Theme Park Planning Blog #1
Size and Shapes
When God first asked me to do this, let’s just say my faith was like a mustard seen: tiny. It’s generous to say it was that big actually.
But as God speaks to us FAITH rises within us up to meet his word. He told me this, that when he speaks it creates faith in us. I was able to spend a lot of time seeking his comfort for the trials I was going through, and in this intimate time together he spoke to me about his plans for a theme park for many years.
The planning work has amounted to several thousand pages, several hundred 3D models, many dozens of paper, clay or plaster models, and I still feel like I am barely scratching the surface.
I am not gifted in art or drawing but I am very eager to learn what I need to be able to explore and communicate this vision. When my computer broke, I had to work with pencils, rulers, erasers for almost 2 years, and that kind of planning brought out ideas differently than using sktechup, and taught me to draw!
I can’t really share the whole plan, it’s just too big, and I’m too busy, but I will share day by day certain aspects of the project as I feel led and as I have time.
I will start with this. I knew I was coming to the Philippines and knew land was plentiful and inexpensive. I stared to learn about Disney, especially the making of Disney World in Florida. I had no money, few friends, no vision or faith to speak of. What I had was an ability to draw near to God, to listen, and obey. When I asked if I could have a house in the Philippines, he said yes, make a house for the farm, and let a girl I knew in ministry in Hong Kong stay there. I never yet have told her, but let’s let things play out. I was hoping to make a pond and maybe rent RC boats, maybe it could be a wedding venue? That was already a stretch for me. And God spoke, and said something like, “Why don’t you instead make an amusement park.”
I wrestled with that, and looked up equipment on line, like carousels and small flat rides and such. I like miniature golf, which they call goofy golf in UK, and I think I could handle that kind of attraction. I guessed size requirements for a few rides, and added some food and things and asked God, OK, Can I build it as large as 2 hectares? A hectare was a new idea to me, it’s about 2.5 acres, and is 100m x 100m and I was hearing God speak to me in meters already about the fish farm so I was trying to plan in metric units already. I asked is it ok if it’s that huge?
But there was no answer. I fiddled with it a bit mire, added a few ideas, it grew. I was ready to ask God again if I could make it as big as 4, then 6 hectares. OH WAIT! I forgot parking!!! I remember how huge the parking area is in Florida! And so Ok, let me just double the space and let’s call it 12 hectares. I was sure it was going to blow God’s mind! Wooah! Yeh? And then he spoke … “Nope … TOO SMALL!”
And he showed me the number of hectares he wanted me to make this park. It wasn’t 2. It wasn’t 12 or 22 … it was 222. Or somewhere thereabouts. 225? 223? I don’t remember because I stopped listening and choked on my unbelief!
Impossible! No theme park is that large. It can’t be done! Even ok, I saw there were some that were about that big and oh, there were 1 or 2 that were over 200 has, OK. But this is ME you’re talking to. I have no money, no friends, my wife left, my own family back home won’t even talk to me … all I have God … is YOU!
Oh, is that enough? I guess we’re about to find out!
Baby Steps
Soon I began to draw, like a child. I made areas in sections so I could move them around. It was awful. Things were oversized, or way undersized; I was untalented, untrained and unsupervised. But many years later I now have a 222 hectare plan, and it’s a good plan already, and I hope it will just keep getting better! There is not one but THREE castles! Eight themed villages, Eight Gardens, Eight themed lands, several hotels and pensions, and oh … it’s just too big to tell you all at once.
When we first decided to make a castle, I began to research and plan, and it was in a European style. I recognized many features they drew on for inspiration for castles in Disney’s parks. I do NOT want to copy anything anyone has ever done. It’s important for me to know what they did, and not to copy, not to do the opposite, just do my own thing but staying mindful of the current architectural landscape. We want originality, but there needs to be a touch of familiarity as well. It’s tricky. But God will show you what to do!
