Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway - Disneyland

[Disney Irish]

DCA needs to get it's (stuff) together. Honestly I think the name of the park is fine as is since it combines all of Disney's adventurous properties together into one park. Right after they remodeled Paradise Pier I was shocked that they just announced that they're redoing it again into Pixar Pier. My guess as to why this is is that Bug's Land and the Hollywood section of the park are going to be bulldozed soon for Marvel Land (that's why we saw Muppets and Monster's Inc close as well as TOT turn into Guardians) but I think they must have delayed the Marvel project for another year or so. Why you may ask? Latest news says that Disney just cracked a deal with 21st Century Fox that will be announced by the end of the year, which opens up the possibilities of X-Men and Fantastic Four attractions.

Monsters Inc is not closed, at least not yet... It has a 25 minute wait today.

As I stated in the Marvel thread, the Disney rumored buy out of Fox is just coincidental and really good timing. It has had no effect on Marvel Land as far as I'm aware. Maybe a poster with inside information knows for sure, but I highly doubt this even was part of the discussion concerning Marvel Land.

 

[Disney Irish]

There is so much Marvel material though, it would have behooved them to just BUILD A THIRD PARK

Unless you know something, we are not anywhere near having a third park built anytime in the next 10-15 years. And given the current political climate I don't see them even trying to attempt to get a deal done with Anaheim. Disney is not going to sit that long on Marvel, which is why we have Marvel Land.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Unless you know something, we are not anywhere near having a third park built anytime in the next 10-15 years. And given the current political climate I don't see them even trying to attempt to get a deal done with Anaheim. Disney is not going to sit that long on Marvel, which is why we have Marvel Land.

I'm saying they SHOULD have built a third park. Toy Story lot is already zoned for it, and instead of having a clear long term vision, they're flying by the seat of their pants to tack Star Wars and Marvel onto their two existing parks which are already nearly unvisitable much of the year due to crowds.

 

[Disney Irish]

I'm saying they SHOULD have built a third park. Toy Story lot is already zoned for it, and instead of having a clear long term vision, they're flying by the seat of their pants to tack Star Wars and Marvel onto their two existing parks which are already nearly unvisitable much of the year due to crowds.

I get you, but I don't know if it would have been possible given where we are today. The Pumbaa structure would still need to be built. And then they would still need to find a way to connect all of it together, ie more bridges that are unpopular with the neighbors. So until that political nightmare is over no movement will made on Toy Story.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I get you, but I don't know if it would have been possible given where we are today. The Pumbaa structure would still need to be built. And then they would still need to find a way to connect all of it together, ie more bridges that are unpopular with the neighbors. So until that political nightmare is over no movement will made on Toy Story.

Difficult now, but it would not have been so difficult five years ago. That's what I mean by lack of long term vision or plan - they wait until the last possible minute to do everything and have no long range plan. They change their minds constantly and make bad decisions as a result. There is no vision, there is no creativity, there is no leadership. Just blind jumping from franchise to franchise.

The Pumbaa structure should have opened in 2012. They've had plans for it since 2009 or so IIRC. They just kept putting it off and they suffered the consequences. They waited too long and made fools of themselves.

So yeah now their hands are tied and that's nobody's fault but their own.

 

[Disney Irish]

Difficult now, but it would not have been so difficult five years ago. That's what I mean by lack of long term vision or plan - they wait until the last possible minute to do everything and have no long range plan. They change their minds constantly and make bad decisions as a result. There is no vision, there is no creativity, there is no leadership. Just blind jumping from franchise to franchise.

The Pumbaa structure should have opened in 2012. They've had plans for it since 2009 or so IIRC. They just kept putting it off and they suffered the consequences. They waited too long and made fools of themselves.

So yeah now their hands are tied and that's nobody's fault but their own.

No doubts there have been many missteps, and should have been done years ago. What we do know is that Disney didn't own all the pieces needed for a large scale plan 5 years ago. They could have just put the structure, but nothing else. So then we still have to deal with how to get those 1000s of people from the structure into and out of the parks, or a future 3rd park on Toy Story. Just directing them to walk across busy Harbor and Katella is not safe long term. So again we are back to a bridge issue. Which for all we know the neighbors would have made the same stink 5 years ago.

