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3894
02-27-2005, 02:40 AM
This is a Wisconsin 12 year-old, a friend of my youngest. The kid has been to Disneyland and DCA exactly one time.

This kid prefers DCA to Disneyland. Her favorite: Maliboomer. They rode it over and over. To her, DCA is like a familiar carnival (but better), the kind you see set up in parking lots during the summer all over the Midwest. California is alien to this kid and DCA felt comfortable. The look was right for her, the atmosphere, the food, everything.

This put DCA in a new light for me.

Rouxe1688
02-27-2005, 05:59 AM
well that's good news

JSKoehler
02-27-2005, 07:18 AM
I know that many Disney fans, especially those resident in the SoCal area, were disappointed in DCA, after all the expectation for Westcot, etc. But I try to look at like the character Balki in Perfect Strangers in an epsidoe where he and his cousin Larry thought they had one a million dollar jackpot only to learn that they had only the second prize of one hundred. Larry was upset, but Balki saw it in a different light, "Cousin," he said, "you are upset because of the million dollar we don't got, but I am happy for the one hundred dollars we do got." I know DCA is not all that it could or should have been, but I gather it is better than it was when it first opened (with the addition of ToT, for example) and it's unquestionably better than what it was to start . . . i.e. a parking lot.

bradk
02-27-2005, 07:28 AM
and is also exactly what Walt despised most and was trying to avoid when he built DL.

JSKoehler
02-27-2005, 07:36 AM
and is also exactly what Walt despised most and was trying to avoid when he built DL.

I know WED despised dirty carney shows that were not safe, filled with sideshows, hustlers and con men . . . I don't think you're being fair to DCA by suggesting that it is no better than the amusment parks of the 1950s. But assuming you are correct, what would you have Disney (the company, that is) do to make things right?

bradk
02-27-2005, 07:45 AM
i don't think it matters how clean it is. i think part of it was that it's an amusement park (which had a well intentioned theme, but is gradually falling apart), but it still has the dreaded ferris wheel as a mainstay, which is something every carnival has. if Walt wanted to create a clean amusement park, he could have, but he wanted to do build something that didn't exist in the real world. something that couldn't have existed. he wanted to be able to completely remove the outside from his parks as much as possible.

i'm not sure westcot would have been much better from my understanding of what it would end up being (a glorified dtd) and epcot certainly didn't turn out anything like he intended, so what can ya do.

if it were my call, i would forgo the idea of having multiple parks (it's fine for WDW because that's just how it was made to be from the onset) and expand DL in every sense of the imagination. or at the very least, fully bring on a studio park to compete with USH.

don't get me wrong, I think DCA is a fine enough park and I like the concept, but to tie it directly to DL like that and then to buckle and start turning it into a DL annex is just a bit too much. It belongs further up along the coast or something.

the sad fact is that the momentum was all but lost for all things disney when Walt passed away. and i don't think it's because nobody could pick up the pieces and carry on, but that those who could just couldn't do it out of respect for him and those who could do something, did it their way and just let integrity out the window. it happened in all facets of the organization, not just the parks.

TikiGeek
02-27-2005, 08:24 AM
...were not safe, filled with sideshows, hustlers and con men . . .Now reserved for the Disney Board of Director's ;)

DisneylandForever
02-27-2005, 08:36 AM
This kid prefers DCA to Disneyland.

I see this statement and understand each individual word. But as a sentence I'm afraid it doesn't make much sense. Almost like some weird form of gibberish! What does it mean? :confused:




:p

merlinjones
02-27-2005, 08:57 AM
I once met a junior high school kid who wanted nothing more than to be a performer on The Lawrence Welk Show. Seriously... life is a rich tapestry.

3894
02-27-2005, 09:11 AM
I once met a junior high school kid who wanted nothing more than to be a performer on The Lawrence Welk Show. Seriously... life is a rich tapestry.

It's what the old Roman lady said when she kissed the cow: De gustibus non disputandem est.

sdfilmcritic
02-27-2005, 09:27 AM
This makes sense -- it really does. A midwest kid who most likely grew up on local carnivals would be familiar with a carnival like atmosphere. So DCA would be more appealing in a familiarity category to the kid. I'm glad he (or she) likes DCA.

SCUBAbe
02-27-2005, 10:12 AM
my child and all her friends and myself prefer DCA over DL..:)..I do like DL ..just in a different way..:)..oh, and my best friend likes it better than DL..:)

I should add we all were born and raised in SO. CAL.

JSKoehler
02-27-2005, 12:53 PM
don't get me wrong, I think DCA is a fine enough park and I like the concept, but to tie it directly to DL like that and then to buckle and start turning it into a DL annex is just a bit too much. It belongs further up along the coast or something.

I agree that Disney might have done better to leave DL as a single park expo, but marketing synergy probably argued otherwise, which in and of itself lends credence to your theory that DCA is more like the carnival that WED would have not wanted associated with his name.

