DCA – Official Announcements and Rumors

[Another Voice]

If a tree falls in California Adventure, does it make a noise?

Today marks the one year anniversary of California Adventure out here in glamorous Southern California – a date being “celebrated” in an extremely low key manner. Michael Eisner and Paul Pressler are no where to be found, so Disneyland Resort’s President Cynthia Harriss is left to make the “official” announcement about the park’s expansion plans.

‘Flik’s Fun Fair’ will be part of ‘A Bug’s Land’ which is part of The Golden State District of the park. It is officially described as a “playland” and “specially designed environment which will offer the young and the young-at-heart a look at the world from a bug’s point of view”. It will feature five, bought-straight-from-the-catalog kiddie rides (the names and descriptions are taken directly from the press release):

• “Flik’s Flyers,” a simulated bug-size hot air balloon ride;
• “Tuck & Roll’s Drive ‘Em Buggies,” a crazy drive-it-yourself bug car ride under “P.T. Flea’s” circus tent;
• “Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train,” a miniature railroad ride;
• “Francis’s Ladybug Boogie” aboard spin-‘em-yourself ladybugs; and
• “Princess Dot’s Puddle Park,” a playground themed around a giant-size sprinkler.

The official opening date is this fall, but “rumors” are that the park has been ordered to open the place as close to Labor Day as possible.

Also announced was “a California version” of WDW’s ‘Twilight Zone Tower of Terror’, set to open sometime in 2004. No details about what makes the California version different from the full version were given, but you can probably guess.

On the rumor side, there’s some interesting buzz. It’s been well known for months that the “hip and edgy” facet of DCA was abandoned and the place was “Disneyfied” as rapidly as they could make new character costumes. Now comes word that the entire “California theme” will be quietly abandoned. No, they’re not going to remake the park over yet, but the mission to highlight California history, themes and experiences has been dropped. “California” will simply be a way to tie the entire park’s decoration together. Lip service to the state theme will still be maintained but it will no longer guide which attractions and shows are put into the park.

Bugs have nothing to do with California, but they fit the existing farm décor. Pocahontas has nothing to do with California, but she fits the Native American décor. The Tower has nothing to do with California either, but will have ‘Hollywood’ slapped on it (in the same way the DisneySea version will be themed to the American Waterfront by slapping “Manhattan” on their version). Everyone in Anaheim is rather happy with this change and it’s the first real step The Company’s made in recognizing the basic flaws in the entire park.

One “wild rumor” is that ‘Mickey’s PhilaMagic’ will appear at DCA shortly after it opens at WDW (in either the ‘Muppets’ building or the ‘Millionaire’ hut), kind of an exclamation point on the complete reversal of DCA’s entire design philosophy.

Well, not exactly. It will be another clone added to a place that’s pretty much already the ABC Family Channel of theme parks. Imagination costs these days and Disney isn’t willing to pay much. California Adventure might not be much about California anymore, but it will always be all about money.

 

[J. Thornhill]

Thanks for all the info AV!

I was wondering when they were finally going to get rid of that thoughtless, "dead-end" theme. What a mistake that was. The TOT is good news, even if it's the watered down version. I'm pleased that MGM has the "full" version, as I get to WDW far more than DLR.

J.-

 

[larworth]

I can see replacing Muppets with Philarmagic, but Millionaire? I thought Millionaire was drawing good crowds at WDW. Is the one in CA viewed differently?

Also, that would give you 3 3D attractions in the same general area. I bet they won’t make you turn in your glasses until after you’ve seen all 3. Ahh, cost savings.

Fully leveraging your intellectual property sounds like the new buzzword. I don’t think HKDL will open with any original attractions. It appears Alladin, “modified” ToT, Pooh, and Philarmagic attractions are now the future for all 3 continents. Let’s hope Congress doesn’t get silly and try to include theme park operators in any future cloning restrictions. At least if you work in WDI, and are lucky enough to work on something new, you know your work will soon be playing to a global audience


Nice line

already the ABCFamily of theme parls

 

[raidermatt]

You can find my thoughts on cloning in the "cloning" thread, but suffice it to say with no cloning, MK would not exist.

AV, even though you give no real credit to Disney for making at least some of the changes you thought they should, surely you must acknowledge that any step in the right direction is better than none. Not saying that should make everyone happy, but perhaps an iota less pessimistic?

IF ToT ends up being the true watered down version you have heard it will be, I will agree that it is a poor decision. But I will withhold my criticism until there is something concrete (pun intended...)

With regard to Millionaire, I think Disney may just be planning ahead. I understand it is drawing fine in DCA, given the small crowds overall, but I would think as the show gets further out of the publics view, the attraction will suffer. That could be wrong, of course, but it would make sense to at least make some plans about what to replace it with.

