MiceAge Rumor: Disney Jr. Closing In April '17 - Marvel Plans???

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thought this deserved its own thread, as there may be families with young children who are interested...

Today's MiceAge Update dropped a small bombshell with news that Disney Jr. Live On Stage, Presented by Pull-Ups Training Pants (seriously) puppet show theater will be closing this April.

Per MiceAge... "This April the Disney Junior show will have its last performances, as the theater is slated to be reworked into a Marvel themed mega meet n’ greet and performance space." http://micechat.com/149607-miceage-disneyland-rumor-update-empty-wallet/

The Disney Jr. theater building is an Art Deco facade, ostensibly being a 1930's radio broadcast building on Hollywood Blvd. The building facade has very good bones as an Art Deco building, but was given a garishly contemporary purple-puppet-cartoon overlay for pre-schoolers in 2011. It was very briefly the home of the ABC Soap Opera Bistro theme restaurant back in 2001, one of DCA's many failed opening day offerings, but has been a puppet show theater since 2003.
IMG_6247.jpg


I have only been inside once, about a decade ago with young family members, but it's basically just a giant carpeted box inside (that smelled faintly of baby pee, as I remember), with a stage at one end. And I assume there's still a large full service kitchen facility in the back leftover from ABC Soap Opera Bistro days.
DisneyJr1-032511-AVP.jpg


The demographic that visits this place is limited, roughly from age 2 to about age 6, and their adult supervision which outnumbers the kiddies at least three to one. You can see from that image above that there are way more adults than kids forced to sit on that damp carpet for the 20 minute show.

In my opinion, this is a great move for DCA. If they give the exterior a refurbishment and remove the purple paint and garish 21st century cartoon signage, and replace it with period-appropriate aesthetics and signage for Captain America and/or Spiderman, that's an improvement.
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Thought this deserved its own thread, as there may be families with young children who are interested...

Today's MiceAge Update dropped a small bombshell with news that Disney Jr. Live On Stage, Presented by Pull-Ups Training Pants (seriously) puppet show theater will be closing this April.

Per MiceAge... "This April the Disney Junior show will have its last performances, as the theater is slated to be reworked into a Marvel themed mega meet n’ greet and performance space." http://micechat.com/149607-miceage-disneyland-rumor-update-empty-wallet/

The Disney Jr. theater building is an Art Deco facade, ostensibly being a 1930's radio broadcast building on Hollywood Blvd. The building facade has very good bones as an Art Deco building, but was given a garishly contemporary purple-puppet-cartoon overlay for pre-schoolers in 2011. It was very briefly the home of the ABC Soap Opera Bistro theme restaurant back in 2001, one of DCA's many failed opening day offerings, but has been a puppet show theater since 2003.
IMG_6247.jpg


I have only been inside once, about a decade ago with young family members, but it's basically just a giant carpeted box inside (that smelled faintly of baby pee, as I remember), with a stage at one end. And I assume there's still a large full service kitchen facility in the back leftover from ABC Soap Opera Bistro days.
DisneyJr1-032511-AVP.jpg


The demographic that visits this place is limited, roughly from age 2 to about age 6, and their adult supervision which outnumbers the kiddies at least three to one. You can see from that image above that there are way more adults than kids forced to sit on that damp carpet for the 20 minute show.

In my opinion, this is a great move for DCA. If they give the exterior a refurbishment and remove the purple paint and garish 21st century cartoon signage, and replace it with period-appropriate aesthetics and signage for Captain America and/or Spiderman, that's an improvement.


I'm all for the period appropariate aestheitcs and im fine with it if it's temporary especially if it's indoors. Permanently, I wouldnt be too fond of a Marvel Meet n Greet practically in the hub of DCA.
 

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
"This April the Disney Junior show will have its last performances, as the theater is slated to be reworked into a Marvel themed mega meet n’ greet and performance space."

Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? Performance space = kissing booth?
It's not fair. Constance gets a Thor kissing booth and I don't get a simple slave girl Leia meet and greet. I'll settle for a Rey meet & greet but it must be Daisy Ridley.
 

jmuboy

Well-Known Member
Not sad to see Disney Jr show go. And I'm guessing a Marvel meet and greet in this location would be a temporary venue until a Marvel area with a permanent Meet and Greet area is fleshed out. The DCA Marvel expansion has long been rumored to have a Meet and greet space (I would guess a highly themed one).


Also- this MiceChat update sort of "unofficially" confirms the Marvel area expansion behind the Guardians Tower and long rumored Capt. America coaster construction. So the Tower would / will be the gateway to a new Marvel theme area (Superhero Studios?) on the remaining sections of the old Timon parking lot.


I wonder if the large scale Mickey Mouse dark ride (again, only rumored) is what we will see built on the north expansion pad (former backlot and tram unload / esplanade area)? This would seem to make more sense. If this happened, the red car trolly could be routed to turn NORTH at the Hyperion and have its route terminate near where the old Hollywood and Dine facility is currently located with a new trolley maintenance barn built in this section of the Hollywood expansion.
 
