News Paradise Pier Becoming Pixar Pier

[dweezil78]

Yes, Disney does.

No... they don't. There's a big difference between playfully weaving in a story (as they do with everything) and a deeply immersive attraction. This is akin to Goofy's Sky School, not Radiator Springs Racers. Young children do not (and cannot) ride CS, there is no expectation that anyone is truly going to believe they are Dash with this.

 

[dweezil78]

And if they do something (anything!) to make the brake run less ugly, then I'll have no complaints.

Ugh, yes please. It looks like a barren wasteland.

 

[TROR]

No... they don't. There's a big difference between playfully weaving in a story (as they do with everything) and a deeply immersive attraction. This is akin to Goofy's Sky School, not Radiator Springs Racers. Young children do not (and cannot) ride CS, there is no expectation that anyone is truly going to believe they are Dash with this.

Except Disney is selling it as a story driven attraction, so yes, Disney expects us to be immersed.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Screamin' almost convinced me I'm on a pier coaster, as long as you look towards the bay and not towards the street poles and Convention Center.

I get what you're saying here, but I wonder how many people feel they are zipping down a real snowcapped mountain on the Matterhorn Bobsleds or in an out of control rocket careening through the cosmos on Space Mountain. Few over the age 5 have ever thought they were actually submerged on the Submarines. It's all theatrics, and most of it is good to exceptional, but very little of it is convincing enough to be believable for older kids and adults.

The Incredibles retheming, as silly as it is, is not going to make any real difference to the basic ride experience. As a Disney Parks fan I appreciate immersive mind-blowing theming, but it often feels like our expectation for high quality storytelling at DCA is much stricter than for DL.

 

[dweezil78]

Except Disney is selling it as a story driven attraction, so yes, Disney expects us to be immersed.

Dude, it's an outdoor looping launch coaster full of adults who just guzzled a beer from the Karl Strauss cart on the walk over. No one is expecting them to believe they are being thrust into an Incredibles movie and morphing into some character while they ride it. You are taking those silly PR promo featurettes too seriously.

 

[Rich T]

I get what you're saying here, but I wonder how many people feel they are zipping down a real snowcapped mountain on the Matterhorn Bobsleds or in an out of control rocket careening through the cosmos on Space Mountain. Few over the age 5 have ever thought they were actually submerged on the Submarines. It's all theatrics, and most of it is good to exceptional, but very little of it is convincing enough to be believable for older kids and adults.

The Incredibles retheming, as silly as it is, is not going to make any real difference to the basic ride experience. As a Disney Parks fan I appreciate immersive mind-blowing theming, but it often feels like our expectation for high quality storytelling at DCA is much stricter than for DL.

DL's unique in that it's built up its own identity over the decades. No one looks at Main Street and thinks, "I'm in a small turn-of-the-century town"...everyone thinks "I'm in Disneyland!" and that's enough. The Matterhorn is a uniquely DL experience (and was even when its interior was just bare steel girders). The important thing is not to actually believe you're in a real jungle or actually cruising along the Mississippi river in 1870... but to just feel that you're a million miles away from the outside world in a unique hodgepodge of history and fantasy called Disneyland. DCA's still struggling to form its own identity. Grizzly Peak and Radiator Springs come the closest to providing that "Million miles away" feeling. I still think Pixar Pier is a fairly uninspiring theme that's not going to use any of the Pixar IPs well, but maybe decades from now a new generation will get warm fuzzies talking about it because it'll symbolize DCA for them. Still, I would have preferred Disney had come up with something better for Paradise Pier (How about a steampunk carnival based on Kingdom Hearts? There!)

 

[Rich T]

Dude, it's an outdoor looping launch coaster full of adults who just guzzled a beer from the Karl Strauss cart on the walk over. No one is expecting them to believe they are being thrust into an Incredibles movie and morphing into some character while they ride it. You are taking those silly PR promo featurettes too seriously.

He's just saying Disney, in all seriousness, thinks the public will buy it. He's not agreeing with that sentiment.

 

[bluerhythym]

Do you really think anyone actually expects you to believe you're Dash?? It's a light theme to a coaster, I really do not think anyone is intending for this to suddenly become some deeply immersive experience w/ the addition of a few props and new music.

The post I was replying to seemed to imply that.

 

[dweezil78]

He's just saying Disney, in all seriousness, thinks the public will buy it. He's not agreeing with that sentiment.

Right... and I'm saying that the people who work for Disney are not delusional. There's a difference between how something gets playfully portrayed in consumer facing PR type promos and what the actual human beings who work on these projects believe.

 

[TROR]

Right... and I'm saying that the people who work for Disney are not delusional. There's a difference between how something gets playfully portrayed in consumer facing PR type promos and what the actual human beings who work on these projects believe.

Whether the actual Imagineers believe it or not, it doesn't matter, the point is they're selling it as if they do.

 

[bluerhythym]

I get what you're saying here, but I wonder how many people feel they are zipping down a real snowcapped mountain on the Matterhorn Bobsleds or in an out of control rocket careening through the cosmos on Space Mountain. Few over the age 5 have ever thought they were actually submerged on the Submarines. It's all theatrics, and most of it is good to exceptional, but very little of it is convincing enough to be believable for older kids and adults.

The Incredibles retheming, as silly as it is, is not going to make any real difference to the basic ride experience. As a Disney Parks fan I appreciate immersive mind-blowing theming, but it often feels like our expectation for high quality storytelling at DCA is much stricter than for DL.

I'm not saying everything has to be completely believable, just convincing. Its about the feeling.

