Mickey's Fun Wheel

[ismael flores]

The work they did on the hweel itselfs has created such a big diference for that attraction.

When the scaffolding was still up and the Mickey had just gone up i stood near the golden dreams area waiting for a friend and yoy could clearly hear people talking about the attraction as they walked from Grizzley. The site of the Mickey gave people smiles and more than one even commented that they were adding a cool new giant Mickey ferris wheel as if the wheel was never there

[disfan26]

I know disney fans will be pleased with the changes. I'm just concerned with how the general public will view it. Will it be enough to move DCA up into ranks of Epcot and DHS? i hope so

[tcsnwhite]

I think we all have to remember that this is not simply based on one ferris wheel.
This is one small part of a much larger, multi-year plan to overhaul the entire park. In fact, they haven't even gotten to the big stuff yet.

I think we all need to remember that this is a work in progress, and will be for many years.

[Mortimer]

Disney isn't creating the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Or the Santa Monica Pier. It's creating an idealized version of the California boardwalk. They're realizing the romanticized idea of the old California piers.

They already built a copy of the real thing. In 2001. And we all see how that turned out.

My pictures of the boardwalk and pier were to show you the line queues within and how generally ferris wheels are just that, ferris wheels. The ride theme is within itself, a ferris wheel. I suppose you could put a backstory in about how the old victorian piers operated and such by adding toothless carny midgets or hairy women juggling swords and eating fire, but really, it's just a ferris wheel.

"It's good enough" shouldn't be acceptable vocabulary when discussing and describing Disney theme parks.

Well yeah in this case, yes it is good enough. No need to go overboard with the criticality of the old days. It's a ferris wheel. Money is being spent, a lot of money in other areas. We are not discussing the parks as a whole, just this one ride. The Fun Wheel has been spruced up to make it more iconic for the visitor by adding classic characters within a victorian look.

What happened to Disney exceeding expectations? Now they miss expectations and fans simply shrug it off and say "It's good enough."

Because it's a ferris wheel. It is good enough. Other than ripping the entire pier theme out and removing the ferris wheel, they made lemonade out of lemons. It's not a pivotal E-ticket, it's a C or D ticket that happens to be iconic now.

The ride experience and theming has not changed since it was the Sun Wheel. There is nothing particularly Victorian with Mickey's Fun Wheel.

Not glaringly no. But the style of the gondolas, the artwork and such, is victorian and the colors are very turn of the century while tying the Disney theme in.

I see no reason why Mickey's Fun Wheel is being regarded as a remarkably better offering. It isn't. The only reason people feel that way is because they love Mickey Mouse as a character, but just because Mickey is now on the ferris wheel doesn't mean the attraction has been improved at all. It's still exactly the same thing.

I agree with this to a point. Mickey does set the tone for the new pier and will be an important backdrop for the show along with the LED's. So it does have a function.

So yes, it is a waste, and it would have made little difference if the ferris wheel had stayed the way it was.

See my last point. It now has a purpose. Not a waste.

[MasterGracey]

^No It wasn't a waste. Can you honestly say the new colors of the fun wheel don't go better with the Games and TSMM than the old Sun Wheel did? And what about the new gondalas. I mean come on, they were the most ugly colors. They looked a little cheap with a Paradise Pier logo smacked on it. The new ones have a lot more attention to detail.

I dont see how black and dark red match the new Games of the Boardwalk or Midway Mania facades. The black and red match Mickey Mouse, not the Pier.

If they wanted to keep things color-matchy, then they should have left it as-is -- there is still a whole lot of that lovely teal paint all over the Pier.

^^^No, it's not.

First of all, it is a HUGE improvement aesthetically. The overall paint job and new color scheme, Mickey face, and improved lighting is a huge improvement over what was there in the first place. It may not be everyone's cup of tea in terms of what they think the creative direction of the pier should be or is going towards...but I don't know how anyone could see that, even with these simple cosmetic changes, it is not a vast improvement.

I'm not saying the Mickey face looks bad. It looks good. But I don't believe its either an improvement or a downgrade. The wheel would have looked just as bright and just as vibrant if it got a fresh coat of paint in its original colors.

As for the experience - what more do you expect. It is a FERRIS WHEEL. It goes up and around, they always have, always will. I honestly don't see much more they could have done with this logistically. C'mon...
And I understand that the changes are simple, but I think they work.
And I understand that characters are not everyone's cup of tea, but hey, a real turn of the century Victorian ferris wheel was pretty drab to begin with. The small themed touches mixed with classic, early 20th century Disney characters - in my opinion- works.

An appropriate queue would have helped establish the wheel with a stronger theme and identity on Paradise Pier. The queue is the first and last thing people see when they begin their Fun Wheel experience. Their first and last impression is going to continue to be a charmless, cold, concrete pit.

