Originally Posted By Britain The latest from Mr. Lutz: <a href="http://www.miceage.com/allutz/al071707a.htm" target="_blank">http://www.miceage.com/allutz/ al071707a.htm</a>
Originally Posted By jonvn A billion dollars will make for one very nice churro stand. Lovingly crafted with a backstory developed over years. Solid gold, with platinum and diamonds all over it. Revision after revision made to make sure it is just right. Use of virtual 3D surrounding the stand so that it is placed exactly correct within its surroundings. Hand crafted and carved by the greatest artisans of our time, the churro cart will keep the churros fresh by a new refrigeration system especially designed for this cart. Set to keep the churros at just the right temperature so that they get neither too warm or too cold, they will be preserved in the exact state necessary for optimum churro cooking needs. And when cooked, the latest technology in churro heating will be implemented such that each churro comes out 100% exactly correct every time. A combination microwave, convection, and regular oven is being built by Lockheed Martin and will be the central feature of the new churro cart. This heating element has been specially subcontracted out, and will use an experimental fusion technology as a means to power it. Budgeted at only $999,999,000 this churro cart will be the new centerpiece of the grand changes to the Disneyland Resort and will have people enjoying their churros as never before. Oh, and we got about a thousand bucks for other stuff too.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney Wow, DCA looks to be getting a billion alone....FINALLY!!!! Its not exactly the 2 BILLION that was mentioned lol, but if DCA needed THAT much help, honestly, its cheaper to just destory the park and start fresh . But if this is true, REALLY true, then its about damn time. DCA has been the laughing stock of Disney parks since it opened...only WDSP took that mantle a way later, but DCA has never been percieved anymore than a half day cheap park and I'm GLAD somebody finally got it through their heads this thing needed to be redone. Let's just hope this is true this time . But I am EXCITED!!!!!!! Finally a park in 5 years time I might not mind paying for the full day admission ticket .
Originally Posted By Britain I'm chompin' at the bit, Jonvn! Release the churro cart concept art NOW!
Originally Posted By jonvn Well, right now, after only a few months of development, we've only got a drawing of a 3D wireframe cube. But, we've purchased the highest end computer system available to draw it on. At a cost of only several million dollars, this system will render a cube faster and with higher precision than any other system available on the market today. Currently we are debating at what scale we should draw the cube, and what color the wireframe should be as we continue to enhance the look of the cube. There will be a series of meetings over the next few weeks in which John Laseter will be a part of to decide on whether we want the wireframe cube to be green or blue. We have made much progress in that we have decided that other colors are not Disney enough, and don't present enough options for any backstory we will create for further development.
Originally Posted By Britain Bah! That wireframe churro cube sounds like nothing compared to the wireframe churro cubes the OLC pays for!
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Hey, even Bean here at LP has admitted that the Board has agreed to about 1.1. Billion in approvments at DCA. (Anybody check the fact that Disney just got a new line of credit...) It is happening, and I am so glad it is
Originally Posted By SuperDry I think it's important for everyone to keep something in mind: despite this huge investment, there's absolutely NO TRUTH to the misguided rumor spread by some that there are any problems at DCA. Attendance, gate revenue, and f&b revenue, and merchandise sales are all right on track. The board just thought it wanted to see what would happen if you pumped an extra billion dollars into a well-performing park.
Originally Posted By jonvn The park needs additions. You can't just build a park and let it sit. I don't know why people keep thinking that is somehow ok. When the place opened it was ok for that. But as time goes on, it needed to have additions. These kind of stalled. Now it is a bit of catch up.
Originally Posted By Britain Come now Jonvn, After Epcot opened, it continued to have additions, but not a billion dollar's worth. Ditto MGM, DAK, TDS, WDS... The only thing I can compare this type of investment in a single park to is the proposed Disney Decade expansions for Disneyland, and it was a 35 year old park at that time. Yes, additions should be expected. But at this scale, it really is unprecedented.
Originally Posted By jonvn Yeah, it's actually spending over what they originally built the park for, which supposedly was 600 million? But over what period of time is this being spent on? And is this 1 billion strictly for DCA, or does it include new hotel construction or other things? This is a lot of money for one single park for ADDITIONS. So, my guess is that there is more to it than that.
