Markerland Park: Castle Gardens

 

In the center of the park is a hub that's sure to astonish. Here, guests are immersed in beautiful gardens where seasonal displays appear. There are bridges to every land here, as well as a large castle. It is a combination of realistic castles of Europe and Disney's fairy tale castles. It also serves as the park's icon.

When coming in from Big City USA, guests walk through the gardens to a large pond in the center, where nighttime shows play. Standing in front of it is a small park with a bronze statue of Mason G. Marker and the Tribe, several animals of his. This includes Kit the Goose in his hands, stingrays Daddy Ray and Baby Ray on the left, beluga whales Belu and Fluffy on the right, and Helga the Badger and Rowena the Golden Eagle on his shoulders. The statue is called "Inspiration." Guests find bridges to the land in this clockwise order: Mysterious Jungle, Golden Gulch, Visionary Bay, and Future Expo. In the back of the land is a large castle, Merlin's Castle, where guests can walk through to get to the bridge to Enchanted Forest and Fantasy Festival. Inside the castle, guests can eat at the Royal Dining Hall, shop at the Wizard's Workshop and Tribe Trove, and go upstairs to see a walkthrough attractions, where the wizard in the castle and others are found.

Attractions:

6. Castle of Wonder

Dining:

L. Royal Dining Hall

Shopping:

M. Wizard's Workshop

O. Tribe Trove

When coming up with the park, I knew there had to be a way these worlds were all connected, so I conceived a concept to do this. A wizard lives in a castle and binds these worlds together through magic. With the theme of stories so prominent in this park, I decided to give it a Story Brooks theme, but only the parts of it that don't align with fairy tales or mythology, which is what Fantasy Festival and Enchanted Forest are for. Since this was the center of the park, I wanted to pay homage to myself and my inspiration, so I included a statue with me and my stuffed animals, whom my mother dubbed as "The Tribe." I wanted to put focus on the goose too, mainly because he is my inspiration. I was inspired by Brightbill, the gosling from the animated film, The Wild Robot. Of course, I couldn't use the real Brightbill for copyright reasons, so I substituted him with my own character. His name, Kit, is actually a reference to the actor who voiced Brightbill, Kit Connor.