PDA

View Full Version : DCA from near and far



Crazy4Mickey
08-11-2005, 11:37 AM
I was just reading another thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=46203) and it sparked an idea for another thread. (sorry if this should have been merged as part of the other one).

I know there is a lot of talk about how good or bad DCA is. One of the things I hear often is that people don't think the theme is a good one to have since the park is in California. I personally like the theme of it though. However, I think it might have something to do with the fact that I am not from California.

So my question is...... Are the majority of the people that like the theme from other areas of the country/world? And on the flip side, are those that don't like it primarily from the local area? Just one of the many crazy things that wander though my head. ;)

TowerofTerror
08-11-2005, 11:42 AM
I from here in california.I live in the san gabriel valley. I say it goes good ecept that DCA is still a work in progress .I say in time it will become liek Disneyland. DCA will not be what Disneyland is but it will be able to be park to the family like disneyland .DCA them is very good that it fit how california is or was back in the early day..I say they should keep it and expand form ehat they have done

lauramaynot
08-11-2005, 11:43 AM
I'm from california and I think the theme is fine. California is a big place and very diverse so I think that when they came up with the theme they were thinking of all the different things they can do. My husband always tells people the name is Disney's California ADVENTURE not necessarily about the state of California but about having ADVENTURES in CA.
Could you imagine if they had picked somewhere else - Disney's Montana Adventure would never work LOL!

pisces
08-11-2005, 11:56 AM
It has nothing to do with the choice of theme. It's about the way that theme is carried out. They don't have enough atmosphere and ambience, in certain places, to carry it out completely.

The premise was a good one....had they followed through.

Many people who live in California do not travel. You can live in the suburbs and never go to the Mountains. Lots of people inland never go to the beach. I've never surfed, or been snow skiing, much less paragliding.

It's a myth that everyone who lives in California is doing all those things....or has ever done them.....all the time---and in the same day ?????

On the freeway, it takes an hour to go 10 miles. I, personally, don't know how anyone would go from the Desert to the Sea, all in one day, and not be horribly exhausted.

Yet, the promise of DCA is that you can do all those things, right at one theme park, and not have to battle traffic.

If that were really true. The Pacific Wharf area is abandoned. Farmers market is closed. Certain areas are boarded up. Maybe they were going for an abandoned California....a vacated California. The pavement could use a better cobblestone, real boardwalk in places....and they need mimes, jugglers, accordionists etc....for the wharf area.

Condor Flats needs a color guard, and better sound effects.

They need to immerse the guests deeper in theme. A total sensory experience.

Osky
08-11-2005, 12:04 PM
On a side note, they did get the Pacific Wharf theming correct to match the atmosphere in San Francisco... Proof:

http://grundler.smugmug.com/photos/20768083-S.jpg

pisces
08-11-2005, 12:04 PM
Actually, Knotts Berry Farm does far better carrying out their theme. There are many Ghost Towns in California. I think there's one in the Mojave on the way to Las Vegas.

And, Ghost Towns, by definition are abandoned and vacated, which Knotts may, or may not, be--at times.

So, even a boarded up, empty Knotts Ghosttown works far better than DCA.

And, of course, the food at Knotts blows DCA right out of the water.

TowerofTerror
08-11-2005, 12:08 PM
DCA is short for Disney California Adventure

rfaljean
08-11-2005, 01:49 PM
We live in Northern CA and enjoy DCA. We love Soarin' and GRR. My 11yr old daughter loves
CA Screamin' ( I hope it running in late Nov). It's just different enough from Disneyland to be
kind of refreshing once in a while. The more we go, the more we like it. Give it time.... it'll
get better.

coronado_g
08-11-2005, 05:25 PM
I live in Southern California and I like DCA. I view it as another land of Disneyland and they are, together, now a part of the whole DLR concept. It takes time for a theme park to develop the patina of nostalgia and DL has developed a well-buffed patina. I say give DCA time to grow, develop, and mature.

stitchlvr
08-11-2005, 05:32 PM
I live in Northern California and also like DCA. It is true that there is plenty of improvement that could happen and I hope that it will. I still enjoy the park for what it is. I see a lot of potential for the future.

animagusurreal
08-11-2005, 05:44 PM
I live in Santa Maria, on the central coast of CA, the one part of the state that's so dull, there's no section for it in DCA (you'd think they could have thrown us a themed restroom or something.)

Seriously, it's not really that bad here - we do have PCPA, a wonderful theatre company that's putting on Disney's Beauty and the Beast musical this November. I'll be the reviewer for a local paper. But I digress...

I look at DCA's theming kind of like Neverland (Peter Pan's, not Michael Jackson's) - it's all "nicely crammed together."

What I would like to see is a little more playing with different time periods, as in Disneyland. New Orleans Square isn't just New Orleans through a Disney filter, it's New Orleans in the 1800's through a Disney filter. When are we in Hollywood Pictures Backlot, or Paradise Pier? The Present?

I'd also like to see some attractions in the Bay Area and Pacific Wharf, and something in Bug's Land for people my age (no offense to ITTBAB,) so I'd have a "reason" to venture into those lands. Last time I was there I walked down this San Francisco themed street on my way to California Screamin' and there seemed to be nothing there, just a facade. Where's that Trolley ride? :D

I still like the current theming, though, and there are some really nice "set pieces" like the sunset at the end of Hollywood Boulevard.