real with a mythical dragon being projected in the foreground as it attacked the city.
Some of these projections were also interactive. The scene below included a game to siege the city walls.
The model for the Temple of Heaven was especially impressive as the whole building opened up every few minutes and performed a short show.
The scene below was my favourite. It tells the legend of the Monkey King. Most of the tale is projected in a pleasing shadow puppet style but the waves in the background are a physical effect with a lovely fluid motion that blended quite seamlessly.
Above is a close up look at one of the later scenes of the city modernising. Below there was a tablet which you could use to bring up facts about each of the buildings. This is something I'd love to see more model villages do.
After reaching a scene of the Forbidden City in present day the attraction ended with this projection tunnel which reacted to people walking through it. Most noticeably the area where anyone stood would glow orange as can just about be seen if you look at the person at the far end.
Unlike other model villages the attraction is a linear experience. This works well with the historic narrative that gives the attraction its identity.
It's been a while since anyone has talked about Merlin's least known Midway, Little Big City.
There are two of them, Berlin (2017) and Beijing (2018). As the name implies the attraction is a model village, with an emphasis on the history of the host city.
I recently had the opportunity to visit the one in Beijing. As I know most of you won't get chance to visit one of these I wanted to share a few parts of the experience:
The attraction takes place over multiple levels, starting with a lift to the top floor and progressing down. The first room after the lift is a projection based pre-show, greeting guests into the attraction and inviting them on a journey through time... At least that is what I could gather, as I don't speak Mandarin.
The pre-show ends with the projected walls sliding apart to reveal the model village. The upper level is dedicated to the founding of the city and the folk laws that defined early Chinese culture.
Each area (like the one above) represents a time in history with several historic events. There's normally an interactive element (such as the horse race above) and there's a big emphasis on projections to bring the scenes to life.
In this scene the buildings and background are all real with a mythical dragon being projected in the foreground as it attacked the city.
Some of these projections were also interactive. The scene below included a game to siege the city walls.
The model for the Temple of Heaven was especially impressive as the whole building opened up every few minutes and performed a short show.
The scene below was my favourite. It tells the legend of the Monkey King. Most of the tale is projected in a pleasing shadow puppet style but the waves in the background are a physical effect with a lovely fluid motion that blended quite seamlessly.
Above is a close up look at one of the later scenes of the city modernising. Below there was a tablet which you could use to bring up facts about each of the buildings. This is something I'd love to see more model villages do.
After reaching a scene of the Forbidden City in present day the attraction ended with this projection tunnel which reacted to people walking through it. Most noticeably the area where anyone stood would glow orange as can just about be seen if you look at the person at the far end.
Unlike other model villages the attraction is a linear experience. This works well with the historic narrative that gives the attraction its identity.
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Dan
TS Contributor
I visited the Berlin LBC last year and it’s no where near as good as Miniture Wonderland. It’s a lot smaller and there are hardly any moving models