What will Disney do for DCA’s 20th anniversary?

[Darkbeer1]

Puck pulls out of troubled theme park
Mondavi also exits; turns over winery to Disney officials

By Russ Britt, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 3:56 PM ET Oct. 1, 2001

ANAHEIM, Calif. (CBS.MW) - Wolfgang Puck Food Co. has closed its restaurant at Disney's California Adventure and the Robert Mondavi winery nearby has been turned over to park owner Walt Disney Co., it was revealed Monday.

Puck's restaurant, known as Avalon Cove, was suffering from slow business, as was the rest of the Disney park, which opened Feb. 8. Puck officials said they came to a "mutual" agreement with Disney (DIS: news, chart, profile) on closing the facility.

"I think it's really a Disney thing more than it is us," said Jannis Swerman, spokeswoman for Puck. "It was a mutual decision between both operations."

The Puck restaurant's last day of business was Sunday. Disney officials could not be reached for comment.

Napa, Calif.-based Mondavi has stopped operating the Golden Vine Winery, a centerpiece of the park, and turned over the operations to Disney. Officials at Mondavi's corporate offices would not comment on the exit. But it was confirmed by employees at the California Adventure facility, who did not speak for attribution.

"We have been in discussions with Disney to redefine our relationship," said Nancy Light, Mondavi spokeswoman. "We're really not ready to make a comment on this."

Disney has had trouble generating interest in California Adventure, a $1.4 billion park adjacent to its flagship Disneyland park in Anaheim. The company is trying to make the facility a resort like Walt Disney World by having attractions that will encourage visitors to stay for several days at a time.

California Adventure has not generated the business the company had hoped for, forcing Disney to beef up the facility through such attractions as a nighttime "electrical" parade featuring floats bathed in lights, and creating a simulated "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" attraction.

Disney does not offer attendance figures. Al Lutz, president of Disneyland watchdog site , said the facility has trouble reaching a third of its capacity even on weekends.

There was no word yet on what Disney planned to do with the facilities. But Lutz says Disney is considering a number of new attractions in the hopes of generating more interest in the park

 

[Darkbeer1]

And here is an interesting article by Rick West from 1999...

http://www./News-ID105002.asp







With the announcement that Disney had decided on a new park to compliment Disneyland, new hope was booming amongst enthusiasts. Unfortunately, for many, Disney’s California Adventure simply doesn’t measure up on paper to what we were expecting or wanting at all. I must stress that the finished product could very well be wonderful; God knows, I hope it’s amazingly beautiful and filled with excitement. However, as someone who follows the industry not only as a Disney enthusiast but as an honest, objective journalist, I have to say that I am with the many out there who think that this new Disney park just doesn’t measure up in a day and age where bigger is better and cost of execution is becoming more and more expensive.

 

[Darkbeer1]

From an LA Times article dated October 2nd, 2001







Reflecting continued troubles at Walt Disney Co.'s California Adventure, two premier businesses operating in the park -- Wolfgang Puck and Robert Mondavi -- have sharply reduced their investments.

Disney spokesman Ray Gomez confirmed that Wolfgang Puck Food Co.'s upscale seafood restaurant, Avalon Cove, was closing yesterday because it did not meet the expectations of either Disney or Puck.

Also as of yesterday, Robert Mondavi Corp. said it no longer was operating the park's Golden Vine Winery attraction and high-end restaurant, instead limiting its role to that of a sponsor.

"We want to eliminate further financial exposure," said Nancy Light, a spokeswoman at Mondavi. The Oakville winery said it will record a charge of $12 million to $13 million related to its investment in the Anaheim theme park.

Mondavi and Puck represented Disney's bid to attract affluent tourists to the Disneyland Resort. California Adventure opened in February next to Disneyland, but the new park has struggled with sluggish attendance from the start. And the Sept. 11 terrorist attack has made matters worse, thinning attendance even more at the $1.4 billion park and retail district known as Downtown Disney.

Gomez said he was unaware of any other tenants in California Adventure seeking to withdraw or revise their contractual agreements with Disney. Other outside businesses operating attractions and selling food in the park include the sourdough bread factory Andre-Boudin Bakeries. The bakery said yesterday it was doing fine in the park.

