Guardians Tower announcement Saturday in SD ...

[TP2000]

From a real estate perspective, I do not know why Marvel land couldn't occupy the Pumbaa lot, and perhaps it will. But you will need to walk through a relatively desolate Hollywood pastiche to get there. I guess the Hollywood theme signifies "movies," but neither Pixar nor Marvel came up in the Hollywood of the 30s and 40s. As one of many lands in the park, Hollywood is not a Buena Vista Street, essential for setting up expectations, informing the guest's experience, or serving as a mission statement. There is a lot of potential for improvement here. Whether you find these potential developments exciting or not is a matter of perspective.

So as the dust settles on this announcement, this topic is trending strongly towards something that should be moved to the Disneyland forum. But just to clarify for our friends east of the Rockies, there was a great map floating around online last week that summed up all the rumors swirling last week before the Comic Con announcement. This is where heavily rumored Marvel and Fantasyland expansion is rumored to go, and where officially confirmed by Disney parking, hotel and Star Wars expansion is currently under construction in Anaheim.

Pumbaa will be parking, not Marvel. Tower of Terror, er... Mission:BREAKOUT (along with most of DCA park) is cut off just below this map image.

The orange shaded "Marvel Land" area currently houses Monsters Inc. dark ride, Sunset Showcase preview theater, a largely unused warehouse for corporate events, and a mothballed food court shut down in 2002. The orange "DCA Expansion ML" is current bus loading areas that will move to the purple "Parking Structure Site: Phase 1" area in 2018.

The Comic Con announcement on Saturday just confirmed the rumors this map was based on, that Marvel expansion is coming to DCA sooner rather than later. What's left as just a good old rumor-rumor is the Arendelle expansion of Fantasyland.

 

[mmartin046]

This doesn't quite work. Disneyland is its own being, completely separate from that of the state of California.

Yes.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Agree with almost everything you say there, except that the sightlines of Tower of Terror are bad. It sounds to me like you are saying they are bad because Tower is, at times, visible from other lands in DCA (plus some spots in Disneyland).

The bizare looking Pueblo-Deco hotel with half its structure blown off has been visible from the patio of the Golden Vine Winery since 2004, but somehow folks were able to get their Pinot Grigio down without choking.

I find it fascinating when people complain about being able to see a ride they don't approve of (Mission: BREAKOUT! 2017) from other lands, but remain silent when they can see a ride they do approve of in other lands (Matterhorn 1959, Thunder Mountain 1979, Grizzly Peak 2001, etc.). You can see the Matterhorn from Buena Vista Street, but no one has ever said one word about that on message boards.

To hear some fans tell it, suddenly because it's Marvel and not an Eisner-era IP licensed from CBS, it's the downfall of themed entertainment.

Agreed. But the painted on flat detail of DCA's Tower (thanks Paul Pressler! Hi Cynthia Harriss!) is about to be fixed with real surfaces and design. Seeing this in the distance from the Golden Vine Winery won't ruin my Pinot Grigio any more than seeing Twilight Zone Tower of Terror did.

I have been quite vocal against the visibility of DCA's Tower, especially in Cars Land. It doesn't fit and neither will this overlay. I think that's a neutral development for most areas of the park. It was an issue and will continue to be an issue with a different theme.

 

[flynnibus]

This doesn't quite work. Disneyland is its own being, completely separate from that of the state of California.

I couldn't even reply to that jumble..

 

[RSoxNo1]

That's dangerously close to an SEC violation.

I doubt it.

 

[flynnibus]

\
The Comic Con announcement on Saturday just confirmed the rumors this map was based on, that Marvel expansion is coming to DCA sooner rather than later. What's left as just a good old rumor-rumor is the Arendelle expansion of Fantasyland.

It didn't confirm expansion - just more marvel. If that is more reclaimation or expansion/addition is not confirmed by what they said. That map is pretty generous with DL giving up even more BoH without really any place to relocate it. SW already put a hurting on that topic.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I couldn't even reply to that jumble..

It took me a while to understand it myself.

 

[TP2000]

It didn't confirm expansion - just more marvel. If that is more reclaimation or expansion/addition is not confirmed by what they said. That map is pretty generous with DL giving up even more BoH without really any place to relocate it. SW already put a hurting on that topic.

But it happened, and all that BOH space in the Yellow zone was leveled six months ago and Disneyland continues to operate without it.

The Blue Fantasyland Expansion in that map is already leveled, and seen in the middle distance of the photo above next to the Fantasyland Theater and Toontown.

The existing land slated as "Marvel Land" is a wasteland with one dark ride, and three large warehouses that are mothballed or rarely used for daily operation. If they can bulldoze Walt Disney's original railroad roundhouse from 1955 and ask a dozen horses to commute to work from Anaheim Hills to accommodate Star Wars, they can surely tear down Superstar Limo and Stage 17 for exciting new Marvel IP.

