I am all for placemaking and aesthetic enhancements; since the land was already a worst-of in terms of disney theming, it is a lateral move at worst (though unlikely), an enhancement at best (minus of course the oddity of rebranding the wheel, not opening that up again though). Given that PP is relatively flawed, it is easy to get over. Yes, other areas need more investment. Yes, it came out of left field, it limits how the pier gets used because it limits itself to pixar, etc. They could pull off everything they want to, and turn the pier into a Pixar counterweight to fantasyland, without calling it pixar. yes. But again, it isn't sacred, as we've all said a million times. and by keeping the Pier nomenclature, they are keeping the pier as an overarching environment setting. The lagoon stays, and the placemaking and architecture all grows out of and contributes to that type of place. It is easier to enrich with detail a location that has some reference in reality, so at least we aren't getting Pixar Place. By preserving the "Pier," they in essence are maintaining some commitment to the California theme (despite the pier looking a bit Jersey
![Wink ;) ;)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png)
).
While I don't expect something like this, it wouldn't surprise me if this "administration" overreached here and started making mistakes of a Pressler proportion; the kind of changes that are permanent or take two decades to erase. Let's take a look at Epcot getting Guardians, and the Blue Lagoon restaurant in Paris (blue bayou) becoming Captain Jack's. They took the blue bayou essentially and turned it into JOE'S CRAB SHACK. I hope they understand that some stuff is better without character tie ins, and with Disneyland being far less desperate than Paris' park (that resort has been bleeding money for most of its life and its on thin ice in the less-loyal European marketplace), we don't need horrendous stuff like that to take place. People would no doubt lose their minds, and others would no doubt just defend the company's decision making, as if being able to predict their operating logic is equivalent to endorsing said logic.
What Marvel will look like is truly anybody's guess. I trust Pappa Joe Rohde but I also know that they are trying weird things with the Marvel Theme Park Universe, like acknowledging the theme park's existence because Marvel takes place in our world, and therefore not really trying to create convincing standalone superhero universes. Does that mean we don't need a NY area to support marvel? Maybe that's a good thing for DCA's integrity, but on the other hand, every marvel ride existing in some museum or convention center within a theme park as a standalone thing doesn't really lend itself to a land extension or contribute to the park theme overall. Darn you P+R making us wait to find out more...