Pressler Years: Additions and Removals

[Kevin Yee]

-Additions:
1.Indiana Jones Adventure (construction largely done before Paul joins)
2.Spirit of Pocahontas (later removed)
3.Toy Story Funhouse (later removed)
4.Festival of Fools (later removed)
5.Festival of Foods (rename of Big Thunder BBQ; later removed)
6.Light Magic (later removed)
7.Hercules Victory Parade (later removed)
8.Triton’s Garden (area formerly known as Alpine Gardens)
9.Cruisin' the Kingdom Cavalcade (later removed)
10.“it’s a small world” Holiday
11.Toon-Up Treats in ToonTown (usually closed)
12.Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port
13.Innoventions
14.“Honey, I Shrunk the Audience”
15.Astro-Orbitor
16.American Space Experience
17.Autopia redesign (replaces TL Autopia)
18.Autopia Winner’s Circle
19.Rocket Rods (later removed)
20.Cosmic Waves (later removed)
21.Animazement, the Musical (later removed)
22.Mulan Parade (later removed)
23.La Boutique de Noel
24.L’Ornament Magique
25.Conestoga Fries
26.Woody’s Roundup (later removed)
27.Tarzan’s Treehouse
28.FASTPASS
29.Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante
30.45th Anniversary Parade (aka Parade of the Stars)
31.“Believe…There’s Magic in the Stars” (replaces Fantasy in the Sky)
32.“Believe… in Holiday Magic”
33.Haunted Mansion Holiday
34.Mickey’s Detective School (seasonal)
35.Minnie’s Christmas Party (seasonal)


-Removals:
1.Mlle. Antoinette’s Parfumerie (re-opened as Jewel of Orleans)
2.Skyway
3.PeopleMover
4.Aladdin’s Oasis
5.Big Thunder Ranch
6.One of a Kind Shop
7.Circle-Vision
8.Main Street Electrical Parade (later re-opened in DCA)
9.Carnation Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street (later re-opened in diminished capacity)
10.Rocket Jets
11.Captain EO
12.Chip 'n Dale Tree Slide and Acorn Crawl
13.Lion King Celebration
14.Fantasyland Autopia
15.Mike Fink Keelboats
16.Submarine Voyage
17.Plaza Pavilion
18.Big Thunder BBQ
19.Carnation Plaza Gardens
20.Casa Mexicana
21.Cascade Peak
22.Great American Pasttimes (later re-opened as 20th Century Music Company)
23.Swiss Family Treehouse (later re-opened as Tarzan)
24.Harbour Galley (later re-opened with only french fries on menu)
25.Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthru
26.La Petite Patisserie
27.Country Bear Vacation Hoedown
28.Brer Bar
29.Interactive Activities of Tom Sawyer Island

DCA and the resort expansion is deliberately left out.

Your thoughts?

[HB Tigger Fan]

Out of the 35 additions, 12 were later removed, 2 were renamed locations, 25 were movies, shows or parades of which 11 have closed and 2 are seasonal.

That leaves us with: 15 new attractions or stores of which none are new rides, all are walk-throughs, stores or food related.

On the entire list of 35 additions there are 3 new rides that are still open. One is totally new (Indy), one is a redesign (autopia) and one re-location (astro orbiters).

Compare to the 6 ride closures that took place.

my thoughts: there is something seriously wrong with this picture. Yes, disneyland is a business, but to take out 6 rides and replace it with 15 totally new things, of which 1 is a brand new attraction is unacceptable.





I am 99.9% I counted right. please correct me if I am wrong

[BJW]

In my opinion, almost everything on the list of removals were proven formulas that worked well for the park and should have never been messed with.

[Morrigoon]

I think it's somewhat unfair to include shows and parades in those counts, since technically those ought to be rotated frequently anyway. It would be more appropriate to consider the LACK of new parades, such as the beyond tired Christmas parade.