 

[Ismael Flores]

My two cents... Long time lurker... OK, so like that finally it appears that Disney is going to use the fantastic IP that the Marvel universe can represent. My problem is the cohesiveness of this ugly façade on the ToT, with the Red Car Trolley, a wonderful component of the desire to male this park cohesive, passing right in front.

Marvel, as well as the LucasFilm properties do not deserve a 'shoe horning' approach in the existing parks. These properties, with the width and breadth of what they deliver, are best served in their own separate gate... Then, you can really not care about theming or anything...

Of course, that would cost a lot more $$ than is presently earmarked for these projects.

We are really worried about a trolley that passes for a few minutes in front of a building and say it's out of theme but we have no problem with a monorail passing around a Swiss mountain, a medieval castle and building full of dolls.
And let's not forget about a steam train in tomorrowland or going thru dinosaurs.

 

[mmartin046]

I couldn't even reply to that jumble..

That which is already in the real California does not also need to exist in Disneyland's facsimile of California, located within California.

 

[Andrew_Ryan]

The bizare looking Pueblo-Deco hotel with half its structure blown off has been visible from the patio of the Golden Vine Winery since 2004, but somehow folks were able to get their Pinot Grigio down without choking.

I find it fascinating when people complain about being able to see a ride they don't approve of (Mission: BREAKOUT! 2017) from other lands, but remain silent when they can see a ride they do approve of in other lands (Matterhorn 1959, Thunder Mountain 1979, Grizzly Peak 2001, etc.). You can see the Matterhorn from Buena Vista Street, but no one has ever said one word about that on message boards.

To hear some fans tell it, suddenly because it's Marvel and not an Eisner-era IP licensed from CBS, it's the downfall of themed entertainment.

In an ideal world, ToT would have never been cloned in the first place. Yes, the sight-lines were always bad. Turing the tower into comic-book-space-time-craziness is only making it worse.

 

[Ismael Flores]

Any idea why it wasn't included in Tokyo?

I remember a WDI that used to commute with me and did much of the work for TDS told me that the effect never worked as they wanted it and the tech issues were bothering them quite a bit. When OLC decided that they were going ahead with the project they were shown both versions. They had other ideas of what to do with the 3D room. OLC preferred the DCA version but did not want the twilight theme

 

[Californian Elitist]

We are really worried about a trolley that passes for a few minutes in front of a building and say it's out of theme but we have no problem with a monorail passing around a Swiss mountain, a medieval castle and building full of dolls.
And let's not forget about a steam train in tomorrowland or going thru dinosaurs.

The Monorail does not travel around the Matterhorn, SBC, and small world. Even if it did, it is completely different from the Trolley. The Red Car Trolley is a very specific period-themed mode of transportation, unlike the Monorail.

 

[peter11435]

The Monorail does not travel around the Matterhorn, SBC, and small world. Even if it did, it is completely different from the Trolley. The Red Car Trolley is a very specific period-themed mode of transportation, unlike the Monorail.

Have you been to Disneyland?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Have you been to Disneyland?

Was born and raised in Los Angeles, I've been visiting Disneyland since I was an infant (take a look at my profile pic). I also worked there.

Have you been?

 

[flynnibus]

But it happened, and all that BOH space in the Yellow zone was leveled six months ago and Disneyland continues to operate without it.

Like I said... 'SW already put a hurting on that topic'

It's one thing to find out how to optimize and reduce what must be directly onsite.. it's another thing to keep thinking you can drive that to zero. Like I said, the BoH that SW displaced already put a huge clamp down on what had to stay within the traditional park property vs moved away. You can't simply repeat that over and over as if none of the other passes happened.

What has been cleared now does not necessarily mean it will be guest areas.. it means things need to be reorganized or built in that space. The blue area in that map is not all cleared now.. as the map takes over portions of toontown too.

The map is optimistic. There are reasons the park is slow to expand its boundaries and instead typically cannibalizes existing space. Expanding means more infrastructure needed, more labor, all while eating away at the BoH resources to support the show.

 

[flynnibus]

Have you been to Disneyland?

Your hyperbole was pretty far off.. hence her response. The monorail only passes within sight of the matterhorn.. not around it.. and not near any of the other things you mentioned.

 

[NearTheEars]

Kudos Universal

https://twitter.com/UniversalORL/status/757613498448871424

What did it say? Deleted now.

 

[asianway]

What did it say? Deleted now.

They mocked the DCA Tower overlay

 

[Variable]

That's dangerously close to an SEC violation.

Its gone now.