Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "So Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish, I say." And you think a Los Angeles overpass will be better?
Originally Posted By gadzuux Exactly what I was thinking. How magical is that? I'd rather have the 'arts and crafts' entrance with the rough-hewn beams and the ivy.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros An arts and crafts look would be nice, but with the GCH and the Grzzly area expanding into Condor Flats, that would make the current Grizzly area over to the backlot, through the GCH and most of DTD all arts and crafts related. With a 30's art deco look, they could create a time period that I feel is really lacking in DCA (HPB is more of a 40's/50's look but could conceviably be changed to 30's deco). There are a couple bridges that I can think of that are really nice clean lines, but still have enough detail to make them very interesting. They are along the 110, between downtown and Pasadena. The large single arch, with smaller arches extending up to the roads from there. Sure, an arts and crafts look would be nice, but it wouldn't really bring any new flavor into the park that we can't already find. The art deco overpass idea seems to be pretty original, and distinctly California in a quirky, not so blatantly obvious kind of way.
Originally Posted By lesmisfan i dont know if this has been asked yet, but since carland is supposedly going in the farm area in dca, is it also taking over a bugs land as well? or is bugs land staying?
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Boy, reading this thread, you'd think everything proposed was set in stone. All I saw was a half-dozen or so artist renderings, but somehow everyone else is seeing way beyond that.
Originally Posted By ArchtMig >>>"So Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish, I say." And you think a Los Angeles overpass will be better?<<< Yes. And I'll tell you why. While the real GG Bridge is spectacular and iconic all by itself, it's context is much more scenic (the hills and the ocean and the shoreline on either end) than anything you'll ever find at the entrance to DCA. So the goofy GG bridge version at DCA just sits there, all by itself, relating to nothing. Like so many many many many aspects of DCA that were designed intentionally not to relate. Either they were lazy, or inept, or reckless about it, but nothing at DCA really flows nicely into the next thing. Transitional aspects, like what happens in Disneyland and almost every other Disney park, were ignored in DCA. In fact, Barry Braverman is quoted as saying that this was intentional, come to think of it... that the visual discordance of thematic juxtapositions was actually a good thing. But Barry Braverman is an idiot. And the proof is that Disney is spending hundreds of millions to redo his blunders. Like the goofy GG Bridge at the entrance to DCA, which just sits there, not relating to anything. And if WDI is indeed going to retheme the whole area from the turnstyles back to the entrances of HPB and Condor Flats, etc., and if they're not going to theme it like the actual context that the real GG bridge finds itself in, then yeah... you bet I think the overpass structure is mo betta than the GG bridge thing they got now. Now, before you go thinking that all freeway overpasses are the ugly rectilinear things they build today, please remember that back in the first part of the 1900s, aesthetic design was still a part of everything the government built. And there are still examples of nice looking highway and freeway overpasses and bridges that are in use today. I'm sure the imagineers are mostly influenced by the structures along the 110 freeway going from the 5 up to Pasadena, as FerretAfros mentions in post #83. There is even an overpass on Victory Blvd. over the 134 that is just a stone's throw away from WDI, which is pretty nice looking. Are these structures as pretty as the GG Bridge? Maybe not, but they definately are worthy of appreciation and as such, make the viewer ask, "gee, why can't they build neat looking structures like this anymore?". Plus, many of them are protected as historical landmarks. From the wikipedia entry on the Arroyo Seco parkway: "From US 101, the Hollywood Freeway, to Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, State Route 110 was part of U.S. Route 66. In addition to being known as the Pasadena Freeway, the segment of State Route 110 between Interstate 5, the Golden State Freeway, in Los Angeles and Glenarm Street in Pasadena is known as the Historic Arroyo Seco Parkway, and has been declared a National Scenic Byway." <a href="http://www.search.com/reference/State_Route_110" target="_blank">http://www.search.com/referenc e/State_Route_110</a>_(California)?redir=1 ...and here are some pictures. Try to ignore the shots of the freeway, but scroll down to the tunnel entrances especially, and even further down to the York Ave. Bridge. <a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.scvresources.com/highways/arroyo-seco-pky.