Certain long-standing shows it's fair to include. And by that I mean things like the fireworks, or major productions like Fantasmic! or shows that aren't part of a regular theater location like Hunchback. Shows in the FL theater, however, are expected to rotate.

IMHO.

[Nigel2]

Originally posted by BJW
In my opinion, almost everything on the list of removals were proven formulas that worked well for the park and should have never been messed with.

Well the reason some of them closed was because of new rides being put in (for example circle vision) but others were just not pulling tons of people in towards the end of their lives and had to be closed and in some cases replaced. Most people probably don't come to theme parks and expect all the same attractions from deccades ago to be there, they want change.

[EandCDad]

I'm gonna agree with Morigoon. The removal of parades and shows is not really a bad thing. Should we still be watching a Pocahantas show or a Mulan parade? What would the response be if those were still around? Also, the replacement of Captain EO (film) with Honey, I shrunk the Audience (film) and Swiss Family Treehouse (walkthrough) with Tarzan's Treehouse (walkthrough) doesn't seem particularly bad.

Changing certain restaurants into other restaurants doesn't really bother me. Redd Rocketts is a good place to eat.

The lack of new rides is pretty sad. I don't really miss any of the ones that are gone, particularly, but to not replace them with anything is weak.

[Kevin Yee]

The article which uses this chart - and should be running today - essentially considers parades a wash (if one is removed, one is added). You'll end up with the same "net value" if you had removed parades from the list in general, I think.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally posted by EandCDad
Changing certain restaurants into other restaurants doesn't really bother me. Redd Rocketts is a good place to at

Yes, but changing attractions into restaurants does bother me, as was done with Redd Rocketts. While the restaurant is a good place to eat (and I daresay I enjoy it more than the attraction it replaced), it is in fact a food location that had always prevously been a ride location.

Let's not forget that Disneyland is a theme park, and not a shopping mall. Shopping and food should never be allowed to crowd out the actual attractions that are the reason people pay to get through the gate.

Let's just look at what we're talking about here, Tomorrowlandwise:

Mission to Mars - Gone, replaced with a restaurant
Skyway - Gone, replaced with nothing
Submarine Voyage - Gone, replaced with nothing
Rocket Rods - Gone, replaced with nothing
Peoplemover - Gone; end result - replaced with nothing
CircleVision - Gone, replaced with nothing
Rocket Jets - replaced with an entirely inferior attraction (but yes, an attraction nonetheless)
Innoventions - exhibit space replaces attraction space (just because the building sat empty for over a decade doesn't make it non-attraction space - - before being taken over by mere exhibits, this huge space was pure attractions)

Paul Pressler - Gone, replaced thank goodness

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally posted by innerSpaceman
Paul Pressler - Gone, replaced thank goodness

However, like the People Mover (okay, passable, not that popular...), Paul Pressler could be replaced by a seemingly flashy, new and promising new addition that could turn out to be a dud just like the Rocket Rods.

I'm going to hold of my celebrating until we can see positive changes occur with Rasulo. Wasn't Rasulo at the helm of the Walt Disney Studios Paris project?



PS - Kevin, your list is absolutely heartbreaking to read. It's informative and I'm grateful, but it makes me ill to see how the park has been ruined...

[JimG]

Paul Pressler was a good merchandiser for the Disney Stores, but he was, in my view, a lousy choice for head of the Disney parks-- especially Disneyland. The overall park maintenance went to blazes under Pressler and will take years to recover, even if the new park management reverses current policies. The latter reflects more on Eisner (IMHO) than Pressler, since Eisner appointed him as being in charge of the Disney theme parks.

It seems that things went down the toilet after Frank Wells died. Michael Eisner then had no counterbalance and appeared to lose his direction and perspective regarding the Parks and other Disney matters. Let's hope the new head of the Disney Parks uses better judgment and addresses all problems in an appropriate and timely manner, keeping in mind the rich heritage and expectations involved. Hope springs eternal.

