News Paradise Pier Becoming Pixar Pier

[bluerhythym]

The bay used to look so nice, with the waves and lack of machinery. Now it looks like a mall fountain.

 

[NobodyElse]

They're actually two separate bodies of water, with a wall running below the Avalon Cove bridge. When Paradise Bay was drained for World of Color construction, there was no impact on GRR's operations. The area near the Wharf was designed to look like a tidal basin, so that if/when GRR goes down, it simply looks like the tide coming in. For all of the failures of DCA's initial build and budget, I agree that this is actually a really clever and elegant solution

A similar trick was used way back in 1959 to separate the chlorinated water of the Submarine Lagoon from the park-wide green water system that supplied the Motor Boat Cruise, using an Autopia bridge to conceal the wall. During the 2005-07 conversion to Nemo, they filled in that part of the Motor Boat Cruise waterway and built new rockwork in the Sub lagoon, but the wall under the causeway remains, even though its purpose no longer does

As for the color of the water, Paradise Bay used to be dyed a rather electric shade of blue. They haven't dyed it since refilling it in late 2009 (Presumably due to the World of Color equipment, I guess? The Fantasmic! fountains seem to manage just fine in dyed water), instead letting guests look into the murky, brown, algae-filled world below the surface. The GRR water is slightly chlorinated since it splashes guests, and is much clearer than Paradise Bay

I'm so glad I decided to refresh my browser before I started to make my own post. Thank you!

 

[Kman101]

I think you are misunderstanding what I'm saying, and taking what I'm saying and making it specific to you.

Its fine to have a discussion on what our "thoughts" are of the changes. But when ideas of specific changes are brought up without confirmation it leads to emotions and panic of those changes, all based on someones idea. So while I can appreciate your ideas of "what could happen", it better to discuss things more broadly for now. Once more details are released then we can start to debate the more granular points of the project. Anyways just my two cents.

Pretty sure I saw somewhere on the boards an insider suggesting Screamin' would get an Incredibles overlay. Becoming Pixar Pier sort of confirms that. But yes, nothing official has been announced in terms of ride re-themes.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

what a big mistake it was to merge both attractions together.

You think so? Two versions of the same ride in two different lands never made much sense to me.

 

[Rich T]

You think so? Two versions of the same ride in two different lands never made much sense to me.

I don't think the Fantasyland version should have stayed, but the newer combined track layout seems so much more boring than either original (though I do like the cute little off-road part). Time to use this land for something exciting and build a more modest-sized Cars-themed replacement in DCA.

 

[Rich T]

I'm sure others have thought of this before, but why not run a futuristic version of Autopia overhead along the People Mover route (I know most of all that would have to be rebuilt) and solve two problems at once while creating a more fun experience that fits the land?

 

[JD2000]

As for the color of the water, Paradise Bay used to be dyed a rather electric shade of blue. They haven't dyed it since refilling it in late 2009 (Presumably due to the World of Color equipment, I guess? The Fantasmic! fountains seem to manage just fine in dyed water), instead letting guests look into the murky, brown, algae-filled world below the surface.

Is that why you can now see an entire bed full of coins around pacific wharf? That is such an eyesore.

 

[Kman101]

I understand this is meant to be a "quick turnaround" but what sense does it truly make to slap on some billboards with Pixar characters, throw the ball onto the pier with water around it and put up a new "theater" for meet and greets and NOT re-theme all of the attractions on the Pier? (and not saying they won't down the road but what sense does it make to have some of it be Pixar and other parts still be Goofy, etc.) Either do it right and full on or don't bother, IMHO ... they really should have released more details on this

 

[Hatbox Ghostbuster]

I understand this is meant to be a "quick turnaround" but what sense does it truly make to slap on some billboards with Pixar characters, throw the ball onto the pier with water around it and put up a new "theater" for meet and greets and NOT re-theme all of the attractions on the Pier? (and not saying they won't down the road but what sense does it make to have some of it be Pixar and other parts still be Goofy, etc.) Either do it right and full on or don't bother, IMHO ... they really should have released more details on this

This would make sense as an overlay for next year's Pixar Fest...but this is all sounding like its intended to be permanent. And if they don't add another attraction down the line, this will be just as lackluster as it sounds and make the pier continue to be one of my least-visited areas of DCA.

 

[SSG]

We haven't really kicked around what the food options will become in Pixar Land. I'm thinking Ariel's Grotto and Cove Bar will stay as is (possibly made part of Pacific Wharf). Disney isn't giving up the princess money and a sea-side bar doesn't really fit with Pixar. The no-brainer will be Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta and Paradise Garden Grill becoming a Pizza Planet. Don Tomas to get a Coco theme. The rest--Boardwalk Brews, Corn Dog Castle and Hot Dog Hut--could be anything really.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

We haven't really kicked around what the food options will become in Pixar Land.

The Cove Bar is nice but it would be awesome if they could expand it across the entire top floor of the building. I would also appreciate a complete redo of Arial's. The food isn't bad, but it still has the distinct dated look of a 90s Wolfgang Puck dining establishment.

 

[Disneylover152]

Quick question. Have you ever stayed at PP before?