California Adventure was expected to attract about 7 million visitors annually, or 19,000 a day. But in the week before the terrorist attack, the park had been drawing an average of about 4,500 per day, according to a Disney official who asked not to be identified.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I was always surprised by the number of well known and respected Disney bloggers who put their full support behind DCA and what it was from opening day. For some, you'd think A Bugs Land was Pandora. Yes, that's how bad things were. My Disney savvy daughter said it best after our first visit in 2001- "It's as if Disney forgot all the things that made Disneyland great!"

 

[Darkbeer1]

I know some folks like to say that Disneyland wasn't a success when it opened in 1955, when DCA opening year is mentioned, but that is entirely UNTRUE.....

The Grand Opening, MONDAY, July 18th, 1955, they had over 50,000 paying customers... After that, Walt and his staff decided to limit admission to about 20,000 persons a day to address some of the operational problems.... Heck, they were turning away guests those first few months, so if anything was keeping guests away, it was the crowds, NOT the lack of them!

And after SEVEN weeks (September 8th, 1955), Disneyland had over 1 million guests!!!! What did DCA have after 7 weeks, maybe 250,000, if that many....

And of course, it was a LOT harder to have folks to travel to Anaheim in 1955, and the population was a lot lower in the SoCal area back in the mid-50's.....

The period from July 18th thru September 8th was 45 days, which makes Disneyland average over 22,000 folks a day to make the 1 millionth guest on September 8th.



http://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/la/disneyland/

(FYI, this link has a lot of great photos)








The park was turning a profit by its second year of operation...





But DCA had AWFUL crowds, and while there was some rain in the Spring of 2001, and that was a favorite excuse early on, even with the Heat Wave in 1955, Disneyland "sold out" most days that first summer......

Opening day had 14,000 attend DCA (38,000 was the expected count, aka sellout)

DCA's first summer had good weather, but even with a Two tickets for $33 (one Adult, one Child) special for the summer of 2001, it was really dead.

There was a BIG difference between Disneyland's first year, and DCA's.....

 

[Darkbeer1]

From the San Francisco Chronicle, March 17th, 2002....







ALTERED STATE

California Dreamin'


Unreal adventure: Golden State goes Goofy




From the moment you walk under the peculiarly truncated arches of the Golden Gate Bridge in Disneyland's year-old theme park called "California Adventure," you know something is not quite right.

The famous span is too high and too narrow. And what is it doing in Anaheim anyway?

A few steps away, the noble columns of the Palace of Fine Arts are small and spindly. San Francisco's Victorian row looks out of place and incomplete.

The rapids of the Rushin' River are tame by comparison to the white water of any of the state's last wild rivers.

The most impressive part of Disney's faux California is its recreation of Hollywood Boulevard, a dazzling use of perspective that guides the eye into the distance -- until it ends in a gigantic painted sky glowing from a staged sunset. Rather than life imitating art, this is fantasy imitating fantasy.

For anyone who has experienced the real thing, Disney's $1.4 billion effort to squeeze the entire state into an amusement park is a gigantic disappointment. Instead of celebrating the state's wonders, the scale models become incidental backdrops to Disney's larger commercial purposes.

Disney has made a stab at being educational. In one corner is the "Bountiful Valley Farm," consisting of small beds of flourishing broccoli, lettuce and other California crops. But it's clear Disney has yet to figure out how to get kids excited about vegetables. The day I went, the farm was deserted -- while hundreds lined up nearby to get into "Soaring Over California," a virtual hang-gliding tour of the state.

What puzzles me is why anyone would come here when they can experience the real thing. That is what many Californians appear to have wondered as well. In its first year, attendance at California Adventure has been far below what Disney expected.

Disney's response has been to make its ersatz California look less like California and more like Disneyland.

Once banished to Disneyland proper, familiar characters like Goofy and Mickey Mouse now populate California Adventure as well. Wolfgang Puck's upscale Seafood Cove restaurant has been replaced with a more kid-friendly eatery.

