Originally Posted By ArchtMig I said: "Everything at DCA seems shoehorned in at the last minute without much thought to long range planning or relationships." Hans replied: "So not true. How about transitions along the route through Condor Flats, Grizzly Recreation Area, The Bay Area and Paradise Pier? I think the designers transitioned these areas quite nicely." I should have been more clear in my statement. I meant that everything that had been added since the park first opened seems to have just been shoehorned, slapdashed, or otherwise plunked down haphazzardly with very little thought to placement or long range master planning. In this, I'm talking about the Millionaire building, Bugs Land, Tower of Terror, and that parade services building out back between TOT and Screamin', up behind Bugs Land.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt ^^I disagree with your assessment of Bug Land's placement, but I can see your point about the other additions.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I don't disagree with A Bug's Land placement, I disagree with it's placement in DCA. It only has the loosest of ties to agriculture and the theme of California. Actually, it's more like a degree or two of separation than a tie-in.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 "There's not a lot of room between HPB and bug's land, but it will be interesting to see what they come up with to create a transistion between these two areas. Perhaps we walk through a large magnifying glass that serves as a "movie prop" on the HPB side, or some other device." Funny about the magnifying glass idea. On cocept art for the new "Toon Studios" area at Walt Disney Studios Paris, they do have the entryway to the Bugs Land area set up with a giant magnifying lens you walk through. I think that would be a great idea for a transition. And, maybe on the Bug's Land side, it could be themed to look like something else, like a rubber hose, or a hula-hoop, or something round and oversized.
Originally Posted By woody >>I disagree with it's placement in DCA. It only has the loosest of ties to agriculture and the theme of California.<< I agree, but I guess it's the same with DCA and Disneyland Resort. DCA has a loose tie to Disney. It was a designed as a non-Disney theme park. Even after the Disney-Pixar merger, Pixar has retained its identity as a Pixar animation studio. That tells you alot like they have an excellent reputation and well-known brand.
Originally Posted By wangaroa Foo;s, lemme drop dang jargon and talk straight up: The Tower has got to be one the best placed weenies of all time. It's visible from everywhere in the park except HPB, therefore making its reappearance a real 'shocker.' To think that this is not where it was intended to be placed initially or long range would be wrong. For the Bug's Land/Tower transition, how about the Tower side looking like an abandoned garden entry, with rusted gate and crumbling stone walls. This would be sort of a stone 'arbor,' with a short enclosed section, roughly the width of the current service path. Inside, wild weeds and large 'Mickey and the Beanstalk' stlye vines grow along the stone, getting larger and more cartoony as you move into Bug's Land. From the Bug's Land side, it looks like a cartoony bunch of green vines, just to scale with the rest of the area, and gets more realistic as it moves toward the Tower. This would be a good palce for the gate accoutrements of the Florida Tower, with 'condemnded' signs etc., as well as an interesting story point, something along the lines of "Gardens closed due to dangerous insect population." I think it's better than attempting to shove some oversized prop into the area. Wangsta out.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "The Tower has got to be one the best placed weenies of all time." I have to agree with this. The strategic long-distance "weenie" effect is especially obvious from Condor Flats and the so-called entertainment corridor. I don't like the building's position inside HPB, however.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Believe it or not, my sisters and I have gradually come to like DCA better than Disney M-G-M Studios--which has lost its way after all this time. At least there seems to be hope for DCA, whereas there is never any talk about improvements for Disney M-G-M.
Originally Posted By Nobody Post # 26 is a pretty good idea for the transition. I would add that the path / corridor should be curved in such a way that you could not see one end from the other.
Originally Posted By disneywatcher >> his longevity at WDI is a tribute to how well he nailed the concept of telling the boss(es) exactly what they wanted to hear. << I'm sure Barry Braverman's nose was so far up you-know-what of various you-know-whos in the DisCo. that's it's truly amazing he ever had time to come up for air during all the years he worked on DCA.
Originally Posted By wangaroa Spoken like someone who interacts with WDI on a professional level, and/or saw Braverman on TV and didn't like his Grecian looks in relation to a Roman "Magnus Sum" Disney. Barry wasn't front line creative since his work on Epcot. Convenient that he's the only name associated with DCA besides Paul Pressler and Mikey D. Read "The Great California Adventure," if you can find a copy, and see who the REAL schmucks are.
Originally Posted By mstaft wangaroa, thanks for dropping the jive for this thread! You are so much easier to read- and have alot of great things to say!
