mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Yeah that makes sense. Not a good look though.
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News Red Car Trolley to close February 8, 2025
- Thread starter Misted Compass
- Start date
Yeah that makes sense. Not a good look though.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
I mean if he gets a lot of the credit for why Cars Land/ RSR turned out so great and bringing back the Subs from the dead than the lateral move that is Pixar Pier is a small price to pay. Plus let’s keep in mind whatever vision he had for the land probably got Chapek’d to death.
The way I look at it is the core experience and feel is the same. Yes, the red Incredicoaster tunnels are a little too bold and the sound track is annoying. Yes the Buzz happy meal box is ugly but people forget things like the barren Six Flags like queue that existed over at California Screamin. I much prefer the mid century modern touches there now. Or how about the crappy carrousel where we had to stare at King Tritons gigantic nipples? I believe there were more aesthetic upgrades than downgrades with Pixar Pier. Especially the actual entrance/ pier portion. Go back and look at some pictures. The bandstand area is also much nicer. So if it was an aesthetic upgrade and the kinetic energy is the same I don’t get why it’s the whipping child of every parks fan. Because some Disney characters were replaced by Pixar ones on the cardboard boardwalk game cutouts and Ferris wheel gondola wraps? This wasn’t the Fantasyland courtyard at Disneyland. It was a barely themed seaside amusement park with Disney characters slapped around.
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TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
I also like the theming of the games and prizes - keeps it feeling more upscale.
Also when it opened the bandshell hosted the fantastic Pixar orchestra they were incredible.
Also when it opened the bandshell hosted the fantastic Pixar orchestra they were incredible.
Adventureland Veranda
Well-Known Member
I can't wait for the Red Car Trolley memorial cupcake. All is forgiven!
October82
Well-Known Member
Paradise Pier still needed a lot of work - some of which that was done in the conversion to Pixar Pier. I agree it’s probably a lateral move overall but the point for a lot of people is that it didn’t need to be lateral. Pixar added nothing that the Disney characters didn't already bring beyond a more obnoxious color scheme.
And speaking of obnoxious, Incredicoaster is a major downgrade from Screamin' for me, queue notwithstanding.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
I think most people’s issue with Pixar Pier is that they don’t like the concept. They believe that Pixar Pier is a thematic downgrade to the lightly themed Disney Paradise Pier. I do think it’s a slight thematic downgrade but it’s not as if the pier was some shining example of great theming. Most of all I think it was a waste of money and another step in the wrong direction for the park. In my ideal world they would have built upon Paradise Pier 2.0 and give it the same love BVS got. But for me it’s the same core experience. I don’t feel any different walking through it than I did before. Unlike Mission Breakout where that TOT aesthetic, feel, experience is gone.
CaptinEO
Well-Known Member
To be honest I'd rather have had no theme than the theming done to "Pixar Pier". I'm not saying Paradise Pier is some masterwork of theming.
Before it was just a boardwalk theme and to me now its really poor implementation of characters on that boardwalk, to me it makes it worse. It becomes like in your face advertising but done poorly.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
There are definitely parts that feel and look this way - but also parts that look better than before.
Can't say I'm too surprised.
In addition to the Avengers ride construction removing the Trolley's backstage barn, I suspect the eventual Avatar construction and subsequent crowds when it opens would make the operation of the Trolley difficult. They already have the history of the Trolley in Toon Town being difficult with crowd control.
Most of us believe that Philharmagic, Hyperion, Animation and Hollywood Blvd are gonna be untouched by the Avatar construction, at least initially, but we may be wrong about that. They could very well have more ambitious Avatar plans that they've not yet revealed, and as others have said, maybe another Marvel ride in mind, too.
As for the DCA California theming - yeah, that ship sailed a while ago. Disney Cinematic Adventure rebranding when Avatar opens seems highly likely, IMO.