 

[Another Voice]

I’m not sure adding more carnival rides and more clones really is a step in the right direction for DCA. The reputation the park has with Californians is that it’s cheap and doesn’t have anything really worth seeing. A kid’s land with plug-and-play type rides isn’t a draw on its own, and ‘Tower’ is always going to viewed as a copy and second best. Even Six Flags at their Magic Mountain park up in Valencia understands that major attractions have to be unique, and they spend big bucks to make sure their Southern California parks gets the first, biggest and/or only attraction of its type. There’s a very good chance that a ‘Tower’ clone, especially if it’s seen as a cheap version, will be met with indifference and put DCA right back into the trouble it’s in right now.

I’m hearing different reactions to ‘Millionaire’. I’ve heard it’s drawing very poorly with local guests and is mainly attracting Annual Pass holders on a quest for more pins. The show did absolutely nothing to increase attendance at DCA and that was the goal. Even with that, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mickey 3D shows up in place of ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Audience’ over in Tomorrowland because it would be cheaper and can be passed off as part of the fifth anniversary celebration.

I’ll post my general comments about cloning in that thread.

 

[Safari Steve]

The Tower has nothing to do with California either, but will have ‘Hollywood’ slapped on it

Tower of Terror is set in "an abandoned hotel on the dark side of Hollywood", which is in ... CALIFORNIA...

Other than that, the facts seem pretty good.

 

[Peter Pirate]

There's a very good chance that a 'tower' clone, especially if it's seen as a cheap version, will be met with indifference...

That a great attraction like TOT could be considered blase would be a very sad commentary on DL guest expectations...

 

[airlarry!]

Got this from www.Laughingplace.com:

Barry Braverman, asked about whether or not TOT will be the same in DCA as in MGM:

BB: For all intents and purposes, it will be identical. There'll be a few changes with new technologies we have available now. Some styling issues on the tower itself to make it fit with our Hollywood. But the ride will be just as good if not better than Walt Disney World.

Now I don't know what he thinks identical means, but to me, it means the same. A Clone. A few stylistic changes, and better technology. I mean, the man said it will be 'just as good if not better'.

Them's perty strong words. We'll see if his prognostication comes true.

 

[toefungus]

Laughingplace's report was really good. The ToT looks different from the one in WDW. It doens't look at run down or scary as the one at Disney-MGM studios does.

 

[Another Voice]

Mr. Safari – exactly my point. There’s nothing really “California” about the attraction other than a few words in the script. The ride can be just as easily themed to Terra Haute and plopped into Disney’s Indiana Adventure without any effort whatsoever. The original concept for the park was to present experiences that were unique to California – Hollywood, Santa Cruz, Yosemite, etc. There’s a big difference between “themeing” and “decoration”. The new ‘Tower’ ride is just an example how DCA made shifted from a California as the theme to a California as the design element.

My expectation is that Southern California will be completely blasé about ‘Tower of Terror’. It’s not because we’re ungrateful ingrates with an elevated sense of our importance and high expectations… Well okay, we are, but that’s not the reason why we won’t flock to this ride. But with a public that’s grown up with ‘Pirates’ and ‘Mansion’ and ‘Star Tours’ and ‘Temple of Doom’ – ‘Tower’ really isn’t all that special. The drop is thrilling, but DCA already has a slingshot ride on the other side of the park. Yea, the show elements (reduced from WDW’s version*) are nice, but they don’t compare to ‘Pirates’ or the other E-tickets across the plaza. It’s not as good as ‘Indiana Jones’ and it’s not as innovative as ‘Star Tours’ was in its day.

‘Tower’ is a good attraction, but DCA doesn’t need “good” to pull it out from the dumpster. DCA needs GREAT, it needs “OH MY GOD!!!”, it needs “I’VE NEVER THOUGHT THIS WAS EVEN POSSIBLE!!!!!”. ‘Tower’ is just another ride. A short one. A copy. Not even as good as the original. And that’s been DCA’s problem all along.


* - The “Fifth Dimension” room in the WDW version will be replaced by film and static special effects. The exterior gardens for the line will be eliminated. The time spent in the drop shaft will be less. Other changes will be made as the budget is tweaked (the lobby may or may not make it). But the store at the end will be really nice.

 

[Peter Pirate]

But with a public that's grown up with 'Pirates' and 'Mansion' and 'Star Tours' and 'Temple of Doom' - 'Tower' isn't really all that special.

What??? WDW goers have now grown up with these things, as well (we're over 30 years old, now) and TOT is generally considered one of the best rides at WDW.

