News Paradise Pier Becoming Pixar Pier

[Phroobar]

Unfortunately for me, it's the only Six Flags park I've seen. When I was a kid, it kind of had some charm. The log jammer/ Moose burger lodge (when it first opened) in particular. Also the roaring rapids area. Basically the areas with pathways going through all the trees.

The Roaring Rapids area is still very charming. It has a Knotts feel in the tall trees. Twisted Colossus's Screampunk area is super charming and well themed. There is some pretty cool steampunk sculptures in there. The DC Universe and new Metropolis areas are simply themed but fun area to be in. They are working on retheming the midway games area to a boardwalk area complete with a new non roller coaster ride and updated bumper cars. With the opening of the Justice League shooter (mega charming and better than any shooter at Disneyland) ,Six Flags is working on updating the park each year and not building random giant coasters. It's even open 365 days a year now! Hopefully a new Magic Pagoda will be in the cards in the few years.

 

[mickEblu]

The Roaring Rapids area is still very charming. It has a Knotts feel in the tall trees. Twisted Colossus's Screampunk area is super charming and well themed. There is some pretty cool steampunk sculptures in there. The DC Universe and new Metropolis areas are simply themed but fun area to be in. They are working on retheming the midway games area to a boardwalk area complete with a new non roller coaster ride and updated bumper cars. With the opening of the Justice League shooter (mega charming and better than any shooter at Disneyland) ,Six Flags is working on updating the park each year and not building random giant coasters. It's even open 365 days a year now! Hopefully a new Magic Pagoda will be in the cards in the few years.

That's good to hear. I haven't been in about 4 years. I may be due for a visit. Haven't been on Full extreme(?) or the new Colossus.

 

[Phroobar]

That's good to hear. I haven't been in about 4 years. I may be due for a visit. Haven't been on Full extreme(?) or the new Colossus.

I still haven't done full throttle but new Colossus is fantastic! The line actually moves quickly too.

 

[Ismael Flores]

The Roaring Rapids area is still very charming. It has a Knotts feel in the tall trees. Twisted Colossus's Screampunk area is super charming and well themed. There is some pretty cool steampunk sculptures in there. The DC Universe and new Metropolis areas are simply themed but fun area to be in. They are working on retheming the midway games area to a boardwalk area complete with a new non roller coaster ride and updated bumper cars. With the opening of the Justice League shooter (mega charming and better than any shooter at Disneyland) ,Six Flags is working on updating the park each year and not building random giant coasters. It's even open 365 days a year now! Hopefully a new Magic Pagoda will be in the cards in the few years.

It will be interesting to see how they fix and design this new boardwalk area. Six flags has always had a section of ugly boardwalk carnival games and bumper cars that were starting to look scary. Hopefully they do a better job then knotts. Their boardwalk area looks so stale. They really should have gutted that whole area and started from scratch instead of trying to re-use the existing water ponds from the old water drop ride.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Yeah...nothing in me looks at that ride and thinks...I'll survive that in one piece, let alone actually enjoy myself.

I think it looks boring.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I feel the same as you do about gutting the whole area...about Paradise Pier.

 

[No Name]

I lament it because it feels like a total low quality, Six-Flags-type move. Slapping the name of some character on a coaster that has little to do with it except for minor details like the color, music, queue elements, etc. It's less about the ride itself and more about the stupidity of the decision.

At least Screamin is an unthemed roller coaster (albeit a really fun one) getting a "theme"

I'd argue that it will feel more "unthemed" after the change because now its making some pitiful attempt to tell a story, whereas before it was simply a classic-looking pier coaster that fit the theme of the area and the park.

It has more room to fall short now.

 

[TROR]

I'd argue that it will feel more "unthemed" after the change because now its making some pitiful attempt to tell a story, whereas before it was simply a classic-looking pier coaster that fit the theme of the area and the park.

It has more room to fall short now.

This.

Prior to Pixar Pier, California Screamin was themed to a wooden roller coaster. Now it's being themed to Dash and the Incredibles. However, when you look at CS, does it look like a wooden roller coaster or will it look like something out of The Incredibles? Answer is, it'll still look like a wooden roller coaster. There will be no improvements to the ride unless they construct a completely indoor queue and fix the end with the chain-link fence.

 

[mickEblu]

I lament it because it feels like a total low quality, Six-Flags-type move. Slapping the name of some character on a coaster that has little to do with it except for minor details like the color, music, queue elements, etc. It's less about the ride itself and more about the stupidity of the decision.



I'd argue that it will feel more "unthemed" after the change because now its making some pitiful attempt to tell a story, whereas before it was simply a classic-looking pier coaster that fit the theme of the area and the park.

It has more room to fall short now.

