Would you lock Disneyland in its 1989 state?

[Phroobar]

The nice thing about 1989 Disneyland is you get Star Tours / Captain EO and Circle Vision. The down side is America Sings just closed so that building stays dead forever. Could we make it March 1988 instead?

It's a criminal thing that America Sings closed 38 years ago and all we got was Innoventions for 17 years and 21 years of closure!

 

[Go_Bears_80]

The nice thing about 1989 Disneyland is you get Star Tours / Captain EO and Circle Vision. The down side is America Sings just closed so that building stays dead forever. Could we make it March 1988 instead?

It's a criminal thing that America Sings closed 38 years ago and all we got was Innoventions for 17 years and 21 years of closure!

It is a criminal thing that we ever GOT America Sings. It was a rather pathetic addition to "Tomorrowland" replacing the COP and it never made any sense being in Tomorrowland.

I also could have done without Captain EO.

 

[Phroobar]

It is a criminal thing that we ever GOT America Sings. It was a rather pathetic addition to "Tomorrowland" replacing the COP and it never made any sense being in Tomorrowland.

I also could have done without Captain EO.

What we should have gotten was Plektu's Fantastic Intergalactic Revue. A full AA alien circus using the carrousel. It was suppose to be a space ship that crash landed into Tomorrowland 2055.

 

[MK-fan]

The nice thing about 1989 Disneyland is you get Star Tours / Captain EO and Circle Vision. The down side is America Sings just closed so that building stays dead forever. Could we make it March 1988 instead?

It's a criminal thing that America Sings closed 38 years ago and all we got was Innoventions for 17 years and 21 years of closure!

You would take America Sings over Slash Mountain?

 

[MK-fan]

I would rather keep 1995 Disneyland forever over 1989 Disneyland, right before the PeopleMover closed forever. You would gain Fantasmic!, Toontown, Indiana Jones Adventure and the only losses between 1989 and 1995 would be the Skyway, Tahitian Terrace, Rocket Jets, Teddi Berra’s Swingin Arcade, Motor Boat Cruise and Mission to Mars. Compared to today, you would still have Country Bear Theater, Splash Mountain, The Disney Gallery w/ Court of Angels, Cascade Peak, Fort Wilderness, PeopleMover, Golden Horseshoe Revue, Captain EO, OG Submarine Voyage, Circle-Vision, Tomorrowland Terrace w/ Rock bands, One of a Kind shop, Jolly Trolley, a fully intact Penny Arcade, Mike Fink Keelboats, Chip n Dale Acorn Crawl/Slide, one side of the Mary Blair Murals, Main Street Electrical Parade, Goofy’s Bounce House, Plaza Gardens food and stage, OG Star Tours, Starcade, OG Pirates, Burning Settlers Cabin, Space Mountain/Sub speedramps and lots and lots of entertainment!!!!

 

[mickEblu]

I would rather keep 1995 Disneyland forever over 1989 Disneyland, right before the PeopleMover closed forever. You would gain Fantasmic!, Toontown, Indiana Jones Adventure and the only losses between 1989 and 1995 would be the Skyway, Tahitian Terrace, Motor Boat Cruise and Mission to Mars. Compared to today, you would still have Country Bear Theater, Splash Mountain, The Disney Gallery w/ Court of Angels, Cascade Peak, Fort Wilderness, PeopleMover, Golden Horseshoe Revue, Captain EO, OG Submarine Voyage, Circle-Vision, Tomorrowland Terrace w/ Rock bands, One of a Kind shop, Jolly Trolley, a fully intact Penny Arcade, Mike Fink Keelboats, Chip n Dale Acorn Crawl/Slide, one side of the Mary Blair Murals, Main Street Electrical Parade, Goofy’s Bounce House, Plaza Gardens food and stage, OG Star Tours, Starcade, OG Pirates, Burning Settlers Cabin, Space Mountain/Sub speedramps and lots and lots of entertainment!!!!

From an attraction roster standpoint I’d agree but there is a specific reason I went with 1989 as I felt it’s a point where you had most of the classics and yet still had relatively low crowds year round minus summer, holidays and Saturdays. I remember the mid 90s being crowded after Indy opened but I was also older and for all I know/ remember the late 90s may have had low crowds as well after the Indy hype died down. The year round crowds we see now didn’t start until the 50th if I’m not mistaken and then it only got worse from there.

 

[Phroobar]

You would take America Sings over Slash Mountain?

Hanse the reason for Plektu's. You can have both.

 

[Go_Bears_80]

and the only losses between 1989 and 1995 would be the Skyway, Tahitian Terrace, Rocket Jets, Teddi Berra’s Swingin Arcade, Motor Boat Cruise and Mission to Mars.

Skyway and The Motor Boat Cruise were two of my favorite rides to work and I loved the Tahitian Terrace, it should never have closed.

CBJ was fun at first, but I was not one who mourned its loss. I did mourn losing the Mike Fink Keel Boat, the Conestoga Wagon, the Stagecoach, the Pack Mules, the Mine Train, the giant meadow on the Disneyland RR and many other great attractions.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

What we should have gotten was Plektu's Fantastic Intergalactic Revue. A full AA alien circus using the carrousel. It was suppose to be a space ship that crash landed into Tomorrowland 2055.

