DCA, Future Expansion
Topic: Why is Disney's California Adventure a failure?

#	Author	Message
251	barboy Thu 11/11/2004 1:38p	Overall, DCA is indeed a failure because of the low guest appreciation which stems from the following: (1)The three original E ticket rides are "a dollar short and a day late". Not one resembles a complete signature attraction. California Screamin' boasts of impressive track length(1 mile +), an exhilarating launch(LIM) and onboard music but lacks a themed queue, substantial drop(108' just doesn't cut it anymore) and a quality motif like RnR Coaster, Yeti, BTMRR, Matterhorn or Sp. Mnt.. I ridicule this steel coaster which poses as a wood/timber. Grizzly River Run is outright stellar except for one very small detail(s)--WHERE ARE THE AA'?!!! Soarin' Over California, although novel in its approach and adequate in its execution, also has no detailed queue(mere pictures of aviation history do not inspire nor excite). All indoor E tickets should have an extravagant queue. (2)Using California as a theme inside the state of California is beyond absurd. What on earth were these decision makers thinking. (3)Paradise Pier with its "off the shelf" style attractions exemplifies a county fair on steroids. (4)DCA lacks creativity and vision and insults its guests with the unoriginal and corny(Super Star Limo. and the recycling music such as "Cal. Dreaming", "I Love LA", "Do you know the way to San Jose"). These are the four basic reasons/factors which lead to guest dissatisfaction and ultimately lackluster attendance and revenues. TOT fits beautifully in DCA and Aladdin just might be the best Disney show at any park but these two alone haven't atoned for the park's overall inherent shortcomings.
252	arstogas Sat 11/13/2004 7:21p	>>><<Nobody on here, I think has ever said that EVERY component of DCA is wholesale awful, or a failure. The PARK as a whole is quantifiable by Disney management and by many fans as a failure in several respects, but its components have varying merits.>> I am the rare individual who honestly believes that every element of DCA fails miserably.<<< D'oh! Cut to the quick. And I'm not terribly far behind you, Crapshoot, but I do find pockets of areas where success, aesthetically, has been achieved. It's just a shame that you walk fifty feet and the effect is ruined by so many stupid decisions. So much could have been "saved" had one crucial decision been reversed - eliminating a surrounding berm or infrastructure to enclose the park with larger structures toward the perimeter. That one thing could have really gone miles in long-term fixes. At this point, it could still be done throughout most of the park, but it will be expensive.
253	mstaft Sun 11/14/2004 3:47p	Does Tower block out a lot of the outside world, acting like a berm of sorts? Can you still see the convention center?
254	crapshoot Sun 11/14/2004 6:48p	<<And I'm not terribly far behind you, Crapshoot, but I do find pockets of areas where success, aesthetically, has been achieved.>> I have said it before, give me a 35mm camera with a 200mm telephoto lens, and I can make DCA look real good in photogs. However, give me a 28mm wide angle lens and forget it. But more than that, it really comes down to the complexity and yet the simplicity of the emotional connections the spaces at DCA exude. The single most basic quality that the designers and planners missed with DCA was creating a connection with that most basic human requirement; that of an positive emotional connection. Walt Disney really had his Imagineers working in the right direction with Old New Orleans Square as an example. Even though it is a stylized and not realistic recreation of the actual French Quarter, it is so incredibly warm, comfortable and endearing that one can't help but have a strong emotional connection to the place. And this is Walt's vision where not one street is tangentially laid out as they really are in New Orleans. But because of their wending nature, while being short and narrow streets plus the architectural stylization, ONOS becomes a fabulously unrealistic but fantastic recreation of the actual place. It is through, visual blockades, foreshortening, careful use of light, dark, color and texture that it really works to create a strong eomtional connection. Had the original designers and planners of DCA been more sensitive to stylization rather than realisim, they would have gotten alot more milage in creating those missing emotional connections throughout the park. A more stylized version of their recreation of Hollywood Blvd could have had the draw and warmness that Old New Orleans Square has enjoyed for several decades. The easiest area of DCA to truly have achieved the emotional connections that I insist are missing throughout the park, of course is Paradise Pier. Wow, what a missed opportunity by not truly recreating an amusement park area but utilizing the design lessons and conventions developed throughout Disneyland Park. It could have become the most endearing recreation of an amusement park but with Disney Themepark qualities. But so much of DCA was designed with a goal of convenience rather than a goal of eliciting positive emotions, that the park repells rather than draws. <<Does Tower block out a lot of the outside world, acting like a berm of sorts? Can you still see the convention center?>> The view of TOT from most of the park is either an Eastern or South Eastern view. It really is a not all that effective in acting as a berm.
255	arstogas Mon 11/15/2004 1:41a	^^^An excellent post overall - I don't think I could add anything to that. And this point was quite well made: >>>I have said it before, give me a 35mm camera with a 200mm telephoto lens, and I can make DCA look real good in photogs. However, give me a 28mm wide angle lens and forget it.<<<
256	disneywatcher Tue 11/16/2004 2:50p	I'd love to do a brain probe of the people responsible for DCA because I really don't know whether even today they doubt the quality and appeal of the park they're responsible for. In other words, I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Eisner, when hearing the various criticisms directed at DCA, scratches his head and says, HUH???
257	crapshoot Tue 11/16/2004 5:35p	<<...I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Eisner, when hearing the various criticisms directed at DCA, scratches his head and says, HUH???>> He and Pressler were the ones selling the notion that the attractions in Disneyland were negative assets. That the attractions did little to generate revenue, they were cost prohibitive to operate and maintain and to reduce those costs, they began to weed them out. DCA is simply a park that was built on those mismanaged principles.
258	Capstan Sat 11/20/2004 8:36p	Perhaps what DCA needs to make it fly is a "Hall of Governors" attraction, where each of the state's former chief executives would be immortalized in song and dance. signed- a Wisconsinite.
259	oc_dean Sat 11/20/2004 8:48p	Imagine our Austrian born governer saying - Kaliifurniia People will think it's a "Terminator" attraction ;)
260	Darkbeer Wed 8/3/2005 10:25a	More info for those who think DCA was designed as a "second park" and wasn't supposed to be able to stand on its own, and charge full price.

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