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View Full Version : Out with Hollywood n' Dine....in with Sci-Fi Theater!



80S ERA
03-13-2002, 10:53 AM
I have an idea here. Since Hollywood n' Dine is never open anyway, they should close down the entire food court permanently and replace it with an outdoor version of MGM Studios' Sci-Fi Theater.

For those who haven't visited the Sci-Fi Theater in Orlando, it basically is a burger restaurant themed as a 1940's-1950's drive-in theater. Families are served in tables themed to look like old, classic convertible cars facing a big screen. Cheesy, old Sci-Fi flicks are aired continously.

Since we get less rain in California compared to Florida, an outdoor, dinner-only version would fit in well in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. Imagine -- good ol' fashion hamburgers and milkshakes being served in mock convertible cars during a cheesy sci-fi film under the night sky! A true, "blast to the past" California pastime!

During the day, the convertibles could possibly be used as seats for a stage show in front of the screen.

Any thoughts?

innerSpaceman
03-13-2002, 11:28 AM
Yeah, Sci-Fi Drive-In Diner would be a great idea for the DCA Hollywood Backlot. It's a fun dining experience that everyone in Anaheim should have the opportunity to enjoy.

Of course, there's plenty of other MGM hand-me-downs that would perk up DCA. After Tower of Terror, they should consider bringing Rock'n'RollerCoaster and Great Movie Ride out west.

Iceman
03-13-2002, 11:52 AM
I like the Sci-Fi Dine-In idea. They could even call it the "Sci-Fi Dine-Out Theater" to make it slightly different in name from the Florida version! Rollerskating servers would be a nice touch, too!

As for bringing more hand-me-downs to DCA, I would much prefer to see Disney Imagineering coem up with a brand new killer of an idea for a ride that DCA has and no one else does...

Uncle Dick
03-13-2002, 12:46 PM
The Sci-Fi Theater concept does sound pretty cool, but I'm concerned that it would be yet another high priced, reservations required restaurant in a park with too few low priced food options. I have a feeling that the Soap Opera Bistro is DCA's Sci-Fi Theater (dinner and entertainment) and that two such locations could not coexist in a single district.

80S ERA
03-13-2002, 12:56 PM
Originally posted by Uncle Dick
The Sci-Fi Theater concept does sound pretty cool, but I'm concerned that it would be yet another high priced, reservations required restaurant in a park with too few low priced food options. I have a feeling that the Soap Opera Bistro is DCA's Sci-Fi Theater (dinner and entertainment) and that two such locations could not coexist in a single district.
Agreed. The low attraction-to-restaurant ratio is probaly what caused H/D to go under in the first place. Hopefully, the addition of TOT and a makeover of Superstar Limo will help bring crowds to this often deserted area.

Iceman
03-13-2002, 01:42 PM
What an amazing difference two people can have in perspective! I was disappointed when I went to DCA that all that was available was standard low-priced theme park fare. We had planned to eat at Avalon Cove but it closed a few days before our visit, and we couldn't get a reservation that late at the Golden Vine.

One of my favorite things about EPCOT is the tremendous variety of classy restaurants. I now have Downtown Disney, but I like the idea of a 4-star meal in the park...

hbquikcomjamesl
03-13-2002, 02:47 PM
I was disappointed when I went to DCA that all that was available was standard low-priced theme park fare.


Actually, "standard low-priced theme park fare" is precisely what's missing at DCA. Soap Opera Bistro and the "new, improved, sans-Wolfgang" Avalon Cove are both on the upscale edge of "standard low-priced theme park fare," while Hollywood and Dine, and Taste Pilots' Grill are both on the fast-food edge of "standard low-priced theme park fare," but there is quite literally NOTHING in DCA that's right in the buffeteria-style center of that range.