No. Why?

 

[rle4lunch]

No. Why?

I don't want to bias your opinion of your stay there, but just make sure you have a plan for the elevator fiasco (typical wait is around 30 minutes). It's minimally themed for a Disney resort (because it was bought from an outside company instead of being designed by Disney) and should be about $200 less a night (think value resort in WDW). We ended up having to take the stairs from the 10th floor everyday to make sure we could get to the park on time to get fastpasses and such. Carrying a week's worth of luggage downstairs to check out 10 flights of stairs also isn't too magical.

I sincerely hope your visit is better than the normal experience and hope you guys have a great time!!

 

[nevol]

They're actually two separate bodies of water, with a wall running below the Avalon Cove bridge. When Paradise Bay was drained for World of Color construction, there was no impact on GRR's operations. The area near the Wharf was designed to look like a tidal basin, so that if/when GRR goes down, it simply looks like the tide coming in. For all of the failures of DCA's initial build and budget, I agree that this is actually a really clever and elegant solution

A similar trick was used way back in 1959 to separate the chlorinated water of the Submarine Lagoon from the park-wide green water system that supplied the Motor Boat Cruise, using an Autopia bridge to conceal the wall. During the 2005-07 conversion to Nemo, they filled in that part of the Motor Boat Cruise waterway and built new rockwork in the Sub lagoon, but the wall under the causeway remains, even though its purpose no longer does

As for the color of the water, Paradise Bay used to be dyed a rather electric shade of blue. They haven't dyed it since refilling it in late 2009 (Presumably due to the World of Color equipment, I guess? The Fantasmic! fountains seem to manage just fine in dyed water), instead letting guests look into the murky, brown, algae-filled world below the surface. The GRR water is slightly chlorinated since it splashes guests, and is much clearer than Paradise Bay

Isn't this fun!

 

[Disneylover152]

I don't want to bias your opinion of your stay there, but just make sure you have a plan for the elevator fiasco (typical wait is around 30 minutes). It's minimally themed for a Disney resort (because it was bought from an outside company instead of being designed by Disney) and should be about $200 less a night (think value resort in WDW). We ended up having to take the stairs from the 10th floor everyday to make sure we could get to the park on time to get fastpasses and such. Carrying a week's worth of luggage downstairs to check out 10 flights of stairs also isn't too magical.

I sincerely hope your visit is better than the normal experience and hope you guys have a great time!!

Thanks! One of our friends already told us about the elevator fiasco in that hotel, so we are planning our trip around that! We are on a budget, so that's why we choose that hotel, and plan to spend very little time in the hotel.

Also, we have experienced an elevator fiasco in a hotel in Chicago. We were on the 34th floor, and ended up having to take the stairs to avoid a 25 minute wait for the elevator. It was a mess!

 

[nevol]

I thought so. Thanks for clearing it up!

Those tricky imagineers

 

[nevol]

Does this trigger anybody else's PTSD?

(video title misleading; it is a collection of media, channel news, and TV promo specials for dca 1.0)

In another universe with twice the budget and half the puns, DCA would have successfully pulled off the California theme and the themes presented in a show like golden dreams would still exist.

 

[October82]

Fun fact! Don't recall where I read/heard it though. Oh, now I do. David Younger Theme Park Design. But the bear icon was supposed to be on the perimeter of the park, facing in, duh, so people could actually see it. Being a water ride that drains at night its typical for water rides to be on the perimeter of a park, near backstage, near draining facilities. This was going to take up a ton of room though. Somebody had a good idea, shockingly, when it came to laying out DCA 1.0: Use Paradise Pier as the retention facility.

I'm not sure if this is true. The earliest concept art for DCA that I know of, while featuring a very different (and more coherent) layout for Paradise Pier and Grizzly Peak, has the latter located approximately where it is currently, with water features that clearly were intended for retention. If this is true, the change happened very early in the design process.

 

[Phroobar]

Too bad Golden Dreams didn't get to keep it's original budget. The show was suppose to be a California based version of the American Adventure complete with AAs and rising stages. All we got in the end was a movie and projected Whoopie heads.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Does this trigger anybody else's PTSD?

(video title misleading; it is a collection of media, channel news, and TV promo specials for dca 1.0)

In another universe with twice the budget and half the puns, DCA would have successfully pulled off the California theme and the themes presented in a show like golden dreams would still exist.

As tacky and cheap as everything was, it's nice to see footage of the park that was mostly IP-free, and when guests were still flying over California and not the Taj Mahal.

 

[nevol]

I'm not sure if this is true. The earliest concept art for DCA that I know of, while featuring a very different (and more coherent) layout for Paradise Pier and Grizzly Peak, has the latter located approximately where it is currently, with water features that clearly were intended for retention. If this is true, the change happened very early in the design process.

Well, somebody else has published this information, not as a detailed history of the design of DCA, but as an anecdote either of Acquisition, land planning efficiency, onstage/backstage planning, or simply while defining and distinguishing between different categories of water within a theme park. While I didn't know that paradise bay and the wharf were two separate bodies of water, the rest of the story sticks. I can look for the source but I'm not sure how necessary that is.