Originally Posted By jonvn "I don't even think they (Disney) designed it. I believe Disney contracted an outside company to put the project together." That, of course, makes complete sense and is likely just what happened. "eisner took an uncommon interest in the garage" I remember that. I think it's kind of silly. I don't know if it is true or not, but of all the things for him to take an interest in, throughout his entertainment empire, he'd care about something like this? It's a parking garage. People were railing on about it, how it was badly designed and so on. I've been in it a few times. It's fine. It's a parking garage.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Given that the garage cost about $90 million, I can see why Eisner would have taken interest in it.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt Good question Jon. I do think that some aspects of the garage (the ramps leading to it for instance) were covered by public funds.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror 1) Eisner's involvement has been overstated. He didn't micromanage, but he did dictate some changes in the original design, and specifically wanted it bright - very well lit. I think that was a good idea (whether or not it was his idea or one he appropriated). He also wanted some architectural motifs (the glass panels) so that it would have a different "look" than a standard parking garage, and he was right that as it was going to be an enormous building, it shouldn't just look like every garage that came before. I think they did a good job with it, escalator debacle notwithstanding. 2) I'm fairly sure that a good chunk of the money for the garage was NOT Disney money.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror >>>I didn't know that Disney had a lot of experience in building six story parking garages. How many of these have they built over the years?<<< I don't park in the garage at the studio, but it's a decent size, and rather attractive, as those structures go. They really should have used it as an inspiration for DLR's.
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> and specifically wanted it bright - very well lit. << As monstrous theme park garages go, DLR is a good one. USF is downright scary. And it doesn't help that they pipe in the 'jaws' music throughout the entire structure.
Originally Posted By disneywatcher >> Rumors at the time were that eisner took an uncommon interest in the garage, and meddled with design and construction, micromanaging it past all reason. << I recall reading that he selected some of, if not all, the furnishings for the rooms of the Grand Californian Hotel. Too bad his micromanaging extended beyond that. I'm sure his stated love of and nostalgia for seaside fun parks, such as Coney Island in his native New York City, is *the* reason DCA got stuck with Paradise Pier. And since he wasn't around to meddle with -- or had no direct involvement with or interest in -- DisneySea in Tokyo, that park was spared the indignity of a similar schlocky-type area.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I recall reading that he selected some of, if not all, the furnishings for the rooms of the Grand Californian Hotel>> Eisner has always had a keen interest in architecture; I wouldn't call that micromanaging. <<he wasn't around to meddle with -- or had no direct involvement with or interest in -- DisneySea in Tokyo, that park was spared the indignity of a similar schlocky-type area.>> I shouldn't really even answer your posts; IMO your constant drone is about as entertaining and useful as the worst parts of DCA,.
Originally Posted By TP2000 I don't quite get what the concern is about. From the aerial map Darkbeer so kindly linked to, it looks to me that only about 20% of the rides footprint is out in what used to be DCA real estate that a customer could inhabit. About 80% of the new building takes up previously unused space under the coaster or out back in a surface parking lot. And the size of the building itself looks fairly large in comparison to other DLR rides. Midway Mania's building looks to be bigger than Splash Mountain or Monsters Inc. or Tower of Terror, about the same size as Innoventions, and just slightly smaller than Haunted Mansion or Small World. Only Soarin', Pirates, Indy or the Space Mountain complex appear to be noticeably larger than the Midway Mania footprint. That looks pretty impressive for a D Ticket dark ride to me! I'm not sure what the concern would be about.
Originally Posted By bean You are correct TP2000 about the toy story attraction. Moat of the attraction is using land already used before in a backstage area. The only area that it took over that was previously guest areais a portion of the old seating area that was next to the fish and chips eatery. I think one of the reasons it looks bigger is because the construction walls stick quite a bit. Once they are removed it will open up the large walkway again
Originally Posted By TP2000 Thanks bean! That sad, sterile patio in front of Strips and Maliburitos was some of the worst example of cheap DCA construction and "theme". There are shopping centers in Irvine and Tustin that have more themeing and decoration designed into them than that east end of Paradise Pier has. The patio there was the worst of it; just cheap, ugly stamped cement with steel railing surrounded by stucco walls and some palm trees. Fun. The one big piece of "WHIMSY!" was the flat vinyl sign hanging above the mothballed mexican fast food stand. The place was called "Maliburitos". Malibu. Burrito. Get it? Aren't you having fun here at this new theme park? I look forward to anything that might replace that DCA area.
Originally Posted By jonvn "The place was called "Maliburitos". Malibu. Burrito. Get it?" I hate puns. I hope they have learned and stopped with them. Award Wieners. God. Same thing over at the Autopia. Puns. Whoever is responsible for them should not be allowed near anything they do again.
Originally Posted By tonyanton You mean you didn't enjoy Burr-bank Ice Cream, Maliboomer, San Andreas Shakes, Lucky Fortune Cookery, etc? ;]
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf You can get a souvenir itch when you mess around with award weiners gone bad.
