News Pacific Wharf to be Reimagined into San Fransokyo

[chadwpalm]

Thank you. I knew it was sometime this month. May as well just say September.

And things priced $7.99 should just say $8. Marketing mentality. Makes it look that much "sooner/cheaper" at a quick glance.

 

[Disney Analyst]

 

[TP2000]

In related news, I'm really hoping Disney gives out these paper hats to adults as well as kids.

I might go to DCA to see this new bridge if there's a free hat.

 

[CaptinEO]

Why is Disney obsessed with making this their ugliest themepark. First Guardians pipe warehouse art project, then Incredicoaster is red, and now this...

It looks really bad. Did they forget that they once had a different bright red Golden Gate Bridge in the same park and how ugly it looked?

 

[PiratesMansion]

Why is Disney obsessed with making this their ugliest themepark.

There's still quite a lot of work they'd have to do to come within sniffing distance of Walt Disney Studios Paris for that title.

 

[jmuboy]

This “addition” may be misguided at best …. But dca overall If farrrrr from an ugly park.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Why is Disney obsessed with making this their ugliest themepark. First Guardians pipe warehouse art project, then Incredicoaster is red, and now this...

It looks really bad. Did they forget that they once had a different bright red Golden Gate Bridge in the same park and how ugly it looked?

I haven’t been to every Disney park in the world, but I feel calling DCA the “ugliest theme park” is quite an exaggeration.

 

[Consumer]

This “addition” may be misguided at best …. But dca overall If farrrrr from an ugly park.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

View attachment 737839

Ok, that’s pretty funny. It’s true that specific parts aren’t very pretty but overall it’s still “mostly” pretty.

It’s troubling that it’s the recent stuff that’s the problem though, I wish they’d left the DCA2.0 stuff alone because it was beautifully redone.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Some parts of the park aren’t stunning to look at, but there are too many beautiful parts to call the whole park ugly.

BVS almost rivals Main Street across the way, especially at night, in my opinion.

 

[Consumer]

Ok, that’s pretty funny. It’s true that specific parts aren’t very pretty but overall it’s still “mostly” pretty

Buena Vista Street, Grizzly Peak, and Cars Land are all gorgeous lands. Paradise Pier used to be, as well, but the new paint schemes and other changes have really ruined it.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Paradise (Pixar) Pier is still beautiful, but at night. And from afar.

 

[WoundedDreamer]

This is just... Depressing. Let's take a trip down memory lane for a moment. While it can be debated, I would say Disney California Adventure reached its zenith in 2015. The park was a story of redemption. The original park as launched was a disaster. Many elements of the park were cheaply made or ugly. There weren't nearly enough attractions. And the attractions that did exist lacked charm and story.

This is not to say the park did not have bright spots. Grizzly River Run and Soarin' Over California are some of my favorite attractions. Certain areas of the park like Pacific Wharf had promise. But overall, things were bleak. While I have my critiques of Bob Iger, he approved the revamp of the park. The result would be excellent. Out of the very imperfect DCA would come a park that somehow was one of Disney's most beautiful. This park would be a celebration of The Walt Disney Company and California. How Disney and California had influenced each another.

Gone would be the cartoonish representations of California landmarks that were more suitable for roadside attractions. Dad jokes and puns would be purged (not that I have a problem with a few dad jokes ). New rides would be built out and existing rides improved. The park's identity would be strengthened.

This is not to say the new park was perfect. This was not a park that had the strongest theme or identity. But it was beautiful and it was coherent enough to be defensible. And people reacted accordingly. No one had wanted to hate Disney's California Adventure. It just wasn't good. So when the park began to be worthy of the affection so many feel for Disneyland, the surge in guests was enormous. And the guests that visited tended to stay longer and spend more. 2015 was pinnacle of Disney California Adventure. Disney would launch one last improvement to the park. Condor Flats, a visual eyesore, would be folded into the Grizzly Peak area of the park. And the result was fantastic! Soarin' finally felt like where it belonged. Grizzly Peak's integration with the Grand Californian was already top notch. Now the area felt even more expansive. It had interesting history, and was a wonderful nod to California's National Parks.

The next steps seemed obvious. Hollywood Land needed to go. Next to beautiful areas of the park like Buena Vista Street, that area was ugly. One obvious solution there would be to create a version of Sunset Boulevard to tie in with Tower of Terror. The Classic Hollywood placemaking would fit with the park, and existing areas could be reworked to support the new placemaking and identity. It would be a worthy connection with Buena Vista Street. A Bug's Land also was becoming an obvious eyesore for the park. The fact that a Bug's Land is contiguous with a nice expansion pad was a source of excitement. The future seemed bright for Disney California Adventure!

