#ArmchairImagineering: Haunted Forest Food Cart

My entry for Rob Yeo’s #ArmchairImagineering Challenge #1. The prompt for this round was to create a moveable food cart for a haunted forest area in a theme park.

After ghost hunters in the forest capture ghosts, what happens? They sell their catches to Ghostly Gobbles and the owner…turns them into food!

I wanted to create something slightly spooky, family-friendly, and not be too macabre. I thought it would be great to have a food cart that felt like a small attraction and helped enhance the story of the land. This cart could work especially well if there was a ghost-trapping attraction nearby, but that's another story.

The cart contains several animated elements like swirling ghost traps, smoking pipes, and a window showing a pool of trapped ghosts to draw attention and bring some kinetics to the area. The traps and windows also light up at night to make this cart a fun feature after dark. When the cart owner grabs food items they can set off effects that cause the cart to rock, shake, smoke, and make noises which makes getting a simple snack into a surprising experience.

For food, this cart presents different treats made from ghosts. Snacks include Specter Slush (blue lemonade topped with whip or cotton candy), Ghost Jerky (blueberry and sour apple fruit leather), and Phantom Fluff (hand-made marshmallows dipped in chocolate or blue-white chocolate).