Good look at Journey to the Center of the Earth from TDS.

[larworth]

Isn't it staggering that ANY company, much less the company that literally invented the Theme Park concept, could plunk $800 Million worth of park down onto 50 acres with the result that a Disney Fan could make the statement above?

Similar sentiment behind my original question. Clearly, there should have been no abandoning of standards anywhere, regardless of the budget. However, my comment was more around the decision not to have one clear centerpiece attraction.

When DAK was being designed, the Safari ride had to be considered a strong Hall of Fame hopeful. I doubt anyone had similar aspirations for either Screamin or Grizzly. If Soarin was their “great ride hope”, they sure didn’t give it the full star treatment (elaborate story, immersive theming, over the top scale).

A centerpiece (signature) attraction may not be a must, but wonder how much different DCA’s image/acceptance would have been if it had one?

 

[Bstanley]

I'm reminded of the quote from a Supreme Court justice that went something like:

"I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it"...

Whether DCA needed a single defining attraction, or a dozen, or a handful and a lot better 'detailing', or - well you get the idea - will never be known for sure, but DCA certainly doesn't have what it takes to be a really successful Theme Park.

DCA could probably have been successful using any of the above changes - IF the people that made the defining decisions had been people who actually enjoyed visiting a Theme Park! To me DCA just looks like something slapped together by someone using a 'SIM Theme Park' game.

 

[Another Voice]

“IF the people that made the defining decisions had been people who actually enjoyed visiting a Theme Park!”

An excellent summation. I might add that it probably would have been better if the decisions had been made by people who understood and enjoyed California. If nothing else, it would have sparred the world yet another Cooney Island knock-off.

By the way: a certain tall, balding executive said in a meeting that he wanted DCA to be “a place my wife would like to visit”. The clear implication to all in the room is that Disney’s existing parks aren’t hip enough for the high-end wallet people he wanted to attract.

 

[airlarry!]

Tryin' to play catchup...

Mssrs. AV and Raider, I agree with you. The trick, the secret that has always been up Disney's sleeve and seemingly no one else's, is that the Imagineers provided theming, with the Show, and with the attraction, in one emotional experience. It what separates Disney from Six Flags, right?

It is why I will ride Splash Mountain a million times, and the old Paul Bunyon ride at Ponchartrain Beach twice when it was open.

It is why Kilminjaro Safari is awesome, and why Kali isn't fit to wash the socks of Splash...despite the fact that the queue line has such amazing depth and interest.

I believe AV and I disagree on Pooh in WDW. Yes, I am a pimp for the Tokyo Disney Land version of it -- why wouldn't I? Eddie Sotto helped design it -- but my family and I still love the WDW version...and I'll bet you half a tortilla it is better than Superstar Lame-o at DCA.

 

[Another Voice]

Not fair – The flu is more fun than SuperStar Limo (may it rest in pieces).

The issue with WDW’s ‘Pooh’ isn’t the ride itself, it the attitude that Disney Management has towards its customers. They chose to give us a lesser version of an existing attraction for reasons that don’t seem to fit the philosophy of the Company. Even if it’s nice, there’s always a stigma attached to having the second best. Of course we here at Disneyland are going to be getting an even cheaper version so that might make the WDW crowd feel better.

I imagine that if we ever got a version of ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ here in the states you’d have to put a quarter in the slot to make the ride move.

 

[airlarry!]

All right. I see your point.

But, I do recall that they were having problems getting the system to work in Tokyo. So, my fervent hope is that the Pooh ride, already in production, was green-lighted while waiting to gauge the viability of the Tokyo Pooh attraction. Of course, now that the bugs seem to be out of the Tokyo version, we will of course get Cloned attractions with different themes at DCA and WDW. Like a Monsters Inc attraction in MGM maybe? Right? Right? Right?

(Crickets are heard off screen chirping mournfully.)

 

[Another Voice]

Of course Disney has already cloned the Tokyo Disneyland version of ‘Pooh’. Now that the ride system is complete and proven to be a massive (and I mean massive in the attendance raising, three-hour wait, talk of the town way), Disney rushed to use the self-guided random walk technology as quickly as they could.

It’s running right now as the ‘Aquatopia’ at DisneySea.


Oh, you wanted a U.S. version of the ride….Well, I suppose that rumor someone suggested using the SuperStar ride vehicles for the ‘Pooh’ Disneyland to save some costs doesn’t really indicate Disney is planning on going full-out on new attractions. The economics of rides is a lot more difficult to understand than a shopping mall and some people just have are way too busy. Sales per square foot and average meal prices make great numbers to put on PowerPoint presentations. You just sit back in the conference room and watch to dollar signs glow. So much easier for the busy executive bound for Broadway. And shopping for rides out of a catalog is great too; none of those messy meetings with those creative types. And if you order Flick’s Fun Fair over the Internet, you’ll get free shipping!


By the way, rumor is that ‘Buzz Lightyear’ for Tokyo Disneyland is going to cost four times what the WDW version cost: show effects, three dimensional figures, juiced up ride vehicle, the works.

 

[Bstanley]

"It's like deja-vu all over again"

I feel the same way I imagine Disney fans felt in the late '70s...

Watching a company - that doesn't appear to be able to focus on it's core business' having penny-wise but pound-foolish decisions made by seemingly clueless people - sliding slowly into mediocrity...Where are the Bass Brothers when you need them?

When people start accepting the numbers on the slides as their reality instead of taking a walk down Main Street you know it's going to be bad...at least back in the '70s the people running the place would look at each other and ask "What would Walt have done?" instead of "What's the least we can build this [fill in the blank] for?".

 

[airlarry!]

Oh!OH!Oh!

You just got me excited, M. AV.

My family loves the Buzz Lightyear attraction in Orlando. I never even considered this Modified Strange GPS system for the attraction, but just thinking about the 'ballet' that people talk about with Aquatopia at TDS makes me drool for a modified Buzz.

Imagine your Ranger Spin cars spinning in random movements throughout each room as you blast away at targets in front, behind you, above-- all around you.

I was there just after Buzz opened its first year, and the waits were basically intolerable. Fastpass has helped out with this. But if you do a Buzz type attraction with GPS cars in WDW? God help us with the lines! We might see two hour waits!




I know. Calm down. It is going to TDS -- which I'm about to start calling WDS or Walt Disney Seas, because I think Walt would be kicking up his heels and flicking pixie dust off of his shoulders had he visited this park.

But isn't there some little hint of a rumor somewhere that a Pooh-system attraction is scheduled for somewhere in WDW?

 

[larworth]

It would be great if Disney had a Buzz ride of the same quality as MIB. Sounds like that is where they are headed.....in Tokyo.

The beauty of the Pooh GPS technology seems to be the multi-car interaction. You probably wouldn't have much need for this type of interaction in Buzz. I bet they still use a track, but with a more emv type vehicle.

You could use GPS to create a random walk. Your path through the target range would vary depending on what targets you hit along the way. Clear a path and go one way. Miss and you are forced to go another. Almost like a pinball machine.

 

[King Triton]

It is so sad when you compare DisneySea with DCA. It's like night and day. Why, oh why can't Disney build a DisneySea here in the states - The home of Walt Disney!!!

DCA is a big disappointment - DisneySea is a masterpiece - the Real Disney magic.

Come on imagineers - THINK! Disney spends billions of dollars for sports complexes and internet deals, don't tell me they don't have the money.

I'm still hurting over the removal of Horizons and World of Motion.

Overall, I love Disney and I'll be a fan for life. I'm just being honest here.



King Triton