Disneyland Resort "Phase Three" Discussion Thread

[TheOriginalTiki]

Hello, everyone. I figured I'd make my first thread here be something that I'm actually familar with. I'm hoping that since this is primarily a WDW-based site I can provide a bit of expertise from the West Coast side of things. While I haven't gone to the parks in about five years, I routinely visited all throughout my teenage years and grew an intense love of the place and memorized every nook and cranny like my own back yard. With being so familar with the resort, it also became clear to me what areas needed the most attention. I'd like to use this thread to spotlight ideas that would help Disneyland Resort as a whole grow and prosper. This will include additions to both parks as well as ideas for a third gate and DownTown Disney and hotel expansions.

Disney California Adventure:
obviously having just recieved a giant makeover already, this is the park I'm the least concerned about. But of course there's always room for improvement. Hollywoodland is the obvious thing that needs to be looked at, especially the entire "Backlot" area spanning from MuppetVision to Hollywood and Dine. I'd like to see a couple of the soundstages that are currently being used for private events like the Millionare building turned into a truly E-Ticket dark ride for the Hollywood section of the park. A version of The Great Movie Ride would be my ideal option here, perhaps updated to include a trip through the most memorable movie moments of the past 20 years instead of a journey through "classic" Hollywood. Of course "Great Muppet Movie Ride" is always an option, haha!

I'd eventually like to see Bugs Land go and be replaced by an extension of Cars Land and possibly containing a version of Autopia. I love the scenery that Bugs Land provides but aside from Hemlich the attractions are very cookie-cutter. Also, it's a small detail but it'd make me very happy to see the name of Cars Land eventually changed to just "Radiator Springs".

Finally, I think special care needs to be taken in the Grizzly Peak area of the park. While I love the mythos of the original "Condor Flats" area, I think the overall park would benifit from that side of the mountain being an extension of the Grizzly Peak National Park theme instead to give a better flow. If at all possible I'd love to see a Grizzly Peak Railroad that goes from Buena Vista Street to Paradise Pier. At this point wanting AAs inside of Grizzly River Run is just obvious. I'd also love to see some kind of berm go up that cuts off Grizzly Peak from the Grand Californian. (And give the overall park a more defined "berm" for that matter, as the lack of one is perhaps THE biggest thing that seperates Disneyland from DCA in terms of fully sucking you in) If there's any room inside the actual mountain itself, I think a "Gravity Falls" dark ride would also work quiet well in that area (yes...I know the show is technically set in Oregon...)

With my next post I'll be exploring options for the long-rumored Third Gate as well as lay out the "problem" areas of Disneyland Park that could be expanded upon in the future. Hope ya'll like my first thread and please feel free to leave any feedback of critique you like!

 

[DinoInstitute]

Hello, everyone. I figured I'd make my first thread here be something that I'm actually familar with. I'm hoping that since this is primarily a WDW-based site I can provide a bit of expertise from the West Coast side of things. While I haven't gone to the parks in about five years, I routinely visited all throughout my teenage years and grew an intense love of the place and memorized every nook and cranny like my own back yard. With being so familar with the resort, it also became clear to me what areas needed the most attention. I'd like to use this thread to spotlight ideas that would help Disneyland Resort as a whole grow and prosper. This will include additions to both parks as well as ideas for a third gate and DownTown Disney and hotel expansions.

Disney California Adventure:
obviously having just recieved a giant makeover already, this is the park I'm the least concerned about. But of course there's always room for improvement. Hollywoodland is the obvious thing that needs to be looked at, especially the entire "Backlot" area spanning from MuppetVision to Hollywood and Dine. I'd like to see a couple of the soundstages that are currently being used for private events like the Millionare building turned into a truly E-Ticket dark ride for the Hollywood section of the park. A version of The Great Movie Ride would be my ideal option here, perhaps updated to include a trip through the most memorable movie moments of the past 20 years instead of a journey through "classic" Hollywood. Of course "Great Muppet Movie Ride" is always an option, haha!

I'd eventually like to see Bugs Land go and be replaced by an extension of Cars Land and possibly containing a version of Autopia. I love the scenery that Bugs Land provides but aside from Hemlich the attractions are very cookie-cutter. Also, it's a small detail but it'd make me very happy to see the name of Cars Land eventually changed to just "Radiator Springs".

