Concepts for DCA coming to WDW?

[sponono88]

Unless you've seen what DCA was built like in 2001 versus what is replacing it circa 2010, it's hard to understand that this billon dollar project is actually going in and strategically removing and replacing all of the stuff that was actually done on the cheap. The replacement stuff is hyper themed, lushly presented, and filled with details.

Paradsie Pier, let's just take one example, the Games of the Boardwalk. They are currently in their 2001 form with modern stucco walls, flat vinyl signage hanging in simple metal frames, and basic Home Depot bathroom lighting around the edges. There's not much to them and they look and feel like a 21st century strip mall in the suburbs.

Thank you for this. I think it's hard for someone not familiar with DCA to embrace all the changes that are coming. It's the small cosmetic changes, like the addition of trees around the park and rockwork near Screamin', that will make the most difference.

 

[TP2000]

Someone please tell me how Monsters Inc. and The Little Mermaid fit in California.

That's a question you can debate for eternity for all Disney parks since they opened or were being walked each week by Walt in the 50's and 60's.

How does a 1860's Mississippi paddlewheeler from the Midwest fit in a land themed to 1770's Colonial Northeast?

How does a Jungle Cruise leap from an Asian Elephant in a bamboo forest to an African Veldt with plains animals?

How does a Medieval Bavarian Castle fit at the end of a 1905 small town in Missouri?

If we wanted to be very strict with our themes, WDW would have to wait to get the Little Mermaid ride until Denmark opened a pavilion at EPCOT and recreated the Copenhagen harbor in strict detail. Only then could you have the proper and appropriate setting for that classic Danish fairytale. :lol:

 

[I-Miss-Horizons]

The Sun Wheel will be closed and the Boardwalk Games will be closed. Also, the Paradise Pier lagoon will be drained and construction will be going on in the bottom for World of Color installation. It will be the first time anyone has seen that lagoon drained since 2000 before DCA opened.

But you can check out the DCA Preview Center to see what is coming!

Ugh that's no fun. My room from the Grand Californian is supposed to overlook Paradise Pier. I don't want to see a lot of construction. :brick: Thanks for the info though!

 

[Enigma]

1.2 billion nowerdays won`t buy you an EPCOT Center. Estimated cost for Mermaid: say $100m. Estimated cost for RSR: $150m. That`s 20% of your budget before you factor in other attractions, a nighttime show, civil engineering, labour, advertising and marketing, guest control, decomissioning old attractions, new entrance, trolley ride.....

It soon adds up!

RSR is actually closer to $250m...I have heard the whole Cars land will cost alittle over $300 mil when all is said and done.

 

[hemloc]

Been by there many times. I always thought that it should be an attraction at a theme park.

Ironically enough, the drop towers were theme park attractions, of sorts. They are duplicates of the ones used in the 1939 World's Fair in NYC. And it's a really nice view up there when you are only hanging by a safety strap and a hook!!

 

[unkadug]

Ironically enough, the drop towers were theme park attractions, of sorts. They are duplicates of the ones used in the 1939 World's Fair in NYC. And it's a really nice view up there when you are only hanging by a safety strap and a hook!!

Wow. I didn't know that. I found this though:
[youtube]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/U82t49aTgHw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U82t49aTgHw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]

 

[rbrower]

Wow. I didn't know that. I found this though:
[youtube]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/U82t49aTgHw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U82t49aTgHw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]

That looks like fun! :lol:

 

[SirGoofy]

The reason so many people are down on the Nemo ride at Epcot is because it's a cheap, one step above a carnival quality ride that consists of nothing more than projectors and monitors, minimal scenic elements, lame fabric jellyfish and an industrial robot.

You certainly have a right to your opinion but I personally can understand how anyone can like this ride that resides in the same entertainment complex as attractions like Tower of Terror, Haunted Mansion and It's Tough to be a Bug.

Yea, because so many carnival rides have characters projected into one of the world's largest salt water aquariums. And an industrial robot? Seriously? It's a very good animatronic attached to a kuka robot arm. Not industrial or cheap at all. And seriously? You are going to compare trying to fit a dark ride into an existing space to HM and TOT? Seriously? And your saying rides that aren't as good as those you mention can't be liked? Come on. I'm not saying it's the be all end all of rides, but it's a well executed, fun ride.

What I love is people expect every ride to be mind blowing. It's a C ticket attraction, it wasn't meant to be Epcot's newest classic.

 

[RSoxNo1]

:lookaroun



Ummmm....you do know they already decided?



