Mummelsee Caves (Thesis)

People with chronic illnesses and disabilities never get a break from managing their conditions. Theme parks offer an opportunity to escape this reality. Those managing and living with disabilities deserve this experience, but are not accommodated in a way that is comparable to the experience of those without disabilities. Current solutions include accessibility programs that meet the bare minimum of a quality experience, or the opposite, creating an entirely accessible theme park that lacks in theming and excitement. This thesis proposes a middle ground between these solutions: an attraction that is completely accessible, pushing guests to the limits of all senses of their choice in an existing renowned park, creating an equal level of excitement and immersivity for all guests regardless of specific needs, thus creating a truly equitable experience.

For the site I have selected Busch Gardens Williamsburg. It is an award winning, world renowned theme park in eastern Virginia. The theming of the park takes from European Villages, featuring various countries of the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, as well as festival themed sections. Most of the attractions are roller coasters, musical performances, or animal exhibits, as well as a few tamer rides like the carousel and a river cruise.

My project is situated in the back of the Oktoberfest themed area. Here, there is a large, hardly used field which used to hold a thrill ride roller coaster which has since been removed. The site has an inlet from the man made Rhine River and a walking access from the scarcely used Black Forest Picnic Area. Using these existing thematic elements, I have themed the site around a folk tale of the Mummelsee Water Nymphs who are said to reside along the Rhine River by the Black Forest. The story is similar to that of the little mermaid. Visitors are invited to enter the caves of the Nymphs, either from land or water, and see how they live..

Inside, the spaces are divided into 3 categories using karst terminology: passage, chamber, and room caves. In the attraction, guests can choose which cave rooms to enter, or not, each containing a special sensory experience. The experiences range from low to medium to high intensity, highlighting or suppressing specific senses. These caves will have indicators of the type of experience inside within its set design to ensure the safety and comfort of each guest. Guests can choose to enter all sensory caves rooms, some, or none, depending on their preference. Regardless, everyone will pass through the low intensity passages and chambers, and experience the wonder of walking through magical caves at the sensory input level of their choice.

The caves themselves are along a slight slope to accommodate the site and ensure every experience is ADA accessible. The structure is a simple steel structure with interior cladding using shotcrete to create the cave forms. This structural method was chosen for its flexibility, current use in theme parks, and my own personal design focus for this project being the experiential aspect from the guest point of view.

Visitors like you and me, after leaving the attraction, either by boat at the Rhine river or by a peaceful stroll through the Black Forest, will feel like they have experienced an underground world of magic, where sea nymphs live and experience the senses in a special, heightened way. They will feel like they had their own unique experience in this world, had their own agency and made their own story in this space. They are more than satisfied, they were mystified, excited, but also safe and comfortable. When they leave, they might think about the other magical worlds that could be right underneath their feet.

Collages and hand drawings of set design details and spaces: