Paradise Pier Will Become Pixar Pier

New Pixar Pier to Bring Favorite Pixar Stories to Life at Disney California Adventure Park; Limited-Time Pixar Fest Celebration Coming Throughout Disneyland Resort

 

I have to wonder when the California Adventure name will be replaced.

 

I agree. Although most of the DCA2.0 changes tended to avoid direct California connections, this seems like it's one of the most completely contradictory changes. As with most recent WDI projects, it looks like it will be very nicely finished and detailed, but I can't help wondering what they were thinking with this one. It sort of came out of nowhere, and really doesn't make any sense to me on any level. What does "Pixar Pier" mean? Where/when is it supposed to be set? Why does it exist?

Pixar is a brand, not a theme. Other than random easter eggs (a practice that I find increasingly tiring), there's really nothing that connects the various films/franchises to one another. There's really just no thread that connects everything and gives this a reason to exist. I'm very curious about how this will turn out, but my expectations are pretty low

 

Something akin to just that was going through my mind.

As a California Girl from wwaaaayy back; I cannot see this as an improvement.



(Oh, I still miss Golden Dreams. Never missed it.)

 

The more I think about this one, the more confused I get. Details are scarce, which doesn't help, but this just doesn't make much sense. Will they re-update all those carnival rides that they hastily threw classic Disney characters onto a few years ago? What about the Mermaid ride, dining location, and carousel? Will those get redone, or will they somehow be part of another land?

And what does this mean for the Pixar-related attractions in other areas? Will Monsters move out of Hollywoodland? What about Buzz and Nemo in Tomorrowland? Do I dare ask about Carsland? At least we've heard rumors of what may become of a bug's land, so that wouldn't be a total surprise. This just further reinforces that Pixar simply isn't a "theme", and it really makes no sense to lump all the movies together in one location

And what about the Paradise Pier Hotel? Obviously it's Disney's weakest hotel in Anaheim (and one of their weakest worldwide), but it just wrapped up a thorough refurbishment in the last year or two, and suddenly its namesake is disappearing. I wouldn't be surprised if this hotel was demolished in the longterm, but it seems like they have no major plans for the medium term, which makes this all the more puzzling

 

They're definitely moving away from the California theme. Guardians of the Galaxy, Soaring Over the WORLD, increasing the Pixar presence....A California theme doesn't allow them adequate opportunities to cross merchandise.

 

A lot of movies are lumped into toontown.

 

True, but they're all related, whether directly or indirectly. The characters from the shorts in the 30's and 40's all appeared in each others shorts, so it's not crazy to have them in a land together. Roger Rabbit originated the concept of Toontown, and introduced it to audiences, including those very same classic characters from the shorts. The outlier is Gadget's Go-Coaster, which is only related through the Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers TV show, which doesn't really relate to Chip & Dale's personalities in the shorts in any meaningful way. Regardless, there's a pretty strong connection there; whether they've all directly interacted with one another, they all have friend-of-a-friend connections that make sense within Toontown.

Pixar on the other had is a collection of unrelated films being thrown together into a single setting. How does The Incredibles relate to Coco? What's the connection between Brave and Inside Out? Where do Ratatouille and Wall-E overlap? And what does any of this have to do with a turn-of-the-century seaside pier?

At best, this is more like Fantasyland, where there's a collection of completely unrelated films grouped together. But at least most of Fantasyland draws from the "European storybook village" imagery in (most of) the films to create a cohesive look. Other than using CGI, the Pixar films share neither a setting, era, or visual language with one another. I just don't see how this will be anything other than tacky and cheaply done. And the fast timeline isn't doing them any favors either

 

Personally I do not think that we have enough information to know if this is a good idea or a bad one. From the one picture it looks like they are just changing the signs in the area. But if there are adding a small attraction, that might be a good thing.

 

Makes no sense. What about Ariel and King Triton?

Far be it from me to be concerned about "California" Adventure now. They went beyond the pale in January. And the only real California attraction left is Grizzly Peak Rapids.

 

That's Carl and Russell's River of Adventure to you, buddy!

 

Have to disagree that DCA 2.0 avoided CA connections. Buena Vista Street, the redcar trolleys, and the Carthay Circle are all direct connections, and Carsland certainly looks like a Route 66 CA desert town (along with referencing "car culture"). Even details within BVS such as the "Elysian" arcade, the Eddie Valiant mailbox and of course the entrance turnstiles shout out to LA's Pan Pacific Auditorium are all explicitly CA. If anything, 2.0 strengthened the CA theme.

The rest of the post I agree with. Pixar Pier? Really? At first blush, that's a quintessentially rushed and incoherent overlay that really came out of nowhere.

More to the point... why? It's not like Pixar isn't well represented in both parks. What exactly does renaming a few shops or eateries do? And as said, Pixar isn't a coherent theme.