The ride never goes under 50 minutes (often it never goes over 85-90 Mins.) on uncrowded days and never once have I seen Fastpasses last until after 1:00. Guest Feedback from surveys have had nothing but great things to say about it, and by this time in operation, EVEREST was seeing less lines, not so with Midway Mania.

And you'd be darn surprised at all the THOUSANDS of "non-fans" that've come down to Studios JUST to see this ride.


It's too late, it's already a hit: and if you don't believe me A: Denial isn't just a river, and B: Get ready for a LONG wait for that "Guest Reaction" that's already come and gone.
:hammer:

The capacity for TSM is pretty low. That contributes to the long wait times. It's basic supply vs. demand - Look at Peter Pan, the line is always very long due to it's limited capacity compared to it's large appeal.

These are things that I would like to see avoided in the future. Given Disney's experience of ride operations, you would think capacity issues would be at the forefront of any new attractions that they make.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

That's a question you can debate for eternity for all Disney parks since they opened or were being walked each week by Walt in the 50's and 60's.

How does a 1860's Mississippi paddlewheeler from the Midwest fit in a land themed to 1770's Colonial Northeast?

How does a Jungle Cruise leap from an Asian Elephant in a bamboo forest to an African Veldt with plains animals?

How does a Medieval Bavarian Castle fit at the end of a 1905 small town in Missouri?

If we wanted to be very strict with our themes, WDW would have to wait to get the Little Mermaid ride until Denmark opened a pavilion at EPCOT and recreated the Copenhagen harbor in strict detail. Only then could you have the proper and appropriate setting for that classic Danish fairytale. :lol:

1. Liberty Square is the theme. LIBERTY...
2. The Jungle Cruise actually MOCKS that very fact...and is done on purpose.
3. The Castle is in FANTASYLAND (You see this be the castle extensions all around FL)
4. The Little Mermaid does fine in Fantasyland...or...DisneySEA. Tell me how (even a stretch) it works in a park dedicated to California.

There are things that don't work in every park...but with most things you can come up with SOME explanation.

DHS is a mishmash of attractions too...but I can't think of one attraction that doesn't actually fit the "theme" aside from Toy Story. (But, even that fits the theme because of "Pixar Place" which is a movie studio...of sorts).

 

[SirGoofy]

2. The Jungle Cruise actually MOCKS that very fact...and is done on purpose.

Actually, when Jungle Cruise originally opened it was a serious safari ride, and lacked the humor it has now. Believe me, the official script is not funny or mocking at all.

 

[sponono88]

1. Liberty Square is the theme. LIBERTY...
2. The Jungle Cruise actually MOCKS that very fact...and is done on purpose.
3. The Castle is in FANTASYLAND (You see this be the castle extensions all around FL)
4. The Little Mermaid does fine in Fantasyland...or...DisneySEA. Tell me how (even a stretch) it works in a park dedicated to California.

There are things that don't work in every park...but with most things you can come up with SOME explanation.

DHS is a mishmash of attractions too...but I can't think of one attraction that doesn't actually fit the "theme" aside from Toy Story. (But, even that fits the theme because of "Pixar Place" which is a movie studio...of sorts).

The Little mermaid lives in the sea. Paradise Pier..ocean...sea...it fits. But seriously, I believe it's supposed to resemble a classical seaside dark ride from the piers of yesteryear.

 

[a2grafix]

The red cable cars remind me of Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

 

[TP2000]

4. The Little Mermaid does fine in Fantasyland...or...DisneySEA. Tell me how (even a stretch) it works in a park dedicated to California.

There are things that don't work in every park...but with most things you can come up with SOME explanation.

As from the artwork of the impressive new Little Mermaid ride facility, you can see where they are going with this major new ride for DCA.

http://micechat.com/forums/members/...rd-sherman-lilly-belle-so-much-more-html.html

http://micechat.com/forums/members/...rd-sherman-lilly-belle-so-much-more-html.html

Using San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts from the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair as the main entrance to the facility, it's a classic big city Aquarium or Pavilion from the Victorian/Edwardian era. It sits on the northern edge of Paradise Bay, adjacent to the rest of the newly themed Victorian/Edwardian architecture of Paradise Pier.

Guests go in to the hyper-themed aquarium and go "Under the Sea" to meet the Little Mermaid and her pals. Since the Little Mermaid wasn't translated from Danish into English until the late 1800's and really didn't become popular in the USA until the play debuted in 1914, the 1915 iconic California architecture fits well here. And as we all know, once you get inside a building and into an E Ticket queue, the Imagineers can weave together whatever story they want.

