Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I'm probably in the minority here, but part of the fun of a ferris wheel is looking up at how high it goes while waiting to board it. If they covered the queue so that all you can see are the cars at the lowest point of the ride, you don't have that in-line anticipation and seeing how high up the wheel goes. So, losing the more ornate queue isn't a biggie to me.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 < Building the walk-around boardwalk and most of the other ideas in the concept art would require new foundations to be built and construction to be done while the lagoon is drained. They will not be re-draining the lagoon anytime soon.> They wouldn't have to to put some laminate on the concrete. A roof is a little trickier. It would block your view, that's true. I've only been to DCA in cool parts of the year and so shade hasn't really been an issue; but that's a slow-moving line and you're just standing there most of the time. I don't remember; are there enough trees and such that it's shaded enough when it's hot? Seeing that the queue is west of the wheel, might it be possible to erect something that would throw shade on the queue in the afternoons without covering the queue itself?
Originally Posted By Mr F SHAME ON DISNEY! They have learned NOTHING from their mistakes! Being cheap and penny pitching is exactly how they got into this mess in the first place, and is why DCA is so cheaply done and a poor excuse for a theme park. This is why the park is a failure. They close a ride down to fix it up and make it better, but they don't even do it right. If you are going to do something, DO IT RIGHT. This whole Ferris Wheel Makeover is nothing more then botched surgery. There is no excuse for why a multi-BILLION dollar corporation has to be cheap and do things half-arsed. They deserve to have their botched theme park makeover fail.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 That's a bit over the top, no? I wish they'd made the queue nicer (especially since little things like laminate over concrete would not be very expensive), but that's not to say that much of the makeover does, or will, look very good, because much of it does, or will. It's just the fact that a couple of simple cosmetic changes would have cost very little, and THE THING WAS ALREADY DOWN for the Mickey makeover. That's what I don't get. They didn't get the money necessary for a fancy queue? Okay, fine. You can still make the existing one nicer pretty cheaply, and this is the time to do it. I don't know exactly how it works, but it seems like there may be no good system for making something like that happen. In other words, once the fancy queue was cut, there may be no good mechanism/procedure for someone to say "okay, well how about this instead?" At a certain point in the process, it seems like WDI works with a lot of "yes/no" instead of "No? Okay, what about this instead?"
Originally Posted By Dabob2 sigh... not to say much of the makeover doesn't, or won't, look very good...
Originally Posted By FerretAfros "Maybe this is one of those things they are saving for a later date, to be "safe" in light of the current economy." I doubt that. Building materials are very low right now because nobody's building anything. If Disney really wanted to add it, this would be the time to do it, since it will be hard to get those prices on things again.
Originally Posted By irishfan Mousetimes have new photos up of the new Entrance Marquee sign at the attraction.
Originally Posted By dshyates So this is what you get instead of the new queue cover or even the victorian arch: <a href="http://www.mousetimes.com/dlrpictorials/2009/04_28_09/dlr_04_28_09_0133.JPG" target="_blank">http://www.mousetimes.com/dlrp...0133.JPG</a>
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt <a href="http://www.mousetimes.com/dlrpictorials/2009/04_28_09/dlr_04_28_09_0133.JPG" target="_blank">http://www.mousetimes.com/dlrp...0133.JPG</a>
Originally Posted By ArchtMig I wouldn't say that the remake was completely pointless just because they didn't address the queue. I find myself liking the new color scheme, the new cab logos,and the giant Mickey face, and I'm assuming (hoping) that the new lighting effects will be great. But I think just adding the new entrance sign while not doing anything to that disgustingly awful Bravermanesque queue is weak at best, and a darn shame at worst. Count me as one that feels that since they are not taking advantage of the current down time to do something better with the queue, that it'll probably be another decade or more before they get around to doing anything more. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but once these current improvements and additions are done,I doubt that there will be any "phase two" work done anytime before the next decade is finished. Which means no Screamin' or Fun Wheel queue enhancements, Maliboomer and Jumpin' Jellyfish still hanging around for years and years to come, and basically a Paradise Pier that's half Disneyesque and half Bravermanesque.
Originally Posted By cheesybaby <<I don't remember; are there enough trees and such that it's shaded enough when it's hot?>> Trees? This is DCA we're talking about. No trees. (Of course, there are no trees or other shade on any REAL boardwalk or pier anyway, so to add them looks weird/wrong anyway. Yet another problem with the very idea of a pier-themed land.)
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Well, then, I think some sort of structure to cast shade over the queue area in the afternoon would have been warranted.
Originally Posted By disneywatcher The absolute, utter tackiness, if not outright ugliness, of DCA 2001 -- meaning as it originally was conceived and designed -- is best illustrated when looking at the revamped Sun Wheel. In spite of all the money and effort that went into redoing major parts of it recently, it still generally looks quite shoddy and uninspired: <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/dustysage/FridayVisions/2009/05-04-09/IMG_4055.jpg" target="_blank">http://img.photobucket.com/alb...4055.jpg</a> If the makeover of the former Sun Wheel doesn't advance to the next level in the reasonable future -- and if it ends up symbolizing a lack of proper follow through in the revamping of the park in general -- then DCA will continue to seem like a scatterbrained, ineptly designed, half-crocked place.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt The PP "revamp" has been completely over blown by the Internet geeks. As has already been mentioned, the Sun Wheel was redone only because it needed to be for the WOC show. With the exception of TSM, most of the things being done at PP are purely cosmetic. Will it be better when they finish? Yes, but I don't expect it to be the dramatic change that some people here gushed about when the project was first announced. The entrance is probably the most significant change in the pipeline. It's also the most needed.
Originally Posted By ArchtMig >>>The entrance is probably the most significant change in the pipeline. It's also the most needed.<<< From an atmospheric standpoint, I totally agree. The new main entrance / Buena Vista Street improvements will correct the ugliest part of the ugliest park that Disney had built to date. But the 2nd ugliest part is original Paradise Pier, and I hope that someday it too is as fully refreshed as the main entrance areas will be. But of all the money they are spending, I think Cars Land will be the thing that puts DCA "on the map" like TOT did for Disney/MGM. Even more than Little Mermaid will, especially if WDW/MK gets one concurrently. And WOC looks like it will be world class, but it probably wouldn't push the needle as far as Cars Land would. I think of WOC as a way of keeping folks in the park after dark instead of seeing them migrate in droves over to Disneyland. But I see Cars Land as the thing that gets them into the park in the first place, in bigger numbers than anything else has been able to.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 CarsLand will probably drive out of town attendance more than WOC, but I wouldn't be surprised if WOC drove local attendance (which is about 2/3 of DLR attendance) nicely. It may not be reflected adequately in the "official" numbers if those are still counted based on which park you enter first, since DL always opens earlier and a lot of AP's will probably just come to see WOC itself, but in terms of actual numbers, i.e. actual people in the park, I think WOC could do a lot if it's as good as rumored.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "I think of WOC as a way of keeping folks in the park after dark instead of seeing them migrate in droves over to Disneyland. But I see Cars Land as the thing that gets them into the park in the first place, in bigger numbers than anything else has been able to." Yep, and with that it's plain to see what Disney's strategy is. That's not to say that they've thrown quality out the window, but it's clear that they are being very prudent with where the money is being spent and the plan seems to be to invest it areas of the park where it will have the biggest impact.
