Originally Posted By avatarmickey115 Aw shucks guys. Thanks! I'm just a die-hard Disneyland fan. I mean, I'm a junior in high school so I can't be THAT immature. Right?
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>Many times davewasbaloo has said that his wife preferred DCA to DL and indeed to most Disney parks - and that's fine. We all know dave is a real Disney-parks fan, and I can't imagine his wife is radically different; she just enjoyed herself and saw things in there she responded to,<<< Agreed. They have taken out most of the stuff we liked about it and brought the toons in en mass. We are not very happy about that, and feels it is yet another dumbing down of society. However, we are looking forward to Buena Vista Street (though will miss the tiles in the front) and Carsland (though would prefer it to be more realistic and less toon based). But the farm was very unique to her, someone who had only seen the fruit and veg in the grocery store, she found it quite exciting.
Originally Posted By avatarmickey115 Hahaha! No Constance! I'm not in Junior High School...I'm a Junior IN high school...big difference, about 5 years...
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm still a little surprised that the original Sunshine Plaza cost less than $35 million. I believe that's even less than what they spent redoing the swings this past year (which I believe was rediculously overpriced, but a good frame of reference for Disney's normal costs), and that was just redressing an existing attraction. I will miss the current entrance, but I also welcome the new one with open arms. I always felt that the original was a very good concept, but somehow it just didn't quite work out in reality. It's fun to look at from across the plaza, but once you're there it just falls flat. They could probably fix it up some and make it work, but it would cost just as much as the BVS redo, and not have nearly the same visual impact from across the way. Jim Hill always seems to be a great source for information about the history of the DLR expansion. I always seem to learn something when I read his historical articles. I never knew that the train in the Plaza was an actual train, but I completely believe it. It will be sad to see things like that disappear.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance Oh that's right! You're 16. I remember now. You're half my age. I got it now. I take after my dad and make up my mind about what something says halfway through reading it. hehe
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance "I will miss the current entrance, but I also welcome the new one with open arms." This makes for a funny visual.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "Obviously an entrance to a park won't be a main attraction, but changing the overall look of a park greatly increases the return rate of guests." They're not changing the overall look of the park, they're changing the entrance. Meh.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "It's fun to look at from across the plaza, but once you're there it just falls flat. They could probably fix it up some and make it work, but it would cost just as much as the BVS redo, and not have nearly the same visual impact from across the way." The biggest problems with the execution (from a design standpoint) of the 3D postcard effect was the bizarre interpretation of the Golden Gate Bridge and the puny little sun icon behind it. From the Esplanade it's barely visible. That, and the fact that the effect only worked if you were standing dead center in front of it at a distance.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Im going to miss it. To me it was like DCA'S entrance landmark, like the mickey made of flowers over at DL. " but it would cost just as much as the BVS redo, and not have nearly the same visual impact from across the way." I like how BVS is now a disney abbreviation
Originally Posted By Britain BVS will never be something people plan their vacations around. But it will absolutely be a more pleasant place to linger longer, and that equals more retail/restaurant sales. Imagine New Orleans Square if it had Pirates and Mansion, but other wise generic 'mall' facades. Sure, the attractions are still the reason I go there. But the ambiance of NOS is what makes me take pictures, sit and eat, and explore the shops. BVS is something the disneygeeks and the pencilpushers can come together and agree on!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I'm amazed I still get so angry over how DCA came to be. I think I need to move on. >> You're angry? Welcome to the club. But what is sad is Disney didn't learn the lesson ... they did the same thing in Paris and Hong Kong ... and one wonders what they'll pull in Shanghai (although I seriously doubt they'll be able to pull the same bait and switch deal). Disney theme parks cost money to build ... or build right. And when you skimp on half a billion here or a billion there, you wind up spending just as much, if not more, down the line to fix your mistakes. That doesn't even include the PR hits your 'brand' inevitably takes ... when DCA was a national punchline from Leno to the Simpsons, that wasn't the type of publicity Disney wanted. I am tired of pointing out how incredibly shortsighted and out of touch most of Disney's leadership is when it comes to a business they wrote the book on.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt It actually is amazing. Not surprising though when you consider that Steve Jobs is on the board. He's the master of corporate arrogance.