Three Rides to Fix DCA

[mickEblu]

News, rumors and any sort of interesting discussion has been rather light so let’s talk about one of our favorite subjects… fixing DCA. I’m not sure the main issue of the park just feeling like a collection of lands with no real connection to one another can be fixed. With that said, they’ re never going to blow it up and start over so come up with the three things you think they could add to make DCA a well rounded full day park.

DCA has some beautiful spaces with Grizzly Peak and the Cadillac Mountain range/ RSR exterior. It’s has a good amount of kinetic energy with Pixar Pier. It has nice variety of dining options. Plenty of thrill rides and exclusive ones at that. Here are the 3 rides I’d add….

1. Long indoor boat ride: DCA is desperately missing E ticket level indoor dark rides. Particularly one that the whole family from babies to grandma can ride. I’d like to see a nice 12-15 minute ride but I’d settle for 8-10 minutes. Because Im trying try to stay realistic I’d say this would probably have to be a Moana boat ride or a beefed up Frozen Ever After from WDW. The only issue with these IP is that I don’t think they necessarily lend themselves to be a long ride. Jungle Book live action I feel would be too redundant with Jungle Cruise across the esplanade. Little Mermaid could have been this ride for DCA but that boat has sailed. Princess and the Frog could have also been great. I’d say Coco but I’m saving that for #2. This would obviously come with at least a mini land and would have to go in the Hollywood backlot or the Eastern Gateway expansion.

2. D ticket level dark ride for Pixar Pier: My choice would be a modern suspended Peter Pan style ride but themed to Coco. We jump into different colored Alebrijes and soar over the Land of the Dead while hearing some of the great songs from the movie. DCA doesn’t have enough attractions with the spirit of adventure like POTC, Indy and basically the whole West side of Disneyland. This doesn’t completely fill the void but it scratches the itch, gives Pixar Pier some depth and could go in the apparent expansion area behind the coaster.

3. Something with some heart: The only place I feel anything at DCA is in the Animation Building lobby with the classic Disney songs or Soarin Over California when it comes back every few years. Ideally DCA would get it’s own version of Fantasyland like Fantasy Springs in Tokyo and maybe get a mix of some classic IP based dark rides like Sleeping Beauty, Adventures of Ichabod, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, BATB etc but since I have one ride left I’ll say… an indoor roller coaster at Avengers Campus. Lol. I don’t see anywhere within DCA where these rides could be executed properly or realistically (until Disneyland Forward) so I’m going with my honorable mention: an indoor coaster. Even though it isn’t needed as much as something with some heart (like Casey Junior, the FL dark rides, Snow whites Wishing well, hearing “when you wish upon a star” as you walk through the castle) we know the expansion pad is behind Avengers Campus and the land desperately needs it. And it would prevent another screen ride from infiltrating DCA. So bring on the Avengers Coaster. Another idea and this is only if there is enough room or if the Hyperion gets Demo’d and they connect the land to Eastern Gateway expansion area - I think a sprawling Hagrids style outdoor coaster based on Shang Chi or Wakanda/ Black Panther would also be really cool.

What three rides would you add? Please try to be realistic and use IP or concepts that actually have shot in hell and also use DCAs current real estate + the Eastern Gateway which is foregone conclusion to happen at some point in the not so distant future. For example I don’t think Grizzly Peak, the Pier or Cars Land will ever be demolished but YMMV. In my mind we’re really just working with the expansion pad behind Avengers Campus, the Eastern Gateway expansion area, the Hollywood Backlot, the Pixar Pier expansion pad and maybe the Hyperion and Animation Building.

 

[mickEblu]

I swear I’m not trying to turn DCA into Disneyland. That’s impossible anyway. The additions I chose are just based on experiences that I feel would help round out DCA and just make it a more emotionally fulfilling park.

 

[Professortango1]

I'd love to see a Western River Expedition style boat ride inspired by Zorro. If Avengers gets its E-Ticket based upon Soarin' tech, we can replace Soarin, expand into the Esplanade a hair, and takeover the grassy unused area in front of GC for the queue.

I would create a Disney Animation attraction in the backlot with a studio tour taking us through a variety of classic animated films. Kind of like a Great Movie Ride of Disney animation. The final room I would allow it to be swapped out every 2-3 years to create a promotion of whatever big film they were looking to promote.

