Disney's America?

[SpaceCadet]

Originally posted by disney68
First of all, California is not limited in theming. It is a very diverse state and DCA only represents a small fraction of what CA has to offer. Second, adding any type of Disney character to the park is not swaying from the California theme. Remember, it is DISNEY'S California Adventure. Not simply California Adventure. IMO, this is what DCA lacked, the Disney characters that we love so much. A Bugs land is great, it may surprise some but, LA, SF and SD do not cover the whole state. Most of the state is not a big city. earseek We have mountains, forests, agriculture, desert, etc... Having Aladdin in the Hyperion is also great. It makes sense. I hope they continue producing shows themed around Disney Animation. As someone mentioned before, give DCA a chance to grow. As a matter of fact, it's great now. Just go and enjoy it.Eeek Disne

Wheew **steps of soap box**

I totally agree!

[dizfan]

The Lion King came to LA, what does that have to do with LA if it's set in Africa.

It's the same thing. Any stage show that is shown in the Hyperion fits becuase of the fact that theatre is of growing popularity in Los Angeles.

[zapppop]

Originally posted by disney68
This version of Aladdin is a DISNEY character!!! Why would it not cut it.

Aladdin has no connection w/California. The theme of California Adventure is California. DISNEYLAND's theme is Disney.

BTW, there are many game shows taped in Hollywood. That may be why they put Millionaire in the backlot. Also, Millionaire may be taped in New York but it is not a game show about New York.

True there are game shows taped in Hollywood. Millionaire is not one of them. If they want to put in a game show, they should've put something else in like The Price Is Right, or SOMETHING else that's actually linked to California.

I just think could've done better.

[HyperTyper]

The trouble with the California theme is three-fold:

1. California residents live in California. When they go to Disney, they want to go somewhere besides California.

2. Non-CA residents would rather visit the REAL California sites than cheesy mock-ups in a theme park.

3. The theme IS limiting, even with California's diversity. Diversity is nice, but diversity makes for great museums, not necessarily great theme & thrill parks. What aspects of California have been untouched at DCA? I can only think of Chinatown and hippies, and one of those is not a good fit at Disney.

It just isn't working. People are unimpressed, and the attendance numbers bear that out. It's a shiny, clean park, but lacks the magic and meticulous detail of Disneyland. Even "Soarin'," the most acclaimed ride in the park, is housed in a warehouse (okay, hangar)! What fun is that? People want to step into another world, or at least another time, when they visit Disney. DCA doesn't offer that.

That the park is newer is no excuse. Disney Seas in Tokyo was a hit from day-one, even with a rotten economy and a low attraction count, because it was well-done and the theme was so versatile and intriguing! For a company like Disney to excuse itself because a park is new is unacceptable. It has all the resources it needs to build a world-class facility and get it right from the start, but it wanted something quick and cheap in DCA, so that's what it got. Heck ... it's been two years since opening, and they STILL don't have a replacement in-gear for Superstar Limo!

I agree that if a new theme is chosen, it must be an all-out effort, not some half-baked experiment. But a new direction is just what DCA needs. An America theme would do well, without uprooting the entire park. Heck, an ocean theme (like Disney Seas) is possible too. I hope they take a serious look at it. (But I'm not holding my breath.)

[DisWiz]

Wow!!, hello hypertiger welcome to the boards. Always nice to see someone from Utah, and even better from Orem.

[DLMAGICDARREN]

Changing the park's name won't help, in fact it would hurt.

While it's true they have swayed away from the California theme in recent attractions, they have not given up on the overall California theme at all. The current changes are to appease the locals.

As for the arguement of the California theme, it's a great one. Nobody expects you to visit the theme park California instead of the real state, if that's your intention, but the state of California can't be visited in a day, the way the theme park can.

The expansion was to bring in tourists. Sure the park also belongs to it's many passholders, and they certainly bring in the income during non peak times, but they didn't build a new park, for the locals. They built it to bring in more tourists.

Giving up on the California theme overall, would backfire badly once tourism makes a comeback, so in the meantime, just accept the attractions that aren't really California themed, but know the overall California theme remains, and will probably get stronger over the years.

The two problems with the whole theming idea exisat in Hollywood Backlot, and Paradise PIer.

A backlot is a backstage area, if DCA offerred some type of studio tour attraction that would fit in a backlot. However what DCA offers is shows. While it's easy to say that shows like Million-aire, Muppets, or Playhouse Disney would exist on a Disney studio, there is no studio at Disneyland, so how can there be a backlot of one? Sure that's throwing reality into a theme park, but if you're going to present a backlot of a pretend studio, that's fine, but where is this pretend studio? The answer is to re-theme Hollywood backlot, to Hollywood. That way shows fit, as well as Tower of Terror, and anything movie themed works in this land, and they never comprimised the California theme, since Hollywood is i California.

