Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
They should’ve built Disney’s Florida Adventure in California. It’d be a mini replica of WDW and... uh swamps?
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Why I think DCA did not have much of a California Theme to begin with
- Thread starter TwilightZone
- Start date
BD-Anaheim
Well-Known Member
If I recall, Walt Disney found swamps compelling enough to include them on an original attraction at DL.
Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
Compelling enough for 50 acres in a theme park?
Florida, Paris, Tokyo, ie, any place not in California.
TROR
Well-Known Member
That makes no sense.
Why not? Then you might as well say Epcot, WDSP, TDS, DHS and DAK makes no sense lol. All those parks show cases cities and countries from outside their actual locations. The point is you're exploring a culture in a part of the world that doesn't exist there. That's what makes them interesting in the first place. They been doing it for decades. There is a REASON for example why there isn't a 'Paris' section in Disneyland Paris, but you can find Hollywood Blvd at WDSP. NO ONE would to freaking DLP to visit 'Paris land' or 'France world' when the real thing is a few miles away by metro or car. But a Paris section could work in other parks. In other words they want to 'escape', that's the point of a Disney park. At DCA you're not 'escaping' if you're seeing stuff you can find literally down the freeway.
But we partly agree, building a theme park around California in general made no real sense.
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Maeryk
Well-Known Member
The main argument for new rides in dca, especially controversial IP based ones, is that the california theme failed. However, I don't think it was just that it was themed to california as to why it failed. I think the big problem, in terms of theme, is that DCA was VERY loosely themed to california and did not take the themeing "all the way". Let's look at some examples from @Pionmycake's guide . Bolded will be the loose ties to california, italics for the no ties.
Who Wants to Be a Millionare Play it!
Flik’s Fun Fair/Bug’s Land
Playhouse Disney Live on Stage
Disney’s Aladdin Musical Spectacular
Turtle Talk with Crush
Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue
High School Music Pep Rally
Rustworthy
Orange Stinger
Now let's look at some photo examples from yesterland. None of these screams california to me.
The main problem with dca is that it never had a true cohesive theme. It just says it's california, and then pushes out whatever it wants. If dca was actually california themed, it might have blown our minds, but instead it's only loosely california, and will be loosely california for the rest of it's life until a rebrand.
But why theme a park for California when the real thing is literally a shortish drive away?
It and DHS were built on a nostalgia wave that never really materialized in pop culture. The biggest problem (Imo) is they didn't anticipate tech and it's affect on people. The explosion of computers and digital media means people can see the real thing from "back then" in their hands, rather than a forced perspective cartoony version of it masquerading as a restaurant or planet Hollywood.
TDO has always been it's best in bringing the fantasy world to life. Trying to recreate real stuff.. they don't do as well.
Maeryk
Well-Known Member
It's castle would still be bigger. Wanh wanh.
shortstop
Well-Known Member
shortstop
Well-Known Member
The purpose of DCA was not to recreate California, but instead to celebrate its culture. Of course, the execution could’ve been better, but building a California-themed Park would make zero sense anywhere else. People in Florida, Paris, and Japan don’t care about California culture beyond the Hollywood aspect.
OK you got me there lol! But to be fair that's only because of the ride itself which is based in Paris and it was a popular movie so it made sense.. And this is a SMALL area of the park. They didn't create an entire park around Paris which was my main point and why DCA failed.
And DL itself has areas of America, which works fine. Because as I said those are invoking places from the past so it feels more like a fantasy world and romanticized, certainly not the real world. Other words it's not the 'here and now' DCA was presented as.
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Let me make this 100% clear. NO ONE should ever build a California theme park anywhere lol. We agree on that. But what I'm saying is elements of the state, Hollywood, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Yellowstone, etc, etc would fit fine in other parks worldwide. I think building a park around ANY one location is just a really bad idea personally. DHS gets away with it because it's about movies as much as it is about L.A. culture. And yes it's in Florida. So a California themed area could work anywhere worldwide. L.A. in Tokyo works as well as New York in Tokyo does. L.A. in Anaheim just feels like L.A. in Anaheim when it's 30 mins away. There is no escape as you do in other parts of the world.