I think Dick Tracey's Crime Stoppers could be repurposed into Agent Carter's Crime Stoppers with us tooling around 1940's California with Agent Carter trying to recover an item stolen by Hydra. It could be some type of dimensional rift creator that allows our modern Avengers to make appearances.

Paradise Pier can easily become a DCA Fantasyland. Incredicoaster gets rockwork and new themeing to become a Crush-themed coaster. Jumping Jellyfish can be moved into the helix. Emotional Whirlwind is removed and helix takes on the look of Bug's Land. The Maliboomer platform is removed to allow the entrance to a Bug's Life themed darkride that extends into the Helix at a higher elevation a la Alice in Wonderland.

Remove Silly Symphony Swings, Golden Zephyr, and everything up against the water. Move the food locations to replace those to open up the berm area/Goofy Sky School for either a Coco E-ticket or a Chinatown with an indoor coaster themed to Chinese New Year where guests ride in a Chinese Dragon through the streets of San Francisco amid fireworks and celebrations.

The placement of TLM is really annoying. It is almost a hub and feels isolated from Pixar Pier, Grizzly Peak, the Vineyards, and both food courts it borders. Its an island which can't really be incorporated into anything around it. The building is good looking, but the ride is mediocre at best. I'd love to see Disney pull an Epcot and create The California Adventure, an edutainment attraction taking us through the mythical land of California. The history, the legends, the majesty. They could even expand it into Redwood Creek for an outdoor portion. Create an original score/song, have some Marc Davis style gags with Bigfoot and El Dorado and San Franciscans during the quake.

 

[PiratesMansion]

1. Soarin' Over California comes back and World is banished to eternal damnation.
2. I like the idea of a boat ride-it won't happen, but I like the idea of depicting, say, a gold rush in an area made precarious by some sort of environmental complication-adjacent volcano, earthquake dooms the miners and they have to escape, etc.
3. Probably not actually what the park needs, but I'd like a properly themed coaster in the vein of BTM, EE, etc. Something that doesn't look like they could have bought it up from a closed Six Flags.

As much as it will be a boon to Toontown, DCA frankly needs Runaway Railway more and it's a shame it wasn't added to Hollywood instead.

 

[Phroobar]

I'd add to Pixar Pier a funhouse version of Mystic Manor. I'd also add an indoor Avengers coaster similar to the Tron coaster but themed to Captain America's motorcycle. Each car has Capt's shield on it. We are in some city streets battling bad guys. The backlot area needs a replacement for the Muppet Vision so give us the Great Muppet Movie ride. Also turn the Hyperion Theater into a real theater with a real indoor lobby similar to how they did it at Disney Sea.

 

[mickEblu]

I'd love to see a Western River Expedition style boat ride inspired by Zorro. If Avengers gets its E-Ticket based upon Soarin' tech, we can replace Soarin, expand into the Esplanade a hair, and takeover the grassy unused area in front of GC for the queue.

I would create a Disney Animation attraction in the backlot with a studio tour taking us through a variety of classic animated films. Kind of like a Great Movie Ride of Disney animation. The final room I would allow it to be swapped out every 2-3 years to create a promotion of whatever big film they were looking to promote.

I think Dick Tracey's Crime Stoppers could be repurposed into Agent Carter's Crime Stoppers with us tooling around 1940's California with Agent Carter trying to recover an item stolen by Hydra. It could be some type of dimensional rift creator that allows our modern Avengers to make appearances.

Paradise Pier can easily become a DCA Fantasyland. Incredicoaster gets rockwork and new themeing to become a Crush-themed coaster. Jumping Jellyfish can be moved into the helix. Emotional Whirlwind is removed and helix takes on the look of Bug's Land. The Maliboomer platform is removed to allow the entrance to a Bug's Life themed darkride that extends into the Helix at a higher elevation a la Alice in Wonderland.

Remove Silly Symphony Swings, Golden Zephyr, and everything up against the water. Move the food locations to replace those to open up the berm area/Goofy Sky School for either a Coco E-ticket or a Chinatown with an indoor coaster themed to Chinese New Year where guests ride in a Chinese Dragon through the streets of San Francisco amid fireworks and celebrations.

