Why I think DCA did not have much of a California Theme to begin with

TROR

TROR

Well-Known Member
Phrubruh said:
We are getting the California that never was. We have a California Pier populated by giant living toys. We have a desert town populated by living cars. We have an oil refinery populated by aliens and talking racoons. How much California that never was do we really need?
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The California that never should've been
 
D

DanielBB8

Well-Known Member
The only way to make the California theme work is start with the architecture. Having lots of representative landmarks and buildings will be an excellent starting point. They improved the park a lot with the new entrance and Carsland. They slightly improved the pier with mid century architecture. Hollywood Backlot is still untouched with the warehouse look and making it authentic old Hollywood isn’t where they’re going. Ultimately, DCA is just an amusement park with slight theming.
 
SSG

SSG

Well-Known Member
This just screams California:


New! Theres a full body dryer located next to Grizzly River Run Rapids @ Disney California Adventure. – at Disney California Adventure Park
DrBhWT5U8AEChZX.jpg
 
Model3 McQueen

Model3 McQueen

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
DanielBB8 said:
The only way to make the California theme work is start with the architecture. Having lots of representative landmarks and buildings will be an excellent starting point. They improved the park a lot with the new entrance and Carsland. They slightly improved the pier with mid century architecture. Hollywood Backlot is still untouched with the warehouse look and making it authentic old Hollywood isn’t where they’re going. Ultimately, DCA is just an amusement park with slight theming.
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Honestly at this point i'd advocate for a name change.

"Glorious Robert Chapek presents Marvel and Pixar Land"
 
F

fctiger

Well-Known Member
Robbiem said:
California Adventure could have been a better park if it had gone for the dream of California rather than the reality. The park was mostly conceived as a way to try and stop people visitng other California landmarks like Hollywood and the beach and to spend more time at Disneyland in the same way that MGM and Animal Kingdom were designed to stop people going to Universal and Bush Gardens. The problem with this idea was that in Florida you are dealing with escapism vs real life in California. Tourists dont want to visit a replica of Hollywood they want to see the real thing and to locals seeing a replica of whats up the road isnt really a great draw, especially at Disney prices. What’s interesting is that when disney planned magic Kingdom they followed this exact path and replaced new orleans square with liberty square as they thought Orlando was too close to New Orleans for the theme to be exciting.

The opening attractions didnt help either with a lot being basic carnival rides or copies from other disney parks.

If the park had gone for the California which never was and presented lands based on idealised views of history and the future it could have been a better draw. 30s LA, Barbary Coast San Francisco, Gold Rush wild west, pre spanish native culture or mexican California and a futuristic world from silicon valley would all have been interesting starting points for a park.

I still think a more general theme like Disneysea makes for a better gate as you have more diversity in theme
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This was exactly my point in my OP! Disney is about escapism. It's not the fact they made a park based on known geographic locations, clearly they do that all the time. The problem was they made one about today and then set it in the same area where the real one exists. As you said the point was to convince tourists to feel they are getting a sense of California there but it really didn't capture California in any real way with a few exceptions.

A park capturing it's history may have been the better way. A 40s San Francisco or Hollywood in its early golden age would've been a much better way to go at least. Those would've made it more interesting and with a true sense of adventure.

But yes I also agree there would've been more interesting themes in general to go in. The California theme felt like a mistake in general but it could've been a great one if they used more imagination and yes, money, to make it happen.
 
D

DanielBB8

Well-Known Member
fctiger said:
A park capturing it's history may have been the better way. A 40s San Francisco or Hollywood in its early golden age would've been a much better way to go at least. Those would've made it more interesting and with a true sense of adventure.

But yes I also agree there would've been more interesting themes in general to go in. The California theme felt like a mistake in general but it could've been a great one if they used more imagination and yes, money, to make it happen.
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No, the failure of Golden Dreams suggests people don’t want history in their theme park attractions. There’s nothing wrong with California Adventure as a mere device to focus on Disney IP. That is what they did with Pirates at New Orleans Square or Frozen in the Norway Pavilion. So what is Disney doing? We have The Little Mermaid in the new California style building and The Incredibles in the Mid-Century style building. This will continue although it is slow going and there’s no clear plan in evidence.
 
shortstop

shortstop

Well-Known Member
DanielBB8 said:
No, the failure of Golden Dreams suggests people don’t want history in their theme park attractions. There’s nothing wrong with California Adventure as a mere device to focus on Disney IP. That is what they did with Pirates at New Orleans Square or Frozen in the Norway Pavilion. So what is Disney doing? We have The Little Mermaid in the new California style building and The Incredibles in the Mid-Century style building. This will continue although it is slow going and there’s no clear plan in evidence.
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Yeah, the American Adventure is another example of a history-based attraction that nobody likes.

/s
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Rich T said:
I didn't say it was an awful ride (I actually enjoy it as a coaster). I said it was off-the-shelf, tacky, and a cheap, lousy way of trying to shoehorn a Wild Mouse into the California theme. Again, the California theme failed because of the cynical, budget-cutting, insincere way Disney approached it. The park felt like a con job from day one, and Mulholand's terrible, insulting attempt to represent a part of LA that never should have been considered as an "attraction" (because people have actually died on that road--really insensitive idea for a coaster) didn't help. In the end, it doesn't matter how many attractions at DCA were/are related to California if the themed items don't work in the first place. Shaping trash cans like cable cars or calling a Scrambler "L.A. Freeway Craziness" does not make the park more California-themed, despite how low an opinion the park's designers apparently had of the public's collective I.Q. and taste. And that attitude lives on in Pixar Pier.
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Didn’t James Dean die off of Mullholland?
 
D

DanielBB8

Well-Known Member
shortstop said:
Yeah, the American Adventure is another example of a history-based attraction that nobody likes.

/s
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Epcot lost World Of Motion and Maelstrom. You should be glad American Adventure and Spaceship Earth still remains after losing a ton of science attractions. You can be certain the new Epcot attractions won’t be based on history or science.
 
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Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
DanielBB8 said:
Epcot lost World Of Motion and Maelstrom. You should be glad American Adventure and Spaceship Earth still remains after losing a ton of science attractions. You can be certain the new Epcot attractions won’t be based on history or science.
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All that Edutainment was why Epcot was named the "Most boring place on Earth."
 

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