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View Full Version : DCA: We told you so!!



SimpTwister
10-03-2001, 04:36 PM
OK, so I'm beating a dead horse...

With the closings of Puck and Mondavi, DCA has reached a new level of failure.

I must take this opportunity to point out once again that EVERYONE BUT DISNEY suspected that DCA would bomb as soon as they heard the details.

"A California-themed park, IN California? O...kay?" was a typical response to the news.

"Cheap carnival rides in a Disney park seems like a bad idea" was another.


How could they have been so clueless? Why do they key players still have jobs?

Can I get a collective "DUH!" ?

WizKidRyan
10-03-2001, 06:30 PM
But I like DCA :)
OK So shoot me down for spending more time over there than Disneyland...
About the only thing I dislike about it would have to be the Hollywood & Dine. Other than that, I love the park :)

Ralph Wiggum
10-03-2001, 06:34 PM
Me too. I love it too!

The average visitor doesnt go to Avalone Cove just like the average visitor doesnt go to the Blue Bayou. It closing wont change the park very much so its not a huge failure!

SimpTwister
10-03-2001, 06:54 PM
I wouldn't fault anyone for liking DCA. But no matter how many people say they like it, the numbers don't lie. The park has not been well recieved by the general public.

So far, DCA has been a huge failure. The restaurants in question were part of the park, and they failed.

The good news is that it seems they may be starting to do something about the problems. The first step is to admit there is a problem!!

WizKidRyan
10-03-2001, 07:25 PM
Yes, it is nice that they admit there is a problem, but I wish I had gotten a chance to eat at the two places before they closed. Oh well...I've been to a Wolfgang Puck before and I hear that the food at the "real" restaraunts is far superior to that of the DCA one.

Now if only they'd serve better burgers at Hollywood & Dine...Those things are worse than a McDonalds burger
OK maybe I just got a bad one, but if I did it was pretty bad...Taste Pilots all the way in park...Out of park, ESPN Zone hands down :)

DisneylandKid
10-03-2001, 07:40 PM
I also like DCA as a whole. Sure, I think it could definitely benefit from some new dark rides or indoor thrills (ie: Indy-like). I also love Disneyland much more than DCA, but regardless DCA is much better than your average themepark. It has some great things: Hollywood Pictures Backlot as a whole, Soarin', It's Tough to Be a Bug...etc.

And I think that a California-themed park in California is a great idea.

WizKidRyan
10-03-2001, 08:18 PM
Originally posted by DisneylandKid
And I think that a California-themed park in California is a great idea.

Exactly! California is sooooo diverse and interesting. If they didn't do DCA we could have ended up with something like "Disney's (insert your state here) Adventure" in California.

stevefulton
10-03-2001, 08:20 PM
[i]...Out of park, ESPN Zone hands down :) [/B]

That place is great!!!!!
We went for the first time Saturday. The Steak Sandwich was UNBELIEVABLE. It is now my favorite restraunt, bar-none. The price was great too. 3 of us (2 adults and 1 child) for about $36.00 plus tip. Great, great place.

-Steve

zapppop
10-03-2001, 08:21 PM
Like Ralph said earlier, the closure of the 2 restaurants won't change DCA;
however it will generate more bad press about the park and give the general public one more reason to not like it.

DCA has it's good points.
I find joy in riding Soaring Over California, California Screaming, Grizzly River Run and I love to watch MuppetVision 3D and Eureka!

However on a personal level, I find it very difficult to take a liking to DCA. As most MousePadders know by now ( due to my ranting and raving), my favorite Disneyland attraction is the MSEP; and if it weren't for DCA, MSEP would've returned to DL this year. Until it's back on Main Street USA, I'll always have at least 1 reason not to like DCA.

But I digress.;)

Avalone Cove closing makes no difference to me. I wasn't interested in their food selection and thought it was too expensive. I have money, but I don't wanna just toss it out the window. Plus, Wolfgang Puck has a restaurant in Fashion Island which is only about a 3 minute drive from my apartment. I can sample his food any day of the week, so no loss for me.