As I see it, there are four levels of theme park food service. The bottom rung is "snack food." Cotton candy, nuts, popcorn, churros, pretzels. Things that are usually handled by ODV. The next step up is "fast food." Hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, chicken nuggets and strips, and such. (I would imagine there's something to be said, when you've got a hungry, picky kid who's too wound-up to sit down for a decent meal, to see the logo of a national fast food franchise in a theme park, although I personally can't imagine [having grown up picky myself] why a picky kid would care more about the logo on the wrapper than about what's in the hamburger.) The next level up from "fast food" is 'comfort food." The stuff you find at "buffeteria" restaurants, and the less expensive table-service restaurants. Chicken. Inexpensive cuts of roast beef. Turkey. Pasta. The top of the ladder is "fine dining." The Blue Bayou. Cinderella's Royal Table, at WDW-MK. Table service, cloth napkins, and it goes up from there, all the way up to Club 33.

Taken that way, there simply ISN'T anything completely within the "comfort food" range at DCA. SO-B and AC lean too much to the fine dining end, while H&D and TPG lean too far to the fast food end.

Incidentally, I think I figured out what's wrong with SO-B: it's too narrowly focused. Certainly there are other types of television shows that would lend themselves to theming a dining room, and to giving the waiters and busboys suitably melodramatic "schtick" to perform while waiting the tables. If it were tweaked to slightly more diverse theming, and renamed something like the "ABC Studio Bistro" or "ABC TV Bistro," it might be less likely to scare off those who intensely dislike soap operas.

Iceman
03-13-2002, 09:28 PM
Agreed! You have summarized it far better than I ever could have...

Nigel2
03-13-2002, 09:39 PM
I would say yes to having an outdoor version but it would deteriorate faster than an indoor version and then Al would gripe about the faded everything.:rolleyes: I wonder how much disney has to pay since the movies they show there and the clips from the 50's prime time cafe are all copyrighted.

80S ERA
03-14-2002, 07:14 AM
Originally posted by Nigel2
I would say yes to having an outdoor version but it would deteriorate faster than an indoor version and then Al would gripe about the faded everything.:rolleyes: I wonder how much disney has to pay since the movies they show there and the clips from the 50's prime time cafe are all copyrighted.
I would imagine that obtaining the rights to those old cheesy flicks would be next to nothing since copyright laws back in those days were less complicated, thus having the possiblity of loopholes. Disney's lawyers would have a field day and would end up owning the rights.

Then again, I'm only speculating here.

TerryTiger
03-15-2002, 07:50 PM
Originally posted by 80S ERA
I have an idea here. Since Hollywood n' Dine is never open anyway, they should close down the entire food court permanently and replace it with an outdoor version of MGM Studios' Sci-Fi Theater.


Why would it have to be outdoors? H&D is in a soundstage-type bldg. that would be perfectly suitable for the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. I ate there last fall when I was at WDW and loved it. Bring it on!

Maus
03-16-2002, 06:02 AM
I think the Sci-Fi would be great. The Disneyland Resort is missing the great themed restaurants of WDW. We have character meals and Soap Opera Bistro, but no real interactive stuff like Sci-Fi, 50s Prime Time, Whispering Canyon (which would be great at Storyteller's Cafe), the Biergarten, even Hoop De Doo Revue. Last weekend at SOB we did not even see the entertainment and we were there for nearly an hour--missed it by thaaat much!

HBDisneyPrincess
03-17-2002, 06:12 PM
What if, instead of doing cheesy sci-fi clips, they did clips from all those 50's beach bum surfing movies? Then, it would be uniquely DCA and California themed, but it would still be the fun, drive - in concept? And it could play some cool, beachy music.

AliKzam
03-17-2002, 09:55 PM
...And they could totally pay tribute to Annette Funicello! Beach Blanket Bingo, anyone?
You know, that would be one cool thing they could do with DCA to make it more Disney: pay tribute to all their former television and film stars, somehow. Seeing as how most of their shows and such were filmed in California. Why not have some sort of tribute to the Mickey Mouse Club? The Parent Trap? Annette, Haley Mills, and Kurt Russel would be just a few people. If at least with just a restaurant, that's something kinda cool.
Just a thought.