So I was first working on the first castle and I came upon the idea of making a courtyard in front of it, enclosed within it’s walls, often called the ‘curtain walls,’ with ramparts and crenellations along the top of course. But it was not unique until God told me to make it TRIANGULAR … Woah! And then he named the walls!!! I recalled how he named the Pillars in the front of Solomon’s Temple. So cool. And I can’t find my notes right now, but I think he named the walls Strength, Grace and Peace.
The back wall carries the Palace, which is on top of a stepped platform. The face that faces the courtyard plaza is 9 stories tall straight up, but it descends in back in steps down the terraces to the ground level.
The terraces are formed by a hexagon cut in half, so the platforms have three angles, and he gave me specific dimensions of each terrace step offset size, and told me what they would add up to along the 60 degree length… just to make sure I know I’m hearing him right. And they did. And I am still amazed!
On top of these steps he asked for 11 buildings, I said it’s not enough. As I began to plan it turns out that 11 is what fits very nicely. One of these 11 is another palace. So this castle has TWO palaces, one I call the Morning palace, the one that faces the courtyard, and the one in back is a huge blue marble ball room I call the Evening Palace. I can’t wait to have a wedding reception or huge employee holiday party there! It is going to be epic!!
The front corner of the triangle faces the front entrance and the ocean beyond that, and has elements to make it slightly resemble a ship’s prow. You may not notice that at first. It’s subtle. The back two corners are each graced with a tower.
At left is a tower that houses a dark ride of a drop ride vehicle enclosed inside a 360 degree circular LED screen that reaches from floor up about 50 meters. So when we use the drop ride, and turn off the lights, and show floor levels zipping past ten times faster than reality so we dropped only 30 meters but you FEEL like we went down 3 miles, and then up again that seems like way more than real, but down again until OUCH we break through the earth’s crust and WOAH! A dinosaur in a lava explosion about to eat you! Get up Get Up!! But up Up UP and NOW BEEEWWKKK, We went too far now! Now we’re in SPACE … Oh no! We’re gonna crash land! And we SPLASH down safely but No! We’re sinking into the dark depths of the ocean but what is this? Blue flashing lights? What was that? An eye? It’s totally dark in the ocean depths until !!! AHHHH A GIANT SHARK IS GOING TO EAT US!!
So I call this ride, which we invented totally without even knowing if any of this was even possible, the Tower of Unspeakable Power, Don’t speak of it!!! … Outside it looks like a nice watchtower in the theme of the European military stone work, but INSIDE …. the power is unspeakable!!!
The other tower on the other corner is lower, only 6 floors. It’s OPEN in the middle with a patio open to the sky on the roof as an observation deck, so it has like an interior balcony, but this is where the court prophets have their private rooms, so this is called the Seer’s Tower.
The curtain wall is 4 stories tall, and the cute Bavarian village inside merges into and through the curtain walls to become a part of the indoor bazaar on 1 & 2, food courts on 3, and hotel that uses the extended 4th floor area. The top deck is a promenade and maybe coffee kiosks, probably heraldry shade flags, and even shade trees, and makes a nice vantage to look over for nightly fireworks and drone light shows I suppose.
Like I said, I’m busy, and waiting for the day we can hire designers to help me expand this vision.
I’ll talk next time about the Women’s Castle, which is frankly the most beautiful single building I have ever seen on earth. At least that’s what the plan is. Maybe you can help me to bring it to the next level? I hope so!
Until then, keep dreaming! God can DO MORE than we can ask or THINK! He said we should pray UNBOUND by reality, more like a dream than a request from the limits of our small world. We should pray according to WHO OUR GOD IS, not according to who we are, what we can do, or according to any limits in our fallen world. Then he can bring it to pass, he said, and together his Glory will Invade the Earth and prove he is the God we say he is. Amazing!
Humans pastors stuck in the mud will say that’s reckless, it’s irresponsible! It’s … it’s … AWESOME! That’s how God thinks—that’s how God Speaks! Would we expect anything less from the guy who invented life, the universe and everything?
That’s all for now! Check back soon for the planning so far on the Crystal Castle!