As for the Vineyard Room and Mondavi,

if I want wine with my Mickey, I'll go to Euro Disney.

Okay, I'll shut up now.

http://members.aol.com/zapppop/madonna.gif

DisneyFreak2000
10-03-2001, 09:07 PM
I like DCA. At ceratin areas, more than Knotts and Universal and at others, less. Neglecting, the lack of attractions and detail. It is a good park. SIT may be a failure to many, but I don't think it's bad but I don't think its good. It's mediocre. And Eureka! makes up for all the crappy enterainment It's just so great!!!! (Does any1 know where I can d/l the song from the parade?) Also, the park seems to be poorly planned out in some areas, Condor Flats is very narrow and that mist thing they have is very annoying (you get hit by so many tourists when it goes off and you can't see. I still have bruises on my ankles from te strollers.) In BVF, ITTBAB is very hard to find. Also, Paradise Pier is too non-Disney. It's too spread out, and instead of Disney detail being in between it's full of lous and gaudy booths. I know I may now sound hypocrytical (ooh, big word:D ) but I do like DCA and when it gets Bug Town, TOT, lagoon show and new night parade as well as more rides it will be up to par and to a good future. I also like the California theming because it's one of the best states, prolly tied with New York (IMHO). Some say they dug themselves in a grave when theming it like so, but I think it gave them a good approach. Sure their original, hip, edgy realistic look at CA didn't work out but now we have a Disney version of CA that still celebrates the diversity and such but entertains more. In the title we can empasize DISNEY'S rather than CALIFORNIA now. $00.02

BTW, you also may think "We live in California, don't you think it wierd that we have a theme park about it in our state?" Don't you tihnk it would be wierd if we had a theme park about ANOTHER state in our state? That's like Disney saying "we don't like CAlifornia so we'll build the Disney's Montana Adventure in stead." More of my $00.02. THat makes $00.04 now

Morrigoon
10-03-2001, 09:50 PM
Still think Disney's America would have opened them up to a lot more possibilities.

Nigel2
10-03-2001, 09:56 PM
Speaking of CF, why is that thing on all the time, plus I kinda find it creepy walking in the exhaust of a giant jet engine, just like the Mooliner at Disneyland. But it is great if you were going to kill someone, or do a spy handoff.:D

awinner
10-03-2001, 09:57 PM
I find DCA to be quite enjoyable....when we go we goto DCA in the morning and can do the entire park in about 2 hours, give or take....sometimes when its busy over at DL, we go back to DCA and I take a nap, in that little amptheatre area...because it soooo quiet.

steamboatStu
10-04-2001, 06:02 AM
... find it creepy walking in the exhaust of a giant jet engine...

This may be nitpicking, or you may find it interesting... No jet could handle that engine. That is a SCALED DOWN version of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (the three attached to the back of the orbiter). Disneyland purchased a scraped real SSME (I have a copy of the Engineering Order) but has yet to display it. Perhaps they just wanted it as a model to build somewhat realistic mockups. As for the mist, I think that is a carry over from WDW where such devices are a god send and are extremely well received.

dizneyraver
10-04-2001, 10:02 AM
Mondavi is closed? Aww, I really liked that place. Of course, when we went, we were one of two total parties in the whole place.

We tipped ALOT because we felt bad for the waitress for it being so slow. (or was it because we did not realize they had already included the tip, and we tacked on another 20%, i don't remember)

Nigel2
10-04-2001, 01:15 PM
Lets strap a real one on there, and make in interesting. At random times the engine fires up and barbeques a guest. Hey it would be good eats in the park to. MUWHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH:D

SoCalMan
10-04-2001, 01:57 PM
Originally posted by Morrigoon
Still think Disney's America would have opened them up to a lot more possibilities.
And a lot more opportunities for a Disney-fied history of the United States, which we don't need!

Why can't people just deal with the fact that when ANY Disney theme park opens, it goes through a period of growth and refinement. This has happened from Day 1 (July 17, 1955) to all of the Disney theme parks worldwide. Even Disneyland did not take the shape that we recognize until 1965.