Originally Posted By jmuboy WITCHES, I agree with you regarding post 28. MGM is a sad shell of its former self. Maybe John Lassiter will give it some attention and the Eisner/Pressler hat will go away.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 I think post 26 is a better idea than the magnifying lens. I agree about the MGM comparison too. As of now, I find DCA more interesting than MGM, only because I think MGM lost focus.
Originally Posted By bean "I should have been more clear in my statement. I meant that everything that had been added since the park first opened seems to have just been shoehorned, slapdashed, or otherwise plunked down haphazzardly with very little thought to placement or long range master planning. In this, I'm talking about the Millionaire building, Bugs Land, Tower of Terror, and that parade services building out back between TOT and Screamin', up behind Bugs Land." don't want to get into a big debate here but, these statement is wrong. First of all the millionare building, this piece of land was always designated as a future attraction pad. When the park was being designed it was proposed that this area would be used for a second phase attraction that would open shortly after the parks opening. The attraction was going to be Armaggedon. After serious consideration the decision was made to build Millionare there instead of armaggedon. Bugsland i will not comment on because i am not too familiar on why it was placed there except that plans already where being considered about TOT and they proabbly felt that empty area betwen the TOT and farm land would work better than expanding south into timon. TOT was not just placed in a random spot. There were several locations considered for the Tower. One of them was actually going to place the tower south of the warf and a new retheming would have been considered. The location and angle were considered for several reasons. The TOT would be vivible from some vantage points that would give it a dramatic appearance but at the same time would not overwhelm other structures around it. Eventually once the expansion continues into timon south of the towr it will also allow for a show building to be hidden betwen the tower and Harbour and still leave enough room for backstage access. As for the parade structure. (i am guessing you are talking about the one west of screamins loading area.) As the park continues to expand it will maintain a major artery in the center of it for backstage access. This artery will have two main entry ways The main one being the one that lead to the underground tunnel connecting it to Disneyland (In case people do not know DCA shares Disneylands backstage area and reduces the need for DCA to have one as large as Disneylands) the second exit is the one behind Mulholland Madness. It was always in the plan to eventually move the parade building so that it cleared up the space behind Screamin for Paradise pier expansion. The original temporary parade building behind Screamin would eventually open up space for attraction pads/show buildings. The entrances to these attractions would eventually replace the temporary photo locations and possibly even the tattoo shop near the midway games. You see each attraction is not just shoehorn into the park without making sure there is a plan for future expansion. Although future attractions are not already set in stone and an exact layout stored, a plan is laid out to allow for the best possible use of the land that would leave room for change and expansion. Each land i n the park was designed to allow change and addition of at least a couple attractions per land.
Originally Posted By bean Every major investment is carefully thought out. After the placement of these attractions are decided the surroundign areas are filled in with stores and facilities that could be easily replaced in the future if needed. The connection betwen TOT and bugsland was always considered. One of the plands called for TOT to be connected with the main gates between the Warf and the Farm. The area between TOT and FFF is larger than most people know. Just use your imagination and anything is possible.
Originally Posted By woody >>The TOT would be vivible from some vantage points that would give it a dramatic appearance but at the same time would not overwhelm other structures around it.<< Did you realize that TOT is at the end of the Condor Flat runway? Nice way to fly an airplane. It's makes the restaurant with the airplane sticking out of it look prescience in a Twilight Zone sort of way. This oversight suggests randomness. Maybe it's just "haphazard" so rumors of a change in Condor Flats theming will remove the offense. "It was always in the plan to eventually move the parade building so that it cleared up the space behind Screamin for Paradise pier expansion." This is strange. Does Disney have unlimited funds to build temporary buildings? Why didn't they build a pernament parade building in the correct location? "Every major investment is carefully thought out. After the placement of these attractions are decided the surroundign areas are filled in with stores and facilities that could be easily replaced in the future if needed." No, this is laziness. If they were carefully thought out, they wouldn't need to replace them in the future.
Originally Posted By dennis-in-ct <<< Convenient that he's the only name associated with DCA besides Paul Pressler and Mikey D. Read "The Great California Adventure," if you can find a copy, and see who the REAL schmucks are.>> Is there a book to expose the schmucks responsible for Walt Disney Studios Paris? Or are they in a witness protection program now? It still amazes me how WDSP is not badmouthed MORE than DCA. DCA ia 10 times the park of WDSP.
