Comments on: Disneyland Update-Expansion of Disney’s California Adventure

By: Gimlock

Gimlock — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:11:09 +0000

Disney is MORE hokey than in the 70’s. They still had pride back then. They would never have made a Peter Pan Land or Fox & the Hound Land, give me a break! It’s called Fantasyland and Peter Pan is just a small part of it. They are so low on imagination any more, all they can think of is making a whole land for a single movie. They are so driven by dollar signs that everything has to be branded with a proven marketable character. This type of attitude is not how Disney became a worldwide phenomenon.

Not too long ago, near the end of the Disney we knew and loved, they made a ride based on animated characters that did NOT have a hit movie behind them. This ride was immensely popular and is still a huge draw bringing people to the parks. Hard to believe? It’s called Splash Mountain. Why can’t there be some of that imagination in California Adventure? Let the quality of the ride be the draw, instead of making a cheesy ride out of popular characters?

Speaking of which, have you seen the concept art for the makeover of the Sun Wheel? All the Mickey’s gang characters with smiles so big it looks like their heads might fall off. It’s sickening.

By: Gary K

Gary K — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:04:21 +0000

Let me make two suggestions to help Disney improve their parks:

(1) Some of the most popular rides Disneyland and Epcot had in the 1980s were based upon then-popular movies and videos not made by Disney–specifically Star Tours (based upon Star Wars), and Michael Jackson’s special 3-D film based upon his Thriller video. Universal adopted this by adding Superman and Spiderman attractions and then adding a Back to the Future Ride (which was based upon a movie they owned)–and by adding a Star Trek attraction based upon a property they acquired. (In other words, movies and TV and videos are fine–but pick popular ones, not just the ones Disney or Pixar puts out); and

(2) Why not do stuff that is based upon well-known California attractions like the redwoods or the cable cars of San Francisco or Death Valley or Highway 1 along the coast from Santa Barbara to Carmel (including a section showing Hearst Castle, sea otters, aquarium, Monterey/Carmel, and Santa Barbara Panorama). What about Lake Tahoe, or a volcano (Lassen Volcanic park), the Winchester Mystery House, the Yosemite/Sequoia parks, Mammoth Mountain ski resort, or even some history (Gold Rush, Donner Party, old Spanish missions, Cannery Row, SF earthquake, Chinatowns, etc. The absolutely only thing I saw that was California related was a boardwalk similar to the one in Santa Cruz, and a ride section called “Gold Rush” that really had nothing related to anything on the Gold Rush, and the Hollywood section (which has been repeated ad nauseum at about 20 amusement parks).

Just a suggestion (or two).

By: Gary K

Gary K — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:41:13 +0000

I agree with Gimlock–what’s with all the movie and character-based stuff? I like the one Cars ride–but you could do this just as well without referring to the movie, which almost nobody watched. (It was the #1 movie in the US for exactly two weeks, then fell to #5 within 3 weeks, and #14 three weeks after that). Yes, it made money, but nobody remembers it like Toy Story, so why make an entire “land” within the park based upon it.

The Disney company needs to realize there is an entire world out there that is not based upon their hokiness. The world has changed since the 1970s, but apparently Disney doesn’t want to change with it. And why call it California Adventure if the plan is to feature attractions based upon a young Walt Disney, and upon Disney movies. Why not just call it Disney Retrospective? That would describe it much better than calling it California Adventure, since personally, I don’t see anything “California” about it except the winery.

It’s really sad, because I used to go to Disneyland and Epcot all the time years ago–but when Disney stopping updating their stuff–I moved on–as the world did. When I go to southern California now (I live near San Francisco), I’d much rather visit Universal Studios or Sea World or the Getty Museum, or the Huntington Gardents or the beaches (Huntington Beach or Newport Beach) rather than waste my money on this turkey.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:29:53 +0000

I think if the park gets more popular and attendance increases, it would stay open later and probably open earlier. At least I hope so.

By: Lee Lacey

Lee Lacey — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:42:59 +0000

I live in the UK and have visited DCA many times. It is my favorite theme park along with Universal IOA.

I think the changes are fantastic and should be a huge success. I just hope that once the changes are made the park stays open till 8pm or later - the park has a fantastic atmosphere at night.

Well done again Disney

By: Gimlock

Gimlock — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:00:34 +0000

Wow this is quite a disappointment, not that I expected much better. They are tearing down things that I thought were fine, and changing the style to look like Hollywood Studios in FL which I think is the ugliest park. All the new stuff sounds really unoriginal, uninspired, and ultra-character-based. They should have cleaned out Imagineering before giving them $1billion. Lack of funding was NOT the main problem with DCA. It’s lack of inspiration.

Hey can you change the way you embed youtube vids.. there’s no fullscreen button!