I'm a bit of a Namco enthusiast, and for years I've been interested in their first go at the amusement park industry with Wonder Eggs, a charming and strange high concept space revolving around the fictional L'apero Village, presided over by the goddess Elds. A decent amount has been written about the subject in English by more thorough writers than me so I won't go too far into it; if you're reading this you probably know all about it already.
What I'm here to talk about is this binder I found full of materials from the park, circa 1992-- likely not long after it was open!
This binder originated from a seemingly defunct company called Nelson Laboratories, based in LA; from the letters included, it looks like they'd solicit theme parks to ask if they wanted their consultation on how to run better? 🤔 in addition to their correspondence with Wonder Eggs, I also saw that they reached out to Universal Studios in Hollywood and were shot down haha.
In any case, Wonder Eggs apparently went for it and sent a roll of film to Nelson!
Unfortunately, while I'm pretty confident that no one has seen these photos since 1992, they still represent a frustratingly small slice of the park as a whole. you can see glimpses of a lot of things but they're rarely the focus, so there's a lot of "HEY LOOK iconic thing in the background!" lmao.
None of the paperwork in this binder had anything filled out/any notes
written, which makes me wonder if this consultation ever got off the
ground; if it did, I'd love to see the photos that go more in-depth into
the rides and infrastructure. anyway, lets get into it!
Considering these photos were taken specifically for Nelson Laboratories over thirty years ago, I strongly believe these don't yet exist online; it's my absolute pleasure to provide them for the Namco fans out there.
Check em all out below! 👇
Entrance
These photos were taken on a dreary, overcast day at the park; I was originally under the impression that this was before the park was even in operation but you'll see a few visitors. The park was possibly so empty due to the bad weather?
Above you can see the park's main entrance and ticket booths. I can't speak for later incarnations of Wonder Eggs but the original version was indeed quite small, with only three queues.
A closer look at the ticket booth. Pretty cute! Wonder Eggs with with a lilac and seafoam green motif with magenta accents throughout the park, which was an interesting choice. Let's look even closer:
You can see here that the ticket booth includes a chance to buy "Eggs" which are loaded onto a point card and function as in-park currency; you'll see later that some rides require a certain number of Eggs to enter.
Some more views of the front and back of the entrance gates. Thankfully it looks like each ticket booth has an air conditioning unit built in for the summer.
Information Area
Right near the entrance is the information booth. You might be noticing the unusual outfits the employees wear...as mentioned before, Wonder Eggs takes place in L'apero Village, and all the attendants are servants of L'apero's patron goddess Elds. You'll see this fantasy theming all throughout the park.
Also, it's time to begin the game of "spot the Suit Guy"! He appears in many of these photos and I assume was the man in charge.
Some more shots of the information booth. Suit Guy spotted on the right up there.
This is interesting: a park directory. weirdly difficult to read, though? Check out the closeup though to see every attraction.
I love the names of some of these booths/rides: Hotch Potch Pot, Telling Witch's House, Greedy Moon... A+ no notes
Elds' Square
The centerpiece of the park, where dining and live entertainment would occur. I was actually surprised just how small this area is! In the first photo you can see the Carousel of Pyraliss at the top of the steps (also seen in Tekken 3). I wonder what the people in these photos are up to nowadays? Along the top you can see the Laperopter track, which was later referenced in Namco's 1996 game Prop Cycle.
In the next photo you can see The Tower of Druaga in the background. This photo is what made me wonder how long the park had been open/if it was fully complete at the time; there's definitely supposed to be a giant Pyrallis (one of the park mascots) on top of the tower as seen in this photo.
The Tower of Druaga
Speaking of which, here's the entrance to the Tower of Druaga. Hey, Galaxian on the left and Suit Guy on the right! Sadly no photos of the inside of the ride itself, though some video footage exists. In the next photo is an info board showing wait time, the premise of the ride and the cost to enter. In the third photo is an attendant holding a disposable poncho; nice of them to offer 😎👍
Restrooms
Hey, they took the photos so I'm posting them. Right outside what appears to be the Druaga ride is a public restroom. The rain's really pouring down here. If you look at the second image you can see the fanciful pictograms They used for mens/womens/handicap restrooms...nice attention to detail.
Magical Illusion
I wish they had taken photos of the inside of this attraction...!! All we get is the entrance though. Magical Illusion seems to have been a hall of mirrors attraction and from what little I've seen elsewhere it was very pretty. Hey look, Suit Guy in the reflection there
Odds and Ends
Here are a couple photos from the side alley to the left of the main gate: the very cutely named concessions stand Sweets, Sweety and a custodian who seems to be sweeping rainwater into a nearby drain.
Along the back end of the park is Lucky Monky and Cosmo Bazooka...must be Cosmo Gang themed!
I hope this was of interest to someone! Thanks for reading; it's been a minute...well, more like 5 years since I last posted on this blog.