There have been a lot of headaches occuring at the Walt Disney World recently. Some from the disappointment of Atlantis and Pearl Harbor at the box office, into their efforts to acquire the Jim Henson Company and the Utah couple lawsuit against Disneyland. But most of it has been coming from Disney's California Adventure. Ever since it opened in February 2001, it has been nothing but trouble.
What is wrong with the theme park? If its Disney, it must be good but this the current Disney where cheaper is better. The whole Disneyland expansion cost $1.5 billion which is pretty cheap for a Disney theme park compared to what was spent on Animal Kingdom and Hong-Kong Disneyland. Look at Paradise Pier where most of the rides are off the shelf carnival rides which are much cheaper then building an original attraction. Another problem is the lack of kiddie attractions. Most of the attractions in Paradise Pier have height restrictions and Superstar Limo may be too boring for preschoolers. Little or no classic Disney dark rides within the theme park and the lack of classic Disney rides like the Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean are among the complaints heard over at Guest Relations. Another problem is that there is no night time water show like Fantasmic! that keeps guests around after the sun goes down.
What is Disney trying to do to save the park? Cheap, quick fixes. Disney brought in the Main Street Electrical Parade direct from its 2 year run at the Walt Disney World resort to solve that night time show problem. But how long will it stay around? As long as it keeps bringing in guests. What about the theming of the rides? Reports have come in saying that once the Country Bears close in September, their skeletons will be used to create life-like bears for the Grizzly River Run ride that desperately needs something to entertain the guests. How about the kiddie rides? Well as of probly Labor Day, Superstar Limo will become Goofy's Superstar Limo by Thanksgiving 2001. This hopefully take care of the kiddie ride problem. If that soesn't satisfy you then check out the Bugstown rides planned for Bountiful Valley Farm. These will be temporary off the shelf carnival rides with no height restrictions. What about classic rides? The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster have been debated for the rest of the Timon parking lot behind the Hollywood Pictures Backlot but now rumors point to an All-Star type resort hotel instead. A night time show like Fantasmic! seems to be in the works just for the Christmas Season. The show will involve no actors or dancers but barges, lights and pyrotechnics. The show called Luminaria should debute in about 100 days.
Also heading up for California Adventure is the Disney-MGM Studios hit "Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Play It!". Will these work? Who can say at this point. We all thought attendance would go up after Easter. It did for a very short time but then went down again. The future of California Adventure looks bleak. Hours have been cut severely for September on weekdays and closing the park one day of the week doesn't seem out of the question. What can be done to help this park? Maybe more money and a bit more creativity would help?
Till next time, See Ya!
What is wrong with the theme park? If its Disney, it must be good but this the current Disney where cheaper is better. The whole Disneyland expansion cost $1.5 billion which is pretty cheap for a Disney theme park compared to what was spent on Animal Kingdom and Hong-Kong Disneyland. Look at Paradise Pier where most of the rides are off the shelf carnival rides which are much cheaper then building an original attraction. Another problem is the lack of kiddie attractions. Most of the attractions in Paradise Pier have height restrictions and Superstar Limo may be too boring for preschoolers. Little or no classic Disney dark rides within the theme park and the lack of classic Disney rides like the Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean are among the complaints heard over at Guest Relations. Another problem is that there is no night time water show like Fantasmic! that keeps guests around after the sun goes down.
What is Disney trying to do to save the park? Cheap, quick fixes. Disney brought in the Main Street Electrical Parade direct from its 2 year run at the Walt Disney World resort to solve that night time show problem. But how long will it stay around? As long as it keeps bringing in guests. What about the theming of the rides? Reports have come in saying that once the Country Bears close in September, their skeletons will be used to create life-like bears for the Grizzly River Run ride that desperately needs something to entertain the guests. How about the kiddie rides? Well as of probly Labor Day, Superstar Limo will become Goofy's Superstar Limo by Thanksgiving 2001. This hopefully take care of the kiddie ride problem. If that soesn't satisfy you then check out the Bugstown rides planned for Bountiful Valley Farm. These will be temporary off the shelf carnival rides with no height restrictions. What about classic rides? The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster have been debated for the rest of the Timon parking lot behind the Hollywood Pictures Backlot but now rumors point to an All-Star type resort hotel instead. A night time show like Fantasmic! seems to be in the works just for the Christmas Season. The show will involve no actors or dancers but barges, lights and pyrotechnics. The show called Luminaria should debute in about 100 days.
Also heading up for California Adventure is the Disney-MGM Studios hit "Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Play It!". Will these work? Who can say at this point. We all thought attendance would go up after Easter. It did for a very short time but then went down again. The future of California Adventure looks bleak. Hours have been cut severely for September on weekdays and closing the park one day of the week doesn't seem out of the question. What can be done to help this park? Maybe more money and a bit more creativity would help?
Till next time, See Ya!