[disguy]

Disney has a lot of improving to do. The unfortunate thing is that it's not only theme parks that need fixing it's ABC which they have admitted countless times that it's there main focus. So I'm sure a lot of money is going there. Making DLR's budget smaller. It's very simple (I think) why Disneyland gets the short end of the stick each time. We should blame ourselves. Disneyland never really has a problem with attendance. So, why should they improve and add? You will still come there and so will I. Right?

That's just my two cents.

[blusilva]

Originally posted by innerSpaceman
Let's not forget that Disneyland is a theme park, and not a shopping mall.

Oh, but it is a shopping mall. Haven't you heard?

"Disney theme parks are just a giant retail location," said Pressler.

I think that's my favorite quote of the past 7 years.

[Ace]

Originally posted by Kevin Yee
--Removals:
2.Skyway
3.PeopleMover
5.Big Thunder Ranch
8.Main Street Electrical Parade (later re-opened in DCA)
9.Carnation Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street (later re-opened in diminished capacity)
10.Rocket Jets
11.Captain EO
15.Mike Fink Keelboats
16.Submarine Voyage
23.Swiss Family Treehouse (later re-opened as Tarzan)
25.Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthru
27.Country Bear Vacation Hoedown
29.Interactive Activities of Tom Sawyer Island

I'd respond... but I'm too busy crying.

[PirateMunkee]

Originally posted by Squinky
I'd respond... but I'm too busy crying.

I'm too ****ed to cry. Maybe we should clone Walt but genetically enhance the cells and make him huge like most coked up steroid pumped NFL players today and then tell him what Eisner did to his dream. That *** whuppin' is one I'll pay for on PPV.

[BJW]

Originally posted by Nigel2
Well the reason some of them closed was because of new rides being put in (for example circle vision) but others were just not pulling tons of people in towards the end of their lives and had to be closed and in some cases replaced. Most people probably don't come to theme parks and expect all the same attractions from deccades ago to be there, they want change.

See Innerspaceman's message on this thread. Most of these ideas were not replaced with better ideas but were replaced with nothing.

[Bill Catherall]

PirateMunkee - This is a kid-friendly board. We don't allow bad language here. Don't rely on the auto-censor to clean up your language for you. Try to use words that don't need censoring.

[DLdad]

Also in the associated article, Kevin mentions the increase in admission prices.

I don't know when the changes occured, but Disney I think Disney also has lowered the age for what is condiered "Adult" admission. "Adult" is now 10 and older. Didn't that use to be 13 or 14. I also think they use to have a "Young Adult" passport in between the "Adult" and "Child".

So, not only has the cost of admission gone up, but they lowered the age limit for child admissions so that they can charge all those 10 to 14 year-olds an "Adult" admission to come and see the fewer attractions

Sort of like when food makers reduce the package size, but not the price... it's just a sneaky way to raise prices without the consumer really noticing it.

[Pony Sugrue]

Did anyone mention that they updated LINCOLN on his watch?

[Ace]

Originally posted by Pony Sugrue
Did anyone mention that they updated LINCOLN on his watch?

To paraphrase Jon Stewart:

"Here's the new idea for a rehab on Mr Lincoln, by Paul Pressler. Or, more accurately, as told to Paul Pressler."

[PirateMunkee]

Originally posted by Bill Catherall
PirateMunkee - This is a kid-friendly board. We don't allow bad language here. Don't rely on the auto-censor to clean up your language for you. Try to use words that don't need censoring.

Whoa. I appologize. I didn't use any major curse words, just another term for being mad beyond belief and another term for the rear end. I really don't consider that bad language but if other do, I appolgize.
I'm just really upset how Pressler ruined the park. I worked for the park back in the 80's when it was a magical place. Now, well, let's hope they can ressurect that magic.

[Kevin Yee]

Originally posted by Pony Sugrue
Did anyone mention that they updated LINCOLN on his watch?

Good one. I knew I missed one somehow, and couldn't remember what it was. I was hoping the Pad would help me figure it out!