Originally Posted By Darkbeer I am making this a seperate topic, as I think it is not related to the Toy Story Mania! aspect of the article, which has its own thread... <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/business/media/10ride.html" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02 /10/business/media/10ride.html</a> >>Visit Disney’s California Adventure — a 55-acre theme park next door to the fabled progenitor of the modern amusement Mecca, Disneyland — and you will find a noisy reminder of what happens when a company loses its focus and cuts corners. The Walt Disney Company built the park on the cheap in 2001, and many rides are copies of familiar carnival workhorses like the Ferris wheel. A lack of landscaping can leave guests sweltering. Outdoor shows were borrowed from other Disney properties. And the theme, built around tributes to California, is modest except for an occasionally unintentional ghost-town atmosphere: The park draws about 6 million visitors a year, a trickle compared with the 15 million who swarm Disneyland. Now, Disney is embarking on a $1.1 billion, five-year effort to get California Adventure on track. The blueprints call for ripping out ho-hum rides and adding elaborate new ones, rebuilding the park’s entrance — a hodgepodge of turnstiles, a miniature Golden Gate Bridge and pastel tile murals — to shift the focus to Disney iconography. <<
Originally Posted By Nemo88 Since when does Darkbeer take the "liberal" NY Times seriously? lol just messing with you DB. Thanks for the link bro.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Just a WOW! comment, just after DCA had its 7th Birthday (I would say celebrated, but Disney did absolutely nothing to let its guests know that Friday was DCA's 7th BD). But it is a pretty good summation of the park in its current state. Bring on the Bulldozers, looking forward to the improvements....
Originally Posted By jonvn Six million? About what it was supposed to. It doesn't have a simple ferris wheel. Where else in Disney does the Aladdin show play? Just an easy swipe.
Originally Posted By bean so there is a couple lines in a 5 page story about Toy Story Mania and Darkbeer creates a whole post about those few lines. Things never change. By the way the story has several innacuracies. First of all the writer has no idea the real attenance number since Disney never releases them. Second the park is bigger than 55 acres and last 1.1 billion is not being spent in the 5 year plan. oh and Jovn is correct, its not a simple ferris wheel. Thanks for pointing the sotry out though.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/business/news/e3id8e5364152f5fc45211195b3eb5762f8" target="_blank">http://www.hollywoodreporter.c om/hr/content_display/business/news/e3id8e5364152f5fc45211195b3eb5762f8</a> >>He wasn't at the big news event Wednesday, but John Lasseter's fingerprints are all over what will be the new and improved Disney's California Adventure theme park. Disney CEO Robert Iger and parks and resorts chairman Jay Rasulo, speaking with reporters at the Imagineering building in Glendale, unveiled their five-year plan for California Adventure and said that by the time they're finished it might sport a new name.... The executives on hand wouldn't say how much the company is spending on improvements, but they didn't deny speculation that it's about $1.1 billion, a significant amount, considering the original price tag for building California Adventure, along with Downtown Disney and the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, was about $1.4 billion. Experts have been saying for years that California Adventure has been underperforming expectations because it lacks Disneyland's iconic draw. It's estimated that Disneyland boasted 15 million visitors last year compared with 6 million for the neighboring California Adventure. Rasulo said California Adventure, 55 acres now, will grow about seven acres, and some attractions, like the Golden Dreams Theater, will disappear.<<
Originally Posted By Darkbeer As for attendance, here is the latest Theme Park numbers, which were for 2006, compiled by TEA/ERA... <a href="http://www.connectingindustry.com/pdfs/TEA-ERAAttendance06.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.connectingindustry. com/pdfs/TEA-ERAAttendance06.pdf</a> Disneyland was reported to have 14,730,000 in attendance, while DCA had 5,950,000. Since these are the numbers the industry and the media have access to, these are the numbers that are used.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer And here is a official Disneyland Press Release from 2000... <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/News-ID10001950.asp" target="_blank">http://www.laughingplace.com/N ews-ID10001950.asp</a> >>Disney's California adventure theme parks is the 55-acre centerpiece of a $1.4 billion expansion at the Disneyland Resort in Southern California. Located adjacent to Disney's original theme park, Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure celebrates the uniqueness of the Golden State, giving guests a taste of the fun, diversity and lifestyle found only in Californian. Also included in the expansion is the deluxe, 750-room Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, and Downtown Disney, an exciting entertainment center with shopping, theaters and dining venues.<<
Originally Posted By Darkbeer And from 2005.... <a href="http://www.disneylandnews.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=51" target="_blank">http://www.disneylandnews.com/ article_display.cfm?article_id=51</a> >>25 April 2005 DISNEY’S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK FACTS Location: Disney’s California Adventure is located approximately 27 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Its hometown is Anaheim, California across from Disneyland® park. Size: Disney’s California Adventure occupies 55 acres. << So straight from the Disney official Media guide.....
