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genenpet
12-28-2003, 04:21 PM
<rant>
Omar's what to fix thread (don't worry Omar, I promise I won't say anything about Millionaire ;)) jogged some memories of thoughts I had last week after visiting WDW.

I think lots of people have eloquently said that the DCA theme is inherently flawed, unappealing to locals, no legs, no room for growth etc. Even those who like the park are rarely found defending its theme.

And in my opinion, there is nothing magical about the theme... in its execution. But here's what I was thinking about over this trip - the theme has the potential to be magical - it really is all in the execution. If you think about powerful storytelling archetypes associated with California, there are plenty of them. Hollywood of the 20s, Hollywood of the 40s, Holllywood of the 50s. Beverly Hills, Moviestars in general, The Gold Rush, Beach Culture 60s, Beach Culture 50s, Hippie Culture 60s-70s, Adventure culture (mountains, rivers, etc), Pioneers. I spent my birthday a few months at the California State Railroad Museum in sacramento - which is really a museum about the beginnings of California - and it's powerful - the stories it tells work because they resonate with a picture of California that is shared by most Americans I think - and perhaps even moreso by those in other countries.

The problem in the execution comes from the failure to pick out any of the meta-themes and run with them. MGM succeeded, even when it was half of DCA, because it felt like old hollywood - a very specific feeling that I think they captured beautifully. Not a specific time, but a sense of place that most people can identify with. MGM succeeds where it captures that perfectly - ToT - and fails, to my way of thinking, where it diverts dramatically from that story - RocknRollercoaster (at least based on its location in the park). What era is Hollywood Backlot supposed to be? It's really all over the map - and moreso when SSL was open. TOT will help if they decide to choose old hollywood as the meta-story for this area.

For those of you that have been to SC Beach Boardwalk, I think you'll agree that it's more effectively nostalgic then Paradise Pier. Even the Boardwalk at WDW is more effectively nostalgic then Paradise Pier. The Boardwalk at WDW is incredibly evocative and immersive - and there aren't even any attractions to speak of.

The Gold Rush, railroad culture, Pioneer spirits - all this just falls apart in GD instead of being powerfully pulled through the park. The GRR area effectively evokes Yosemite and has a certain feeling of place and time - until you get to GRR the attraction - which could just as easily be set in the past instead of the present and would have been more effective for it.

Topline (and it's been said by many): Disney succeeds when it reimagines and repackages the past, and fails when it imagines the future. Pick the times to evoke at DCA and do it. Don't let the sounds mix (when was the last time you saw the steel drums playing in Fantasyland - when was the last time you saw the beach band playing in Hollywood). Pick times in the past that contain sufficient depth to stir something in people when you suggest the time to them. Fisherman's Wharf? A place that fails to capture anything in MOnterey or in SF? What were you thinking?

DCA can be saved, but saving it doesn't only involve attractions, it involves the tone-setting Disney is famous for, yet has achieved only sporadically over time. It took MGM a long time to develop that sense of place in my book, the front of EPCOT has never really gotten there, though World Showcase does, AK doesn't but AK Lodge does.

Project each segment of DCA into the past that evokes that area's story. The rest will fall into place.

</rant>