A New Entrance for SeaWorld

Hello again! Today a visit to 2nd tier of themed entertainment: Seaworld Orlando. 

I actually really like Seaworld Orlando. Views on animals in captivity and recent controversies aside, the park itself is a really pleasant and attractive place to be with some fantastic coasters (if perhaps less than fantastic other rides). While I often say I grew up at Walt Disney World, since it was 15 minutes away from my house and both my parents worked there and we were therefore there very often, it’s actually probably more accurate to say I grew up at Seaworld. My house was within walking distance of the front gates (not that I ever actually have walked there – should try that some time), my family loved the place because of all the shows and as a nice place to walk, and we probably were there a good deal more than Disney- at least until I became a tad older and wanted to ride more rides. Keep in mind there were nearly no rides at Seaworld during this period – only the sky tower and Wild Arctic. Later there was Journey to Atlantis (which I have ridden a record 13 times in a row without disembarking) and Kraken (which was my first “big kid” roller coaster). But there was an amazing playground! (which the good part of doesn’t exist anymore). So lots of fond memories, lots of experience with walking around and seeing the sights, lots of sadness around the lack of water-skiing shows these days. 

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A Dream House

A slight departure from strict themed entertainment today. I was talking to one of my friends and we somehow got on the topic of dream houses. Ok, we were hiking in the mountains of LA that are chock full of beautiful houses and we might have been a tad envious. Anyway, I was trying to explain that I’ve always loved the idea of taking themed entertainment and applying it to my house. The idea of having a house where you have one building but depending on where you see it from looks like completely different buildings fills me with so much joy. I also like the idea of having one hidden side of the house looking like the most boring  warehouse ever.  Plus, there’s so many great styles of architecture and this lets you have more than one and rake in all the benefits of each. Some of my favorite styles are Tudor and Modern and so when I got home I looked up some examples and came up with a quick sketch of what I was talking about. 

Ok, so yes it’s probably two really cliche facades, but hey they’re pretty and Falling Water especially is amazing. Also sort of alluded to here is how much I feel landscape design is just as, if not more, important than just the buildings themselves. Actually my main criticism of the Magic Kingdom in Florida is the lack of landscape in most of the park, and the continued deforestation of what remains. I think it’s actually something that we’ve seen disappearing or taking a backseat to fantastic constructions and massive rock work for a while now.. And nearly all parks could really take more advantage of elevation changes and stacking attractions or areas for much more visual and exploratory interest – but I digresss.

I imagine this house nestled somewhat on a hill. Immediately to the left there is a tunnel in the hill that leads towards the garage and “utility” side of the house that’s not visible from the street. The Tudor side with stream and background of large trees faces the street. Then the backside of the house is larger and lower than the front and positioned on an overlook over the water of the stream and/or waterfall that wraps around to the front of the house. 

Like it? Will someone build it for me? For free? Lol. Thanks for reading and as always I’m always grateful for thoughts and feedback.