 

[Travel Junkie]

For an example of proper long term planning look at OLC and Tokyo. There are expansions under construction right now and then the recent news about large scale expansions that won't begin for nearly a decade from now. Certainly plans will change between now and then, but they have a plan.

If DLR began the same process five years ago, they would have been in great shape with all of this great IP falling in their lap. Instead they shoehorned and rushed Marvel into DCA just so it had a presence and Star Wars is being put into an already overcrowded park instead of anchoring a third gate.

 

[mickEblu]

For an example of proper long term planning look at OLC and Tokyo. There are expansions under construction right now and then the recent news about large scale expansions that won't begin for nearly a decade from now. Certainly plans will change between now and then, but they have a plan.

If DLR began the same process five years ago, they would have been in great shape with all of this great IP falling in their lap. Instead they shoehorned and rushed Marvel into DCA just so it had a presence and Star Wars is being put into an already overcrowded park instead of anchoring a third gate.

Yes Japan is doing right. Not only did they get a DCA 3.0 off the bat as their second gate but now they are getting a DCA 1.0 too but with like an actual budget.

 

[No Name]

I don't think they completely own Avatar if the buy 20th Century Fox but I may be wrong.

 

[Disney Irish]

I don't think they completely own Avatar if the buy 20th Century Fox but I may be wrong.

No, Lightstorm Entertainment actually OWNs it as its James Cameron creation. Its Fox that owns the rights to distribute Avatar. Its similar to how Fox owns the right to distribute the original Star Wars even though its a Lucasfilm creation. So all that would come under Disney if the purchase of Fox goes through.

 

[Max of the Parks]

My bad earlier, for some reason I thought Monsters Inc was already out of the picture. (You can probably tell I'm an east coast guy).

 

[Disney Irish]

For an example of proper long term planning look at OLC and Tokyo. There are expansions under construction right now and then the recent news about large scale expansions that won't begin for nearly a decade from now. Certainly plans will change between now and then, but they have a plan.

If DLR began the same process five years ago, they would have been in great shape with all of this great IP falling in their lap. Instead they shoehorned and rushed Marvel into DCA just so it had a presence and Star Wars is being put into an already overcrowded park instead of anchoring a third gate.

Yes Japan is doing right. Not only did they get a DCA 3.0 off the bat as their second gate but now they are getting a DCA 1.0 too but with like an actual budget.

But doesn't TDL have more ability to expand as its not quite landlocked? Like I mean couldn't they expand into the bay if they wanted?

So if true doesn't that make the ability to plan long term much easier....

 

[mickEblu]

But doesn't TDL have more ability to expand as its not quite landlocked? Like I mean couldn't they expand into the bay if they wanted?

So if true doesn't that make the ability to plan long term much easier....

So what was Disney’s excuse for DCA 1.0 that opened around the same time as TDS? Space wasn’t an issue there.

 

[Disney Irish]

So what was Disney’s excuse for DCA 1.0 that opened around the same time as TDS?

I don't know if they have one. I was just asking the question. Although some blame DLP...

We are where are now, despite what happened in the past. The question is how does Disney move forward now. And it seems its a lot harder to make long plans now than some here would like to admit. Too many want to just blame the past instead of looking forward.

 

[mickEblu]

I don't know if they have one. I was just asking the question. Although some blame DLP...

We are where are now, despite what happened in the past. The question is how does Disney move forward now. And it seems its a lot harder to make long plans now than some here would like to admit. Too many want to just blame the past instead of looking forward.

Personally I wasn’t making commentary on DLRs direction or lack of planning for a third gate. I was commenting on TDRs successes.

Moving forward, I guess they will just continue to thematically downgrade the two existing parks to fit in all the hot IP.

 

[Disney Irish]

Personally I wasn’t making commentary on DLRs direction or lack of planning for a third gate. I was commenting on TDRs successes.