Disney has revived its nightly "Electrical Parade" -- a procession of Disney stories and characters illuminated with 500,000 light bulbs. In a clever piece of cross-promotion for one of its subsidiaries, it has added a live version of the ABC television show, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" (No Regis here, however). Soon, kids will be able to experience "The Twilight Zone of Terror," Disney's most exciting ride.

That's what kids want from Disney: fantasy and thrills, not pale imitations of reality.

I can't believe any kid would be inspired to visit San Francisco after seeing Disney's watered-down imitation of Fisherman's Wharf. Or to hike up Half Dome after experiencing Disney's tram ride to the top of of its 40-foot- high Grizzly Peak.

I can hear it now. "No, Mom, we saw Yosemite at Disneyland, and it's boring. "

It may make sense to recreate California in Beijing or Rio de Janeiro. But why try to recreate California in California?

Disney's California Adventure does capture some of the state's grandeur in a 20-minute film starring Whoopi Goldberg as Califia, the black Amazon queen who ruled over the fabled land of California invented in 1510 by the Spanish author Garci Ordonez de Montalvo.

"If you have a dream, then bring it on," exhorts a persuasive Whoopi, with much assistance from Disney's dazzling special effects. "This is the place."
Actually, it isn't. This is a place you have to battle traffic to get to. A place where tickets cost kids $33 ($43 if you're over 9 years old), and a place you stand in long lines while your backpacks and purses are searched.

No, the place to dream is the Marin Headlands, gazing down on the swooping cables of the (real) Golden Gate Bridge. Or watching the sun set from atop Half Dome, after sweating your way up. Or sitting in front of a fire on a winter's evening at the Ahwahnee Hotel, the real one, not the imitation at the Disneyland resort. Disney should stick to what it does best: creating fantasies that excite children's imaginations. Let's leave the real California for kids to explore on their own.

 

[Darkbeer1]

A Merlin Jones post from August of 2003....

1) Lack of attractive and alluring entranceway. Unlike the beautiful, immersive Disneyland entry, DCA's is sparse and cheap and kitschy.

2) Most DCA architecture is only halfway themed. It isn't intended to make you think you are really "there" or somewhere else other than Anaheim.

3) No berm to separate the park from the real world. Visual intrusions, such as the Hilton and the power lines were allowed into the plan.

4) No attractive and comfortable plaza in which to relax and view the alluring vistas and weenies of surrounding "lands".

4) there is no central spoke layout and little to see or enjoy at the sunshine plaza. The bear mountain isn't staged to be attractive from the entry or plaza but only from the most expensive hotel rooms (unlike the Matterhorn or Castle).

5) Due the above layout faux pas, the main road of DCA looks more like a back alley, nothing scenic to look at along the way

6) There few "Weenies" at the end of the street, Walt's term for alluring visual icons that can be seen from a distance and lure you forward. Most roads and lands have ugly things at the end instead of cool things, like DL.

5) There is no intuitive flow to the environments of DCA, unlike DL, they are scattershot layouts.

6) The restaurants (except the two most expensive) have no visual beauty in their outdoor seating areas, unlike nearly every eatery at Dl. there are no good views from which to soak up color and relax (except at the expensive eateries and bar). Even the wine garden has no view. They wanted you to spend more for a view.

7) At Dl, there is a photogenic, art directed scenic vista, worthy of a movie shot at nearly every point. At DCA it's hard to find any, save the carnival at night from across the bay. Even the souvenier book had to cut and paste shots together to make interest.

8) There are no lavish immersive storytelling ride throughs for which Disney is famous, like Pirates or HM, and few Audio Animatronic figures

9) The thrill rides are too soft for coaster enthusiasts, not themed enough for DL enthusiasts.

10) There is little charm in DCA, compared to Dl, and little fantasy or quirk.

11) Except for Soarin and Animation, there are few original experiences at DCA, everything seems warmed over and refried, unlike DL.

12) Dl's Casey Jr. goes around a lovely track and storybook land for a three-five minute ride - - DCA's Chew-Chew goes around a loop that's shorter than the loading process.

13) Ugly and obvious budget cutbacks everywhere you look, such as the stairs at the Hyperion and lack of restrooms.