And getting back to people's personal expectations, in particular hardcore Disney fans, this seems to be where the issue always comes up...that hardcore fans have their own vision in the back of their head on what some improvement should be, and when it does not live up to that (and for most, it never does anyways), they are then disappointed. They build something up in their heads that wasn't even real or logical in the first place, and well then, you all know the story...
And while in this case there was plans for a covered queue and small boardwalk that ended up getting cut, I can see the disappointment - I would have loved a new queue too - but to say that since that didn't come to fruition that the whole entire thing was a waste just sounds like the same ol' rhetoric from Disney fandom...

I don't have my own vision of what the Fun Wheel should be. I have the vision Disney laid out in the Blue Sky Cellar and has repeatedly promoted with the use of this piece of concept art (which was released to the media, used in the cellar, and featured on construction walls)

My pictures of the boardwalk and pier were to show you the line queues within and how generally ferris wheels are just that, ferris wheels. The ride theme is within itself, a ferris wheel. I suppose you could put a backstory in about how the old victorian piers operated and such by adding toothless carny midgets or hairy women juggling swords and eating fire, but really, it's just a ferris wheel.

Your photos of generic boardwalks are irrelevant. We're talking about a Disney theme park. Do you really think Marceline's main street looked like it does at Disneyland? Of course not. It's a hyper-real, embellished, idealized version.

Well yeah in this case, yes it is good enough. No need to go overboard with the criticality of the old days. It's a ferris wheel. Money is being spent, a lot of money in other areas. We are not discussing the parks as a whole, just this one ride. The Fun Wheel has been spruced up to make it more iconic for the visitor by adding classic characters within a victorian look.

The ferris wheel was an icon of DCA before Mickey took over. Now it is an icon of the park featuring an icon of the Disney brand.

"It's just a ferris wheel." Is that similar to "If it's good enough for Six Flags..."?

No offense, but really, why such complacency? You're paying a premium for a premium experience. You should be expecting the best. And yet, you settle for "good enough."

I agree with this to a point. Mickey does set the tone for the new pier and will be an important backdrop for the show along with the LED's. So it does have a function.

So is the Wheel makeover simply to meet the needs of World of Color? Or is the Fun Wheel part of the larger Paradise Pier makeover?

What is the actual purpose of this makeover?

[TP2000]

Forgive me if this was already mentioned, but they are now testing the new LED lighting system on the Fun Wheel tonight.

I live in Villa Park east of the Resort and have a clear view of Disneyland and beyond, and for the last 8 years the Sun Wheel has been very prominently part of that view at night. It went dark a few months ago and its been missing, until tonight.

That new LED technology is really something!

As I type this looking out the window they are cycling through what appears to be every color in the rainbow. This new lighting system they've installed apparently controls the entire Wheel structure and can create any shade of any color they want, instantly. There is no set pattern, and the wheel has been going dark for a minute or two before springing back to life with a few more minutes of shades and patterns and intensities of brightness. I'm assuming they are testing it all still, and I can just imagine a little group Imagineers there tonight sitting around a laptop in an empty DCA with a Starbucks in the chilly spring night testing their new toy.

I'm sure the Fun Wheel will play a role in the new World of Color show next year. And if the testing they are doing tonight with colors and patterns is any indication, it will look great. It should be a real big punch of zippiness for the Pier when it reopens next week as well!

[k_peek_2000]

That new LED technology is really something!

As I type this looking out the window they are cycling through what appears to be every color in the rainbow. This new lighting system they've installed apparently controls the entire Wheel structure and can create any shade of any color they want, instantly.

LED lights are capable of producing over 3 million individual colors. Very impressive stuff.

[1FoolishMortal]

I don't have my own vision of what the Fun Wheel should be. I have the vision Disney laid out in the Blue Sky Cellar and has repeatedly promoted with the use of this piece of concept art (which was released to the media, used in the cellar, and featured on construction walls)

The only thing that picture "promises" is a boardwalk around the wheel. Other than that, the sign is the only other thing that's "new" in the concept art (in regards to the queue).


I know this has been said before, too, but another thing to point out about that picture is that it's concept art. Disney isn't signing a contract no matter how many times they publish it. It's called concept art for a reason; it's a proposal.

And I have no problem with them publishing concept art. It gets the public excited which is what it's made to do. I doubt most people critique it to the extremes that we do when an attraction is finished.

[TP2000]

LED lights are capable of producing over 3 million individual colors. Very impressive stuff.

Yes, and it's even more impressive on a giant structure like the Fun Wheel. I'm viewing it from several miles away as the crow flies, sometimes through a telescope for a closer view. I'm sure when we are there in DCA looking at it across the water it will be really super cool!

[MintCrocodile]

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