I think DCA will be a success after a period of growth. So Pucks pulled out (or were pushed out). If we want to talk comparisons, Avalon Cove paled in comparison to even the Pucks at The Block in regards to pricing, food quality, food quantity. And if I compare AC employees to Disney cast members, AC employees no where near met the Disney standards.

As for Mondavi: The Golden Vine was the first full-service daily operated restaurant that Mondavi operated. I can go hire a two-star chef, but if I do not know how to run a restaurant, it is doomed to fail, let alone try and run it in the middle of a theme park. I doubt that Golden Vine would have succeeded in DL. The new deal is a much better one for both Mondavi, and for Disney.

SoCalMan

dshimel
10-04-2001, 02:30 PM
Originally posted by SoCalMan

Why can't people just deal with the fact that when ANY Disney theme park opens, it goes through a period of growth and refinement. This has happened from Day 1 (July 17, 1955) to all of the Disney theme parks worldwide. Even Disneyland did not take the shape that we recognize until 1965.
[clip]
SoCalMan

Ohhh Ohhh, call on me, this one is simple.

Disneyland didn't take on the price is now has when it first opened. They tried to charge TOP price for a park that, at the least, needed a lot of growth and refinement.

Add to that the many other problems of DCA. It is the first Disney park to use an "amusement park" as a theme for an area. Did they really think we would be happy with a Themed Land made to look like an Amusement Park, when the very reason we love Disneyland is that it doesn't look like an amusement park? Was the theme chosen because rides look cool like that, or was it chosen as a way to allow the designers to get the ride count up without taking away shopping and dining locations?

It really boils down to this. It seems to me that DCA was designing to be the ultimate park to operate. It was designed to distract from other CA attractions by giving cheap versions of them, and make big bucks while doing so. Don't go to a beach, we have the lagoon and pier right here. Don't go to Universal, he have a studio right here. Don't go to the mountains, San Fran, or a Napa winery, we have all those right here. In trying to provide minatuer versions of the best of CA, it seems to have failed at providing the best of anything.

In contrast, Disneyland was designed to be the ultimate park to visit. It did this by creating unique experiences that told stories and transported people into Fantasylands. Rather than providing scaled down reality, it provided scaled up fantasy. In this, Disneyland succedded.

DCA doesn't need to grow and be refined. It needs to go back to the drwawing board. They need to figure out a new theme that transports people to far away fantasy, not add more attempts to simulate reality.

zapppop
10-04-2001, 03:04 PM
Changing California Adventure into America wouldn't change the main problem with the park, lack of rides.

America is more broad and there would be more oppertunities for imaginatvie attractions but if funding is cut, then it won't make a difference.


http://members.aol.com/zapppop/madonna.gif

merlinjones
10-04-2001, 08:29 PM
>>Why can't people just deal with the fact that when ANY Disney theme park opens, it goes through a period of growth and refinement. This has happened from Day 1 (July 17, 1955) to all of the Disney theme parks worldwide. Even Disneyland did not take the shape that we recognize until 1965. <<

You are rewriting history.

Disneyland had technical and operational snafus and negative media critics in 1955 but was welcomed enthusiastically by the general public from day one.

Though the major Animatronic attractions did not open until 1965-66 - - THEY HADN'T BEEN INVENTED until 1963!!! Disneyland never skimped (except on the initial pre-1959 Tomorrowland). Everything was natural growth and top quality at every step - - nothing at all like the lower than possible quality of all of DCA. The park was a well established national phenomenon long before its "Tencennial" in 1965. In fact, they had welcomed five million visitors in the first months of operation.

When Disneyland opened it was comprised of Main Street, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. It transported people from the everyday world to those areas of fantasy, history and nostalgia. Though the rides ahave changed and grown... the basic appeal of the park is the same today as it was then.

I'll bet the basic appeal of DCA will be the same in 50 years too.

Nigel2
10-04-2001, 09:17 PM
Speaking of cheap, or not, has anyone else noticed that in SSL when you walk by the doughnut store ads there is a bunch of green junk by the drains? Its from the roof/shade cover, apparently the monorail keeps knocking off little bits of it, kinda like old popcorn ceilings.