Jim hill is back!

[DisneyFanGuy]

Jim's back, and he's on DCAcentral. It's nice to see him again.

http://www.dcacentral.com/dca/jim_hill/

 

[toefungus]

He can't hold a job anywhere can he??!!

 

[DisneyFanGuy]

LOL! Nope, he mentions in the article that he keeps getting fired! I bet that there is lots going on behind the scenes. I especially get a charge from the fact that he used to be married to FAB. Oh to be a fly on the wall.

 

[Peter Pirate]

It will be interesting to hear how my good friend Landbaron feels about this article...Especially this

One paper observed, 'there is a cunning lack of drinking fountains, fueling one's thirst for shelling out more money for soda drinks.'

And this

A headline warned of the $17 million dollar people trap that Mickey Mouse built.

Sounds just like your sentimnets of Mr. Eisner doesn't it DVC?

Additionally, I'd like AV to explain his anti-DCA bent in relation to this article. It seems, as has been mentioned before, that DCA while incomplete and relatively unimaginative in its infancy (compared to TDS) will still have a better than average chance of making it as a succesful partner to DL (using the logic Mr. Hill has brought forth here, does it not?).

 

[Another Voice]

Read fast because I doubt he’ll be at that particular web site long. One has to think that that the first not-so-gushing article about Disney he’s going to write will get him in to hot water with the “we worship DCA” crowd. Face it, fans of California Adventure on the web have a rather strong wagon circling mentality. It won’t take much to turn one of his simple comments into a full blown heresy with a stake, straw, and a match.

However, Mr. Hill’s can certainly pander to the crowd when needed. The gist of the article – Walt went big for television and therefore he would have turned Disneyland’s parking into every that he built Disneyland NOT to be; or that it’s hot in July in California therefore Disneyland was a flop and so that means DCA will be a hit tomorrow – is just plain bizarre. Personal likes or dislikes aside, the history and success (re, lack of) of the park are pretty much open to all. I sincerely hope it’s just pandering, because he’s usually smarter than that.

 

[airlarry!]

Bizarre is the word.

He opens the article with a hint that he will explain how 'Paradise Pier' (a metaphor for the Anti-Walt park) can not be shrugged off as something Walt would not have built....and then ignores the details of the park and focuses on the economic lack of success that Disneyland had in the first summer after opening. He talks about critics complaining about prices and service, but never mentions anything about the design of the park.

Yes, there have been some grumblings about prices and service and what not, but I believe that the majority of complaints that I have read have to do with the design and layout and thinking behind the whole project.

I expected Hill to answer this. Sadly, Jim seemed determined to make a good first impression, rather than make a good first article.

 

[Another Voice]

I’m sorry Mr. Pirate, our postings must have passed in the ether. Let me respond more directly to Mr. Hill’s article.

I’m glad he pulled quotes from the late Randy Bright’s great history of Disneyland. Had Mr. Hill choosen to include the rest of the chapter, it would have explained why Disneyland was a success, and California Adventure is not. So let me fill in two of the gaps…

“It has often been said the only bad publicity is no publicity. Despite bad press, the public showed up at the main gate in ever-increasing numbers. But guests also discovered a few causes for complaint, some of them related to the attractions themselves. Ever-sensitive to the guest response, [Walt] Disney changed anything that failed to meet the public’s needs, usually replacing it with a better idea.” Page 116.

“His [Walt Disney’s] number-one priority during the first year of operation was playing ‘catch-up’, to increase the Park’s limited ride capacity. During the first twelve months, the number of attractions was more than doubled. ‘As long as there is imagination left in the world,’ Walt said, ‘Disneyland will never be completed.’” Page 125

In short, Disneyland had its problems – but it was the first park of its kind. The majority of problems listed in Mr. Bright’s work are operational in nature: getting the mule trains to work or running the first steam-powered paddle wheeler in fifty years. Walt Disney worked ceaselessly on “fixing the kinks” and more than doubled the park’s size in its first year. And Disneyland captured the public’s imagination. Even with the “bad press”, they showed up in droves.

California Adventure was the latest from the industry leader with half a century’s experience in designing, opening and operating theme parks. You would have thought they would have known. Current management has done next to nothing with California Adventure – except to whine about press coverage. And the public’s been ignoring the place, even after giving away admission, more marketing than should be legal, and being next door the Disneyland!

The public responded to Disneyland because it was a creative work, produced by a group of talented artists and craftsman who were always interested in making it better. The public ignores California Adventure because it is a financial spreadsheet highlighting cost benefit ratios fleshed out with bullet points for an executive presentation at a posh ski retreat. The closet these people get to "the public" is through the darkened windows of their limos.


P.S. – for reference, the book is “Disneyland: Inside Story” by Randy Bright (ISBN 0-8109-0811-5). It’s long been out of print, but copies can be found on eBay from time to time. The author started his Disneyland career in 1959 working on the rides and finished as Vice President of Development for WDI. He was a talented designer and a brilliant man who understood “Disney” like few others. His skills are sorely missed.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

What he said!!