14) A reliance on sit down shoes which become tiresome and repetitive as opposed to highly repeatable ride throughs.

15) A lack of creative excitement and inspiration throughout. Some nice work, but nothing that makes you go oooooh to look at.

16) A few of the worst rides ever in a Disney park, like Superstar Limo.

17) A reliance on off-the-rack carnival rides like everyone has, rather than Disney-level originals

18) A design by committee feel to the whole endeavor. A middle level management, non-creatve, hack sensibility throughout.

19) Games designed to separate you from your money rather than provide and entertaining experience (something Walt refused to have in a Disney park).

20) High prices for food.

21) Lack of California related theming in recent additions.

22) A poor choice of theme for Californians.

23) A lack of significant budget and management support to pull the theme off.

24) DCA has such a classic companion across the way, it suffers even more by direct comparison.

25) Not enough rides, shows and attractions for a whole day.

26) No interesting unique characters relevant to the theme.

27) Main Street Electrical Parade belongs in Disneyland, not DCA.

28) Bird poop covered island in the bay.

29) Few compelling lands.

30) Compared to Dl, the park is lacking in detail.

31) There is little shade.

32) Real world politics intrude on the park's entertainment offerings (like Golden Dreams).

33) No cool nightime spectacular show like Believe or Fantasmic

34) Cloying, patronizing kiddie shows and sidewalk entertainment

35) Doesn't seem like classic Disney quality or material.

36) It's hard to tell who they thought would like this place. Too tacky for rich urban elites who hate Disney - - too benign and dull for teens, too ugly for adults, too unimaginative for kids, too expensive for poor people, too uninspiring for Disney fans. Who would go to this without Dl across the way?

37) Trying too hard to be Magic Mountain, Universal and Knotts lite instead of Disney. Succeeds with none of the above.

38) Less to experience for your money than Dl

39) Generally bad taste in design, color and other aesthetics compared to Dl (see the entrance mural).

40) No "pretty" lands like New Orleans Square.

41) Nothing unique and compelling to buy.

42) Shorter hours of operation.

43) Unlike Dl, doesn't take out out of the real world for a day, but reminds you of the real world's shortcomings, budgets, limitations and consumerism.dependance on bottom line

44) That anyone would even think to compare it to Disneyland in its formative years is the most absurd corporate spin of all time.

45) The sort of stillborn vibe of the place since there's never anybody there, unlike DL.

46) The visual planning is so bad they have to put up billboards with arrows to direct you to a major park icon (Condor Flats to Grizzly Peak)

47) One of the longest shot views down the major DCA road is of a vegetable stand.

48) That the Tower of Terror is directly above and visible from Bug Land

49) The icky spit covered scream shilds on the drop tower

50) The corn field of statues from Bug's Life accompanied by a caterpillar tractor to climb on

51) Empty stores and closed attractions and curiously never-open restaurants

52) Tortilla making as an attraction.

53) Spooky, creepy psycho carnival synthesiser music in PP area and on roller coaster.

54) Loud music everywhere with short repetitive loops.

55) The people planning the park clearly had no respect for Walt Disney, his ideas, WED, the Imagineers, their learned wisdom, planning and design, Disney fans, Disney culture, Disney history, Disneyland, the brand, the customers, the show or anything that mattered over projected profits per square foot from foolish shopping center marketing and retailing theory.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Found some old SaveDisney.com stuff...








In 1999, Paul Pressler became the President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and shortly afterwards would be named Chairman. He was given a more powerful role than any other Parks & Resorts chief in history. He wasn't only supervising Park Operations, he was put in charge of Imagineering as well.

Paul Pressler was already well known to WDI by 1999. As President of Disneyland, he had been intimately involved with the design and development of Disney's California Adventure. Pressler helped shape the concept and determined the budget for the park. It was reported that the overall expansion of the Disneyland Resort was well over one billion dollars. Most of that money did not go into California Adventure; in fact, the park received less then half of the investment. Most of the money went into the new parking structure, Downtown Disney, and especially the Grand Californian Hotel. The park designers would have to work with crumbs. But Paul Pressler wasn't just the guy holding the purse strings anymore, as Chairman of Parks & Resorts he had creative approval as well. For the first time in Disney history, a moneyman was dictating "creative" changes to the artists at Walt Disney Imagineering.