Yes its just an overlay for an existing attraction, but after the changes they started making with DCA 2.0, it feels like they could put in more of an effort here. And its not just DCA, just look at the main attraction over in Toy Story Land. Another bare bones coaster, where the "theming" is just a train shaped like a character. Disney desperately tries to sell the story, but it seems like they're half-assing it too much these days.

Is adding the Incredibles going to ruin this attraction? No, but I don't think its a very good attraction in the first place. A fun coaster, but not necessarily what I expect or want from a Disney park.

 

[dweezil78]

Whether the actual Imagineers believe it or not, it doesn't matter, the point is they're selling it as if they do.

Yes, obviously it'd make way more sense for their PR team to approach this from a literal perspective and tell people they're just adding some new props and music and not try and have any fun with it. That would be very on-brand.

 

[dweezil78]

I'm not saying everything has to be completely believable, just convincing. Its about the feeling.

Yes its just an overlay for an existing attraction, but after the changes they started making with DCA 2.0, it feels like they could put in more of an effort here. And its not just DCA, just look at the main attraction over in Toy Story Land. Another bare bones coaster, where the "theming" is just a train shaped like a character. Disney desperately tries to sell the story, but it seems like they're half-assing it too much these days.

Is adding the Incredibles going to ruin this attraction? No, but I don't think its a very good attraction in the first place. A fun coaster, but not necessarily what I expect or want from a Disney park.

I'll never defend Toy Story Land as I think (so far) they've all been a waste of space and $$$. DHS' may be the first one that's not entirely craptacular as they have the added benefit of attaching it to the pre-existing Toy Story Mania and the slinky coaster may not be awful. All that said, Disney parks have always had a blend of intricate immersive rides and more surface level attractions w/ light theming. I take the pier for what it is... a pier with some better-than-average pier rides. At this point, unless they leveled it and put in something brand new, anything much more than that would kind of be overkill.

 

[mickEblu]

DL's unique in that it's built up its own identity over the decades. No one looks at Main Street and thinks, "I'm in a small turn-of-the-century town"...everyone thinks "I'm in Disneyland!"

Totally agree here. It’s a point I’ve brought up a few times but rarely gets discussed. At a certain point over the years, that small turn of the century town became Disneyland to guests. Or at least Disneyland’s representation of that town. After enough time it’s impossible to disassociate the two. This goes for any part of the park that have stood the test of time and been part of our memories for decades.

To @Dr. Hans Reinhardt s point, I think the bar is set higher for DCA for a couple reasons. One being the parks name and history. The park has completely moved away from the whole “visit California” theme but the name hasnt and neither have all of the lands. Personally I think the name is fine and wouldn’t want it to be changed. Disneyland’s theme, is much more broad and the fact that it is a “magic kingdom” means that it’s easier to justify certain “inconsistencies.” Second, DCA is still young. Not even 20 years old. At a certain point, if and when they stop tinkering with the park, most people will be able to look past certain inconsistencies as they will have been “grandfathered in” so to speak. Third, Disneyland created the mold for themeparks. It’s really hard to compare it to any other theme parks. They were figuring it out as they went along to get to the point of artistry and story telling they can achieve today. They should always move forward. Not go backwards.

Now, with all of that said both can exist. Folks could have set a higher bar for DCA AND at the same time Disney has dropped the ball with theming/ story with the likes of Pixar Pier and GOTG. They ve just acquired too much content and have to put it somewhere to leverage it and unfortunately, consistent and quality themeing is the sacrifice.

 

[Rich T]

...No, but I don't think its a very good attraction in the first place. A fun coaster, but not necessarily what I expect or want from a Disney park.

Although I'd prefer a great themed experience, I do think the Screamin' coaster fills an important role at the resort; it's *exactly* the kind of ride many, many older kids, teens and young adults had previously thought the resort lacked, and that demographic loves that coaster with all their park-going hearts. It provides Six Flags-style thrills in the comfortable, friendly atmosphere of a Disney park (with top-notch train dispatching, too). For what it is, its done its job extraordinarily well.

 

[dweezil78]

At a certain point over the years, that small turn of the century town became Disneyland to guests.

You are totally right. Today, when people visit a small town with a quaint little Main St, they are most likely to say it reminds them of Disneyland/MK. (assuming they've been there, of course)

 

[TROR]

You are totally right. Today, when people visit a small town with a quaint little Main St, they are most likely to say it reminds them of Disneyland/MK. (assuming they've been there, of course)

Yes, but if someone comes from a small town with a quaint little Main Street, when they visit Disneyland they're going to say Main Street reminds them of back home, no?

 

[dweezil78]

Yes, but if someone comes from a small town with a quaint little Main Street, when they visit Disneyland they're going to say Main Street reminds them of back home, no?

Yes, sure why not.

 

[mickEblu]

Yes, but if someone comes from a small town with a quaint little Main Street, when they visit Disneyland they're going to say Main Street reminds them of back home, no?

That’s probably an extremely small percent of the population. Most people are not from small towns, especially those that haven’t changed from 1901.

 

[bluerhythym]

Although I'd prefer a great themed experience, I do think the Screamin' coaster fills an important role at the resort; it's *exactly* the kind of ride many, many older kids, teens and young adults had previously thought the resort lacked, and that demographic loves that coaster with all their park-going hearts. It provides Six Flags-style thrills in the comfortable, friendly atmosphere of a Disney park (with top-notch train dispatching, too). For what it is, its done its job extraordinarily well.

That's true, I do appreciate having a more thrilling attraction at the DLR. But I feel like Rock n Rollcoaster fills that role as well, while still maintaining the Disney level of immersion.