Moving forward, I guess they will just continue to thematically downgrade the two existing parks to fit in all the hot IP.

Maybe with DCA, although its been questioned whether DCA really had a good or even really had a singular theme anyways. But that is a tired debate which I don't want to drag up again. I think long term DCA will be the IPs park, for lack of a better terms a Studios park without the studio aspect.

However with DL its a bit different. With the exception of maybe losing TT (which is modern 90s creation anyways) the rest of theming seems to be secure. TL might be the only question, but it appears based on rumors they are looking for a long term unifying redo to last for the next 25-30 years.

So I think overall things will be fine. Will there be specific projects that we dislike, like Pixar Pier, sure. But overall the resort should be fine.

 

[BrianLo]

For an example of proper long term planning look at OLC and Tokyo.

You mean the company that was completely caught off guard when their 'mature product' suddenly picked up multi-million visitors for the 30th? They also had zero plans to do anything until the guest started pouring in out of nowhere and they too were caught without capacity. They DO have a vision, but they also cannot get their in gear to actually deliver it in a timely fashion.

There isn't a single resort that is perfect these days. Ironically WDW might have the most direction, just not the one the fanbois like.

 

[mickEblu]

Maybe with DCA, although its been questioned whether DCA really had a good or even really had a singular theme anyways. But that is a tired debate which I don't want to drag up again. I think long term DCA will be the IPs park, for lack of a better terms a Studios park without the studio aspect.

However with DL its a bit different. With the exception of maybe losing TT (which is modern 90s creation anyways) the rest of theming seems to be secure. TL might be the only question, but it appears based on rumors they are looking for a long term unifying redo to last for the next 25-30 years.

So I think overall things will be fine. Will there be specific projects that we dislike, like Pixar Pier, sure. But overall the resort should be fine.

I agree that everything will (most likely) be fine and that when you consider the direction of DCA at a certain point it won’t be a thematically Diminshed park but will have a new “theme” (IP “Studio” park) in a sort of California themed shell. One big asterisk** to “everything will be fine” is that current or future management knows where to the draw the line. Eventually DCA will run out of room and they ll need to find a new IP dumping ground. Do they turn to Disneyland? Are the DL classics safe? Do they start overlaying everything there too? I honestly don’t know anymore. Assuming they re not bat $hit crazy everything should be ok.

 

[Disney Irish]

I agree that everything will (most likely) be fine and that when you consider the direction of DCA at a certain point it won’t be a thematically Diminshed park but will have a new “theme” (IP “Studio” park) in a sort of California themed shell. One big asterisk** to “everything will be fine” is that current or future management knows where to the draw the line. Eventually DCA will run out of room and they ll need to find a new IP dumping ground. Do they turn to Disneyland? Are the DL classics safe? Do they start overlaying everything there too? I honestly don’t know anymore. Assuming they re not bat $hit crazy everything should be ok.

By the time DCA runs out of room, and they finished with the FL expansion and TL redo, we should be far enough in the future to warrant a 3rd gate. I mean really we are looking at a good 15 almost 20 years before all that is done. And by then they should have the plan, political climate, and neighbor buy-in to build and connect a 3rd gate to the rest of the resort. But as we both have indicated there is plenty to be done before that time comes.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

You mean the company that was completely caught off guard when their 'mature product' suddenly picked up multi-million visitors for the 30th? They also had zero plans to do anything until the guest started pouring in out of nowhere and they too were caught without capacity. They DO have a vision, but they also cannot get their *** in gear to actually deliver it in a timely fashion.

There isn't a single resort that is perfect these days. Ironically WDW might have the most direction, just not the one the fanbois like.

My impression is that Disney's leadership doesn't really care that much about DLR. I mean they do, but only in maintaining its status as a cash cow while they cultivate new markets in Asia and infuse substantial new investment in WDW. Of course Disney will invest periodically in DLR, but it's evident that all meaningful growth at Disney Parks & Resorts will be elsewhere.