Paul Pressler had convinced everyone on the Parks & Resorts team that Disney's California Adventure would be an unparalleled success. In the days leading up to the opening of California Adventure, the Director of Attractions at Disneyland, Paul Yeargin, openly discussed his concerns that Disney's California Adventure would fill to capacity every day. He thought the resort's biggest problem would be disappointed guests, who, after traveling a great distance to see California Adventure would have to settle for Disneyland instead. Yeargin and other Disneyland executives made decisions based on this premise. Including a now infamous decision by Disneyland Resort President, Cynthia Harriss, to restrict Annual Passholders from using their passes at Disney's California Adventure for the first few months after opening. This decision only served to anger the already disgruntled 400,000 passholders who provide a significant amount of revenue for the resort. Harriss and Yeargin, like many of the Disneyland executives, had followed Pressler over from the Disney Stores and had no previous theme park experience.

Then in February 2001, the world saw what had been festering behind closed doors at WDI for the past several years. Disney's California Adventure opening in the old Disneyland parking lot. It was a mix of off-the-shelf carnival rides and film-based attractions. When Walt's close friend and long-time Imagineer, John Hench, saw the park for the first time he said, "I liked it better as a parking lot." WDI would try to fix California Adventure any way they could. They threw attractions at it left and right...Who Wants to be A Millionaire, a bug's land, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, even the Main Street Electrical Parade would come out of moth balls. None of it worked, of course.

All these projects were subject to the same approval process as Disney's California Adventure. Park Operations (Paul Pressler) would need to approve the concept and budget for the new attraction. The Strategic Planning department would then determine if the project were economically feasible. Then if the project were approved, it would be supervised by Project Management to make sure the creatives didn't try to improve the attraction after it was in production. Of course, all these new systems of control came with a price tag, which drove up the cost of the projects. The Walt Disney Company was spending more money on bureaucracy and less on the attraction itself. In the end, the paying guest got shortchanged.

At WDI, it was taboo to suggest that there was something wrong with California Adventure or the any of the new attractions. At first, WDI management said that the weather was to blame. When the weather cleared up, they blamed the economy. Then they used the new standby...people were scared to travel after September 11th. None of these excuses were valid because Disneyland continued to have much more respectable attendance figures (it's hard to image the weather or economic conditions could be so drastically different ninety feet to the south).

It would seem that WDI could sink no further, but in March of 2002, Pressler (along with former strategic planner Jay Rasulo) opened the only Disney theme park less impressive then California Adventure...Walt Disney Studios Paris. The park failed so miserably, it forced Disneyland Paris into a debt re-structuring plan that currently threatens the future existence of the resort. The pendulum had swung to the other extreme.
Walt Disney Studios Paris is the total opposite of Disneyland Paris. It is a theme park by the numbers-designed with a spreadsheet instead of paint and brush.

 

[Darkbeer1]

In response to the SaveDisney.com article...

http://mb./default....1216181736&C=1







Originally posted by Westsider


Hey! I went to a "Cast Member Forum" hosted by Paul Yeargin in late 2000 where we talked about DCA and the "future of the Resort"!

It was held in the big, fancy conference room on the 4th floor of TDA. There was about 40 of us in the room, mostly CM's who had worked there at least a few years. They showed us video and pictures of DCA on the wall-sized video screen, and then Paul Yeargin opened it up to an informal information session and a Q&A.

We talked all about DCA, and Yeargin repeatedly told us that as Attractions Hosts/Hostesses working in Disneyland that our role would be just as vital in 2001 as the Hosts/Hostesses working in DCA. Why, you ask? Because DCA was going to be so popular that it would fill up to capacity, estimated by Yeargin at the time to be about 30,000 people per day, and they would have to close the turnstiles of DCA regularly.

Yeargin elaborated that the TDA executive team estimated the turnstile closures would happen for the first 7 to 10 days after DCA opened in February, 2001. And then by mid February the closures would only be happening on weekends for the first 6 or 8 weeks. But by the Easter Vacation period of April, 2001 the turnstile closures would happen again 7 days a week during that traditionally busy time. Then we'd see weekend closures again in May, but by late June we would be back to daily turnstile closures for DCA as its first summer would certainly be extremely busy.