Finally, I think special care needs to be taken in the Grizzly Peak area of the park. While I love the mythos of the original "Condor Flats" area, I think the overall park would benifit from that side of the mountain being an extension of the Grizzly Peak National Park theme instead to give a better flow. If at all possible I'd love to see a Grizzly Peak Railroad that goes from Buena Vista Street to Paradise Pier. At this point wanting AAs inside of Grizzly River Run is just obvious. I'd also love to see some kind of berm go up that cuts off Grizzly Peak from the Grand Californian. (And give the overall park a more defined "berm" for that matter, as the lack of one is perhaps THE biggest thing that seperates Disneyland from DCA in terms of fully sucking you in) If there's any room inside the actual mountain itself, I think a "Gravity Falls" dark ride would also work quiet well in that area (yes...I know the show is technically set in Oregon...)

With my next post I'll be exploring options for the long-rumored Third Gate as well as lay out the "problem" areas of Disneyland Park that could be expanded upon in the future. Hope ya'll like my first thread and please feel free to leave any feedback of critique you like!

Sounds pretty cool! I personally have never been to the Disneyland Resort (though I'd really like to), so I'm not as familiar with the areas and what needs to be updated. But I do like the idea of expanding the Grizzly Peak a lot, because that theme seems like it can have a whole lot of cool attractions. Also, Hollywoodland probably would benefit the park if it were to have more of an immersive theme rather than a studio. But again, I really haven't been so I am not sure. Sometimes it is much better in person than on paper. But anyways, I really like this and look forward to the next instalment!

 

[RMichael21]

Hello, everyone. I figured I'd make my first thread here be something that I'm actually familar with. I'm hoping that since this is primarily a WDW-based site I can provide a bit of expertise from the West Coast side of things. While I haven't gone to the parks in about five years, I routinely visited all throughout my teenage years and grew an intense love of the place and memorized every nook and cranny like my own back yard. With being so familar with the resort, it also became clear to me what areas needed the most attention. I'd like to use this thread to spotlight ideas that would help Disneyland Resort as a whole grow and prosper. This will include additions to both parks as well as ideas for a third gate and DownTown Disney and hotel expansions.

Disney California Adventure:
obviously having just recieved a giant makeover already, this is the park I'm the least concerned about. But of course there's always room for improvement. Hollywoodland is the obvious thing that needs to be looked at, especially the entire "Backlot" area spanning from MuppetVision to Hollywood and Dine. I'd like to see a couple of the soundstages that are currently being used for private events like the Millionare building turned into a truly E-Ticket dark ride for the Hollywood section of the park. A version of The Great Movie Ride would be my ideal option here, perhaps updated to include a trip through the most memorable movie moments of the past 20 years instead of a journey through "classic" Hollywood. Of course "Great Muppet Movie Ride" is always an option, haha!

I'd eventually like to see Bugs Land go and be replaced by an extension of Cars Land and possibly containing a version of Autopia. I love the scenery that Bugs Land provides but aside from Hemlich the attractions are very cookie-cutter. Also, it's a small detail but it'd make me very happy to see the name of Cars Land eventually changed to just "Radiator Springs".

Finally, I think special care needs to be taken in the Grizzly Peak area of the park. While I love the mythos of the original "Condor Flats" area, I think the overall park would benifit from that side of the mountain being an extension of the Grizzly Peak National Park theme instead to give a better flow. If at all possible I'd love to see a Grizzly Peak Railroad that goes from Buena Vista Street to Paradise Pier. At this point wanting AAs inside of Grizzly River Run is just obvious. I'd also love to see some kind of berm go up that cuts off Grizzly Peak from the Grand Californian. (And give the overall park a more defined "berm" for that matter, as the lack of one is perhaps THE biggest thing that seperates Disneyland from DCA in terms of fully sucking you in) If there's any room inside the actual mountain itself, I think a "Gravity Falls" dark ride would also work quiet well in that area (yes...I know the show is technically set in Oregon...)