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<But the farm was very unique to her, someone who had only seen the fruit and veg in the grocery store, she found it quite exciting.>> I loved that area and am not ashamed to say so. I lingered there recently realizing that it's all going to be gone ... it reminded me of much of the Central California farmlands.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<It actually is amazing. Not surprising though when you consider that Steve Jobs is on the board. He's the master of corporate arrogance.>> He definitely is ... and Iger isn't far behind him.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I loved that area and am not ashamed to say so." Yep, it was nice and had they simply expanded it to include the appropriate attraction or two The Farm could have grown into something more compelling.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney <<I'm amazed I still get so angry over how DCA came to be. I think I need to move on. >> You know Leemac, I really do like you a lot these days ;D. And yeah as Spirit said, join the club. I spouted this off a dozen times over the years, but when I first visited DCA I didnt think it was THAT bad. It was okay, nothing special, but fine. I did have fun as a whole, just not something I would have to go or do again anytime soon (and I didnt again for a year and a half). But what made me angry and really made me see how badly DCA was built and how they cheaped out of everything was when 9 months after DCA opened, I went for the first time to see, and sorry to use the 'T' word kids, Tokyo DisneySea! I wont bore people over the same discussions, I only bring it up because I honestly couldnt believe the same people who built THAT park built THIS park and it really hits you how much they short changed DCA was as a park when you see these imagineers get really creative vs being held as they were with DCA. And yes, I realize the difference in price was about 2 billion lol. But that was obviously part of the problem, they simply didnt invest enough in their product and it sadly showed, badly. And no, I'm not suggesting DCA needed to be in the billions makr, but maybe 'A' billion mightve done the trick (as they are now spending $1.5 billion now, twice as much as the original park lol). That and not handing it off to people who had no experience building a theme park from the ground up. Approving a ride here and there is different from creating a concept from the beginning and bringing it to fruition. And as Spirit mentioned, they did it two more times after this. And whats telling is they actually managed to build two more parks WORSE than DCA. Thats the crazy part. HKDL isnt that bad as park per se, but it simply lacks almost every major attraction, originality and attention to detail that the others are known for...on purpose. I mean, yeah, how can you make a bad MK park? Well they broke the mold there too. But getting back to DCA, it didnt HAVE to be billions of dollars. It just needed to be thought out more properly, a less limited theme (as they are also now changing) and given a respectable budget, like the budget they are working with now . How can anyone expect to build an engaging entrance on a $30 million budget?? Pooh only costed $30 million and look how that turned out? And now of course, they are now making up for it and building an entrance that cost them four TIMES of the original...four times! Maybe if they built one from the get-go that costed around, say $60 million thats more intimate and personal like BVS will be, then that's $60 million more they would be saving today. They would be saving a lot of money today in fact if they simply did it right the first time. And I'm sorry, as far as entrances are concerned, how could they same company that came up with this: <a href="http://a.media.global.go.com/parksnews/downloads/photo_TDS_MH.jpg" target="_blank">http://a.media.global.go.com/p...S_MH.jpg</a> Make this: <a href="http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/8369775.jpg" target="_blank">http://commondatastorage.googl...9775.jpg</a> Okay again, there are a few billion dollar differences in the projects, but you mean there couldnt be something in the middle between a working volcano hovering a seaside Italian castle on a beautiful harbor vs lots of concrete, a dinky fountain and a huge shiny hub cap? Its just a slap in the face. Walking through both of those entrances that same year does make you realize which resort was getting the short end of the stick in the worst way . I cant wait until this whole shoddy thing is taken apart piece by piece as they are doing to those murals the very moment I type this. DCA was just one gigantic mistake, but they all know that now, so you just become hopeful they can turn it around as best they can. And unlike the first time, it looks like this time they are trying. Hell, they even got the guy who help build that very volcano at TDS working on the rockwork in Carsland. These are all good things and bolds well for DCA 2.0.
Originally Posted By avatarmickey115 ^^ I agree with everything you just said ^^ Okay, I've been thinking about this recently... Would you have liked DCA to be what it was supposed to be in the first place? Not Westcot, but just the DCA that was supposed to have a billion more dollars invested in it. Would you rather have that? Or would you rather have what we will be getting in 2012? I know there aren't a lot of pictures of what DCA was supposed to look like, but I've seen a few. So what do you think?
