NewHotels,LittleMermaidRide,New "E-Ticket" 4 Tomorrowland,GoldenDreams 2 B Demolished

[Alex]

I can't say it is entirely accurate but my experience talking to the casual Disney consumer is that for the most part while the idea of Walt Disney is nice they really don't give a rats fart about him as an actual person. Heck, for most he is simply a mildly-interesting modern myth.

So while I can see an attraction or exhibit doing somewhat well, the man himself doesn't strike me as a strong idea for centering an entire park. That's not to say there isn't a very large body of people who do care intensely about the man himself, just not - in my view - enough to support a park.

I also wonder if a park about America in America is any less odd than a park about California in California.

[SacTown Chronic]

Originally Posted by RStar

I hear the Disney family won't allow an AA Walt, but how would the public react to a ride about Walt with him as an AA in it I wonder?

Or how about a statue that, when viewed at a certain angle, gives the impression that Walt Disney had a giant crank?

[innerSpaceman]

Well, I just had a preview of Gn2Dlnd's proposals for DCA as I ran across him slinging cheese in Century City ... and I think you'll like them.




* * * *

As for a park about America in America, I'll grant it would do better in an area (such as originally proposed) where tourists - especially American tourists - flock to grok some American History.


California is hardly best for that .... but I think that park deserves to be built, and we've got a turkey park that needs a complete re-do (imo).

[Isaac]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Is Walt Disney going to be a character roaming the new park?

Sorta. Bunson & Beeker will be wheeling a cart with his frozen head under glass.




Yeah, I agree that the Walt's aspect idea is too vague & not gonna help.

Adding "Walt" to "Disney's California Adventure" is like adding milk to a cup of mud.
It may taste better but it's still pretty awful.

Originally Posted by Gn2Dlnd

What fixes DCA then? Complete bulldozing? I'm serious, how do you take what's there and create a compelling Disney theme park experience?

You can't.
That's why DCA won't succeed unless it were to change into a completely different theme park.

[Alex]

What is the threshold for "success" in our eyes? Does it have to be good enough that when we hit the esplanade we are equally torn as to which park we should go to or is there some lower bar that could be met where we'd say "it's good enough"?

[innerSpaceman]

For me, yes, I have to be torn. Not equally torn. (And, ya know, not torn at all ... since I can go back and forth between them faster than I can go from one end of Disneyland to the other).

I have to be excited about the prospect of going to either park. It has to be a place I enjoy being in. I don't have to enjoy it as much as Disneyland, necessarily. But neither can it be a dog when compared to the Park footsteps away.

[Gn2Dlnd]

For a very long time I've thought that DCA could be fixed by splitting it into two separate parks. One, to the East, being a full-blown Hollywood themed park. Expand out into the Esplanade and the Timon lot, and connect to the strawberry fields with your glamourtram tour. Or, better yet, a Glamorail! Use the Hyperion as a legit concert venue, and finish the Studio Park Lite as a full-fledged Disney Studio blow-out.

The other side of the park is my favorite. A True-Life Adventure themed park. You keep the Pacific Northwest, high desert, and farm areas (with, of course, enhancements) and Paradise Pier is either scrapped and turned completely into the ocean themed section of the park, or you fit your ocean themed exhibits into a bustling, turn-of-the-century seaside amusement park. I miss the educational elements that used to permeate so much of Disneyland, wouldn't it be nice to bring that back in a park with that as its focus?

I started thinking about this when I bought my 50th anniversary CD set. Listening to the Rainbow Caverns mine train reminded me how much I loved that attraction, and how much of a sister attraction it was to the Jungle Cruise. A recent Al update indicated that a similar attraction may be added to the Grizzly River Rapids area of DCA, I hope it's true.

After today's cheez-fest (333 S. Hope, downtown L.A.), I'll tell you how animatronic Walt fits into Tomorrowland. Again, an idea that's been rattling around in my head for years.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Did I kill the thread?

[CoasterMatt]

The Commodore doesn't kill threads, he swanks them into Cheesetopia...

(I type this as I'm devouring a delicious grilled cheese and apple slice sammich)

[RStar]

Originally Posted by Alex

What is the threshold for "success" in our eyes?

That we like it better? That's a good question! I don't know, I suppose I'd have to say when they get the numbers in the gate that they first expected.

Originally Posted by zapppop

Adding "Walt" to "Disney's California Adventure" is like adding milk to a cup of mud.
It may taste better but it's still pretty awful.

Sure, if that's all they planned to do. But they plan to rework the look and add rides as well. So now you can take the mud, add milk, and add honey as well! Yum!

Originally Posted by Gn2Dlnd

For a very long time I've thought that DCA could be fixed by splitting it into two separate parks. One, to the East, being a full-blown Hollywood themed park. Expand out into the Esplanade and the Timon lot, and connect to the strawberry fields with your glamourtram tour. Or, better yet, a Glamorail! Use the Hyperion as a legit concert venue, and finish the Studio Park Lite as a full-fledged Disney Studio blow-out.

The other side of the park is my favorite. A True-Life Adventure themed park. You keep the Pacific Northwest, high desert, and farm areas (with, of course, enhancements) and Paradise Pier is either scrapped and turned completely into the ocean themed section of the park, or you fit your ocean themed exhibits into a bustling, turn-of-the-century seaside amusement park. I miss the educational elements that used to permeate so much of Disneyland, wouldn't it be nice to bring that back in a park with that as its focus?

Tha's actually a very interesting idea, and a natural flow of the already laid areas. But would the land of the Timon lot be enough for that park to be worth a gate of it's own? I suppose if they get rid of the Lion King tram service and put the drop off in the little temporary parking lot off Harbour, it may work. But connecting to the land on the other side of Harbour is going to be a feat in itself....

Originally Posted by Gn2Dlnd

Did I kill the thread?

Almost, but we saved it in the nick of time!

Originally Posted by CoasterMatt

(I type this as I'm devouring a delicious grilled cheese and apple slice sammich)

Wow, that sounds great! A nice Bre would go great on that!