 

Yes, BVS looks a lot like LA in the 20's or 30's. Overall, it's a great addition to the park, and a wonderful opening act. However, they sort of screwed it up with the tortured backstory about how Walt visited it and got inspiration for his characters from the local business owners. WDI loves coming up with their own unique backstories (and they're generally quite good at it), so why force this into an otherwise-based-on-fact area? It just doesn't add up for me; it feels more like lip service to both LA of that era and the cartoon characters, than any real tribute to either

But once you get past that, there's really not a lot that reinforces the California theme. Carsland is based on the fictional town of Radiator Springs; from the movie we don't know exactly where it is, but Lightning repeatedly says he needs to leave the town to get to California, meaning it's likely in Arizona. It does loosely tie into California's car culture, but it's hard to say that an environment populated only by cars represents the way that Californians are obsessed with cars

Then we have an all-new omnimover based on an interpretation of a Danish fairy tale that's set in the Caribbean. Next door to that are a handful of redressed off-the-shelf carnival rides that have infused Disney characters into the area, but arguably are less clearly related to California than their minimally-themed predecessors

The only non-character-based attraction that's opened since DCA's redo was announced was Soarin' Around the World (or Over the Horizon, or whatever it is), which is obviously yet another step away from the park's original intent. At least they managed to get some character branding into the retheming of the surrounding area

I don't deny that DCA is a much more enjoyable place these days than it was a decade ago; the number of guests in the park at any given moment is tribute to that. However, all those changes have muddied up the park's overall mission to the point that it's not really clear what it's supposed to be any more. Pixar Pier will only make that less clear

 

We've all talked about this many times, but you really have to know that one line from the first cars movie to know that radiator Springs isn't technically in California. To the casual park goer, it looks very much like a California desert town.

Likewise, although the real Disney nerds may get the early Disney references in Buenavista Street, for most people, they're jusy enjoying the improved theming, which is very, very much LA of a century ago.

Now, the post 2012 changes do take the park farther away from California. But most of the 2012 changes brought it closer.

 

New concept art for Pixar's Fun Wheel...

 

Sure, there are desert towns in California, but none of them really look that much like the world presented in Cars. Although Route 66 does run through California, the abandoned towns and compelling landscape tend to be more in New Mexico (and occasionally Arizona and Texas)

For example, Tucumcari Mountain in NM, with it's elevated knob top and town letter on the side, served as inspiration for the radiator cap-shaped mesa in Radiator Springs. The town of Tucumcari itself is a great example of the abandoned towns along Route 66, shadows of their former glory



And the Cadillac Range is based on the Cadillac Ranch, a (relatively recent, by Route 66 standards) tourist attraction just outside Amarillo, TX



The red rock formations near Church Rock, NM are eerily similar to the Hood Ornament Valley (an obvious reference to Monument Valley, AZ) formations shaped like the front of classic cars, rising up from the desert floor



The pine-lined mountain roads above the city seem to be reminiscent of the forested hills surrounding Flagstaff, AZ



Even this ridge cut-through in Gallup, NM got a cheeky cameo at one point (though I can't seem to find an image of it online anywhere), echoing how old Route 66 bended with the land, while newer interstates just plow through it


On the flipside, California's desert tends to be (for lack of better description) more jagged mountains, paler dirt and rock, and generally more lifeless.

Yes, there's still Wigwam Motel, similar to the Cozy Cone, that has been absorbed into suburban San Bernardino, but I have a hunch the film's designers bypassed that one completely and got their inspiration from the one next to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest in Arizona. As far as I've seen, that's the only specific reference in Radiator Springs that could potentially be tied to California, but even that is weak; at their height, there were 9 similar motels in the country, but only the one in California.

Yes, California has cars and deserts and Route 66 and abandoned towns that vaguely resemble the imagery in the movie. But once you start to look past the superficial aspects, there's really not much there that supports the notion that any of it is specific to California. Similar to Paradise Pier, the most basic concept is fine for the park's overarching theme, but the details don't really reinforce any of it; many of the details even go directly against that notion

At the very least, I guess it's good that they put forth the minimal effort to make it sort of work. That's more than we can say about more recent additions, like the semi-permanent Mad T Party, Soarin' Around the World, and Mission: Breakout! It will be interesting to see what this park looks like in 5 or 10 years, since they don't seem to particularly care about maintaining its identity. That could mean a lot of freedom for great changes, or open the door for a lot of mismatched short-sighted decisions

 

Oh how I remember those from cross country trips with my family!

After spending 4 days speeding along I80 at 75 this summer; I could not wait to take a drive along a less beaten path.

 

The Cadillac range also looks like a natural rock formation in California, however. I forget the name of it, but it's been posted here before.

Similar to how main street was inspired by Marceline Missouri, but doesn't really look much like it at all, people just accept main street as an evocation of all things American. And the casual visitor to DCA I'm sure simply accepts radiator Springs has an evocation of a particular time in the desert of California. That's all it really has to do to fit the overall theme and still work with those who remember the movie.

There are plenty of things in DCA that have only tenuous connections to California; I don't put radiator Springs in that category. To me it fits very well.

 

Bwahahaha!

 

The attractions will be rethemed to:

-"California Screamin'" to "Monsters Inc. Scream Machine", a ride built by monsters to harness the screams of humans. It will reuse some of the figures from "Mike & Sulley to the Rescue" once that ride is removed for "Super Hero Universe" expansion.

-"King Triton Carousel" to "Nemo & Friends Carousel of the Sea".

-"Mickey's Fun Wheel" to "Pixar Fun Wheel"

-"Silly Symphony Swing's " to "Inside Out Mood Swings"

-"Jumpin' Jellyfish " to "Green Army Men Parachute Drop"

-"Golden Zephyr" to "Syndrone's Zephyrs"

-"Goofy's Sky School" to "Carl's Flight School".

-"The Little Mermaid" will stay but the area around it will be rethemed to a new land.