Here's a hilarious Top Ten List from SaveDisney.com
http://www.savedisney.com/humor/top_ten072004.asp
http://www.savedisney.com/humor/top_ten072004.asp
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DCA Top Ten List
- Thread starter Merlin
- Start date
LadyDarling
New Member
I actually found them cynical and negative towards a park that is growing, improving, and coming into it's own. I for one enjoy larger walkways where I can move around without dodging or just plain getting stuck like in Adventureland. There are plenty of thrill rides (Maliboomer, CA screamin', ToT...) that have made people sick and give the thrill seekers something to do. And I can make a good 10 hour day out of DCA. I enjoy the slower pace.
I guess I'm just weird like that. I had my annual pass before they brought DCA into the picture and I still bring friends and highly recommend DCA to folks.
Smear campaigns never worked well on me. I find them repulsive. Yes, I'm for bringing Disneyland back up to par and overall creative improvement. However, I'm not for the cynical sarcasim that seems to have overwhelmed that site. It's very sad - what was once a resource for information on upcoming Disney meetings, changes, etc, that I (as a shareholder) found useful is now little more than a smearing campaign. I'm dissappointed, and personal believe it's this kind of thing that brings down the integrity of an argument.
But that's just my 2 cents!
I guess I'm just weird like that. I had my annual pass before they brought DCA into the picture and I still bring friends and highly recommend DCA to folks.
Smear campaigns never worked well on me. I find them repulsive. Yes, I'm for bringing Disneyland back up to par and overall creative improvement. However, I'm not for the cynical sarcasim that seems to have overwhelmed that site. It's very sad - what was once a resource for information on upcoming Disney meetings, changes, etc, that I (as a shareholder) found useful is now little more than a smearing campaign. I'm dissappointed, and personal believe it's this kind of thing that brings down the integrity of an argument.
But that's just my 2 cents!
xfkirsten
New Member
I gotta agree with you there. Savedisney.com is not the same as it was originally. I really don't even visit there anymore.
I didn't find the list all that funny. This is one of my pet peeves: only mentioning the negative side of a park, and not acknowledging the good things (and I mean REALLY good, not the bad things twisted to sound good). I'm not meaning to start another is-DCA-worth-it debate here, because lord knows we've beaten that dead horse into its fifth afterlife. I just am starting to get really annoyed by the wet blanket attitude.
-Kirsten
I didn't find the list all that funny. This is one of my pet peeves: only mentioning the negative side of a park, and not acknowledging the good things (and I mean REALLY good, not the bad things twisted to sound good). I'm not meaning to start another is-DCA-worth-it debate here, because lord knows we've beaten that dead horse into its fifth afterlife. I just am starting to get really annoyed by the wet blanket attitude.
-Kirsten
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I agree...while this list is humorous, the fact that they are putting trash like it on a site that is trying to seriously take Eisner out of the company is absurd. That site has turned into little more than miceage, and it certainly does not make me want Roy Disney back in the company. He seems to hate everything about it. It is pessimism that is not at all what I associate with the Disney brand. They fail to acknowledge how much effort and money Matt Ouimet and Emmer are putting into fixing the parks, which is considerable. The Disneyland Resort hit a lowpoint and is rising up from that point, now.
RU42
New Member
Whoa - I don't read the site because I find it fruitless. However, I did find the list very funny in of itself. Humor, at times, distorts realilty to make a joke. That is what that list was trying to do. it played on perceptions (real or imagined.)
Review past posts and you will find I defend DCA and think it is a fun place visit (and Kirsten knows I enjoy DCA as much as DL.) It still doesn't mean I can't laugh at it in a light moment. (and no, I don't feel I was attacked - no apologies needed)
And Kirsten has a good point.....
so.....
Top 10 (or whatever) Thigns About DCA: (I will start off with a few, feel free to add)
1. Innovative ride concept of Soarin Over California
2. Top notch stage production of Aladdin
Now your turn...add something.
