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Avengers Campus - Reactions / Reviews
- Thread starter BrianLo
- Start date
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
Fat chance.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
A half day at DCA- to get through the rides and see World of Color- is all that's really needed. I've spent two full days at DCA with friends in the last two weeks, and it gets really boring after a few hours. It's a much slower paced, and far more leisurely experience than Disneyland.
I would never want someone to sacrifice time at Disneyland for it though, since the best at DCA still doesn't match the best of what Disneyland has to offer.
DCA is at its best when it caters to the local AP crowd- with Festival of Holidays, Food and Wine, and other seasonal "let's hangout, snack, drink, and relax" type offerings catered toward a more adult crowd. I think Avengers Campus is going to strike a nice balance of new offerings for all ages- the Spider Man ride and the live show, as well as more AP type hangout experiences with the microbrewery.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Yes this was never more clear then when I was stuck at DCA one time with my cousin and his girlfriend who bought the So Cal deal 1 park per day tickets. To make matters worse Paradise Pier was closed for the Pixar Pier overlay. DCA works great for a quick park hop for one or two of your faves and then straight back to DL.
TROR
Well-Known Member
Grizzly River Run and Radiator Springs Racers are those two attractions. Everything else is very easily skippable at that park.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Both are great although I rarely ride either. My average trip is about 7 hours with most or all of my time spent at DL. If I’m riding RSR I’m probably at the park with some non AP fam or friends. For GRR it has to be warm enough and with a group of people that are willing to risk getting wet.
RSR is like the Indy of DCA for me. A great attraction that I’m not in the mood to ride very often for a variety of reasons. If I’m at the park with my wife and son or another couple we can child switch with neither of these attractions are going to bump ahead any of the mountains since we only have a limited amount of time when you consider the kids/ babies and all the rides we do for them. They re just more repeatable and have more payoff. Not something you have to worry about yet though. Haha.
Professortango1
Well-Known Member
GRR has potential, but in its current state it isn't complete. Beautiful fake scenery, but no life. Its like riding through a darkride with all the figures removed.
DCA went from being a park I'd never want to visit, to a park I spent most of my time at, to a park that I never want to visit. Goooo Disney....
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Trees, water and birds are life. If you went White ware rafting for real you wouldn’t see a whole bunch of animals in any given 4 minutes. Not that that’s why Disney didn’t include any animal AAs but I honestly think it’s one impressive Grizzly AA away from being complete. Of course I’d take a Moose AA too because Moose are cool. Some ROA type fiberglass static figures would only take away and not add anything
The dark ride isn't a good comparison because All of the most important elements of a river rafting adventure are present on GRR. And it’s outside and we have real elements. Trees, water etc.
Professortango1
Well-Known Member
But that's why we go to Disney. Its realistic fantasy. If I took a water safari through Africa, I likely wouldn't see a secret elephant bathing pool where one is showering nor would I see an ape taunting a crocodile nor shot at by apes. But I like seeing it on the Jungle Cruise because it is fun. GRR needs some Marc Davis charm. I've gone real river rafting, and Disney cannot replicate that.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
That’s a good point. I suppose IMO, GRR doesn’t need as much of that stuff because it’s a thrill ride and you are moving pretty fast. So they re not going to invest a ton into AAs but I do think it could use one impressive angry Grizzly AA to give it the Matterhorn touch.
Also for whatever reason, I’m ok with the more realistic take on GRR. Maybe because it’s in DCA and not DL?
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
A few animatronic animals on the ride would do wonders for it's charm. Not even aggressive ones, just ones that make the area actually feel alive.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
AAs certainly couldn’t hurt. Key word being AAs and not fiberglass statues. I just don’t think it needs more than 2-3 due to the nature of the ride. Maybe 1 before the first lift hill. The Grizzly AA somewhere in the middle and 1 more after the last drop. I also think they should be more realistic. Not the Marc Davis caricatured animals.
Professortango1
Well-Known Member
DCA lacks the Disneyland charm. Adding Disney style animals in show scenes and some music would turn this generic attraction into a Disney attraction. In hindsight, GRR should have been WRE.
It's still heckavalot better than Kali at DAK. I'd take GRR over that lazy river any day.
Professortango1
Well-Known Member
Certainly. All three rapid rides Disney's created are almost the same. KRR is 1.0. GRR is a little longer, but same general idea and elements. Shanghai's was smarter about using the area inside the mountain, but still feels pretty boring and lifeless.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
I agree that DCA lacks the Disneyland charm in many ways. I just think GRR is not really one of the issues. I’ve never gotten off the ride and thought it needed a whole lot outside of one Grizzly AA. Not only is it a fast moving thrill ride but most people are laughing the whole time and just not trying to get wet. They would only really be appreciated at the beginning or the end of the ride.
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Ismael Flores
Well-Known Member
DCA really lacks attractions on the east side that can keep people entertained and stay open during the night activities. They really need to come up with a proper plan that will add layers to the remaning piece of property. These multi acre lands with one or two attractions is just not enough and they need to make sure they are contained within show buildings so that they can run during the night time entertainment, rain and cold weathers. It sill amazes me how much of the park goes dark in the evening because of WOC and then you have grizzley area which becomes a ghost town because of the cooler evenings.
How much of Avengers Campus will go dark in the middle of park operating hours? They have one small attraction running and the rest will be meet and greats and a show that normally gets the rough end of the stick by TDA because of budget constraints. The meet and greats will end early and the small show will most likely stop mid day. All we have to do is look at what they have in Hollywood area.
Frozen goes dark early into opertign hours because of contracts and the playhouse Disney ends even earlier. People are still wondering around the area and trying to fidn things to do. The last time i was at the park, DCA was packed and families were flocking to playhouse Disney only to be told the shows were over and it was only open for playtime. a good size showbuilding opened as a romp room for parents to chase the little ones. Most people were not amused that they paid hundreds of dollars for a day care room.
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EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
It is a mess of a park. Better than what it was at opening, but not even close to what it should be.
RobWDW1971
Well-Known Member
What's even more sad is one of DCA's core design issues is the huge, cement walkways cutting through the park so there is no feeling of intimacy or adventure, just a four lane highway. This was done so that there would be a fully functioning, wide parade route, which now isn't even used.
That was a time when WDI should not have listened to the operators - imagine if Adventureland, New Orleans Square, or Tomorrowland was designed to have a parade going through it. No trees, no winding paths, no discovery around the corner, just a lot of concrete and open views. It's one of the reasons the Grizzly area feels so good and that main path is just "off".
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Disney do preventative refurbs instead of only reactionary ones? Good joke. If TSMM was going to get an update it would have been with TS4's marketing budget. That just another example of WDI talking a big game of how these attractions will be updated over time (TSMM, Guardians, and now Falcon) and never are.