Is Disney embarrassed of DCA?

[JPTexan82]

Hello all, the wife and I just spent a week at the Resort. We even bought Inspire Keys a while back, and bought DVC at VDH as well. Since we live in Texas, we split time between both coast.

We have been visiting the resort since 2006, and remember when DCA was thr OG version. Even as late as 2018, I even have merch still that has Disney California Adventure on it. There is a lovely pull over that I have, that I bought at Grizzly River Rapids that has Mickey holding a paddle on the front, and DCA logo on the back top.

This trip and as well as 2021, there isn’t even a Christmas Ornament or picture frame that has anything related the DCA. It seems like the Walt Disney Company is embarrassed to even have merchandise about the park or talk about it. Of course we all know what is next door, and maybe what is coming with “Forward”. But when you find merch at the park today related to Epcot, pirates from MK, or even the MK train station, it makes you wonder. Thoughts?

 

[starlite_]

Nah. This is case of merch being standarized at DLR. All stores have the same merchandise with few variations. I don't think there is anything more to it.

 

[NVDISFamily]

I guess I could see where you are coming from but when I think of the park(s) as a whole, I think Disneyland Resort and that is both parks. With them being so close, we treat them as one large park and jump from them as need need/like. DCA has some awesome things with Cars Land argued by many as one of the best lands in all of Disney Parks (we agree). Also, with becoming more frequent visitors as our kids are in that prime age to visit the parks and have fun, nothing beats the Disney bubble like a stay at the Grand Cal and jumping back and forth from DCA to your room when you need some rest.

To test your question I did a quick digging through my stack of Disney/DVC stuff I have in buckets in the office and the lanyards on the wall hook. I grabbed the most DCA thing that quickly caught my eye which was our lanyards from the Food and Wine festival and they for sure say DCA on them.

Edit to post from phone -

 

[JPTexan82]

Well to counter your food and wine, the Oggie Boogie merch or wrist bands this past week didn’t have anything that said DCA.

Grizzly mountain is such a pretty icon, and I still remember it vividly from when the park opened. There is nothing related to that anymore. Sure there is some merch that says Carsland and Adventure Campus. But not even a coffee cup this past week that says DCA.

 

[DizMe]

Hmmm, I never really thought about that before! I think DCA has been an ongoing experiment, and has evolved over the years in a way that was probably not anticipated originally. The 'California' aspect has kind of taken a back seat and in some cases, disappeared. I think many people now just think of it as a part of Disneyland rather than a completely separate entity.

 

[Dead2009]

If they were embarassed, they wouldnt continue to add to the parks.

 

[Jwaire]

I've been harsh on DCA in the past, primarily because it's such a step down compared to Disneyland park. However, it has some fun (and different) attractions, really good food and decent drinks.

I love the nostalgia of DCA 1.0 (don't make me bust out my soundtrack— "Side by side, heart to heart, we can finish anything we start.."), but like EPCOT 1.0 it had to change with the times.

On a whole, Disney should be embarrassed that all their domestic parks pale in comparison to what's being built in Tokyo.

Disneyland, Magic Kingdom and the rest of the domestic parks should be the premier Walt Disney Company theme parks and they're just not anymore.

 

[Smugpugmug]

If there is any park Disney should be ashamed of, it's the Studios park in Paris, even with the newest additions.

 

[Jwaire]

If there is any park Disney should be ashamed of, it's the Studios park in Paris, even with the newest additions.

It's hard to invest in something that's lost money 90% of its lifetime, despite being the #1 tourist attraction in Europe.

But they've did better the last few years, so maybe in 25 more years and billions of more dollars it will be a huge money maker for the company.

 

[Smugpugmug]

It's hard to invest in something that's lost money 90% of its lifetime, despite being the #1 tourist attraction in Europe.

But they've did better the last few years, so maybe in 25 more years and billions of more dollars it will be a huge money maker for the company.

When I went there, I definitely got the vibe that it was 100% a park they were forced to build rather than wanting to. Felt very cheap and low effort. Even the newest stuff doesn't look that interesting.