With my next post I'll be exploring options for the long-rumored Third Gate as well as lay out the "problem" areas of Disneyland Park that could be expanded upon in the future. Hope ya'll like my first thread and please feel free to leave any feedback of critique you like!

I completely agree with almost everything you said. Besides Hollywoodland (which NEEDS to be updated), Grizzly Peak/Condor Flats is what is in need of a redo. It pretty much wasn't touched at all during the DCA overhaul. When I was there in July, it was one of the standouts and not in a good way. I found the theming relaxing, but they could do so much more with it.

the only point that I disagree on is extending Cars Land into A Bug's Land. Cars is already very prominent in the park and I feel a different IP would work better. Maybe Pixar, maybe not. Even a new land not based on an IP would be great. I just feel more Cars would be overkill, with Frozen being a prime example of this in the current day and age.

 

[RMichael21]

Hello, everyone. I figured I'd make my first thread here be something that I'm actually familar with. I'm hoping that since this is primarily a WDW-based site I can provide a bit of expertise from the West Coast side of things.

Thank you for this! Even though this is a WDW site, plenty of people on here have gone to DL. That being said, I feel like Disneyland could be mentioned more around these parts.

 

[Matt7187]

Again, @TheOriginalTiki welcome to the boards! And for that, I agree mostly. I think that TGMR as a showcase for classics should stay exclusive to DHS. The Great Muppet Movie Ride, though, I'm for 100%. Really, I wouldn't mind making a little Muppets mini land back there. For Cars/Bugs Land, I really like Bugs Land, but then again, I have only been to DLR 3 times. I probably find more amusement in that then someone who has been there hundreds of times. I agree, the rides are crap. I wish they would add a ride that the whole family could ride together. I have always dreamed of a Bugs Life log ride/water coaster hybrid, but there would most likely not be room for a true E-Ticket, nor should a movie like A Bugs life really have one, being the most forgotten/least successful Pixar movie. I agree with everything you said about Grizzly/Condor Flats except about a Gravity Falls dark ride. I just fully believe that a TV show (especially a Disney Channel show, which are all short lived) should not have a full ride dedicated to it. They become too outdated too fast. A show, sure, why not. Those can be updated relatively cheaply and easily. A ride, that just gets too pricey, especially for the penny pinchers at Disney.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

Yeah, I guess a Gravity Falls attraction is a bit of a pipedream on my end. It's something I've been having discussions about recently with people on my Youtube channel. I totally agree with your point about TV shows becoming outdated (Hello, "Gadget's Go Coaster"!!) I do believe that Gravity Falls has a great chance of standing the test of time and becoming one of the greatest shows in Disney Channel history, but then again you don't see Disney developing DuckTales or Gargoyles E-Tickets any time soon, haha. Still, Gravity Falls has a TON of atmosphere and different mysteries to it, so it's fun to speculate on possible ideas from a purely "blue sky" perspective.

I've long since thought that It's Tough to Be a Bug should be turned into a dark ride. The actual AAs and even the theater itself are really cool, it's just the "3D Theater" concept in itself that's a bit dated and from what I've read the film shows to mostly 1/3rd full crowds for the most part. You'd have the Hopper, Flick, and falling Spider AAs to work with, so it could be a bit like Splash Mountain in that there's a possibility of using AAs from a former sit-down show and re-using them as a ride. But yeah...the fact of the matter is "A Bugs Life" is probably the least memorable film in Pixar's entire lineup, so the fact that the land is even still there to begin with is kind of a head scratcher. As a Bay Area resident, I've long since thought one of the biggest taboos of the park...at least in its original theme...was a complete lack of San Francisco outside of tacky recreations of the Golden Gate and Palace of Fine Arts. Perhaps if there's enough room A Bugs Land could be scrapped and they could put in a mini San Francisco area connected to Pacific Wharf, which would make for a very good transition.

 

[Matt7187]

Perhaps if there's enough room A Bugs Land could be scrapped and they could put in a mini San Francisco area connected to Pacific Wharf, which would make for a very good transition.