Originally Posted By barboy After spending 4 nights and 5 days at Tokyo's Disney Sea/M. Costa again (2 days ago) I am reminded just how much of a steamy dog pile Cal. Adventure is relative to other Disney offerings(except for WD Studios Paris ) I will never go to Cal Adv. again until after the renovations---can't wait as the new artwork has me drooling. Yes, bring on the bulldozers.
Originally Posted By barboy Why are so many on this board preoccupied with Cal Adv's #'s? 6 million, 20 million even 1 million--- why do so many of you(both the pro and anti DCA factions) argue about DCA's attendance? As if 20 million would mean DCA must be high quality or as if 1 million means the park is junk. I don't care what the numbers are DCA is an embarrassment as to what Disney can do as proven by their efforts with : AK, EPCOT, Dl, DLP and Tok Dis Res.
Originally Posted By jonvn Why argue about attendance? You mean a figure no one knows that is based on something we also don't know what is acceptable or not? Because people are crazy. It's pointless. Figures are quoted from sources that can't possibly know this as if they were the gospel. Frankly, who cares. But it is used by some people to justify their really bottomless pit of hostility towards the place. SOmething I just don't understand.
Originally Posted By bean those attendance numbers no matter where you dig them up from are not official Disney numbers. As for the size of the park they are also outdated. tell me this the park opened in 2001 and was quoted as it being 55 acres. after a few years FFF and TOT were added, do you think that they just magically appeared in the park without adding acreage to it? That land used to be part of the parking lot. and yes the budget that was granted is approximately 1.1 billion but its not being spent in a five year segment. The first five years will only have a budget of approximately 700million.
Originally Posted By bean Just read Jovn, post. He is exactly right. Its a constant rehash of a pointless topic that is brought up everytime a writer (which by the way has no fficial numbers from the company) says a remark in his/her stories. but again thanks for posting the article amazingly overall it was a nice story for the general public to read.
Originally Posted By Nobody From the NY Times story... "Riders, wearing 3-D glasses, board vehicles that career through an old-fashioned carnival midway, operated by characters from the popular “Toy Story†film franchise." Career? Spell-check works, but it's no substitute for an editor.
Originally Posted By dshyates "board vehicles that career through an old-fashioned carnival midway" No, career is correct. At each stop you are rated at how well you barker. "Step right up kiddies. Try your luck at knocking the milk bottles off the jug." Its a hold over of Eisner's love of edutainment factory tours. Its an entertaining way to train future Disney park employees. "I just love watching my little workers earning me millions. We should make a ride to show everyone how great it feels to watch my minimum wage workers."
Originally Posted By bartholomewneff The 1.1 billion is over ten years. Around 800 million is budgeted for the first five years. The other 400 million and possibly a 100 or 200 more will be for the second phase. Presuming that the attendance goes from around 6-7 million and gets bumped up to 8 million or more then expect more construction. Until then, let's worry about the first phase. Overall, a nice, positive article though.
Originally Posted By DlandDug "Career" is also a verb, meaning "to move or run rapidly." (At least, that's what my Websters says.) And as long as I'm in a corrective mode, I must add that DCA has been, and continues to be, a failure.