In addition to the Avengers ride construction removing the Trolley's backstage barn, I suspect the eventual Avatar construction and subsequent crowds when it opens would make the operation of the Trolley difficult. They already have the history of the Trolley in Toon Town being difficult with crowd control.
Most of us believe that Philharmagic, Hyperion, Animation and Hollywood Blvd are gonna be untouched by the Avatar construction, at least initially, but we may be wrong about that. They could very well have more ambitious Avatar plans that they've not yet revealed, and as others have said, maybe another Marvel ride in mind, too.
As for the DCA California theming - yeah, that ship sailed a while ago. Disney Cinematic Adventure rebranding when Avatar opens seems highly likely, IMO.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Yeah I dunno I don’t really see it that way. Maybe because it didn’t replace anything great? Maybe because I just don’t feel any differently waking through there? I think there are some clear aesthetic upgrades with Pixar Pier such as the entrance/ pier, bandstand area and Incredicoaster queue and carrousel. Kinetic energy is still there. It’s still just a lightly themed amusement park within a Disney theme park. My issue with it is more in its concept than it’s execution and just the fact that it was the nail in the coffin for a Paradise Pier 3.0 but I’d be lying if I said it impacts my experience at all.
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mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Yeah good point. I was thinking about this. You’ll have a whole lot of guests crossing from Avengers Campus to Pandora. Granted, you have tons of people walking down Main Street and they find a way to run four different vehicles simultaneously. If there’s a will there’s a way. But to your point if you’re losing even more of Hollywoodland plus all the extra traffic that will be in that area at what point does it stop making sense running the trolley from the park entrance to Off the Page? The route is just too short to make the operation and headaches it creates worth it. With that said, what if they rerouted it to just go up Buena Vista street and up to about the old Blue Sky wine cellar and back instead of turning down Hollywood Blvd? Ok, now I’m upset again. Haha
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Dr.Cheeto
Well-Known Member
"To all who come to this crappy place, please leave so we can fit more people in and sell more tickets. Disney California Adventure is my land. Here, Intellectual Properties with no other place to go get plopped, and here bad ideas that should have been thrown out have a chance to live on. Disney California Adventure is dedicated to me, myself, and all of the money that I've ever made. With the hope that it will bring me even more money, and domination to all the world."
-Bob Iger's new dedication to DCA
-Bob Iger's new dedication to DCA
Consumer
Well-Known Member
Bing Bong's is definitely the best aesthetic upgrade as they replaced the 2001 storefronts, but like the rest of Pixar Pier its still garish. For every band stand, there's a chicken Poultry Palace.
I always adored this concept art for Paradise Pier. The chrome trains on Screamin, the new entrance for the Fun Wheel, the flag capped pinnacles, the building where the bandstand now sits (looks like it would have been some sort of theater with a show). Pixar Pier may have had a few good updates, but I'll always look back on this and wish it had been what we received.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
Never thought I'd see the day where you praise Pixar Pier....
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Yup. My thoughts exactly. If Pixar Pier replaced a Paradise Pier that looked like that concept art I would be upset. I’m more upset that Pixar Pier killed any hope of receiving the pier in that concept art than I am with its execution.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Lol I wouldn’t call it praise.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
Well considering how you normally post about things in the last few years, that post is basically praising the whole retheme to Pixar.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Haha. I just tell it like it is or how I see it. We went from a lightly themed Disney seaside amusement park to a lightly themed Pixar seaside amusement park. The latter I believe is more aesthetically pleasing for the most part except for the overall vista which I feel was better with the blue coaster tunnels and without the Poultry Palace.
D.Silentu
Well-Known Member
Personally, I think the 'neighborhoods' approach has a lot to do with it. It was a misstep turning a themed area into a collage of colors and imagery, linked intellectually but not aesthetically.
Consumer
Well-Known Member
I didn't realize how much had been done in 2012 for the Midway shops. I definitely prefer the bandstand and Bing Bong's, but the shops were not as bad as I remembered.