Notice I put "theme" in quotation marks. I agree it will be more unthemed in relation to the land it resides in. In and of itself though it is an unthemed roller coaster by Disney standards. There are no show elements or elaborate theming. My point was that it will still be the same basic experience with a sound track change and maybe a new paint scheme. Which oddly enough is the "silver lining" GOTG sympathizers were trying to point out (which made no sense) when they were tearing up TOT. With this change that "silver lining" actually makes more sense. It's much less severe of a change than TOT, an attraction that was ultra themed with dark ride show scenes. The same basic experience for Screamin will still exist which can't be said for TOT.

Anyway. I'm also not a fan of Paradise Pier being converted to Pixar or the direction they are going at DCA in general. Just saying it's not as severe as the TOT conversion.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

No one should be surprised that I'm sitting here wondering how someone can be so opposed to something about which very little is known. Yep, I agree it sounds dumb, and it's highly likely that it will be. You all know how annoying I think character franchises are at Disney parks.

All that said I think there is still a small chance that when all is said and done PP might be improved in some way or at least basically the same. Put it this way: nothing has been confirmed by Disney so far that leads me to believe that a Pixar makeover of PP will be flat out awful, so I'm waiting for some details before taking a position on this.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I never thought Screaming looked like a wooden coaster. It's nothing like one of those. Also, the tubes are very ugly.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Pixar is not a theme and the attractions and shops will not see "theming" added. It is decor intended to remind the viewer of what is already known, and that reminder is of an aesthetic even further removed from the early 20th century seaside aesthetic onto which the decor will be placed.

 

[Kram Sacul]

Pixar is not a theme and the attractions and shops will not see "theming" added. It is decor intended to remind the viewer of what is already known, and that reminder is of an aesthetic even further removed from the early 20th century seaside aesthetic onto which the decor will be placed.

Didn't they already do this when they slapped classic Disney characters all over the place? Eh, nevermind.

 

[Hatbox Ghostbuster]

No one should be surprised that I'm sitting here wondering how someone can be so opposed to something about which very little is known. Yep, I agree it sounds dumb, and it's highly likely that it will be. You all know how annoying I think character franchises are at Disney parks.

All that said I think there is still a small chance that when all is said and done PP might be improved in some way or at least basically the same. Put it this way: nothing has been confirmed by Disney so far that leads me to believe that a Pixar makeover of PP will be flat out awful, so I'm waiting for some details before taking a position on this.

Dangit Hans...isn't it more fun to not be so rational and even-tempered about this????

Honestly, I would love to be proven wrong about this project. That it's not simply throwing a bone at JL for (what could be) the removal of Bugs Land for Marvel (maybe). I guess PP was never an area I cared about anyway. Short of midway mania on occasion, I could probably count the number of times I've been over there on my hands. I am not a fan of CS (body won't handle loops on rollercoasters...one of my many shortcomings), and so frankly, I have no need to ever walk over there.

Wish they would release more details on this, but like I joked at earlier, it wouldn't surprise me if they were still figuring it out as we speak. I expect something maybe after Halloween? Needless to say, I'm not gonna be following construction videos of this project.

 

[mickEblu]

Pixar is not a theme and the attractions and shops will not see "theming" added. It is decor intended to remind the viewer of what is already known, and that reminder is of an aesthetic even further removed from the early 20th century seaside aesthetic onto which the decor will be placed.

Of course it's a theme. It's a theme if the name of the park is Acquisition World.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Dangit Hans...isn't it more fun to not be so rational and even-tempered about this????

I know, I know. I need to chill.

 

[Old Mouseketeer]

Dangit Hans...isn't it more fun to not be so rational and even-tempered about this???? <snip>

Alex, I'll take "split infinitives" for $1000.

/snark

 

[TP2000]

I never thought Screaming looked like a wooden coaster. It's nothing like one of those. Also, the tubes are very ugly.

California Screamin' only looks like a wooden coaster in the circa 1998 WDI artwork or when you view it from far away; like the back parking lot of Coco's on Katella, or through the more-decorative-than-scientific telescope in my hillside den in Villa Park.

From anywhere inside DCA it looks like a metal coaster with faded blue tubes on it. And at night in DCA it looks like a metal coaster with a lot of burned out light fixtures on it.

Obviously, Michael Colglazier and every TDA exec before him couldn't give a rats butt that it looks that bad. They simply don't care.

 

[drizgirl]

Alex, I'll take "split infinitives" for $1000.

/snark

Feel better?

 

[Old Mouseketeer]

Feel better?

Yes, actually. But the snark tag is supposed to suggest that I'm making the joke mostly at my own expense. This whole overblown, angst-ridden thread needed something stupid to cleanse the palate.