RU
Review past posts and you will find I defend DCA and think it is a fun place visit (and Kirsten knows I enjoy DCA as much as DL.) It still doesn't mean I can't laugh at it in a light moment. (and no, I don't feel I was attacked - no apologies needed)
And Kirsten has a good point.....
so.....
Top 10 (or whatever) Thigns About DCA: (I will start off with a few, feel free to add)
1. Innovative ride concept of Soarin Over California
2. Top notch stage production of Aladdin
Now your turn...add something.
RU
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
3.Best roller coaster I've ever been on--California Screamin'
4.Best raft ride I've ever been on--Grizzly River Run
5.Paradise Pier looks awesome at Night
6.Tower of Terror's nighttime lighting
7.Tower of Terror
8.Disney's Electrical Parade
9.Pretty scenery in the Golden State
10.the area music
4.Best raft ride I've ever been on--Grizzly River Run
5.Paradise Pier looks awesome at Night
6.Tower of Terror's nighttime lighting
7.Tower of Terror
8.Disney's Electrical Parade
9.Pretty scenery in the Golden State
10.the area music
LadyDarling
New Member
Gotta admit I love that area music too! LOL Gotta get my hands on it someday!
Can it be longer than 10?
There is a lot to say about it! It's a good respresentation of some of the best parts of CA without having to travel all over the state for out-of-staters.
Can it be longer than 10?
There is a lot to say about it! It's a good respresentation of some of the best parts of CA without having to travel all over the state for out-of-staters.
Figment1986
Well-Known Member
funny list... i like
1. You'll still have time to go to the beach when you're through.
1. You'll still have time to go to the beach when you're through.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Hmmm...I have all the music lolLadyDarling said:Gotta admit I love that area music too! LOL Gotta get my hands on it someday!
Can it be longer than 10?
LadyDarling
New Member
ISTCNavigator57 said:
No worries. :animwink: I'll join you in the ranks of ownership too! As soon as I get back up there with some spare change!
JaSnake16
Member
I went to CA the year it opened and I really liked it. I dont know why people have to feel so strongly negative about this park. Give it time to grow on its own. People said similar things about EPCOT when it opened, too educational, not enough thrills, etc. But Disney does not make SIx Flags type parks, never did, and I think that too many people want those type rides in a theme park now and if it doesnt deliver than its boring or a failure. Give it a chance, people like the one who wrote the list wanna rush things, life dont work like that.
JaSnake16 said:
The things that people said about Epcot aren't really the same things we're saying about DCA. I've never heard anyone accuse DCA of being "too educational".
What sets DCA apart from other Disney parks that had slow starts is it's lack of creativity combined with no clear theme. Don't forget that DCA was designed and built during the Paul Pressler/Cynthia Harris era. They seemed to believe that crowds would flock to any park and pay top dollar as long as it had the Disney name on it. I remember reading, in a number of publications, that they spent more money on stores and restaurants than they did on attractions. Considering all the carnival rides and knock off's, I think it's safe to assume that claim is true.
A lot of people criticize DCA because it's themed to California and it's located IN California. Personally, I've never had an issue with this. In fact, quite the opposite. I don't think there's much at all about DCA that actually DOES represent California.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Disney is taking a creative approach to the themes that make California what it is. They are not attempting to represent or replace California as it is--that would be absurd for a 55 acre park to attempt. World Showcase, too, offers very stereotypical representations of the 11 nations it presents, but people love it. As for that gift shop comment--um, no. Attractions like Soarin', Grizzly River Run, and Cali Screamin' were very expensive to create. All in all, the 2001 expansion of the Disneyland Resort cost more than $1 billion, so I don't buy the cheap comments at all. The Golden State, especially, has some of the best Disney theming I have ever seen. I wish people would get over trying to compare it to the state of California and just do what the tourists do (most of whom like DCA), and view it as a Disney theme park, nothing more. In that light, it is enjoyable, and it has as clearly defined a theme as Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM, Animal Kingdom, and Tokyo Disney Sea. All of those parks also have a ROUGH theme they stick to, but they go off in many directions and create parks that are in many ways fragmented, but we still love them.