Paul Yeargin assured us that our management was preparing for this Guest Service nightmare, and that all of us working in Disneyland would have easy access to "Service Recovery Tools" like coupons for churros or backdoor passes for rides. We would have these at our disposal, and our managers would have access to more expensive options, because there would be so many people inside Disneyland who were upset that DCA had closed their turnstiles before they could get in and they had to "settle for Disneyland".

Paul Yeargin wanted to assure us that those of us CM's "who chose to stay behind" at Disneyland wouldn't be forgotten and that our role during DCA's extremely busy first year of operation would be very important since there would be many disapointed guests at Disneyland who couldn't get in to DCA. It was a big pep rally with the message "Don't worry, we won't forget about the struggles you'll be facing in Disneyland in 2001".

And at the time, we all totally bought it. Our Cast Member sign-in priveleges were blocked out for DCA for 2001. The Christmas Comp Tickets we got from Michael Eisner in 2000 weren't valid for DCA. Current Annual Passholders had been blocked out from DCA, and it was impossible to even buy a DCA Annual Pass at any price in 2000. DCA was going to be super popular and extremely busy for at least the first few years. Paul Yeargin even shared that there was a plan to add a new spinner ride inside the east end of California Screamin' for 2004, but until then the 2001 roster of attractions, rides, shows, restaurants and entertainment would see the park through its first three years of operation.

The funniest thing I remember about that Cast Member Forum was one other CM, a 50 year old lady who had worked at Disneyland since the mid 1970's, and she flatly told Paul Yeargin "That park doesn't look very good. I don't think you guys will need to worry about crowds!". Yeargin laughed at her, and tried to get the rest of us to rally with him and shut her up. Paul Yeargin had a very snotty side to him, and as soon as this highly tenured CM took him off script with her catty remark, he let his snottiness show very quickly. I remember that part the most because it was interesting to see Yeargin's demeanor and tone change so quickly from Cynthia Harriss Rah-Rah-Rah to something more like a snotty Gap Girl after a customer told her she looked fat in the jeans she was wearing.

But this story brought back that long ago "Cast Member Forum" that I had pushed to the back of my mind for many years. Thanks Darkbeer for the blast from the past and the trip down memory lane!

And it's funny how things actually worked out, isn't it?

 

[Darkbeer1]

Here is an interesting article from the old SaveDisney.com website...

http://www.boingboing.net/2004/08/22...gs_declin.html







Paul Pressler had convinced everyone on the Parks & Resorts team that Disney's California Adventure would be an unparalleled success. In the days leading up to the opening of California Adventure, the Director of Attractions at Disneyland, Paul Yeargin, openly discussed his concerns that Disney's California Adventure would fill to capacity every day. He thought the resort's biggest problem would be disappointed guests, who, after traveling a great distance to see California Adventure would have to settle for Disneyland instead. Yeargin and other Disneyland executives made decisions based on this premise. Including a now infamous decision by Disneyland Resort President, Cynthia Harriss, to restrict Annual Passholders from using their passes at Disney's California Adventure for the first few months after opening. This decision only served to anger the already disgruntled 400,000 passholders who provide a significant amount of revenue for the resort. Harriss and Yeargin, like many of the Disneyland executives, had followed Pressler over from the Disney Stores and had no previous theme park experience.
Then in February 2001, the world saw what had been festering behind closed doors at WDI for the past several years. Disney's California Adventure opening in the old Disneyland parking lot. It was a mix of off-the-shelf carnival rides and film-based attractions. When Walt's close friend and long-time Imagineer, John Hench, saw the park for the first time he said, "I liked it better as a parking lot." WDI would try to fix California Adventure any way they could. They threw attractions at it left and right...Who Wants to be A Millionaire, a bug's land, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, even the Main Street Electrical Parade would come out of moth balls. None of it worked, of course.

 

[SweetDuffy101]

Well, a 2nd Disney park doesn't usually get a huge celebration it's more like a small commemoration with merch and a speech from the ambassador of the resort.