That you are in a big, old-fashioned seaside aquarium to begin with certainly gives the Imagineers a solid foundation to work with when it comes to introducing a mermaid and her singing fish friends.

It will work just fine thematically in the Paradise Pier area of California Adventure. And the lines to go on the ride will be very long. :lol:

The Little Mermaid E Ticket ride would also be able to work well in Fantasyland in WDW. Except instead of an old-fashioned World's Fair aquarium, at WDW they would likely just go with a "Rocky Grotto Seascape" facade, kind of like what used to be there with 20K Leagues submarine ride. Which was a submarine ride through the world's oceans right next to a spinning teacup ride inspired by classic British fairytales, with a modern 20th century skyride strung through the air above it, naturally.

 

[TP2000]

The red cable cars remind me of Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

That's because the Red Cars were featured heavily in the plotline of Roger Rabbit. They are a Los Angeles icon.

FYI they aren't "cable cars", as they don't use an underground cable for propulsion like the cable cars going up and down the hills of San Francisco. The Red Cars were regular trolley cars in LA that used electricity from the power line hanging above the tracks to power the electro-motors.

 

[a2grafix]

^^^^^

That's cool, awesome. At least Disney is keeping Roger Rabbit alive in Disneyland. I dug car toon spin.

---> now back to the regular topic of discussion.

 

[Missing20K]

As much as we all like to critique various aspects of the parks and resorts, I think sometimes we (nearly everyone on these boards, including myself) take WDW a little too serious.

They are just theme parks.

We all go to the Disney parks and resorts to escape reality and be entertained, and if the majority of guests are entertained, why is it such a big deal?

The suspension of reality is a necessity when patronizing a Disney park, so why is it so difficult to suspend reality by seeing a French castle in the middle of a small Midwestern town, a giant sorcerer's hat in the middle of '40's Hollywood, a "world showcase" (which may be another topic entirely, no one seems to complain about Japan being next to Morroco) in which sterilized "countries" are all placed next to each other, or the fact that there is a huge, FAKE, tree in the middle of Asia, Africa, Camp Minnie- Mickey (whatever that is)???

In the case of MK there are "lands" that are impossible to properly "theme" together, which is makes it so much fun. The fact you can "travel" to far reaching "lands" is what makes a theme park (particularly a Disney theme park) so much different than an amusement park. To expect that all the "themes" of different rides and attractions within a park to be "perfectly" tied in together is just unrealistic, IMO. And more importantly, having such a diversity in "themes" is absolutely necessary in the execution of a well designed theme park.

I understand it's not Disney, but for crying out loud, look at IOA at Universal and how the "lands" do not really tie in to each other in any way, shape, or form.

 

[Missing20K]

And as an aside, let's not forget the "theme" of MK in the first place, as expertly described by the plaque.

If anyone would like to explain how one could resolve the exceedingly different "themes" of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy, I'm all ears.

 

[TP2000]

^^^^^

That's cool, awesome. At least Disney is keeping Roger Rabbit alive in Disneyland. I dug car toon spin.

---> now back to the regular topic of discussion.

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin is a wild ride, that's for sure!

The Red Cars are a great way to tie the new DCA entrance in to the past. Anyone who had parents and grandparents that grew up in LA remembers them talking about the Red Cars, or pointing out old tracks still in the street where they used to run. There are still many that are restored and are used for regularly scheduled tourist purposes today.

But the new Red Cars to be installed for DCA are all new, and are being custom designed and built by Walt Disney Imagineering. They will need to be up to speed when it comes to modern codes and wheelchair accesibility, for instance. But they will look very vintage and genuine.

These could also be installed in DHS at WDW easily. They would fit wonderfully on Hollywood and Sunset Blvd. in DHS. If I remember correctly, there is a snack stand in DHS that has been themed to an old Red Car. But what DHS needs is a real working system taking guests from the front of the park towards Tower of Terror.

 

[Dr.Seeker]

I agree, the red cars would really enhance the Hollwood feel of DHS, I think Hollwood and Sunset may be a bit too narrow though...I'm not sure.
As for the theming issue Missing 20K hit it on the head, there's little point in sweating the theming of a park, and it's funny how this issue only arises on coming attractions. This is because opened attractions have been tirelessly worked by imagineers and as a result it never glaringly jarrs with its surroundings.
Whether or not you like Flying Carpets over Agrabah, you have to admit that it was well integrated into Adventureland with the overlay of the Morrocan themed market and the intricate jewels and tile fragments in the surrounding paths.

The imagineers take theming as seriously as the rest of us and you have to trust that they won't (happily) allow anything to be less than amazing.