But everything was about to go terribly wrong. Bob Chapek, Bob Iger's handpicked new leader of Disney Parks and Resorts, was about to unleash incoherence and stupidity on the park. For whatever reason, Disney California Adventure would suffer the most under Chapek's leadership. His first act was to push through a bizarre and unnecessary rebrand of Tower of Terror. Gone was the haunting and stately Hollywood Tower Hotel, replaced with... I'm not exactly sure how to describe the ugly monstrosity. It was and is ugly and alien. Consider that directly before Mission: BREAKOUT Disney had lovingly refinished Condor Flats into the Grizzly Peak Area. Now Disney was refinishing an attraction into an alien menace.

But Chapek would not be stopped at a single desecration. No, he had bigger plans in mind. He proceeded with the Pixar Pier redevelopment. Paradise Pier had been one of the original failures of the park. Ugly and pointless. Imagineers had managed to cajole it into the park and helped it become a centerpiece. People fell in love with the classic seaside boardwalk. The tasteful integration of classic Disney characters didn't feel forced or tacky. It was one of the victories of original revamp. Perhaps the tastefulness of Paradise Pier was too subtle for a mind such as Bob Chapek. He pushed through one of the most bizarre and tasteless renovations ever witnessed in a Disney Park. A renovation so bad that the pre-show itself makes fun of it:

Mr. Incredible: I like the Incredicoaster...
Violet: Sure, slap our name on an old ride.
Edna Mode: It's quite normal darling. Corporations call it synergy.

The Incredicoaster and Pixar Pier were so cringe, Bob Iger himself had reservations about the plan:
"The pair were asked about any disagreements they had together, and Iger remarked they had a "debate" about the renaming of California Screamin' at Disney California Adventure. Iger ultimately conceded to Chapek and the coaster became the Incredicoaster."

And to add insult to injury, Disney built the Avengers Campus. Did they deliver a new E-Ticket for us? Nope... Plus, it was visually pretty bland.

In a final parting gift for us, Chapek gave us one last desecration. The perfectly nice Pacific Wharf would be rebranded into an expansive meet and greet two characters from a film that most people don't care about. Nice.

While I'm grateful these changes mostly spared Disneyland, I am still amazed at the decay. So sad.

 

[CaptinEO]

I haven’t been to every Disney park in the world, but I feel calling DCA the “ugliest theme park” is quite an exaggeration.

Disney's ugliest themepark. Grizzly Falls and Cars Land are great the rest is literal trash with a giant take out container, bright red coaster, and whatever the heck Guardians is.

 

[CaptinEO]

What's old is new. Maybe Whoppi Goldberg can take up the Mermaid ride next.

Is the Rosie O Donnel video still playing in the bread factory?

IMO DCA needs to decide if it wants to be a cheap park or a nicely themed park. I say pick one or the other. Either revert to DCA 1.0 or fix up Hollywoodland, Pixar Pier, Avengers Campus, and the powerplant warehouse. There is certainly an identity crisis.

 

[Consumer]

What's old is new. Maybe Whoppi Goldberg can take up the Mermaid ride next.

Is the Rosie O Donnel video still playing in the bread factory?

IMO DCA needs to decide if it wants to be a cheap park or a nicely themed park. I say pick one or the other. Either revert to DCA 1.0 or fix up Hollywoodland, Pixar Pier, Avengers Campus, and the powerplant warehouse. There is certainly an identity crisis.

The original DCA unironically had more heart. "But it was so cheap and bad!" Sure, but at least it celebrated something other than Disney IP. DCA 1.0, while bad, was a genuine celebration of California.

 

[CaptinEO]

The original DCA unironically had more heart. "But it was so cheap and bad!" Sure, but at least it celebrated something other than Disney IP. DCA 1.0, while bad, was a genuine celebration of California.

I know what you mean. DCA at least tried even if its execution was terrible. It did have a theme at least.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I haven’t been to every Disney park in the world, but I feel calling DCA the “ugliest theme park” is quite an exaggeration.

It is.

Walt Disney Studios in Paris is far uglier.

I'd argue Universal Studios Florida or Universal Hollywood is also far uglier.

Heck, I think I enjoy DCA and it's theming more these days over DHS.

 

[J4546]

This is just... Depressing. Let's take a trip down memory lane for a moment. While it can be debated, I would say Disney California Adventure reached its zenith in 2015. The park was a story of redemption. The original park as launched was a disaster. Many elements of the park were cheaply made or ugly. There weren't nearly enough attractions. And the attractions that did exist lacked charm and story.