 

[mickEblu]

Somebody was kind enough to send me an internal PointPoint presentation file from over 5 years ago. I totally trust this person in the fact that this is the real Mc Coy, and not a fake. If I could share my source, I am sure you would agree that it is a true document.

Sorry, guys I will not post the file, nor will I share it. I am sorry, but you are going to have to trust me on this one. I will clearly identify my comments with brackets [like this]. I am also only going to post selected information, mainly related to the infamous comment, and other points discussed over the last few years.

I received a 10 slide presentation, based on the wording, is an internal WDI presentation.

The first slide is the title slide...









THE "OFF THE SHELF" DECISION




Slide 2 is titled "1995 Company Mentality", which had 7 points.

Point 2 is "Can we do a "E" attraction for $70M?"

Point 6 is "With Paul Pressler's arrival our client became the "parks", not MDE."

Slide 3 is








1996 KEY TO A CHEAPER PARK

Facility, Show or Ride - Pick any 2.

Capitalize on an improving ride industry.

Take known technology & theme it with paint color, lighting & graphics.

Take advantage of engineering already spent by others.

"Direct Lifts"

If it's good enough for Six Flags ....

The "Guiding Principles"






As to the second point of Capitalizing, [To me, this is looking at outside companies, such as S&S Power, since the outside vendors have been making better products in the last decade or so]

And the fifth point, "Direct Lifts" [and as described in a later slide, this is taking attractions from other Disney parks, such as Muppets 3-D (the example they used)]

Slides 4 and 5 talks about the Guiding Principles.

The 4th slide is titled "How can Disney's California be realized for less than traditional practice?"

Then we have 11 points for the sub-category "Park Planning/Design/Theming" (the next slide has the other sub-category).

Point 1 is "No berm around the park", other points mention outside visual intrusions are OK, themed facades are faux, show-like, not immersions or period reproductions, that only the entries and front facades are to be themed, and to keep the Monorail as is.

Slide 5 contains 5 "Backstage Philosophy" points, including "First cost before life cycle savings"

Slide 6 is titled "Embracing the Industry... Their way"

5 points, my favorite is "We don't have any lawyers & we don't want to get any."

Slide 7 is titled "Our Experience", with the category of "good" and 11 points

Slide 8 is the category "Lessons Learned" and 6 points.

Slide 9 is just a title slide, "Would we do it again?" and nothing else.

Slide 10 starts with "Yes" in large letters, and then the sentence "The pros far out weigh the cons. But..."

Then we have 5 points, my favorite on this page is, "Have attractions partners sign(underlined) in advance of the buy." [I read this as get the prospective sponsor to pay up before spending the money, or at least be guaranteed that they will pay for it]

[OK, this is the end of the PowerPoint presentation. So what have we learned, that the statement "If it's good enough for Six Flags..." was actually made at a meeting inside the Disney company, and not made up, as some folks wanted us to believe! That Disney had serious cost control issues while designing and building DCA. That Disney made the decision to use "Off the Shelf" rides instead of designing and building their own. That Disney is looking to keep the costs down on new "E" attractions (the $70 million comment, and now the LA Times report of DCA's ToT costing $75 million). That Disney purposely cut back on the theming at DCA.]

And they were confused when the park bombed?

 

[Curious Constance]

And they were confused when the park bombed?

I think Disney has a rich history of over estimating their worth in the eyes of the general public.

 

[AndyS2992]

Cupcakes don't seem to be an option but yeah... cupcakes.

 

[Curious Constance]

They will make five special cupcakes located throughout the park and offer a map to these cupcakes for $5. Then if you pay the five bucks up front and buy each of the special cupcakes at full price, they will give you a cheap pin. APs will wait in line for three days to get their hands in the Pin. Then they’ll give the remaining 99% of the pins to park guests for free for years after.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

Idea for a T-Shirt:

Fun in the Californian Pun for 20 Years

Disney California Adventure​

 

[Darkbeer1]

 

[Darkbeer1]

 

[Darkbeer1]

 

[Sharon&Susan]

Two attractions that Eisner had some creative influence and both closed before DCA’s second anniversary.