Originally posted by imagineersrock
the dinosaur thing sounds real cool but i have a slightly off topic question;
why is calfornia adventure such a hated park?? it looks really neat from what i've seen, not only does it look like a visually appealing park, but they have that great looking coaster, an equally good looking rapids ride, and that soarin' ride is apparently incredible too, so why is it doing so poorly with the public? -with my logic it should be doing great...?:veryconfu
I think that is a difficult question to answer, but I'll try to give a few insights from what I've read elsewhere.
(1) It was immediately compared to its sister park, Disneyland. Considering it costs the same to enter, people wanted a park that provided as much to do as Disneyland. Although as history has shown, most of Disney's parks, including MGM and AK, start off with no where near what Disneyland or MK has. Its just economically infeasible. Many Disney critics and fans immediately bashed it for its "lack of things to do".
(2) Disney tried to build a park that would cater to an "older" crowd and worked hard to not create another Disneyland. What they found is that guests in fact were expecting another Disneyland type park. Recent additions that cater to kids has shown the shift in Disney's thinking of the park.
(3) The California Theme. Most visitors to the Disneyland resort are locals and the idea of entering a park that recreates things they could easily drive to hasn't proven to be appealing.
(4) The "backstage" look. A lot of the park allows visitors to see backstage stuff. Be it riding on the sunwheel and looking behind the buildings to the fact that the entire Hollywood section is simply a facade you can walk behind (they did this with New York Street at MGM). Although the park looks nice, I think some expected more.
(5) Off-the-shelf rides. An entire land contains off-the-shelf style rides. Unfortunately, that seems to dominate people's thoughts of this side of the park. Not the fact that each ride was themed and creates a very authentic beach/boardwalk setting.
(6) Easy sight of things outside of the park. This one does annoy me a little. You can see power lines, buildings, etc. from within the park that are part of the surrounding city. The open areas prevent the guests from entering a world that is not impinged on by the outside world. Its unfortunate, really.
(7) A bad rap on the internet. People love to find fault it seems and don't look at the good. I truly believe DCA will turn into a nice park. It needs a little work, but with the addition of the Tower of Terror, Aladdin show, A Bug's Land (and Flick's Fun Fair) and Playhouse Disney: Live on Stage, all within two-three years after its opening, the park is working to make itself better. I just hope that it will not be plagued forever by the bad press its gotten on the internet. Something MGM, a park that had very little when it opened, had to face.