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.scvresources.com/highways/sr_110.htm&h=714&w=443&sz=90&hl=en&start=16&tbnid=cDhDw77VPE-yYM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=87&prev=/images" target="_blank">http://images.google.com/imgre s?imgurl=http://www.scvresources.com/highways/arroyo-seco-pky.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.scvresources.com/highways/sr_110.htm&h=714&w=443&sz=90&hl=en&start=16&tbnid=cDhDw77VPE-yYM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=87&prev=/images</a>%3Fq%3Darroyo%2Bseco%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG and more pics here, including the Colorado Street bridge: <a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.theroadwanderer.net/images/WA66ArroyoSecoPkwy2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.theroadwanderer.net/RT66pacific.htm&h=212&w=324&sz=15&hl=en&start=6&tbnid=4Wj4m5kgBSOG8M:&tbnh=77&tbnw=118&prev=/images" target="_blank">http://images.google.com/imgre s?imgurl=http://www.theroadwanderer.net/images/WA66ArroyoSecoPkwy2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.theroadwanderer.net/RT66pacific.htm&h=212&w=324&sz=15&hl=en&start=6&tbnid=4Wj4m5kgBSOG8M:&tbnh=77&tbnw=118&prev=/images</a>%3Fq%3Darroyo%2Bseco%2Bparkway%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 The Colorado Street Bridge was one that came to mind for me, and would be an interesting choice.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt “Like so many many many many aspects of DCA that were designed intentionally not to relate.†Well they were supposed to relate. The entrance is designed to look like a 3-D postcard; therefore the visual elements at the park’s entrance, including the GG Bridge, are indeed interrelated. Nevertheless, the end result doesn't really translate well, so I get what you're saying. For some it does come across as somewhat of a hodge-podge. However, I'm still having trouble understanding how transforming a visually recognizable structure into one that very few people will understand is a good step. If it were up to me, and money were an unlimited resource, I’d leave the GG Bridge and consider transforming the immediate DCA entrance into an immersive San Francisco street scene. Replacing the GG Bridge may turn out just fine, but it sounds like a bad creative decision to me. Especially after looking at those rather bland concrete structures in the links you provided.
Originally Posted By ArchtMig >>>If it were up to me, and money were an unlimited resource, I’d leave the GG Bridge and consider transforming the immediate DCA entrance into an immersive San Francisco street scene.<<< I'd be happy with that if they did it. I also have stated on numerous occasions my wish that they transform the whole main gate / entrance corridor into an early California / Olvera Street theme, with tile paved walkways, clay tile roofs, crumbling plaster walls exposing the adobe bricks underneath, food and merchandise kiosks, fountains, and big, overarching shade trees. But the direction they reportedly are heading in seems to be inspired by Los Angeles street scenes from the 1930s. So as long as they have better direction from the people in charge and more inspired creative thinking and implementation than what went before, it should be vastly improved over what's there now. I'll wait to weigh in until something more definitive is put forth officially, even if that doesn't happen for years and years. And as long as it's not yet another extension of the Craftsman Styled theme of the GC Hotel, I'll probably be satisfied. There's already enough of the Craftsman style in DCA and Downtown Disney, and with the supposed remake of Condor Flats into even more Craftsman Styled stuff... enough already with the Craftsman styled areas. And I say that even though I personally love the Craftsman style. Just looking for Disney to be a bit more creative and not take the easy way out in repairing the mistakes of the originators of DCA who themselves took the easy way out in so many ways.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros The Colorado Street Bridge is what I though of, and I think it would bring in a new feel to DCA, even to those who aren't familiar with the area. Due to space, they would probably only do one large arch, but it could still work pretty well. It would bring the feeling of the 30's noir films that made LA famous to people in the first place, and I think they could make a really strong theme there, and also keep the transportation concept alive. The transit stuff could make a strong transition into the parade area, while the noir concept could leak into the Backlot. I think the transitions would be a lot stronger and make the park a lot more welcoming on the initial approach, while using a darker, more serious color pallate. And to top it all off, just imagine entering under the Monorail running across this: <a href="http://www.dreamstime.com/thumb_30/1132530944uxxwYP.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.dreamstime.com/thum b_30/1132530944uxxwYP.jpg</a>
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> It would bring the feeling of the 30's noir films that made LA famous to people in the first place << Except for the sleek and modern monorail running across this 1930's style bridge.