If so, there would no doubt need to be an earthquake simulating ride

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

If Brad Bird's "1906" project ever comes to fruition, that could actually make for an amazing tie-in! The three biggest things you could explore with San Francisco are the earthquake, Alcatraz, and the Gold Rush. Alcatraz would take A LOT of real estate to pull off correctly, so that's kind of out of the question. The Gold Rush is already properly represented in Big Thunder Mountain to a certain extent. I've also long since thought a dark ride through Chinatown would be really cool (perhaps using ideas from the old "Fireworks Factory" concept) You could also possibly do a "Mystic Manor" type ride based on the Winchester Mystery House.

 

[tcool]

How about a walkthrough and store inside The Mystery Shack?

 

[Matt7187]

How about a walkthrough and store inside The Mystery Shack?

That would be more feasible, since a walk through can still be somewhat easily rethemed

 

[Wegerter]

I always thought that some obvious things to add to this park was muppet studios around muppet vision, but with the themeing like at DHS, sunset Blvd. near TOT., and Monstroplosis

 

[comics101]

Disney California Adventure:
obviously having just recieved a giant makeover already, this is the park I'm the least concerned about. But of course there's always room for improvement. Hollywoodland is the obvious thing that needs to be looked at, especially the entire "Backlot" area spanning from MuppetVision to Hollywood and Dine. I'd like to see a couple of the soundstages that are currently being used for private events like the Millionare building turned into a truly E-Ticket dark ride for the Hollywood section of the park. A version of The Great Movie Ride would be my ideal option here, perhaps updated to include a trip through the most memorable movie moments of the past 20 years instead of a journey through "classic" Hollywood. Of course "Great Muppet Movie Ride" is always an option, haha!

What if instead of the most memorable moments of the last 20 years, we shift focus to the most memorable Disney moments in cinema? Movies like Mary Poppins, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Tron, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 101 Dalmations (Glen Close), The Muppet Christmas Carol, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Iron Man, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. could be represented. If we wanted to, we could throw some shorts in there too, like Steamboat Willie and Flowers and Trees.
As for ride system, I think an Omnimover similar to Journey Into Imagination would work really well...maybe hosted by Jiminy Cricket, eliminating the need for tour guides and preventing a dated feeling that a celebrity host could bring in a few years?

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

I love the idea of using Omni-movers since I kinda think the changing guides thing is a bit clunky based on the videos I've watched, and not to mention would cut down on labor costs. There's certainly a lot of material to be mined from the Disney catalogue of films especially with Marvel and Star Wars now in their cannon, but my only concern would be that the actual format would be too similar to World of Color in that both would essentially be "Best of Disney" setpieces. I also worry about the fact that they're surely saving Marvel and Star Wars for something on a much bigger scale than individual scenes within a larger attraction. And speaking of big plans...

Disneyland Park

Oh boy, where do we even start? One of the things I've prided myself on in my Youtube channel is that I've been brutally honest about the poor state that the once unquestionable "greatest theme park in the world" has fallen into. First of all, let's get some boring political stuff out of the way. Beyond the lack of upkeep, beyond the incredibly poorly thought out "enhancement" of New Orleans Square/Club 33, beyond the fact that some areas (cough TOMORROWLANMD cough) are complete eye sores, one major thing is killing the Disneyland experience...over-crowding. Again, I'm not going to get too political here, but I feel like a major part of Disneyland becoming more and more congested with people and the "off season" becoming something of a long forgotten memory from when you could actually visit the park in, say...February and not expect wall-to-wall people. Of course the fact that APers have increased in numbers very consistently over the years...that's a subject I'm not touching with a ten foot poll since I'm a proud Six Flags season pass owner myself and gladly frequent my home park at least a couple times a month.

What I'm really worried about is the fact that from my perspective it seems the higher ups are actively concerned with turning every square inch of Disneyland into "commercial real estate". I'm cool with Frozen taking over one building for a meet n' greet...I'm absolutely NOT cool with virtually half the resort being decked over for some kind of Frozen overlay. Special events like the Mickey's Holiday Parties are also getting out of hand I feel. Barring the general public from the park for such long chunks of time every night that these events are going on can be nothing but infuriating for those not lucky enough to score a ticket...not that I would want to spend my entire Disney Park experience chumming it up with the characters to begin with...I would suggest these special events be held a couple times every holiday season and not EVERY weekend. This would allow many more people to have much more access to the park during these times, and also possibly ease the demand of getting into the park during the slower times. I just don't like the idea of Disneyland being an "exclusive" place barred to everyone but the select few who managed to get tickets. Everything about those kinds of events just make me feel "icky", for lack of a better word. Turning the parks into a profit-turning, every-square-inch-has-to-push-a-product corporate marketing tool is absolutely NOT what Walt had in mind when he was dreaming up the place.