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Maeryk
Well-Known Member
DCA failed because it changed horses mid race. Superstar Limo got gutted due to the Princess Di tragedy, and it became a jumbled mess as things got plunked in Willy nilly (tot) with seemingly no real thought to aesthetics or flow.
It could have been done right, but the rush to cash in on hot ticket properties made it feel disjointed.
And I think we are still feeling the effects of that life lesson, as we now get stuff 10 or more years after it was hot.
Maybe but I just don't think people would've ever gravitated to it like they DL. People like Disney theme parks because it's NOT suppose to remind them of their lives. They like the idea of going to a different place or time. It invokes both a sense of nostalgia or adventure. NOS works for example because they didn't build NOS of today, but one that mixed elements of fantasy, adventure and history. POTC and HM works because those stories have nothing to do with our lives or the real world. You can't find those stories anywhere else.
Then DCA comes along and what does it build? Paradise pier, where you can literally find the exact same rides and experience at any boardwalk in California or anywhere else in the country. They didn't bother to make it feel anymore than what it was, a present day California themed boardwalk. Only you get to pay $60 for the experience of hoping aboard swings and a mouse coaster and not the $3 per ride at other boardwalks.
But I don't disagree, if the park just had better rides and shows (and better designed in general) and more people would've liked it.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
You're joking, right? It's a heavily romanticized version of California.
I'm not gonna make the argument that DCA 1.0 was a good park, but to say it wasn't California themed is a desperate attempt at a hot take that holds little weight.
Soarin Over California oozes California.
Paradise Pier is a Disney take on the classic seaside piers found in California- like Santa Monica Pier.
Superstar Limo is also very Hollywood. Lousy attraction, but definitely themed to an integral part of LA's culture.
Grizzly River Rapids is an homage to California's vast and rich outdoors.
The giant orange? California is known for their oranges.
We got the point. It's just not a good or well thought out one.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Since the thread is titled "to begin with", we should probably revise this list to only include the ones that were there to begin with.
Orange Stinger
SS Rustworthy
It's Tough To Be a Bug (Flik's Fun Fair/Bugs Land weren't there opening day)
__r.jr
Well-Known Member
If Disney could create a theme park centered around water then there is no reason a park centered around California could not work just as well.
In its inception, California Adventure failed creatively due to poor execution not theme.
Disney was on their way of rectifying the park's execution, or lack thereof, over half a decade into its existence by dialing the clock back on the park's subsections because that's what Disney does best: creating idealized and romanticized environments that blend fantasy with history. A 1900's Santa Monica and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 1920's Los Angeles, 1930's Hollywood, 1940's Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf and 1960's Yosemite National Park with Cars Land being the notable exception being an amalgamation of a 1950's Route 66.
Was it perfect? No, by any means. Was it ever fully realized? Disappointingly no. However the park had finally been given (at least up until 2015) a cohesive identity - "A California that never was but will always be..."
That is until current management decided that the reverent California theme in a California themed park was deemed irrelevant.
In its inception, California Adventure failed creatively due to poor execution not theme.
Disney was on their way of rectifying the park's execution, or lack thereof, over half a decade into its existence by dialing the clock back on the park's subsections because that's what Disney does best: creating idealized and romanticized environments that blend fantasy with history. A 1900's Santa Monica and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 1920's Los Angeles, 1930's Hollywood, 1940's Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf and 1960's Yosemite National Park with Cars Land being the notable exception being an amalgamation of a 1950's Route 66.
Was it perfect? No, by any means. Was it ever fully realized? Disappointingly no. However the park had finally been given (at least up until 2015) a cohesive identity - "A California that never was but will always be..."
That is until current management decided that the reverent California theme in a California themed park was deemed irrelevant.
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Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
Why not?
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
I agree with others. There was nothing wrong with the concept, only the execution. And DCA 1.0 was way more Californian than current DCA.
networkpro
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Umm Yellowstone is mostly in Wyoming ...