DCA is a growing park with an impressive lineup following only 3 years (compare it to 6 year old Animal Kingdom). If there was a mistake that they made in building it, it was building a park more for tourists than locals. Thus, most of the people who have problems with the park hold an AP and are locals.
DCA is a growing park with an impressive lineup following only 3 years (compare it to 6 year old Animal Kingdom). If there was a mistake that they made in building it, it was building a park more for tourists than locals. Thus, most of the people who have problems with the park hold an AP and are locals.
ISTCNavigator57 said:
I agree that the concept of taking a "creative approach to the themes that make California what it is" would be a good one. However, I don't agree that this is what Disney has done with this park. For example, rides like the Golden Zephyr, Mulholland Madness and others just scream "CARNIVAL" in my opinion. At the other end of the spectrum, you have attractions that have NOTHING to do with California. For example, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire has no place in a theme park that is supposed to be themed to California. I once made this argument before on these boards and someone who disagreed with me attempted to support that it had EVERYTHING to do with California on the basis that California..."has game shows". Sorry, but that's a major stretch. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is a show that is taped in New York, and they make a point of making this very obvious during the opening credits. It's silly to put it in a park that is supposed to represent California. Likewise with It's Tough to Be a Bug and A Bug's Land. Again, I once had someone tell me I was silly to say this section didn't fit because, after all, they..."have bugs in California". DCA does not represent California anywhere near as well as World Showcase represents it's countries. You're right that they ARE "stereotypes" of the countries represented. But at least they're not putting ferris wheels in Germany and claiming, "Well,...uh...SOMEWHERE in Germany there are ferris wheels. We're sure of it!"
One of the things that a tremendous number of people (many on these very boards) credit Disney with is the fact that when you visit a Disney park, you feel as though you're in "another world". This is due to the fact that the parks immerse you in their theme. I agree with you that sometimes they get a little "fragmented" with those themes at times, but never so blatantly as in DCA. At DCA, I feel as though I'm being told by Disney that this park is ABOUT California (after all, it's Disney that makes the claim that it's a "salute to the Golden State"), but when I wander around, I never feel as though I'm in any kind of representation of California, "stereotypical" or otherwise.
To tell you the truth, I do enjoy myself when I visit DCA. But I honestly have a tendency to forget I'm even in a Disney park when I'm there.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
That's the point. Everything doesn't have to do directly with California. They were not attempting (or maybe they were when they first built it, but have moved away from this) to make a park solely about California. Why? Because locals don't want to go to a park about California. That is why all of these attractions that don't have anything to do exclusively with California have opened. If you haven't noticed, every new attraction since opening has been only vaguely applicable to a California theme--Aladdin, Tower of Terror, Millionaire, Playhouse Disney, Brother Bear, Block Party Bash next year, and the Monsters, Inc. ride. They attempt has been to move away from the original, unsuccessful concept, and toward something more Disney. This has been highlighted by the name change in this park. Notice that it used to be Disney's California Adventure Park, where Adventure Park was the type of park (much like Sea World Adventure Parks). Thus, when you enter the park, you see the giant California. The park's name was Disney's California. It was an adventure park. Now, they have moved away from that toward Disney's California Adventure--an adventure in California. They take the general themes of the natural world, agriculture, entertainment, aviation, and 1930s beachfront boardwalk areas, and they expand on those themes with attractions that are distinctly Disney. That is what this park is moving toward--a diverse park united by a general Californian theme, but which greatly expands upon that. The only area of the park that feels different from other Disney parks that I have been to is Paradise Pier, but that area is by no means as cheap as Dino-Rama at Animal Kingdom, and it has the best roller coaster I have ever been on. I like it for how different it is--like nothing at other Disney parks. It is there for people who like Six Flags parks but also love Disney (and because it was relatively cheap to build), and I love Paradise Pier, especial at night with its beautiful lighting. While its theming is less than we see in the Golden State and the rides are very light on story-telling, I find that the area works well together to tell a story, and it is certainly the prettiest, cleanest, most well-themed amusement park-type area I have ever been to, with the theming the rides do have and the music.