The placement of TLM is really annoying. It is almost a hub and feels isolated from Pixar Pier, Grizzly Peak, the Vineyards, and both food courts it borders. Its an island which can't really be incorporated into anything around it. The building is good looking, but the ride is mediocre at best. I'd love to see Disney pull an Epcot and create The California Adventure, an edutainment attraction taking us through the mythical land of California. The history, the legends, the majesty. They could even expand it into Redwood Creek for an outdoor portion. Create an original score/song, have some Marc Davis style gags with Bigfoot and El Dorado and San Franciscans during the quake.

I really like the Disney Animation Great Movie ride idea. That would give DCA much needed heart. Keeping the last room as a flex space is brilliant. Chapek would love it and it could also potentially spare us from future crappy overlays.

You re right about TLM. It’s placement doesn’t make a whole lot of sense within the placement of the park but it does provide a nice people eater and a much needed indoor ride. I used to include Redwood Creek as expansion space but I like the idea of it sticking around now. It serves its purpose, works well with the hotel and gives Grizzly Peak a little more depth.

I’m not sure they could turn the Pier into a DCA Fantasyland without a whole lot of work. I really wanted to keep this exercise in what I felt was realistic based off current expansion pads, who’s in charge at the Company, actual IP they would use and the company’s current financial situation coming out of the pandemic. I like your ideas though.

It would have been nice if they ne we missed with TOT. It checked so many boxes.

 

[mickEblu]

1. Soarin' Over California comes back and World is banished to eternal damnation.
2. I like the idea of a boat ride-it won't happen, but I like the idea of depicting, say, a gold rush in an area made precarious by some sort of environmental complication-adjacent volcano, earthquake dooms the miners and they have to escape, etc.
3. Probably not actually what the park needs, but I'd like a properly themed coaster in the vein of BTM, EE, etc. Something that doesn't look like they could have it up from a closed Six Flags.

As much as it will be a boon to Toontown, DCA frankly needs Runaway Railway more and it's a shame it wasn't added to Hollywood instead.

Why dont you think a boat ride would happen? There would plenty of room for one in the Backlot/ eastern Gateway expansion area. They re people eaters, have IP that easily work with the ride system including the cash cow Frozen (Ever After). Is DCA doomed to only screen rides from here on out?

I agree about MMRR.

YES to Soarin Over California but I don’t think you had to waste one of your 3 choices on this.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Why dont you think a boat ride would happen? There would plenty of room for one in the Backlot/ eastern Gateway expansion area. They re people eaters, have IP that easily work with the ride system including the cash cow Frozen (Ever After). Is DCA doomed to only screen rides from here on out?

I agree about MMRR.

YES to Soarin Over California but I don’t think you had to waste one of your 3 choices on this.

I'm feeling idea-poor at the moment, hence SOC. At any rate, for me it would make a world of difference.

I don't feel like Disney's against boat rides by any stretch, I just doubt that any boat ride that didn't prominently feature a favored IP would have any chance of being built by the company right now.

 

[mickEblu]

I'm feeling idea-poor at the moment, hence SOC. At any rate, for me it would make a world of difference.

I don't feel like Disney's against boat rides by any stretch, I just doubt that any boat ride that didn't prominently feature a favored IP would have any chance of being built by the company right now.

Frozen Ever After? Moana? Tangled? With that said not sure these could/would be E ticket level boat rides.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Frozen Ever After? Moana? Tangled? With that said not sure these could/would be E ticket level boat rides.

Heavens no on Frozen Ever After. Sure, people would eat it up, but it's so mediocre. What DCA needs is something that will truly blow people away and FEA ain't it.

Perhaps if Tokyo does a nice job on the Tangled boat ride that it's building that might work as a nice attraction. I just am having trouble picturing those most of their recent hits as satisfying material for a boat ride. Perhaps Moana would fare best, seeing as so much of it takes place in water to begin with.

 

[mickEblu]

Heavens no on Frozen Ever After. Sure, people would eat it up, but it's so mediocre. What DCA needs is something that will truly blow people away and FEA ain't it.

