Originally Posted By dshyates I really like the plans for the new entrance. The 20s LA look. The iconic theater at the far end and the flagpole with the new partners statue at the turnstile end of the street. A much younger Walt and a Mickey that looks more like in Steamboat Willie. With a cardbord suitcase held together with belts. Red Car Trollies running up and down the street. And a beautiful iconic theater holding a new Walt Disney Story attraction. Jonvn was saying that there is no point in changing it if it is just changing the wrapper. Well, this sounds much more than erasing the artistic incompatence of the original designers. But a much needed injection of real Disney magic. Beauty and content to touch the heart.
Originally Posted By Mr F I like to new Enterance too! I don't like how the parade will no longer be going thru the entry plaza, and I don't understand why the trolley would only take you from the front gates to TOT, it should go all the way to the pier! Also, the walkway at the enterance looks a lot smaller now, I would how it will effect the crowds trying to leave the park.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I would also like to see the parade go past the entrance, but I understand that it would be tough to do with the new layout. I agree that the trolley should go all the way to the pier, but it will be kind of silly to have that when the new Cars area will link the backlot and pier. Overall, I really like the look of the new area, but I wouldn't mind seeing it change a little to make those things fit in better. I was thinking of the new plans, and I thought of something intereting. Will the Carthay Circle replica be a new building, or will it be just a facade? It seems like they will want to move the end of the street away, but the easiest way to do that would be push the far end away. Just past the Sun Icon's current location is the back of the ITTBAB theater, and it's at the right angle to make the Carthay Circle look like the plans. To do this, they could simply adda facade on the back of the theater and add some spaces in the front for the new Walt Disney Story attraction that they will have there.
Originally Posted By Skellington88 >>I like to new Enterance too! I don't like how the parade will no longer be going thru the entry plaza, and I don't understand why the trolley would only take you from the front gates to TOT, it should go all the way to the pier! Also, the walkway at the enterance looks a lot smaller now, I would how it will effect the crowds trying to leave the park.<< There seems to be some confusion over this. The trolley will be making 2-3 stops after picking up guests from the enterance area. These are: -Carthay Circle Theather (only one im not sure about) -Tower of Terror area -Carsland In addition, there will be other vehicles similar to the old double decker buses from Epcot Center that will drive around transporting guests to the various lands including Roadsters taking people to Grizzly Peak, limos to Hollywood, etc.
Originally Posted By DlandDug The diagram provided by the LA Times shows the Carthay Circle as a completely new show building. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-101807-me-disney-g" target="_blank">http://www.latimes.com/news/lo cal/la-101807-me-disney-g</a>,0,605808.graphic?coll=la-home-local Interesting that no one seems to have known about this. There were internet rumors that the Golden Dreams Theater could be moved to this location. The choice of the Carthay Circle is much more pleasing, in my opinion. I wonder what they plan to do with the monorail beam. It seems hard to believe that the trains will simply glide across a 1920s California street. Perhaps they will treat the crossing with a "cast concrete" facade that matches the viaducts in Silverlake. Remember them from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? With ornamental light standards, they could be quite nice and a good fit for the period.
Originally Posted By CoasterKrayzie >>I wonder what they plan to do with the monorail beam. It seems hard to believe that the trains will simply glide across a 1920s California street. Perhaps they will treat the crossing with a "cast concrete" facade that matches the viaducts in Silverlake. Remember them from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? With ornamental light standards, they could be quite nice and a good fit for the period.<< I was wondering about that as well, I like your solution that sounds like it would be great.
Originally Posted By CoasterKrayzie or possibly something like the Colorado Street bridge in Pasadena
Originally Posted By dshyates I really like the new partners statue. To look at Walt at 25ish looking down towards the theater where Snow would eventually premier, and then to go across and see an older Walt looking at where life took him. I like it better than the California postcard.
Originally Posted By Brown Monkey Seriously. That really is clever to put in a younger version Walt AND Mickey, steamboat style. SO clever!
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt I'm still wondering how San Francisco and the Bay Area are going to be addressed. All I see is Southern Califoria themed stuff.
Originally Posted By Brown Monkey DCA has always been more focused on So Cal, hasn't it? I agree we should see more San Fran. I'm nervous they might end up changing the name of the place to DSCA. You figure it out...
Originally Posted By jmuboy By looking at the model, the monorail bridge will look like an art deco street overpass that you might find in downtown LA in the 1920's.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt DCA has always been more focused on So Cal, hasn't it? I agree we should see more San Fran. Yes, its focus has always been more Southern California-centric, however the cannery area, farm, Grizzly Peak and Bay Area sections reflect other areas of the state. The changes announced will virtually eliminates the very weak Bay Area section and do away with the Golden Gate Bridge at the entrance. When it's all done in 2012 there will be no reference to the Bay Area at all.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer >>DCA has always been more focused on So Cal, hasn't it? I agree we should see more San Fran.<< HUH, California started in "modern" times at San Diego, when Juan Cabrillo found the "state" in 1542. Why isn't the original point of California a part of DCA, or whatever the new name will be??? The park is in Southern California, and SoCal is more than just LA and Orange Counties!!!
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt I never got the impression that DCA was trying to present the state in a historical context. Besides Golden Dreams the park seems to be more about the culture and people of California today than some sort of history lesson.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>I never got the impression that DCA was trying to present the state in a historical context.<< That's an interesting observation, especially in light of what the creators of DCA were saying before the park opened. They made it clear that DCA would be more than "just" an amusement park-- it would actually present cogent history lessons in the context of entertainment. Golden Dreams is the most obvious example. I do think that the originally proposed "Circle of Hands" may have been better received. That aside, there were many other examples of passive history lessons throughout the original DCA: -- All of Condor Flats was to present the history of aeronautics and flight in California. The queue for Soarin' did get a number of static displays; -- Golden State Farm originally included several interactive displays, telling the history of agriculture throughout California; -- The Golden Vine Winery purported to give a history of California viniculture; -- Hollywood's rich social history was presented in themed dining counters and displays of memorabilia in Hollywood and Dine; -- Redwood Creek even has historical markers explaining about the Steam Donkey and the Pelson Wheel; -- On the rather arcane side, references to Route 66 and historical seaside piers were liberally sprinkled through the Paradise Pier area. That someone as observant as you didn't really connect with this is a further example of just how much of a misstep DCA was. The only reason I am familiar with all this is because I attended so many seminars and heard so many speakers "explaining" the park.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt Dug, clearly there are many elements at DCA that illustrate California in a historical context. However, out of the hundreds and thousands of details and reference found in the park you've only identified less than ten. According to Eisner DCA "celebrates the richness and the diversity of California ... Its land, its people, its spirit and, above all, the dreams that it continues to inspire". Yes, history is a part of it, but not the overreaching theme of the place, and it never came across that way to me.
