Originally Posted By TheEscapist (Thanks, but I blatantly stole the chicken-strip-as-metaphor from davewasbaloo.) I even kinda liked that crazy low-rent cirque-type show in HPB that had a couple different names--the one with the demanding director and her mutinous crew playing keepaway with the script (am I making this up?). I admit there was not enough to do, but I really miss the DCA of 2001, especially the entertainment and dining. I didn't renew my AP before they stopped selling them for that brief period, and I still paid full-price to get into DCA almost every weekend for the first couple of months.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <I even kinda liked that crazy low-rent cirque-type show in HPB that had a couple different names--the one with the demanding director and her mutinous crew playing keepaway with the script (am I making this up?).> Ah yes, 'Lights, Camera, Chaos!' -- it was a cute and different kind of show. And *gasp* involved no Disney rubberhead characters. I also enjoyed the improv comedy show (called 'D.U.H.' I think) that was in that same space for a brief period. The three gals who would perform in HPB -- dressed as actors trying to be discovered or something? -- anyway -- very clever and cute. The show was sort of a variation 'Whose Line is it Anyway?' (which I thought Disney could have just named the show since 'WLIIA' was on ABC, but I digest...) But yes -- while small, and in need of almost immediate expansion -- there were some elements of DCA circa 2001 that were very promising.
Originally Posted By leemac <<The three gals who would perform in HPB -- dressed as actors trying to be discovered or something? -- anyway -- very clever and cute.>> Chance to Shine. Probably the best atmosphere show I've ever seen in a US park. I still can't believe it didn't make its way to MGM in WDW. It was exactly the type of show that Hollywood Pictures Backlot needed to help reinforce the theme - that entire area needed shows like this.
Originally Posted By ArchtMig >>>Disney should give the people what they don't know they always wanted, not what they say they want because they've been conditioned to accept nothing else.<<< Okay, but not at the expense of anything else that makes a Disney park a Disney park... I think the key is that Disney should provide BALANCE. When it opened, DCA didn't have a real signature big E-Ticket darkride attraction. It didn't have ONE SINGLE conveyance (transportation) type of attraction, no trollies, no trains, no buggies, no boats. It didn't have ANY night time entertainment. It didn't have too many truly family oriented attractions. Which was mis-interpreted as being that DCA didn't have much for "kids" to do, which was not the problem. It didn't have much for the WHOLE FAMILY to do simultaneously, which would have been enough to satisfy the kids department. It had a whole land full of thrill rides that excluded the very young and the very old. It was skimpy on landscaping - negligently skimpy, in fact. It had many areas that looked cheap and slapped together, the main entrance and Sun Court areas chief among that, and all of Paradise Pier for the most part. If DCA had been more well rounded from the beginning, it would have been able to accommodate the dining and eclectic entertainment and edutainment stuff that it was so top heavy on at first, and which seems to be so missed by the posters here on this thread. But the same minds that ill-conceived the park in the first place ill conceived the fixes, and instead of adding stuff that the park lacked, they took the other stuff away, thus permanently setting a new course for the park that now reaches for a much lower common denominator. When instead, if more of that had been there in the first place, then maybe DCA could have been more able to satisfy ALL of its audience all at the same time.
Originally Posted By mawnck >><Chance to Shine.> yes! Very well themed and dang cute too. << I concur.
Originally Posted By disneywatcher >> It's so sad to see what a mess this park has turned into. << DCA was a mess from Day One. Actually, indications of the new park being -- or becoming -- a mess date back to well before February 2001. >> Disney should give the people what they don't know they always wanted << But that requires the skills and talents of very creative, ingenious, savvy people. Unfortunately, that description wasn't applicable to most of the executives and planners responsible for DCA.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Chance to Shine.> <yes! Very well themed and dang cute too.> Yes, it was. A very good show.
Originally Posted By Disney and beyond I have never gotton the chance to get to California Adventure (I've been to Disney World 30-something times, but I just can't get over to Disneyland) But I feel that the park failed because of the themeing, for the same reason that Disney's America was. People in California don't want to go to a park about California. Sure, The hardcore Disney Fan will love some of the rides, but sadly, the hardcore are in the minority, and the casual fan doesn't think that California=Disney. The majority of the casual fans want everything to be Disney, or at least be something they can't see everyday. That's why The World Showcase and Animal Kingdom worked, and CA didn't. I'm not saying that the park was bad, I'm just saying that the blame here is put on the casual fans screaming "What is this? This isn't Disney!"
Originally Posted By lesmisfan i loved chance to shine!!! i never missed a show when i went. and one day the chose me and we did some "tap" dancing. so much fun. i wish we could get more street entertianment like this for the hollywood backlot. i never was a fan of the little animators show that they have now.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I loved Dancing in Chance to Shine. It was so much fun interacting. And day before yesterday, I loved dancing with the African TamTams in Adventureland in DLP. It is these little shows that to me do make the Disney difference.