 

[Tinkaboo]

No, they are not embarrassed…as pointed out before, it’s the new standardization of logos and identification. I remember when they first started referring to DL as “Disneyland Resort”. I had numerous cast members mention that to me. This way all the merch is now homogenized, plain vanilla, not worth a dime stuff, compared to what they used to sell in the parks. I come every trip ready to drop a hundred dollars on clothes and I’ve only bought one shirt in last three trips. I find better stuff for resale on eBay. And there really isn’t much new stuff, either except for seasonal items Like holiday spirit jerseys, etc.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

We got this when we were there in August.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Na...they are just trying to brand EVERYTHING portfolio wide as "Disney Parks"...

...just another touch of the magic gone.

 

[DizMe]

View attachment 796493

We got this when we were there in August.

Oh, I love that!! I have a DL tumbler from Starbucks I got a few years back. I get sooooo many comments on it (I use it at SB for the drink discount). One barista raves about it so much I thought I'd get her one. Well, they don't make them any longer and they're about $60+ on ebay. Good thing I never told her I was thinking about getting her one!

 

[LKing]

There is often DCA branded merchandise (such as what Douglas Dubh posted above), but much of it was moved out to make room for Oogie Boogie and Halloween merch.

Most of the merchandise in both parks has become very standardized. It annoys me when I see WDW attraction merchandise at the California Parks. People still buy it, so they will keep selling it.

Tinkaboo, I dislike the change to "Disneyland Resort." I'll buy Disneyland but not Disneyland Resort.

 

[SpaceMan5]

This way all the merch is now homogenized, plain vanilla, not worth a dime stuff, compared to what they used to sell in the parks. I come every trip ready to drop a hundred dollars on clothes and I’ve only bought one shirt in last three trips

I feel the same way. I bought only one t-shirt on our last trip and it was marginal at best. To make matters worse, my lovely wife put it in the dryer so I needed to lose about 20lbs so it would fit nicely....unfortunately, it went into the garage rag box

 

[DizMe]

There is often DCA branded merchandise (such as what Douglas Dubh posted above), but much of it was moved out to make room for Oogie Boogie and Halloween merch.

Most of the merchandise in both parks has become very standardized. It annoys me when I see WDW attraction merchandise at the California Parks. People still buy it, so they will keep selling it.

Tinkaboo, I dislike the change to "Disneyland Resort." I'll buy Disneyland but not Disneyland Resort.

TOTALLY agree. I hated the "One Park" concept or whatever it was called when they tried to do away with park-specific merch and merge WDW and DLR into a single design concept for merchandise. Judging by the fact that there is still a lot of park-specific merch, I'm guessing it didn't go over as well as they'd hoped.

It really annoys me when there's WDW-specific stuff in DLR.

 

[NVDISFamily]

Grizzly mountain is such a pretty icon, and I still remember it vividly from when the park opened. There is nothing related to that anymore.

They did give a reference to it in the recent remodel of the BRV rooms at Wilderness Lodge which I thought was a great tie into the two properties and made sense for the theme there (plus the fact that the designer/architect for the two lodges is the same person). I'm not sure if we got a picture of it during our visit a few months ago but here is a great photo on WDWNT's website -

https://media.wdwnt.com/2023/03/Refurbished-Boulder-Ridge-1-Bedroom-Villa-Tour-2935.jpg

and a link to the article - https://wdwnt.com/2023/03/photos-vi...wilderness-lodge-disney-vacation-club-resort/

 

[pennym]

Agree 100%. I bought zero tshirts on my last trip to DL, but got 3 at Knotts. Much nicer, much less expensive. Luckily I still have a really nice DCA one from a previous trip!

 

[starlite_]

When I went there, I definitely got the vibe that it was 100% a park they were forced to build rather than wanting to. Felt very cheap and low effort. Even the newest stuff doesn't look that interesting.

100% the first thing I noticed was that I could see the wall in the Phantom Manor cemetery. Something I had never noticed at DLR.

It's got a gorgeous castle tho.