the Story of Ferdinand

Conceptual Dark Ride Attraction

The Story of Ferdinand written by Munro Leaf with illustrations from Robert Lawson is a beloved children’s book telling the story of a young bull who is perfectly fine sitting and smelling the colorful flowers that dot the Spanish countryside rather than fight in the dangerous bullfights of the city. The conceptual dark ride attraction developed here recounts the events of the book by taking guests on a journey with Ferdinand from the farm, through the countryside, to the city, and ultimately back to the farm once more.


STORY SYNOPSIS:

Beginning on a farm in Andalusia, Spain with young Ferdinand, guests board clay flowerpots and head out to the fields where they encounter the other young bulls playfully charging one another while Ferdinand sits and watches under his shady cork tree and smells the sweet scent of the flowers. Moving along through the transition of the seasons and years, guests then emerge under the same shady tree, this time with an adult Ferdinand who has grown to be the largest bull of the bunch. But he still remains the same calm and relaxed Ferdinand he always was and is not impressive to the men who have just arrived from the city to scout a big, bad bull for the upcoming bullfight. That is, until Ferdinand smells a flower and is stung by a bee, sending him into a bucking fit of pain! Appearing now to be very aggressive, he is quickly chosen by the men and whisked off to the city to be the main event in this year’s bullfight. When he arrives in the city though, he is in awe of the vibrant floral parade decorations lining the streets leading to the bull ring. In the ring, he sits stunned in amazement, distracted by the flowing fragrances coming from the crowd’s floral hair and clothing decorations and is delighted by it all, much to the chagrin of the matadors who brought him there. Seeing they won’t get what they want out of the stubborn bull, the men return Ferdinand back to the farm from where he came and he can sit under the cork tree to peacefully smell the flowers once more.

 

attraction plan

The attraction plan was produced first in AutoCAD to scale and illustrated over in Photoshop. The queue accounts for 60 minutes of Stand-by and 15 minutes of a VIP lane. The vehicles are timed to dispatch two every 25 seconds with 8 guests per vehicle for a Theoretical Hourly Capacity (THC) of 2305 people. The attraction is 5:25 minutes in length. The building accommodates a maintenance bay as well as exit retail space.

 

attraction entry

The attraction entry is based on the Cortijo architecture style common in the southern part of Spain. The entry includes the attraction marquee, test seat, attraction warning sign, and entrances to both the Stand-by and VIP lanes. The artwork was first produced to scale in AutoCAD and then illustrated over in Photoshop.

 

ride vehicle

The ride vehicle is based on ceramics of Spain and is intended to appear as a flower pot. The vehicle is trackless and can turn in any direction as well as tilt 5 degrees in any direction. The vehicle was 3D modeled in Solidworks and then illustrated over in Photoshop.

 

storyboards

The storyboards are produced in Photoshop and based on the illustrations of Robert Lawson. Each frame depicts a scene from the attraction.