Originally Posted By Britain My understanding (based upon reliable internet rumor) is that it's DCA's budget only. Not Disneyland's. Not for Resort enhancements like hotels and shops. Just DCA additions and enhancements. I've also heard that this is the budget to be spent over a decade. So, it's possible that the Little Mermaid ride, the Young Indiana Jones Adventure, the Dick Tracy Crimestoppers, New Tomorrowland '94, and Hollywoodland would have cost that much if implemented. But again, that was for a 35-45 year old park.
Originally Posted By jonvn OK, over a decade is a LOT different than say over the course of a year or two. Still significant. They should have done this plan immediately, though. The smaller size of the first build out was fine, provided they added to it, but they never really added much to it. They basically added TOT, and that bug area. That's not quite enough.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << They should have done this plan immediately, though. >> Easy to say in hindsight, but after 9/11 who was going to predict that the travel industry would recover enough to justify spending that much cash? You can thank the weak dollar for getting the foreign tourists back to the U.S.A. over the past year and a half. Otherwise, Disney wouldn't even be thinking about spending this kind of money again. Domestic attendance is down this year, but foreigners are making up all the difference in Anaheim and Orlando.
Originally Posted By disneywatcher >> I think it's important for everyone to keep something in mind: despite this huge investment, there's absolutely NO TRUTH to the misguided rumor spread by some that there are any problems at DCA. << I imagine those words coming out of the lips of Barry Braverman, Paul Pressler and Michael Eisner, now and forever after, or at least until they're on their death bed.
Originally Posted By disneywatcher >> The latest from Mr. Lutz: << I like to think the following part of his article is accurate. For me, I'd be relieved and happy if any plan for DCA involves no less than a squadron of bulldozers strategically and appropriately placed, and then allowed to run wild: >>>>> There are even some folks at WDI who are saying that if DCA gets everything the board just approved that DCA could rival DisneySea or Epcot as one of the best second-gates in the Disney empire. That sentiment may be hard to believe for anyone who has visited DCA in its current form, with the visual intrusions from outside the park, its dismal layout and its off-the-shelf rides. But that's just how excited people are in Glendale this summer. ....Disney aficionados all over the world would go nuts over most of the DCA artwork, that's for sure. <<<<< I thought of the story of DCA last night when watching a portion of a TV show about the wife of a famous British soccer player preparing her family's move to Los Angeles. The young woman had been invited to the home of a Beverly Hills resident for a get-together attended by a group of other well-pampered wives. The house where the event took place, although it looked like a lot of money had been spent on it, was TACKY and CHEESY beyond belief!!! It really looked like someone working the check-out stand at Wal-mart had been given a big check and told to go hog-wild in interior decorating. The program also showed the soccer player's wife doing some house-hunting in L.A., touring one very expensive mansion that looked about as tacky and cheesy, if not more so, as the house where she had previously attended the get-together. The connection to DCA? That regardless of the amount of money a group of people will have at their disposal, half the battle will be getting them to be at least good judges as to whether something is very good or very bad. Combine that with the Abilene Paradox, and I bet people like Eisner and Braverman not only didn't rate DCA as being a piece of junk, they thought it was a masterpiece!
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< That regardless of the amount of money a group of people will have at their disposal, half the battle will be getting them to be at least good judges as to whether something is very good or very bad. Combine that with the Abilene Paradox, and I bet people like Eisner and Braverman not only didn't rate DCA as being a piece of junk, they thought it was a masterpiece! >>> Disney isn't known for wasting money these days, at least on purpose. And, if the board has decided to invest $1 billion in DCA, I can't help but think that they have at the very least convinced themselves what they think the original problem was and will see to it that it doesn't happen again. This doesn't mean that they're right, or that the "new plan," whatever it may be, will work, but I'd take an educated guess that the same people responsible for what we have today will not be in decision-making positions for this new project. Many of them have already left the company, and it sounds like there's an ongoing process of reorganization at WDI that is making good things happen.
Originally Posted By jmuboy Tired of the "fix DCA" talk. When I see rehab walls then I'll believe it. Too many years of false starts and false hope.