I’m the one who took that top photo of the concept art! So glad I did!

 

[Phroobar]

Is the time right for the return of a big AA show? Would people go see it repeatedly? Considering the crowds, I think it would be fairly full even with its huge people eating capacity.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Is the time right for the return of a big AA show? Would people go see it repeatedly? Considering the crowds, I think it would be fairly full even with its huge people eating capacity.

While a new AA show does sound nice, I'm not sure Disneyland visitors will support a big new AA show long-term. The old ones are grandfathered in because of both the Walt factor and small size/awkward locations that won't support much else.

Part of the reason COP moved on and AS closed was because there was increased pressure on the shows from a capacity perspective to appeal to massive amounts of people, which proved problematic as guests tired of both shows after a few years, management could only see that they weren't living up to their capacity potential, and then they moved/closed as a result. And that was for shows that were in a favorable location-CBJ, whether because of the subject matter, location, or both, never seemed to find more than a cult audience in California.

There's definitely a market for AA-heavy rides, but I'm not convinced that there's one for static shows. It has already been noted that DLR visitors in particular like variety, and AA shows just don't provide that for many of its guests. I could picture there being more of an appeal at WDW, with more visitors cycling in and out and the parks needing more capacity period, but management won't build them because they're not the kind of attractions conducive to lightning lanes. Even at TDR, Tiki Room is on it's third show (notably, the current show features a beloved IP character at its center) and the Bears allegedly would also have been canned or redone a la WDW's if not for the characters catching on in merchandising.

I do think it's notable that beginning with DLP, the subsequent castle parks have dispensed with AA shows entirely, and TDS, which could have housed anything OLC wanted, also opted not to add AA shows, even as they weren't averse to adding AA-heavy attractions like Sindbad. At some point, the company must have determined that they just weren't viable going forward, a conclusion they reached even before the parks were entirely in the hands of the bean counters.

 

[Phroobar]

While a new AA show does sound nice, I'm not sure Disneyland visitors will support a big new AA show long-term. The old ones are grandfathered in because of both the Walt factor and small size/awkward locations that won't support much else.

Part of the reason COP moved on and AA closed was because there was increased pressure on the shows from a capacity perspective to appeal to massive amounts of people, which proved problematic as guests tired of both shows after a few years, management could only see that they weren't living up to their capacity potential, and then they moved/closed as a result. And that was for shows that were in a favorable location-CBJ, whether because of the subject matter, location, or both, never seemed to find more than a cult audience in California.

There's definitely a market for AA-heavy rides, but I'm not convinced that there's one for static shows. It has already been noted that DLR visitors in particular like variety, and AA shows just don't provide that for many of its guests. I could picture there being more of an appeal at WDW, with more visitors cycling in and out and the parks needing more capacity period, but management won't build them because they're not the kind of attractions conducive to lightning lanes. Even at TDR, Tiki Room is on it's third show (notably, the current show features a beloved IP character at its center) and the Bears allegedly would also have been canned or redone a la WDW's if not for the characters catching on in merchandising.

I do think it's notable that beginning with DLP, the subsequent castle parks have dispensed with AA shows entirely, and TDS, which could have housed anything OLC wanted, also opted not to add AA shows, even as they weren't averse to adding AA-heavy attractions like Sindbad. At some point, the company must have determined that they just weren't viable going forward, a conclusion they reached even before the parks were entirely in the hands of the bean counters.

These are all good points. I wonder if AP crowd would support it? The paying folks would do it simply because it is there.

Both sides of this argument would apply to a new People Mover too. Sure the AP crowd screams for it but would they ride it over and over every week they are there? The paying folks would do it on their one visit because its a ride.

 

[PiratesMansion]

These are all good points. I wonder if AP crowd would support it?

I don't think they would support it any more than they support the existing AA shows right now.

The paying folks would do it simply because it is there.

I'm not convinced of this. They're going to be drawn to the LL attractions, and any new AA show would have to have *exactly* the right level of curb appeal to draw in people and not leave them confused or worse. Too little curb appeal and people walk right by it, but too much and people expect Rise of the Resistance 2 and leave annoyed that it's just a show. That's a level of nuance I'm not sure current Disney is capable of hitting all the time.

Both sides of this argument would apply to a new People Mover too. Sure the AP crowd screams for it but would they ride it over and over every week they are there? The paying folks would do it on their one visit because its a ride.

I imagine if the Peoplemover had hung on a few more years, it would have had a resurgence in popularity and become grandfathered in. I'm not sure if a new Peoplemover would take off to the level people say it would. On one hand, it's exactly the sort of attraction the park needs more of, and it might gather more enthusiasm from crowds over an AA show simply because it'd be a highly visible ride. But if you're a passholder and you're only popping in for a few hours, are you really going to want to spend your time sitting down on an extended tour of Tomorrowland rather than riding Indiana Jones? I know that some people absolutely would do that, but I imagine it's fewer people than some might expect.

And if you're Johnny Tourist, if you're coming in hyped for the brand new Peoplemover restoration, you're probably going to be baffled by it rather than appreciative. Perhaps after a few years and things have calmed down it would be more appealing and occupy something close to the level of popularity TTA has at WDW. And that's IF Disney does everything right.