Westernland: Overview and Layout

 

OVERVIEW AND BACKSTORY:

When gold was discovered in 1849, crowds from the eastern United States came to get it. As they mined for the gold and sought to make themselves rich, several mining towns popped up around the West. One such mining town was Thunder Mesa, named after a nearby mountain range where thunder would appear without lightning.

Supporting the growth of this town was the Big Thunder Mountain Mining Company. Founded by a man named Bartemius W. Bullion, the company went digging into a nearby mountain to find the gold. However, this area was sacred to the Native Americans of the area. They warned them not to dig into the mountain, but they refused to listen and kept going.

Around the same time, there was a man named Wilhelm Baus, better known as "Black-Eye Bill." After being banished from Germany after the failed 1848 revolution, he traveled to America and made a living by robbing settlers of their gold. He became a well-known outlaw in the region, feared by many.

Now, the gold that Big Thunder was mining caught his attention, and so he went to Thunder Mesa to get it. However, his plans were delayed when he met a girl named Melanie, daughter of the wealthy settler Henry Ravenwood. The two of them fell in love, even though Henry refused to let them marry. In an act of revenge, Black-Eye Bill planned to blow up their mine. Henry found out about this and came to stop him, but it was too late and one of many bombs went off in the mountain.

According to legend, the spirits within the mountain were angered by this. As a punishment, they placed a curse on the town in the form of a flash flood. Henry and Bill were both killed in it and a river washed away most of the mining facilities set up by the company. The mountain was abandoned the following day when people started to see trains moving around without a driver. Since then, Thunder Mesa has become a ghost town.

Three decades after the incident, a new set of miners has revived Thunder Mesa, which has become a tourist destination from its folklore. However, they have promised the natives not to disturb the sacred land any further, instead offering to show the people its scenery. Despite this, guests may soon discover that curses do, in fact, exist, and it is strong in this land.

LAYOUT:

This area is divided into three sections: The main town, a forest, and a mountain area. When coming into the geyser-centered town, guests find shopping, dining, and a shooting gallery. In the back of the town is a riverboat landing, where they can tour the waters around Big Thunder Mountain.

In the southern part of the land is the forest. Marked by a trading post, this area features nature trails and a dining area with covered wagons. In the shadows of the area is Phantom Manor, which overlooks the Rivers of the Far West.

The Western part is the mountain area. Aside from dining and shopping, guests will find two E-Ticket attractions, both of which are centered on the Thunder Mesa Mountain Range. These attractions are Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Western River Expedition.