PDA

View Full Version : Jim Hill's latest article dealing with DCA



Darkbeer
07-06-2003, 11:47 PM
Please note, this is not a NEWS article, but a general post, that has Darkbeer's opinion...

http://www.jimhillmedia.com/main/index.htm

Check out the July 7th article, titled "Does the arrival of the "X Games Xperience" signal the start of DCA's turnaround?"

I want to show a couple of highlights, but you should read the entire article...


Now some of you more hardcore Disneyana fans might argue that "By doing something like this -- disregarding themes in favor of thrills and edge -- isn't Disney just making DCA into a knock-off of Knotts Berry Farm and/or Magic Mountain?" And my reply to that is: Yes! exactly!
You see, Knotts Berry Farm and Magic Mountain are successful Southern Californian theme parks. To date, DCA is not. Which is why Disney is going to do everything it has to turn this situation around. Even if it means changing the Disneyland Resort's second gate from a theme park to a scream park.

And I loved this quote...


(Side note: Immediately after this ceremony wrapped, my ex -- the Fabulous Disney Babe AKA Michelle Smith -- walked up to Mike and said "Since you're now an official Disneyland cast member, I'd like to be the first to ask: Where's the nearest restroom?" Upon hearing Michelle's question, Meztger busted out laughing, then jokingly pointed back toward DCA's entrance area. Fab then quickly corrected Mike, gently reminding him that Disneyland employees always point with two fingers. So as not to offend the park's international visitors ... *Sigh* It's not easy being a Disneyland cast member. Anyway ...)

Hee hee... I just I am easily amused.....:fez:

sancho
07-07-2003, 01:13 AM
To begin, I really liked my two visits to DCA in the summers of 2001 and 2002. That being said, I respect the views of those on this board who have made intelligent points as to why this park is a blight on the Disney name. If there are problems with the park and if it is a failure, I hope that the speculations in this article hold water. I say, enough complaining and hang-wringing about DCA and let's look with hope to what could possibly be the park's future. I applaud the optimism found in this article.

Hopefully DCA is poised to become a very unique attraction and maybe can expand the defnition of what is Disney. I have no doubt that inclusive in Walt's wish that Disneyland never be completed is the possibility for the inclusion of a park like DCA (assuming what Hill is proposing in this article does come to fruition) to do some redefinition of the Disney name. I do not fear a Magic Mountain clone as I do not see Disney completely abandoning the values that sets it apart from theme parks. I think that the guest relations examples from the Pirates premiere is a good example of the embracing of said values.

Thank you, Darkbeer, for directing me to this article.

ArthurBang
07-07-2003, 09:50 AM
Someone on the discussion boards over at Jim's site had complained that they were disappointed with the X-Games at DCA. They were coming from Europe, and didn't care to see that at all.

What people don't understand is that it's just additional entertainment .. It's ADDING to what you can do in your day.

The only reason you should be mad about the X-Games, is if you were hoping that Rockin The Bay would be back, or that Eureka isn't running this summer .. But as a whole, it's actually been executed quite well, and it gives you several new entertainment options for the summer.

merlinjones
07-07-2003, 02:02 PM
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

dshimel
07-07-2003, 02:48 PM
I agree with the article in the belief that Disney has given up on attracting the original audience (the people that would come to eat at Puck's and Mondavi's).

I think adding big E ticket thrills is one needed step in getting people in the door. I even like the nemo attraction going in. moving away from the original "here and now" reality of the park is a good move, I think.

Hopefully, a couple more thrill rides (ToT, RnRC) and a couple imaginative dark rides (Nemo and a SSL Overlay) will bring up attendance enough to pay for what the park really needs. That is a major retheming of the rest of the "here and now" CA. If "Golden Dreams" is the heart of DCA, then DCA needs a heart transplant.

What I don't see is X-Games fitting into the long-term plans, or signilling the beginning of the change. The change began months after opening when all the "hip and edgy" entertainment was gone, replaced with character shows. Bugs' land was the next major signal of the new direction. Then the construction of ToT, closing of SSL, Aladdin, play-house Disney, Lilo and Stitch, Aerial's character meals, Monster's Inc......

For 2 years, this has been a park less and less about CA and more and more Disney. 10 more years of work, and it will be ready for a name change.

disNeytEen
07-08-2003, 10:09 AM
If you give Disney enough time then they will have this park ready to carry the Disney name


.......Rome wasn't built in a day:D

Tigertail777
07-09-2003, 12:25 AM
I will give it a good 6 years.... in 6 years Disneyland had major additions including debuting 3 good rides in one day (monorail, matterhorn, and subs). If you look at Disneyland history, after the first year there was at least one good crowd drawing ride opened almost every single year. So DCA has 4 more years in my book to equal what Disneyland was in 1960/1961. So that means in 2011/2012 season there will be something as earth shattering and mind blowing as tiki room was in 1963... cant wait...but...The clock is ticking...

sancho
07-09-2003, 03:43 AM
Even if DCA takes longer to accomplish what DL had accomplished by 1960/1961, I think that any forward progress is great. Even the additions of Rockin' the Bay and Flik's Fun Fair are positive movements in my book. Although I only know what I read on this website and others like it, I think that the Disney company is very different from the Disney company during the beginning of the 1960's. Thus it may take longer than DL. I have no doubt that this park is well on the way to being comparable, in limited ways, to its neighbor to the north. In the meantime, I will gladly visit every time I am in SoCal.

DBJ
07-09-2003, 06:54 AM
IMO, if Disney is trying to make DCA into a scream park, they can take the opportunity to surpass what SFMM and KBF offers. There would be little point in continuing to add thrill rides that pale in comparison to what is already available at the other parks. They need to be significantly better, not slightly better. DCA needs to become the IOA of California. I think TOT is a very good start in the right direction, but they cannot simply stop new construction after TOT opens.

jrad32
07-09-2003, 07:52 AM
----If "Golden Dreams" is the heart of DCA, then DCA needs a heart transplant.----

I can't agree with this more. To me the heart of DCA is the lovely animation building. Maybe that could become the theme of the park called something like "Disney's Imagination."

That would make room for all the Pixar movies to come in as ride possibilities. you could have the Herbie ride talked about in earlier posts, you could have tall tales themed area, basically anything you could imagine. Now that would be a broad theme.

dshimel
07-09-2003, 09:21 AM
Originally posted by DBJ
IMO, if Disney is trying to make DCA into a scream park, they can take the opportunity to surpass what SFMM and KBF offers. There would be little point in continuing to add thrill rides that pale in comparison to what is already available at the other parks. They need to be significantly better, not slightly better. DCA needs to become the IOA of California. I think TOT is a very good start in the right direction, but they cannot simply stop new construction after TOT opens.

I agree. They aren't going to catch up to SFMM in number or size of coasters. Boomer type, off-the-shlef thrill rides aren't going to do it. They will have to do it the way they have always done it. Fewer rides, but high quality and unique. ToT and RnRC are a start. They should keep Mission Space for Tomorrowland, but Disney should be able to build a new thrilling MoSim that is as ground breaking now as Star Tours was in 85.

Maybe a set of indoor racing coasters. Don't make them identicle. More like Matterhorn, where the tracks interweave but are two different experiences.

disNeytEen
07-09-2003, 10:25 AM
They also need to bring the atmosphere in the park. SFMM and Knotts don't have that and that is what brings them down. If DCA were to become as magical as DL is then numbers would rise and critics would fall. The only problem is that the president doesn't care about the atmosphere or anything just the money. And how much he can save. New Pres. New Park