If Tower dosn't single handedly pull DCS from the rubble of disaster to an A+ park, I don't understand the significance? I would think that a quality ride like TOT & the additions you've mentioned may pull it from a D- Park to maybe a C+...And that's ok. One step at a time will do it. It is obvious that DCA will not be a 'ground-breaking' Park, but if it can become a good buddy park to DL, one that people will ultimately pay a second day for, then they've succeded.

Now, to the subject of "wowing" the guests with new and untried attractions. I think it's great when they do this & they've got Space on the table here at WDW now, but I look at this from a perspective of external things that have actually "wowed" me in my life and Disney certainly leads the pack. I can think of many, many instances of feeling totally thrilled with the offereings I was receiving at WDW from the inception in 1971 to December of 2001 when the AKL was still "wowing" me, despite being my 4th visit.

In fact, take it further, who else really wows us? Movies never do it for me, personally - although I suspect Broadway could & I hear Disney does that very well. No automobile, breakfast cereal, going on-line, playing video games or watching TV does it...But Disney has and still can. Perhaps Vivendi wows people through their parks but the numbers would be infintessimal comparatively. So certainly there are venues that can wow people out there, but who does more of it for more people better than Disney?

DCA may be struggling to stand, but stand it will and while the fact that it will never be a groundbreaking park will forever doom it in the eyes of some doesn't mean it can't, in fact, become successful...

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Everytime I go on Tower I am continually "wowed" by its concept, theme, design, and overall attention to detail. The ride experience truly is one of a kind and the drop sensation is different than any other freefall ride because of the system used. It is intricate detail both in the queue and on the attraction make it one of the best themed attractions in WDW and in the entire world in my opinion (much more so than Star Tours!). Voice, I am curious have you ever been on Tower? Also by your statement that the fifth dimension room will be replaced by static effects do you mean that the cages will not move forward because as it is the fifth dimension room is nothing but static effects.

 

[Safari Steve]

The Fifth Dimension decor consists of translucent, static figures, a couple of animated props, lighting, and video effects. While the attraction's name and story line could be easily modified to fit any locale, the idea of a ride themed to an episode of a TV Show (and the whole set up in the pre-show refers to Hollywood, not just the closing narration) is very well suited to an area that is themed to a studio (that's why it went in where it did in FL, and that's where it's going in CA).

 

[Another Voice]

Disneyland has a very different audience than Walt Disney World. The Park is literally in our backyards – we don’t have to plan hotels, vacation clubs, or long weekends to visit. All it takes is a short drive. The average visitor to Disneyland visits far more often than the average visitor to WDW, the average annual pass holder visits D/L many times more often than a WDW pass holder.

Because of this familiarity with the park, the dynamics of the audience’s expectations are different. Novelty and uniqueness are very important; those were the qualities that consistently kept Disneyland at the forefront around here. You can even see it in the attendance patterns. The attendance spikes every time there is a major and new kind of attraction (‘ToonTown’, ‘Star Tours’, ‘Indiana Jones’) and remains flat when major attractions are seen as just more of the same (‘Big Thunder’, new Tomorrowland).

Even at California Adventure, the trend holds true. ‘Soaring’ is a hit because it is different, unique, something new. But ‘Bugs’ and ‘Muppets’ – both of which have vastly more intricately detailed queues and shows – are major flops. Even ‘SuperStar Limo’ is much more “elaborate” in the show elements. Besides, no one is willing to spend forty-three bucks to say “Wow, look at the detail in this line. It almost looks like the lobby of the Biltmore in downtown”. At WDW, you have four parks to get a full day’s value out of your ticket. Out here, Disney lets the local have just one.

The “wow” factor for a local guest to Disneyland is very different than it is for a tourist in Orlando. This morning I went surfing. It’s going to be over 80 degrees here today. Some friends are driving an hour to go skiing. A family is going to have a big picnic at the beach. I’ve got a football game to play in later this afternoon. I begged off a trip to Vegas for this weekend. There are concerts and plays and hundreds of other attractions within a few minutes travel. That’s in addition to all those other real world demands for my time like the mountain of work on my desk and trying to figure out what to buy for Valentine’s Day that won’t get me thrown into the dog house. WDW competes for a guest’s vacation dollar, Disneyland competes against a guest’s life.

An amusement park ride that will clock in at a hefty two minutes, fifty seconds just has a real hard time competing. Sorry, but a single attraction with an “A” grade in the middle of a “D-“ park doesn’t produce an overall “C+”. And the public around here doesn’t grade on a curve either. No one treats a trip to Disneyland as a treasured escape from reality. Disneyland is part of our reality around here and it’s pleasant way to spend a day. It had better be worth the price.

