nor'easter
Well-Known Member
And how that fits into "California Adventure" is another stretch. (Well, come to think of it, parts of the real Hollywood Blvd. are just as ugly...)
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A Spirited Valentine ...
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
How things fit into DCA has been a problem since about June 2001 when they shoved the Electrical Parade over there. Very little truly "fits" the DCA theming structure, and Disney's solution to this stifling problem has been to simply ignore it.
2001: Electrical Parade - it's a "California Classic" (not making this up, they even wrote it in lights on the drum)
2002: a bug's land - there are bugs in California!
2004: Tower of Terror - there's a haunted hotel on this working backlot because Hollywood is crazy, please ignore lack of placemaking and go with us here
2006: Monsters Inc. - movies are made in Hollywood (but not this one, ssshhh be quiet) and this is the Hollywood Pictures Backlot so a dark ride based on this Pixar film can just be plopped here as cheaply as possible
2008: Midway Mania - the toys from Toy Story have a midway game playset and you've inexplicably shrunk down to their size to enjoy it with them on this seaside pier ostensibly set in the early 20th century
2011: Little Mermaid - California has oceans and mermaids live in the ocean therefore this Danish fairy tale book report ride fits into Paradise Pier because aquariums are things that are built next to oceans
2012: Cars Land - there is a desert in California and California people like to drive cars even though this film actually took place in Arizona
2015: Frozen Fun - Frozen is a movie and Hollywood is where movies are supposedly made so it fits into Hollywood Land
2016: Soarin' Around the World - this is my favorite. We went from an attraction as California as it gets to one that has nothing to do with California and the replacement back story from WDI is that the aviators at Grizzly Peak Airfield opened a simulator theatre where you could fly over the most beautiful sites in the world
2017: Guardians - the Collector brought his spaceship-fortress-oil refinery to DCA to show guests his newest acquisitions isn't that neat
The theming gymnastics have been part of DCA's history for 16 stupefying years. The real reason GOTG drives everyone nuts is that it's not Disney, it's not Pixar, it's Marvel. The California theme is already looser than a fanboi meeting Tony Baxter for the first time. Guardians is far from the first square peg in DCA, and it won't be the last.
In 20 years, no one will care that Marvel is in DCA. It'll be part of the fabric, like Lucasfilm projects have been at DL for decades.
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Kman101
Well-Known Member
Too bad the park is CALIFORNIA Adventure. And it's possible to both like Mission Breakout and admit it's in the wrong place.
And I don't agree that people are griping because it's Marvel. Probably a lot are but many are griping because it doesn't fit in a park that has CALIFORNIA in the name. They went through all that effort to better theme the park ... but I agree eventually no one will care and most regular guests won't.
What Disneyland needed was a third gate with Marvel and Star Wars and Pixar properties.
Mike S
Well-Known Member
I think the biggest thing is that it replaced ToT.
Kman101
Well-Known Member
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
Most of the park has nothing to do with California. Of the park's E-tickets, only one has anything to do with the theme of the park, and that's only because it's a pun on the name of a famous song.
I agree a third gate should have been the answer, but to somehow claim thematic purity for DCA pre-2017 is disingenuous to say the least. The park has been a thematic mess since four months after it opened.
Kman101
Well-Known Member
It was a thematic mess from the start. And the front half certainly does have to do with California.
Parks have and will be renamed to reflect a changing theme.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Well this and the building is butt ugly. It's just an eye sore from so many areas.
HMF
Well-Known Member
The first decade of DCA was a mess. I won't deny that. The Park was settling into it's new identity quite well. when suddenly the 1-2-3 punch of Soarin' Around the World, Frozen and Mission Cashgrab knocked everything out of balance again.
HMF
Well-Known Member
I do wonder if a re-name for that Coaster is on the table considering it is the biggest and one of the few examples of the bad puns that were a DCA 1.0 Trademark.
Donaldfan1934
Well-Known Member
To be fair, it was more connected to the more realistic street part of the land (technically part of the backlot originally, I know) rather than the actual backlot section. It may not have been Sunset Blvd. level place making, but it fit just fine.
Yeah, that might be a bit of a stretch considering the time period and place, but I think the fact that it's themed to midway games is enough to cover up those loose ends. Same goes for the character tie-ins present in the more minor A-B Ticket attractions in Paradise Pier that you forget to mention.
Keep in mind that it was originally going to be a general Car Land that was supposed to represent California car culture. It's also worth noting that while the film takes place in Arizona, the imagineers wanted some sort of link to Route 66 in the park since the beginning. I admit my reasoning for the placement of these attractions are somewhat loose, but I do believe they're each justified enough to get a pass.
But even so, the ways in which Lucasfilm projects and DL tonally clash are becoming more and more apparant as Star Wars' presence in the park grows. Generally speaking, I feel secondary/outside IP only works in movie/Hollywood themed areas or theme parks. The main exception to this rule seems to be Pandora due to Avatar and DAK sharing key thematic and tonal commonalities. As far as Marvel at DCA goes, your whole post establishes that DCA, particularly Hollywood land, is and has always been a dumping ground for whatever doesn't fit elsewhere so I guess it's the best they can do without building a third park from the ground up. And given how much I was impressed by what they did with GotG M:B, I can't wait to see what they do with a whole Marvel land despite further compromising the California theme.
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EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
My youngest daughter just saw GOTG:MB and described the building as "bad futuristic steam punk".
FigmentJedi
Well-Known Member
rael ramone
Well-Known Member
Kablam!
truecoat
Well-Known Member
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder for this ride. I rode GOTG last Saturday and I have to say it's very good. I wasn't as bothered as others that the ride changed due to Florida having the original and better version. That being said, I really liked how this turned out. The queue is great, the pre-show is great the ride is very fun! It seems there is more airtime on this ride than I ever remember.
Yellow Strap
Well-Known Member
The appeal to younger riders is great too. My Son didn't want to go on Tower of Terror because it was "scary", this he is ready to jump on.
I know this is not indicative of everyone.
FigmentJedi
Well-Known Member
Steampunk only in this sense. I've heard some people refer to this phenomenon as "cogfop"