This is not to say the park did not have bright spots. Grizzly River Run and Soarin' Over California are some of my favorite attractions. Certain areas of the park like Pacific Wharf had promise. But overall, things were bleak. While I have my critiques of Bob Iger, he approved the revamp of the park. The result would be excellent. Out of the very imperfect DCA would come a park that somehow was one of Disney's most beautiful. This park would be a celebration of The Walt Disney Company and California. How Disney and California had influenced each another.

Gone would be the cartoonish representations of California landmarks that were more suitable for roadside attractions. Dad jokes and puns would be purged (not that I have a problem with a few dad jokes ). New rides would be built out and existing rides improved. The park's identity would be strengthened.

This is not to say the new park was perfect. This was not a park that had the strongest theme or identity. But it was beautiful and it was coherent enough to be defensible. And people reacted accordingly. No one had wanted to hate Disney's California Adventure. It just wasn't good. So when the park began to be worthy of the affection so many feel for Disneyland, the surge in guests was enormous. And the guests that visited tended to stay longer and spend more. 2015 was pinnacle of Disney California Adventure. Disney would launch one last improvement to the park. Condor Flats, a visual eyesore, would be folded into the Grizzly Peak area of the park. And the result was fantastic! Soarin' finally felt like where it belonged. Grizzly Peak's integration with the Grand Californian was already top notch. Now the area felt even more expansive. It had interesting history, and was a wonderful nod to California's National Parks.

The next steps seemed obvious. Hollywood Land needed to go. Next to beautiful areas of the park like Buena Vista Street, that area was ugly. One obvious solution there would be to create a version of Sunset Boulevard to tie in with Tower of Terror. The Classic Hollywood placemaking would fit with the park, and existing areas could be reworked to support the new placemaking and identity. It would be a worthy connection with Buena Vista Street. A Bug's Land also was becoming an obvious eyesore for the park. The fact that a Bug's Land is contiguous with a nice expansion pad was a source of excitement. The future seemed bright for Disney California Adventure!

But everything was about to go terribly wrong. Bob Chapek, Bob Iger's handpicked new leader of Disney Parks and Resorts, was about to unleash incoherence and stupidity on the park. For whatever reason, Disney California Adventure would suffer the most under Chapek's leadership. His first act was to push through a bizarre and unnecessary rebrand of Tower of Terror. Gone was the haunting and stately Hollywood Tower Hotel, replaced with... I'm not exactly sure how to describe the ugly monstrosity. It was and is ugly and alien. Consider that directly before Mission: BREAKOUT Disney had lovingly refinished Condor Flats into the Grizzly Peak Area. Now Disney was refinishing an attraction into an alien menace.

But Chapek would not be stopped at a single desecration. No, he had bigger plans in mind. He proceeded with the Pixar Pier redevelopment. Paradise Pier had been one of the original failures of the park. Ugly and pointless. Imagineers had managed to cajole it into the park and helped it become a centerpiece. People fell in love with the classic seaside boardwalk. The tasteful integration of classic Disney characters didn't feel forced or tacky. It was one of the victories of original revamp. Perhaps the tastefulness of Paradise Pier was too subtle for a mind such as Bob Chapek. He pushed through one of the most bizarre and tasteless renovations ever witnessed in a Disney Park. A renovation so bad that the pre-show itself makes fun of it:

Mr. Incredible: I like the Incredicoaster...
Violet: Sure, slap our name on an old ride.
Edna Mode: It's quite normal darling. Corporations call it synergy.

The Incredicoaster and Pixar Pier were so cringe, Bob Iger himself had reservations about the plan:
"The pair were asked about any disagreements they had together, and Iger remarked they had a "debate" about the renaming of California Screamin' at Disney California Adventure. Iger ultimately conceded to Chapek and the coaster became the Incredicoaster."

And to add insult to injury, Disney built the Avengers Campus. Did they deliver a new E-Ticket for us? Nope... Plus, it was visually pretty bland.

In a final parting gift for us, Chapek gave us one last desecration. The perfectly nice Pacific Wharf would be rebranded into an expansive meet and greet two characters from a film that most people don't care about. Nice.

While I'm grateful these changes mostly spared Disneyland, I am still amazed at the decay. So sad.

I like Pixar Pier and still think it's looks great, incredicoaster could do without theming but overall I like pp a lot

 

[Californian Elitist]

Disney's ugliest themepark. Grizzly Falls and Cars Land are great the rest is literal trash with a giant take out container, bright red coaster, and whatever the heck Guardians is.

You’ve been to all the other Disney theme parks around the world? All of them?