And Mr. Show – yes, I’ve been on ‘Tower’ many, many, many times. I am not saying that it’s a bad ride. It’s just that the ride is not “wow” enough all by itself to turn California Adventure around they both The Company and some others think it will.

As I understand the rumors, the ride vehicles will only move at the load and unload stations. All show elements will be in the drop shaft – the lateral movement between shafts as in WDW has been eliminated. The “Fifth Dimension” room will be replaced by another stop in front of a screen, just like the “beckoning ghosts” stop in the WDW version. Since that obliviously means fewer vehicles can be in the ride at the same time, the lite version will add a third shaft and shorten the ride’s show time.

As for the theme, for a long time the ride was going to be themed to either San Francisco or the cannery row section of the park. It’s in Hollywood at DCA because it’s cheaper (reuse all that artwork and it’s going into the Studios in Paris).

 

[Peter Pirate]

Sorry, but a single attraction with an "A" grade in the middle of a "D-" park doesn't produce an overall "c+"...

Actually, I did say 'TOT' PLUS the other additions you noted (not just one attraction), but quibbling isn't necessary, I guess...

It appears to me that if what you say of the demands on DL is true (of the local demographic), then it seems no wonder that Disney attempted to make DL a true destination resort for a paying crowd of visitors with more wonder in their eye & less demand on the product. Again, if what you suggest is true, I can forsee the day (if DCA continues to miss the mark) that DL may be given up on completely as the cost to continually wow the local crowd would no longer be the fiscally responsible thing to do...Their money would be better spent elsewhere...

 

[the_snow_prince]

I must admit, "Flik's Fun Fair" does sound charming. It should be an interesting part of the park. And the news of The Tower is interesting as well. It is a wonderful attraction at Walt Disney World, and will hopefully be just as good at Disneyland.

The Snow Prince

 

[airlarry!]

Let's look on the bright side. If Barry is correct, and the ride is better than WDW, we'll have that to look forward to, and the Cali people will have something to brag about. If not, then the Florida people can add to the small list of things that are better at WDW than at DL. Next time some Cali guy behind me in the Fortress says Pirates is better at DL, will get an earful. "Oh Yeah? But our ToT has a lobby and a slide-through!"

This morning I went surfing. It’s going to be over 80 degrees here today. Some friends are driving an hour to go skiing. A family is going to have a big picnic at the beach. I’ve got a football game to play in later this afternoon. I begged off a trip to Vegas for this weekend. There are concerts and plays and hundreds of other attractions within a few minutes travel. That’s in addition to all those other real world demands for my time like the mountain of work on my desk and trying to figure out what to buy for Valentine’s Day that won’t get me thrown into the dog house.

AirLarry pulls down on a Mickey statue on his bookshelf, and watches as the next shelf slides open to reveal a hidden room behind the fireplace. He walks inside, sits at a desk, clicking on the lampshade placed on top. He rummages inside the left desk drawer, beneath its false bottom, and pulls out a dusty tome. He licks a pencil, and mutters as he writes.

Surfer....lots of friends....plays sports...has friends with personal vehicles...gambler or white tiger enthusiast...entertainment fan...has his own desk.....has SO or pet canine....just a few more slip-ups over the next four to five years are all will take...must...learn...the...identity...

 

[Peter Pirate]

Larry, I haven't seen the humorous side of you before!...I like it...I LIKE IT!

 

[OnWithTheShow]

I think I will stick to dicussing things that relate to my home territory. I obviously fail to understand the dynamics of the Southern California lifestyle having never visited. Well pack to planning for my eventual takeover of WDW.

 

[larworth]

I don't think the Tower need take a back seat to any attraction. Just as we struggle to compare athletes between era's I think the same holds for a Pirates vs. Tower debate. Sufficient to say that both qualify for Disney's Hall of Fame. Given their greatness I think it makes sense they both be exposed to the greatest audience possible.

I hope Barry is right when he says the clone will be just as great as WDW, but we do seem to be getting some conflicting information. If it is less, than it sounds like another example of Disney demoting the guest experience to save a few $. Maybe guest surveys indicate people resent having to be exposed to all these needless show elements and just want to get to the drop as fast as possible?

The other thing that seems curious here, is DCA has been well criticized for being low on the novelty scale. Without knowing anything about SoCal demographics, park attendance does nothing to dispute this. I would think the last thing they would want to do is toss in another clone, and one that has less novelty than the original so close to home. Seems like more of the same.

Even a dumbed down version of the tower must still be a sizeable investment. Don't they have anyhting new they could have opened for the same price tag. Time is surely a factor here, but it does make me wonder how bare the idea cupboards might be?