Okay, so now for some fun stuff. I don't think the giant crowds Disneyland has been experiencing for the last decade or so are going away any time soon, especially now with the company more in the public spotlight then ever with the Star Wars and Marvel mega-franchises under their umbrella as well as arguably a new "golden age" of animated films being released from the company. How to we solve the problem of a 60+ year old park handling WAAAY more crowds then the place was originally ever anticipated to handle back in the 50s (a HUGE part of why Disneyland in particular gets more "cramped in" than other more current parks where there's deliberately a lot more pathways in between attractions) The answer is simple...you expand Disneyland out as much as you can to filter the guests through to various new areas and create an all around more cohesive layout to the park.

Let's start with Main Street, which has now become America's Favorite CONSTANT Traffic Jam. The back alley is a really good step in the right direction, but I'd like to see them take that one step further. For a long time we've heard rumors of a side street going between Main Street and Tomorrowland. I think if the Imagineers at long last put in something similar to Edison Square or Liberty Street in between these two lands it would not only be a really cool new side area of the park, but it'd serve as an effect funnel for a lot of guests wanting to get to Space Mountain from Main Street. Just opening up that pathway could potentially do wonders for the infamous clogged foot traffic that almost always plagues Main Street these days. Whatever attractions or theme you have in this back area doesn't matter as just a pathway between Main Street and Tomorrowland in itself.

I love Adventureland, but I hate to say it's the land that the least can be done about the foot traffic problem. Perhaps doing something with the tree house might make things a bit more manageable in this area, but there's not a ton of room to make any sort of alternate paths like there are on Main Street. I guess I'll just state the obvious...BRING BACK TAHITIAN TERRACE!!! Absolutely no reason why one of the coolest concepts for a theme park dining location ever is just sitting dormant. Taking out the tree house would certainly leave us with a much wider pathway out of the land, but the tree is so iconic and historically significant to the park I don't think I or the Imagineers themselves would actually consider doing that.

As I said, New Orleans Square is a mess and there's not a whole lot to be done about it unless they wanted to wave their wands and just erase the terrible Club 33 refurb that just happened. So, I guess my checklist would be bring back the Disney Gallery and like I said stop trying to make every square inch of park real estate into some sort of tacky promotion. Somehow find a way to get our Court of Angels back in the process. In all my years following Disneyland's development, them removing the Court of Angels was the single most infuriating decision I've ever seen them make. Another very obvious thing is to go the "Coke Classic" route with Pirates and take out ALL the movie references except for the final AA of Jack (that means no carnival barker Pirates that are only concerned with making sure you hear the name "Jack Sparrow" as many times as possible) I truly think something like this would bring A LOT of appreciation back to the attraction and return some of its former glory away from the hit-or-miss films. As for Haunted Mansion Holiday...if it were up to me I wouldn't have Nightmare characters in there at all as I just don't think it's a good fit with the original Claude Coats/Marc Davis style. I'd love to instead see an HMH that's simply themed to the "ghostly retirement home" concept going all out with elegant and spooky Christmas decor. If Jack Skellington needs to stay in the picture...would it be out of the question to at least somehow find a way to have the original Mansion open during Halloween. It bothers the crud out of me that all the Christmas stuff is there for almost half a year.

There's very little to be done with Critter Country beyond a much-needed major refurb for Splash to touch up the aging ascetics. Other than that the only thing I can think of is to do 3D projection mapping effects on Pooh like they're doing for the classic dark rides. Also, I'd love to see this area somehow be able to connect to Big Thunder Trail via the back side of the Rivers of America...which would again work wonders from a traffic flow point of view, but I'll talk a bit more about that later.

In my next post, I'll be looking at the real problem areas of the park and the areas that have the most room for expansion and change...Frontierland, ToonTown, and Tomorrowland.