Corporate Disney has floated numerous ideas for other single parks in the US(Disney's America near DC, Disney Sea at Santa Barbara(?)), but has concentrated its single park efforts overseas instead. I wonder if Disney has ever considered seasonal parks, ala Busch Gardens and Six Flags?

And, entirely off topic, BradK your posting porfile says that you are located in NYC, yet you seem very knowledgeable about DLR . . . are you a recetn west coast trasnplant, or just able to make regular trips? My upcoming trip will only be my second in ten years (hence my lack of first hand knowledge of whether DCA is as bad, or as good, as others would have it)

bradk
02-27-2005, 01:11 PM
Corporate Disney has floated numerous ideas for other single parks in the US(Disney's America near DC...

And, entirely off topic, BradK your posting porfile says that you are located in NYC, yet you seem very knowledgeable about DLR . . . are you a recetn west coast trasnplant, or just able to make regular trips?

if i'm not mistaken, the only reason why that 'america' theme park didn't happen (in VA I believe) is because they couldn't get anyone to let them develop the land. everyone was fighting it tooth and nail.

as far as my knowledge, or lack thereof, goes. my secret is i've never been to DL. my first time will be in may. it's just that with my limited amount of time there (originally i was planning on spending only 2 days there, but now have upped it to 3), i wanted to know everything i could to maximize my experience without walking right in and being shell shocked, so to speak. i've read both the official & unofficial guides, studied various websites, relied on google a lot, read all of david koenig's books and have been consulting with a disney fanatic at work on a semi-regular basis and of course, there's the forum here.

i think i've actually only been off the east coast twice in my life. once to visit the west coast of canada and once i spent some time in northern california. sad, but remarkably true.

MrsPooh
02-27-2005, 03:17 PM
Piglet told me on our last trip that he liked DCA better because there were hardly no lines to wait in! :eek:

Yes, we had a long talk about why there were no lines, and he understands now. But it kind of gives you an idea as to why kids prefer some things. They often don't know any better! ;)

merlinjones, what an absolute crack up! Mr. Pooh and I both remember as kids that having to watch Lawrence Welk was torture! My dad still kids me to this day, he will call me and tell me that the show is coming on soon, did I want to come over and watch with him!

teach
02-27-2005, 04:38 PM
and is also exactly what Walt despised most and was trying to avoid when he built DL.


He's dead. in my books, what people think he would believe in doesn't count. One tally for the kid who likes DCA.

bradk
02-27-2005, 04:56 PM
(edited cuz i give up).

HorizonsA
02-27-2005, 05:08 PM
well that's good news

It is good news. It's better than seeing five different threads on why people hate DCA.

Susan L
02-27-2005, 05:23 PM
I don't care what anyone thinks, I love DCA, and I also like the carnival aspect of it. I have been to some excellent carnivals right here in the good old state of California. Does anyone in the South Bay area of LA remember the Pike. We use to go there alot when I was a kid and always had a great time. Carnivals are a summer time tradition in this state. I think people over analize DCA to much. Just go have some fun.

ToursbabeC3po
02-27-2005, 05:36 PM
My kids like DCA they normally go their first. I think what DCA needs to complete it would be a backlot tour type ride (like at MGM and USH) in the Hollywood area! Bring Burbank to Anaheim!
(((((hugs))))))
Toursbabe

Disney Vault
02-27-2005, 05:51 PM
My kids like DCA they normally go their first. I think what DCA needs to complete it would be a backlot tour type ride (like at MGM and USH) in the Hollywood area! Bring Burbank to Anaheim!
(((((hugs))))))
Toursbabe
I want a backlot tour and a great movies ride (disney version) then DCA would be complete. At least for a few years because disney parks can never be complete forever.

ToursbabeC3po
02-27-2005, 06:10 PM
Oh yes! The Great Movie Ride! I loved that at MGM! I went on it like four times!
Toursbabe

Disney Vault
02-27-2005, 07:31 PM
With just those two rides added I would consider DCA way better than Disney-MGM Studios overall.

QueenAlisha
02-27-2005, 08:14 PM
I love DCA too, as does my best friend and a few other friends. My estfriend 13 yr. old sitster likes DCA more then DL.

9oldmen
02-27-2005, 10:25 PM
I know that many Disney fans, especially those resident in the SoCal area, were disappointed in DCA, after all the expectation for Westcot, etc. But I try to look at like the character Balki in Perfect Strangers in an epsidoe where he and his cousin Larry thought they had one a million dollar jackpot only to learn that they had only the second prize of one hundred. Larry was upset, but Balki saw it in a different light, "Cousin," he said, "you are upset because of the million dollar we don't got, but I am happy for the one hundred dollars we do got." I know DCA is not all that it could or should have been, but I gather it is better than it was when it first opened (with the addition of ToT, for example) and it's unquestionably better than what it was to start . . . i.e. a parking lot.
I understand what your'e saying, but its not like we lost a lottery or had to settle for a second prize because of lack of good luck. The executives made a conscious decision to build what they did. And Eisner is sitting there saying "look at the billions of dollars that I get!". And I'm sorry, but when you have to make the place look good by comparing it to a parking lot...