Perhaps if Tokyo does a nice job on the Tangled boat ride that it's building that might work as a nice attraction. I just am having trouble picturing those most of their recent hits as satisfying material for a boat ride. Perhaps Moana would fare best, seeing as so much of it takes place in water to begin with.

I agree. Neither of the three are what DCA really needs but they could happen was my point. They re also better than another screen ride and people would love any of them. I still don’t feel like I have a slam dunk IP that works for an E ticket level boat ride within DCA.

 

[J4546]

hopefully the phase 2 ride of avengers campus is really really good

 

[waltography]

1. Mystic Manor-style Encanto dark ride in the pocket of Paradise Gardens.
2. Avengers Campus Phase 2 E-ticket, whatever their plan was.
3. Indoor rollercoaster in Hollywoodland - I read a concept inspired by Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio broadcast and I think that could be pretty nifty.

Also would sneak in the Hyperion lobby/general Hollywoodland redo to close the gaps and make it a true Hollywoodland.

 

[Professortango1]

1. Mystic Manor-style Encanto dark ride in the pocket of Paradise Gardens.
2. Avengers Campus Phase 2 E-ticket, whatever their plan was.
3. Indoor rollercoaster in Hollywoodland - I read a concept inspired by Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio broadcast and I think that could be pretty nifty.

Also would sneak in the Hyperion lobby/general Hollywoodland redo to close the gaps and make it a true Hollywoodland.

I don't see Encanto fitting. They've created a Pixar version of FL at Pixar Pier, but Encanto isn't Pixar and it takes place in Columbia. I don't see a real connection between Columbia and California.

I like the idea of a War of the Worlds coaster, but it sounds too creative and un-Disney for them to go that route.

 

[Professortango1]

Frozen Ever After? Moana? Tangled? With that said not sure these could/would be E ticket level boat rides.

Yeah, but what would any of these be doing at Disney California Adventure? Unless they are all stuck in the studio area of the park, they don't fit with California Wilderness, California Pier, Radiator Springs, or Avengers.

 

[mickEblu]

Yeah, but what would any of these be doing at Disney California Adventure? Unless they are all stuck in the studio area of the park, they don't fit with California Wilderness, California Pier, Radiator Springs, or Avengers.

Are you trying to say there is currently some cohesive theme at DCA? They fit just as good as Mermaid or that humongous Alien tower. As long as DCA remains a hodge podge of lands any one of these fit. But yeah I mentioned the boat ride would go where the backlot is now or some new land in the future expansion area.

 

[waltography]

I don't see Encanto fitting. They've created a Pixar version of FL at Pixar Pier, but Encanto isn't Pixar and it takes place in Columbia. I don't see a real connection between Columbia and California.

I like the idea of a War of the Worlds coaster, but it sounds too creative and un-Disney for them to go that route.

It's why I tacked it onto the Paradise Gardens side, which is where Mermaid sits in district-wise already. Encanto could fit a Winchester House-esque role here. (And it's not like California has ever been a priority for the California park; I just want a Mystic Manor-style ride here. )

I also agree it's very un-Disney of them to try their hand at a War of the Worlds coaster in the backlot, but we can dream.

 

[Professortango1]

I really like the Disney Animation Great Movie ride idea. That would give DCA much needed heart. Keeping the last room as a flex space is brilliant. Chapek would love it and it could also potentially spare us from future crappy overlays.

You re right about TLM. It’s placement doesn’t make a whole lot of sense within the placement of the park but it does provide a nice people eater and a much needed indoor ride. I used to include Redwood Creek as expansion space but I like the idea of it sticking around now. It serves its purpose, works well with the hotel and gives Grizzly Peak a little more depth.

I’m not sure they could turn the Pier into a DCA Fantasyland without a whole lot of work. I really wanted to keep this exercise in what I felt was realistic based off current expansion pads, who’s in charge at the Company, actual IP they would use and the company’s current financial situation coming out of the pandemic. I like your ideas though.

It would have been nice if they ne we missed with TOT. It checked so many boxes.

I think converting the pier is pretty easy. The Eastern helix is empty already and can easily fit Jumping Jellyfish. Rockwork and seaweed along the base in that corner is pretty easily accomplished for Disney. As for adding a multi-level darkride behind the coaster with a queue either at the bandstand or Maliboomer platform, it should be fairly easy as well as they have the space and were planning a small experience beyond the bandstand originally and were planning an elevated train attraction to circle the Western Helix and coaster area.