As for Paradise PIer, I agree California had old seaside parks. While other states had them as well, California certainly had it's fair share. California Screamin is a good example, with it's theme being one of an old fashion woodie. However as you swing around the pier, the theme becomes confusing. The remaining attractions play on a California name, but concentrate more on fitting the attraction's name, then an authentic seaside pier's attraction.

Maliboomer - did piers have these stength test games? Yes but they were games, not rides.

Orange Stinger - did piers have swing rides? Yes but not with an orange peel around them

Sun Wheel, and Golden Zephyr are good examples of authentic attractions, but that's the confusion. Every time somebody argues how authentic Paradise Pier is supposed to be, some attractions say the exact opposite, that's is a Disneyized make beleive pier.

Of course it's only a theme park, so it's going to have the Disney twist, and won't be authentic, but that very twist, blows the entire idea that some use to defend the land.

So we live with a happy medium, yes California had seaside parks on a pier, but not exacly like this, so while one person says how wonderful it works on California Scremin, don't be so hard on the other that calls Orange Stinger nothing more then a swing ride inside an orange peel.

To fix this land, they need to decide better if they are trying to simulate an authentic pier, in which case certain attraction need to be re-themed, or if they are going with the full blown make believe yet Disney styled carnival, in which still some attractions need to be re-themed.

I like Paradise Pier, but in order to make the California theme better work, which I'm all for, I'd take some of the Disney aspects out, because I think it's more important to keep the area of the park with the most attractions, better suited to what the park is supposed to be about, California.

After all, Disneyland is next door.

[disney68]

HyperTyper

By diverse I wasn't talking about hippies or chinatown. There is a lot more racial and social diversity in California of which you obviously are not aware. Nice insight into why you don't care for California. That's not what I was even talking about, I was talking more about the diversity of our land and what rides could be built around this. There is a whole other thread on these boards that gave great ideas of possible rides or themes.


zapppop
When I go to a Disney theme park, I expect to see Disney characters. Otherwise, I'll just go to Six Flags Magic Mountain or Knott's Berry Farm. I'll agree to disagree with your opinion.

[zapppop]

Originally posted by disney68

zapppop
When I go to a Disney theme park, I expect to see Disney characters. Otherwise, I'll just go to Six Flags Magic Mountain or Knott's Berry Farm. I'll agree to disagree with your opinion.

I DO understand what you're saying that there should be some presence of Disney characters. I just feel that more attractions going in should also have a tie in w/ California rather than solely Disney.

[innerSpaceman]

The insertion of Disney characters into the non-Disneyland-type parks (i.e., the various "Disneylands" or "Magic Kingdoms") is usually a desperation measure for parks lagging in attendance or appeal to children.

This happened with Epcot and with the DisneyMGM Studios in Florida. Epcot has no Disney-themed attractions, but characters were added to the park shortly after its opening in the early 80's when guests complained about the total lack of Disney. Thankfully, shows or attractions based on Disney films or characters were not shoehorned into this park whose theme did not mesh with such things.

Similarly, DisneyMGM quickly added stage shows based on Beauty and Beast, The Little Mermaid and, more recently, their redux version of Fantasmic. They were able to do this, and to have Disney-themed parades, because movies were appropriate to the theme of this park.

So, despite any particular park being under the general Disney banner, whether or not it can reasonably feature characters or entertainment or attractions based on Disney films will depend on the theme of that individual park. California Adventure can only reasonably turn to the saving grace of a Disney character influx by limiting it to the Hollywood Backlot section. Otherwise, the only legitimate connection between Disney and California is that Disneyland, across the esplanade, is as legitimate a California landmark as the Golden Gate Bridge. So perhaps a new "land" filled with revived 'Yesterland' attractions might be in order for DCA. Otherwise, leave the Disney stuff for that 'other' park across the way. Hmmm, Disneyland for Disney stuff and California Adventure for California stuff. Less confusing that way.

[dizfan]

They havent done anything with CA's deserts, and marine life. Just to name a couple.

But anyway, Darren is correct about everything except taking out Disney concepts out of Paradise Pier.

I think that people go to any Disney theme park to see whatever the theme is and Disney mixed in at a perfect amount. DCA still hasn't found that. It's on the verge, but it needs more.

And I would love to see a version of that ride that used to be where Thunder Mountain is now, Nature's Wonderland or something like that. Just with new animatronics, and maybe refitted for the deserts.