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BubbaQuest

Well-Known Member
I'm glad something is happening in Hollywood Land. Sad to see it's yet another meet-n-greet. But I realize I am no longer Disney's demographic.

I'm more concerned that Hollywood Land might be "under construction" when Star Wars Land opens. I have no idea what Disney is going to do with the overflow crowds when SWL opens. Personally I'd love to see the area south of ToT turn into an alternate park entrance, at least temporarily.

With the recent security changes, I'm envisioning Harbor Blvd and Disneyland Drive overflowing with people trying to get to the esplanade. With reduced capacity in DCA, this is only going to get worse.
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
With the recent security changes, I'm envisioning Harbor Blvd and Disneyland Drive overflowing with people trying to get to the esplanade. With reduced capacity in DCA, this is only going to get worse.

The Eastern gateway project should drastically improve guest spill over to Harbor, not hamper it. There will be far more pre-security guest queue space than the current setup. Even if hoardes show up I envision things will in all actuality be much more pleasant than they are now. Another entrance for DCA would be a bit overkill, DCA really won't be the problem.
 

SSG

Well-Known Member
MiceChat updated the rumor today:

A Quick Note From Our Rumor Desk
The plan to infuse Marvel into the Hollywood Land area this summer continues to evolve quickly after the holidays. Disney Jr. is still planned to close this April, but the plan to do a Marvel stage show and meet n’ greet in that venue has been scrapped. The stage show and meet n’ greet will now take over the Hollywood Backlot Stage, the venue used for hosting high school choirs and traveling talent groups. When Marvel takes over that stage, a temporary stage for school groups will be thrown up in front of Stage 12 nearby. Disney Jr. will be re-purposed into a new toddler stage show still hosted by the Disney Jr. cable channel when it reopens later in the year.



The Marvel entertainment plans will include daytime dance parties and interactive street theater in another band-aid attempt to breathe life into that dying corner of DCA. TDA is also now considering bouncing Mickey’s Soundsational over to DCA this summer to replace the aging Pixar Play Parade, and let Paint The Night and an all-new Fantasmic! have the spotlight at Disneyland. While TDA dabbles in temporary entertainment, WDI continues to push ahead with plans for a big budget Marvel E Ticket expansion of DCA to open in 2020.
 

Stevek

Well-Known Member
Having enjoyed the original show when I had children, Rollie Pollie Ollie, Bear in the Big Blue House, etc., I'm actually happy they are keeping something like this for the mini-me's. I don't do the whole meet and grope thing but I get the appeal, just glad they aren't using this space for it.

I also like the idea of Soundsational moving to DCA.
 

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
TDA is also now considering bouncing Mickey’s Soundsational over to DCA this summer to replace the aging Pixar Play Parade, and let Paint The Night and an all-new Fantasmic! have the spotlight at Disneyland.
Is it really too much to expect that they finally give us a new daytime parade? Soundsational is almost 6 years old at this point; Pixar Play Parade is approaching 9 years, but had several extended hiatuses along the way so it's had less time actually in the park (and typically only one performance per day, unlike the two daily in DL). Neither one is exactly fresh at this point

I also wonder how much they would have to modify Soundsational to fit on DCA's performance corridor and pass under the trolley wires. Rapunzel's tower and Tiana's riverboat both collapse to fit into the parade barn, so it seems safe to assume both would need to be modified to fit the height limit. I suspect some of the other floats would also need some minor modifications

At a certain point, you just have to stop and ask if it's really worth the trouble to keep performing the less-old parade, or if it's just time to break down and get a new one. Or (heaven forbid!) a new one for each park. Parades and big shows are typically amortized on an anticipated 5-year run, and both are beyond that at this point. It's probably too late to expect a new parade by this summer (though not out of the question), but it's time to start making moves toward something new
 

SSG

Well-Known Member
I'd only be okay with Soundsational moving across the way if Disneyland were to receive a new daytime parade.

Marvel dance parties sound so lame.
I’m contractually obligated to make a joke: “If Black Widow and Gamora are dancing, I’d probably never leave.”

But seriously, the super-hero world doesn’t really lend itself to a dance party. Little kids might like it, but just about any other demographic will probably find this a bit cringeworthy.
 

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
I’m contractually obligated to make a joke: “If Black Widow and Gamora are dancing, I’d probably never leave.”

But seriously, the super-hero world doesn’t really lend itself to a dance party. Little kids might like it, but just about any other demographic will probably find this a bit cringeworthy.

Exactly. Yeah, superheroes are hot, but dancing superheroes? When I think of Marvel and dance parties, I think of this cringe-worthy scene from Spider-Man 3:



Not a pretty picture.
 

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