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The dust (ooooh...) has finally settled after the big "surprise" California Adventure (DCA)
announcement that wasn't really a surprise to readers of this column. But at the very
least the few pieces of concept art officially released, as well as the
unofficial pictures of models and sketches shown briefly to Cast Members, have
all fueled continuing discussion about the DCA makeover on MiceChat.
A few minor things are already being changed by Imagineering (WDI) regarding the
makeover, and there were a few suits from Team Disney Anaheim out back (TDA) who want to make their own changes
as well. But the momentum for fixing DCA is increasing, although Disney's
apparent victory over the proposed housing in the Resort District will mean the
official announcements from Disney may cease for awhile.
We'll fill you in on the latest park and resort buzz in this update, as well
as remind you what not to do with Grandma's remains at Disneyland. Got
that cup of hot cocoa ready? And that premium-priced cupcake selected? Well
then, let's get going then shall we? - Al
Plan vs. Reality
While the grand artistic vision for DCA has been laid out by Imagineering,
the logistical planners back in TDA are trying to figure out how it will all get
done while the rest of the theme park operates around all of the upcoming
construction. The massive makeover to the main entrance, the first of its kind
for any Disney theme park anywhere, is shaping up to be the biggest headache.
One proposal gaining steam now is to have the main entrance be one of the last
elements of the four year makeover to be revealed to the public. Those candy
corn decorations installed at DCA's entrance this past Halloween may get another
year or two of use after all.
We'd told you in a previous update about the plan to create a temporary park
entrance to the east of the current entrance that would funnel arriving visitors
through the former Millionaire building and dump them right in the middle of the
Hollywood Pictures Backlot area. That plan is still the favored scenario, and
it's a temporary entrance that may need to be used for up to two years.
It ain't Main Street
But rather than jump right into the main entrance remake first, the thought
now is to wait until the fall of 2009 to start the massive main entrance work.
While the timeline for all of the new attractions is still pretty much the same
one we had laid out for you previously, the popular scenario for TDA's planners
is to get at least a few new things open in DCA before they shut down the main
entrance and make the customers work a bit more to get into the place. Midway
Mania is slated to open next summer, and the slightly more lavish version DCA is
getting is really shaping up to be another great attraction for Anaheim. Then in
the summer of 2009 the promising World of Color lagoon show opens and hopefully
pulls in big crowds, reversing the nightly outflow of thousands of DCA visitors
who follow the tide of humanity back over to Disneyland for the vastly superior
lineup of nighttime entertainment that the original park has.
Once World of Color opens in summer '09, and everyone who has seen the latest
rundown on it is feeling very good about this huge show, then the thought
is that DCA will have enough fresh material to be able to better withstand being
cut off from easy access to Disneyland by walling off the main entrance. 2010
would then see the worst of the construction mess as the main entrance is
completely re-worked, the re-themeing around the Paradise Pier area is finished
up, and the massive Littler Mermaid ride building and surrounding area
development is readied for a 2011 debut.
Maybe they're trying to distract you from the
(world's largest!) tile mural
The main entrance construction would
extend into the Hollywood area in 2010, as the Red Car tracks and infrastructure
is added to the street and the MuppetVision building gets repurposed. At the
same time, the biggest part of DCA's construction would be taking place behind
temporary walls out in the Timon parking lot as the sprawling Cars Land
addition heads toward an early 2012 debut. The main entrance however would be
done by the spring of 2011, and the 10th anniversary party for DCA
would play up the new Little Mermaid ride, all of the eye candy and new
additions added to the pier area, and the continuing success of the World of
Color show.
Many folks in TDA are much more comfortable with that basic construction
schedule, as the thought of shutting down the main entrance of DCA and beginning
the park's makeover at the front in 2008 makes them very nervous. DCA exists
almost solely on tourists and AP's who park hop over to DCA for just a few hours
every afternoon, picking off a few of the handful of popular attractions, before
returning to Disneyland for the bulk of their stay. Until the World of Color
show opens in '09, no one in TDA is confident enough in DCA's current pulling
power to close off the main entrance and put a crimp in the flow of visitors
escaping the big crowds of Disneyland.
It should be noted that 2008 will still
be a pretty big year for DCA, with the new Pixar Pals Parade planned to debut on
March 14th, and then the Midway Mania attraction opening for the
summer season. But even with those additions for '08, TDA is still very aware
that DCA lives and dies by the ability to easily and quickly park hop from
Disneyland. Waiting until World of Color opens in May, 2009 and gets a
reputation as a "Must See!" offering makes TDA much more comfortable when it
comes to walling off the main entrance and funneling arrivals in through a
temporary side door.
Philharmag-Not
And what will those arriving tourists sliding in the side door find in that
back corner of the park in '09? They may still find MuppetVision 3-D immediately on
their right as the first attraction they encounter.
Although changing that 18-year-old show into the snazzier and more popular Philharmagic show
now playing in Orlando and Hong Kong has long been tentatively approved, the
logistical construction reality of transforming that facility is proving to be
very difficult. MuppetVision was shoehorned in to DCA in the late 1990's as a
cheap and easy way to add yet another movie based attraction. Even in the late
'90s the show was showing its age, but Paul Pressler's vision for DCA was more
about spreadsheets than artistic vision and relevance and so MuppetVision was slotted into place in Hollywood.
The problems in finally
putting the aging Muppet show to rest are rooted in the huge screen and massive
infrastructure required for the Philharmagic show. In order to squeeze the
smallest Philharmagic footprint necessary into the MuppetVision building, load
bearing walls on the east and west end of the building would need to be
demolished and rebuilt. That sends the budget skyrocketing as an entirely new
facility and building would then be required, and the numbers for the remake no
longer pencil out like they did in 2006 when the idea was hatched.
Elvis once sang "I'm so lonely, I could
die..."
So, with Philharmagic now tentatively on the back burner for DCA, and
certainly not replacing MuppetVision, a new concept for that theater is being
kicked around. While Disneyland's Entertainment department has wanted another indoor
stage facility for some time now, with several concepts for the Millionaire building
never quite getting off the ground in the last three years, the custom nature of
the MuppetVision setup isn't going to let them do much with that space. The
stage is very narrow and only accomodates a film screen, and that animatronic penguin orchestra down below certainly doesn't help things either.
The current proposal that has piqued the interest of John Lasseter is to
outfit the MuppetVision theater with a cutting-edge digital projection system
that could send and receive digitally produced films and material. The
MuppetVision space is currently titled the "Flex-Theater" on WDI blueprints and
printed material for the DCA makeover. The rather lofty goal of having DCA host
animator conferences and exhibitions, all hosted by Pixar of course, is a big
part of this concept.
While that may do wonders for DCA's reputation, there is
the reality that such artistically stimulating activities would only happen a
small portion of the time. There would still be the need to provide some sort of
attraction for the tourists visiting DCA the 98% of the operating year when
animation artists weren't convening for the latest John Lasseter confab in
Anaheim.
Will those tourists still find MuppetVision in that space, only to pass
it up as a 20 year old 3-D film they've already seen? Or will there be a new
theater concept added there instead? That question still isn't answered, as the
mothballing of the Philharmagic concept is still fairly fresh and a replacement
concept hasn't been selected. One thing TDA doesn't want however is to see
arriving DCA visitors step out of the Millionaire building and find a shuttered
attraction, so even the timing on the temporary closure to install the digital
projection system will be difficult to plan. |
