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dshimel
06-23-2003, 01:08 PM
One of those pure specualtion threads. I'm not an industry insider, just a fan that isn't happy with what we got for a second gate in CA.

I'm going to give my possible futures for DCA (worst, expected, best), and love to see what other fans think.

1) Worst: Disney is satisfied with the amount of "Disney-ification" that has been done with DCA. They add one thrill ride every 3 years for the next decade (ToT + 3 more rides), then decide the park is complete. The 3 rides are likely to be RnRC, a SuperLamo overlay, and something for the Bay Area. We get a park that is a little bit Disney and a lot a bit amusement park.


2) Expected: Same as above, but Disney also adds one or two new C or D ticket rides each year. More character driven than the original DCA. Maybe Ursula spinner and Nemo dark ride, for next year. Redo some of bugs land with better attractions. Real Six Flags quality kids rides instead of the mall parking lot rides there now. In 10 years we get a park suffering from Schizophrenia with 2 separate personalities. The official CA, and the unnoficial Disney.

3) Best Case: Same as expected, but 5 years from now, they are far enough down the road to Disney-ificatin that they drop the whole CA name. Disney Imagination Locations becomes the new name. The coaster and the rest of the pier and route 66 are transformed into a true "Under the Sea" land for Mermaid and Nemo. The bay is flattened and replaced. The wharf food court is history. The entrance plaza, stores and hubcap are redone. Condor Flats gets a better theme than "cement slab with old tin buildings".

The Bountifully Valley Farm is esentially gone now. Can we hope that the "generic seaside pier", "empty bay", and rest of the reality based parts of DCA will someday follow?

Laffite
06-23-2003, 02:54 PM
Originally posted by dshimel

3) Best Case: tear it down, bring back the parking lot, admit they were wrong and put money back in Disneyland

fixed.


Preston

jerjer2005
06-23-2003, 06:52 PM
Dont be so harsh on DCA... if you dont like the park, dont go there, if you didnt go there it wouldnt matter becuase you wouldnt be going to the parking lot that you want it to be to hang out eaither. problem solved.

Negativity is getting pretty heavy around here... enjoy what you like, stay away from what you dont like. disney is suposed to be a fun thing and negativity just brings down the momentum that disney has strived to keep up over the past (almost) 48 years

mrfantasmic
06-23-2003, 07:56 PM
Well I agree with JerJer to a point. I am not impressed with DCA... it has some good attractions, but the layout and design is not typical of disney... we are just disappointed, that's all!

Laffite
06-24-2003, 12:14 AM
parking lot > DCA

MonorailMan
06-24-2003, 06:23 AM
Originally posted by Laffite
parking lot > DCA

Yes! But I like the parking structure! :D :p

DBJ
06-24-2003, 06:53 AM
Or, they simply give you free admission to DCA with the purchase of a Disneyland ticket.

I do think DCA has the skeleton of a great park in the making. We can only hope that DCA continues to evolve. What will doom the park are the three problems that has plagued Disneyland; 1.) the one e-ticket ride per decade philosophy of attraction building, 2.) letting non working fomer attractions remain dormant far too long resulting in wasted space, and 3.) any attraction that relies on a filmed segment (Star Tours, HISTA) will age poorly, there comes a point when everyone has seen it.

DCA could spruce up Soarin' by filming a new version every two years - how much can a large format short film actually cost? Or dare I dream, making it a 3D attraction. Ditto with the Muppet attraction, time for that to film to retire and replace it either with Finding Nemo or Monsters Inc. You could almost say that DCA is a multi-plex that never changes it's movies!

dshimel
06-24-2003, 07:30 AM
Any money is too much if it is a change you can't advertise to get an extra million people in the park. Updating films, while great for the people that were going to go anyway (APs and other regulars) isn't a selling point for the occasional visitor that needs something big to get them back.

If a new bugs or muppets movie was a possibility, it seems to me they would have done it when they were building DCA. No sense putting in the chef in the projector room and his cannon if you have plans to replace the movie that uses those AAs.

I think we're stuck with the current movies for a long time.


While I generally agree that "pure" negativism doesn't help, I don't think we have any obligation to help maintain Disney's "momentum". In fact, looking at their recent track record (DCA, DisStudio Paris, Treasure Planet, Atlantis, Pooh, ABC's ratings) I'm not sure they have ANY momentum.

I see no reason fans should not express their opinions.

I think DCA is better than the parking lot if Disney thinks of most of the current content as "placeholders" that allowed them to open the park cheaply but will need to be replaced within a decade. If they intend to leave the empty bay, food court wharf, and barely themed off-the-shelf rides, then the oppertunity that has been lost makes DCA a true waste of space.

hbquikcomjamesl
06-24-2003, 07:55 AM
Yes, DCA has its flaws. But even SuperStar Lemon was kind of cute (a bunch of really esoteric in-jokes, though, hardly makes for something you can enjoy more than once, and if you don't get all the jokes, you probably won't enjoy it the first time, either). And for every Mission Tortilla Fiasco, there's a Boudin, and for every Mulholland Mistake, there's a Soarin'. And while the Hollywood & Dine food court was awful (they haven't reopened it, have they?), the Soap-Opera Bistro was marvelous (even for somebody who would rather stare at a blank screen than watch a soap opera). And while the Animation building is hardly in the same class with WDW-MGM's Animation Tour (which includes a Q&A session with a real animator, not just a presentation by a well-coached CM), it does have a few nice things of its own, as well as a really nice lobby.