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View Full Version : Marketing ploy gone right.



Ghoulish Delight
11-14-2001, 09:22 AM
Okay, perhaps the motivation for moving the Electical Parade to DCA wasn't the best. Pulling at their loyal customer's heart strings to desperately try to get people into a dying park. But I have to say this. I LOVE DCA as a venue for that parade.

The route is tremendously long. There is alwasy somewhere to view it. And you can see it from so many other places around the park. Even if I'm taking advantage of the shorter Mullhuland Madness or Screamin' lines during the parade, I can always stop at Paradis Pier and marvel at the beauty. One of the greatest moments ever was on the Maliboomer. We strap in, get shot up, and all of a sudden, I have a birds eye view of the parade passing the Golden Dreams theater! I could see the entire parade at once!! It was spectacular, an image on par with any happy DL memory of my childhood.

Whenever the DEP runs, it fills that whole park with its joy. And maybe they didn't plan it this way and it was a pathetic marketing ploy, but it's one that I think worked out beautifully. Anyone else agree?

tabacco
11-14-2001, 09:38 AM
Yeah, when I used to work Super Greeter out front of DCA (when the position still existed), I'd have a good time telling people that even though Alice was just passing the sun plaza they could hurry through condor flats and still catch the head of the parade around the Bay Area :)

Ghoulish Delight
11-14-2001, 09:47 AM
Maybe I'm an idiot for never having noticed this, but this last weekend we noticed that Alice's legs aren't real!! I mean it shoule be obvious. NO ONE could sit in that position for as long as she does. But it's so well done that I never even gave it a second thought. But maybe it was the angle we were at, or maybe they messed up on arranging her dress, but suddenly it was blantantly obvious that she was standing in a hole and those were fake legs. Kind of creeapy. I'd bet seeing that float without a person in it with disembodied legs sitting there could be pretty disturbing.

Shoot, I hope this doesn't change the focus of this thread, I'm much more interested in my other comments above :p

bluepearl
11-14-2001, 10:18 AM
Interesting observation about Alice, Ghoulish! I'm going to have to check that out if the Parade's running tonight (we've been avoiding parades and such for a few weeks). I believe it is, so I'm going to have to check it out.

As for the parade route, I gotta agree with you there. I think that I'm one of the few people who actually like DCA (though I know how many flaws it has and complain about it once in a while) - thank goodness for Road Trip! I also like the fact that even when the parade route is crowded, I don't have to squish through hordes of people to get to a different section of the park.

Ghoulish Delight
11-14-2001, 10:48 AM
Ah yes, another good point, BP. Crowd flow at DCA is wonderful. Thanks to the oh so spectacular attendance :rolleyes: parades and shows are the only time that those marvelous wide walkways can strut their stuff. We were at the back of the park for Luminaria which ends after closing time. We were expecting serious foot traffic problems getting out, but it took less than five minutes. Very well done. True, everyone was moving in one direction which helped, but I can't imagine that many people squeezing through the two DL tunnels. What a nightmare that would be. Fortunately DL always stays open late enough that fireworks and parades and such don't end at closing time.

And I'm with you on liking DCA.

innerSpaceman
11-14-2001, 11:30 AM
Ok, I'm with you on this one Ghoulish. The Electrical Parade is visible from all over DCA and can be seen while riding many of the attractions in Paradise Pier. This is, as you pointed out, very cool. The only similar effect to be had at Disneyland was if you happened to be riding the Matterhorn when the parade passed by.

Cadaverous Pallor
11-14-2001, 02:20 PM
Of course, I totally agree with my brilliant husband to be. :D

There's something really special about seeing the parade from a new angle. Being able to be farther away from the floats changes everything. You can watch the parade on that bridge that goes to the pier eating area, you can stay on the Paradise Pier side and see half the parade at once, etc etc. We got to see it from the Mondavi balcony a while ago, and that was quite a different experience too.

Yup, this one worked better than they probably planned for.