Expo 3000 - A New Beginning

In the first article on Wonder World, the park I created with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, I gave a brief tour, showing how it initially looked using only scenery sets that were included in the game. During the period that I was building Wonder World, two expansion sets were released. But the biggest impact on the RCT3 community was the new ability to create your own custom scenery for the game. It soon became apparent that Wonder World could be greatly improved and made to look much more realistic and closer to the original model I had built years before. So once I learned how to create and import my own scenery, I decided to give my park a new face-lift.

Here's the Wonder World entrance which takes you underneath the Space Port building and into the first land, Expo 3000. This was created before any of the expansions were released and obviously, before the ability to import custom scenery.

The new version, using new scenery from the expansion packs and custom scenery. 

So now begins a more in-depth tour of Wonder World in its final incarnation. This tour will span across several articles, each featuring a specific section or major attraction. You will see how Expo 3000 and Circus Center both doubled in size. And while the use of custom scenery in Expo 3000 was limited, the other lands were nearly re-built from the ground up as my cs designing skills improved. I also need to point out that not all the custom scenery used was my work. Many wonderful cs sets created by other talented members of the RCT3 community were also incorporated into the final version of the park.

So on to the tour, beginning with Expo 3000.

Upon entering the park, you'll be underneath the massive Space Port building which houses an indoor roller coaster. The entire ride will later be completely re-done, but that will be the subject of a future article. In this area of Expo 3000, you'll find many guest services such as storage lockers, lost & found, and strollers & wheelchair rentals. There's also an Arcade, as seen at the left of this photo.

An interior shot of the Expo 3000 Arcade. I was never very satisfied the way this came out, as I insisted on keeping the in-game arcade structure inside the building. This left very little space to do much else. Oh well.

A pair of souvenir stands, called Gateway Gifts, adorned opposite sides of the Space Port complex. They were situated at the two main exits of the park for guests to purchase any last minute souvenirs of their visit to Wonder World.

The Waterfront Restaurant was the main eatery in Expo 3000, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

A view of one of the spires of the Waterfront Restaurant.

The entire restaurant was surrounded by a large pool of water. Diners ordered their meals inside and ate outside on patios overhanging the waters below.

Here's where guests ordered their meals. Interiors were rarely created in RCT3 back in the beginning, and while all establishments in Wonder World had interiors, they were usually very simple and basic.

A nice view of the Space Port could be seen from the Waterfront Restaurant dining area.

An aerial view of the Waterfront Restaurant. You'll notice how zig-zaggy the pathways look. It would still be a long time until rounded pathways were created for RCT3.

The Video Works shop...where you could buy video supplies and accessories. It's ironic that in this futuristic-themed land, a shop like this in a theme park would be pretty obsolete, with today's cell phones and iPads. Also, looking back at this park now, I should have created walls to replace the ugly concrete ones that came with the game. But that would have meant completely rebuilding Expo 3000 from the ground up... a task I had no desire to do.

Another major eatery in Expo 3000 was the Sandwich Port. This counter service restaurant was more for the budget-minded and offered mainly sandwiches and burgers.

The Sandwich Port featured nearly identically styled architecture to the Waterfront Restaurant, with outside dining areas over a pool of water.

Originally planned as a venue for laser shows, the Laserium become a popular night spot for live entertainment as well as a dance club.

The interior of the Laserium pulsed with colored lighting effects as guests enjoyed one of the nightly rock shows.

Another view of the guests rocking out to the high energy entertainment of a typical Laserium show, headlined by the famous "Kara Oki." :)

An aerial view of the Laserium.

Spotlights outside the Laserium signalling a live performance was about to begin.

The Auto Raceway was a not-so-futuristic attraction, but a lot of fun for the younger guests at Wonder World.

Excited guest race past a billboard for the Pit Stop.

A close-up of the Pit Stop billboard, which was an actual snack stand located near the Auto Raceway loading station.

An aerial view of the Auto Raceway boarding station. To the left is the Pit Stop. Above is the Waterfront Restaurant. And the Sandwich Port is in the top right hand corner.

And here's the above mentioned Pit Stop snack stand.

As this close-up shows, you can see the old method of plopping an in-game vendor inside a custom building. It wasn't until later that you were able to place vendors anywhere, without the cartoony buildings.

Another aerial shot with the Pit Stop in the center. Starting at the left and going clockwise is the Waterfront Restaurant, Sandwich Port, Laserium, and Auto Raceway station.

And that ends the tour of first phase of Expo 3000 after its refurbishment. Coming next, I'll cover the major expansion of Expo 3000, which featured a brand new mega attraction.