I mean, if I was going extensive, I would just remove the lagoon and just about everything around it. The DVC units and pool placed behind Redwood Challenge Trail and Goofy Sky School have made that corner of the park so pinched that they can't do a bunch there. Since they can't expand into the street and won't expand into GCH, the only way to open that corner up for a quality attraction to draw people to the furthest corner of the park would be to expand into the lagoon.

 

[Professortango1]

Are you trying to say there is currently some cohesive theme at DCA? They fit just as good as Mermaid or that humongous Alien tower. As long as DCA remains a hodge podge of lands any one of these fit. But yeah I mentioned the boat ride would go where the backlot is now or some new land in the future expansion area.

There is a quasi-theme as Disney struggles to maintain their quality of themeing and cohesion. Right now, Buena Vista Street is clearly themed to 1920's Southern California city. Hollywoodland is themed to a more vague old-time Hollywood/Backlot. Avengers Campus is themed to a fictional recruitment/training center built in California or maybe even in DCA. It's odd. Pixar Pier is themed to a seaside amusement park and Grizzly Peak Recreation Area is themed to a 50's California national park. Radiator Springs stretches the concept, but it still feels California-related with the car culture and the desert/Route 66 atmosphere.

Little Mermaid fits in kinda/sorta due to the show building being a sea-side amusement park pavilion and featuring an ocean-themed attraction. Unfortunately, as stated, its too removed from the rest of the sea-side amusement park and the sea-side amusement park is Pixar-themed...but also classic Mickey Mouse themed.

Yep, Mission BO was a HUGE step back for DCA, however they try and excuse it with the whole "it generated through a cosmic rift onto Avengers Campus."

Unless Casita and the Columbians fled Columbia to rebuild in the California Redwoods or the Avengers create a portal to a snow kingdom ran by an ice mutant, I just don't see these attractions fitting within the lands established.

The only possible work around is plopping them in a generic backlot building and treating it as a "hot set" like Monsters Inc or any Universal attraction.

 

[Suspirian]

1. New Attraction that coencides with the expansion of Pacific Wharf

As addressed previously, the Pixar Pier conversion has left "Paradise Gardens Park" a bit awkward feeling, particularly with TLM. I don't necessarily think this would require its removal. Its directly adjacent to Pacific Wharf and the entrance to it from the direction of Grizzly Peak is lined with SF style Victorian houses left over from when the area was dubbed "The Bay Area" I think this is the perfect opportunity to mesh that entire area together with a San Francisco themed land stretching from what is now Pacific Wharf to Goofy's Sky School. TLM would get aesthetic changes to its exterior and a new attraction would be placed where GSS is currently. I could see a 20000 Leagues Under the Sea clone going here considering theres going to be a new series on Disney+. I also kinda like playing with the idea of a futuristic version of San Fransisco almost like a reinterpretation of Discovery Bay. Here you could place a Big Hero 6/ San Fransokyo attraction and TLM could be redressed to resemble a marine biology facility.

2. E-Ticket thrill ride for Hollywoodland

I still think the Avengers E-Ticket is coming so I won't include that in my list but you could always use more! I think the Hollywood Backlot area could definitely be used for something more substantial. What properties to use becomes a bit tricky. They honestly could always use Twilight Zone again. I also like the idea of something that aesthetically blends the Disney Villains with the classic horror characters and monster films that came out during that time. I've also always wanted a Dinosaur-esque ride in California Adventure that takes you to the Pleistocene instead of the Cretaceous as a tribute to the La Brea Tar Pits. I could see this fitting in Hollywoodland in a pulpy 1950's Sci-Fi sort of way. If an IP is needed to be attached to it you can use National Geographic.

3. New attraction for Pixar Pier + aesthetic changes

I'll concur with everyone else's Coco attraction suggestion. I always thought it would be nice for said attraction to be a dark ride with the exterior resembling half of a large carousel themed to Albrijes. I'd also make Pixar Pier a bit more cohesive and get rid of the neighborhood idea. I'd also move the Monsters over to Pixar Pier in the form of a walk through funhouse.

I have several land ideas but I'll save those for another thread.