Disney spending $1.1 billion on California Adventure

^^ Gomez, if you like the POTC ride at the Magic Kingdom... it is NOTHING compared to the Disneyland version. I love the ride in Florida, but the DL version is nearly twice as long, has two drops and so much more - you'd love it. And rumor is Space will get a big rehab sometime next year... Splash is going down for the first two months of 2008 and word is Space will get its turn sometime shortly after that.

^I really want to go to California, but I have a feeling I'm going to to wait 5-6 years.

Here is some concept art taken directly from CastTV, the Disneyland Resort's news channel for Cast Members.

http://www.micechat.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2250062&postcount=151

^Wow, those are very cool concepts. They've gotten me excited.

All I have to say is we should all write Matt Ouimet a big thank you for working so hard before the 50th anniversary to bring back Disneyland. I doubt with all of his hard work and careful budgeting to get projects through we wouldn't see this 1 billion investment in DCA.

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Gomez said:

Magic Kingdom, in particular, Tomorrowland, needs a lot of money thrown into it. When I went on Space Mountain last year it really needed a lot of work like they redid the one in Disneyland. The queue is very, very dated and the ride itself hurts on some of the turns.

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SM at Disneyland is great! However, the Tomorroland there also needs work too.

I visited DL and CA all in the same day last summer. I got a lot of ride time in at CA because the place was pretty dead like most of you described above. Of all the Disney parks, this one really needs some work, which is no surprise to me that this much $$$ is being spent on an overhaul.

Disneyland was great! Being that Walt Disney is one of my heroes, this place was like walking through a museum. It has a certain kind of charm, and TPOC is absolutely amazing, blowing the Florida version out of the water! Unlike MK, walking into DL really makes you feel like you stepped into another world, not being able to see outside the berm.

SFGAMDieHARD: Yes. $100 million for ToT. It takes a lot of money to buy those special elevators, build that building and theme all that space!!! It's not an unreasonable figure at all for something like that. Right on the money. Still wish they had opted for a longer ride and more inside though. It would have been nice to have an out of the shaft sequence at DCA too, only much longer where you go past darkride scenes (in a more elaborate way then Florida). That would have been my choice. The way it is now, there just isn't enough meat for me. There's so much more story that could be done with that ride.

janfrederick: Stay tuned. You just might be getting your wish on the monorail. The rumors indicate that while it will still run that route after this first phase of DCA reconstruction is complete, it won't be staying that way.

Personally, I am happy about most of the changes so far. Don't like the concept of the new entrance much since it looks JUST like their Disney/MGM studio park in Orlando. And I have always hated that entrance gate. It looks ugly to me. Equally as ugly is their idea to put a huge Mickey Face on the Sun Wheel. (shudder). Other then that, it all looks pretty good.

I'm particularly happy that we will be getting a version of the old Flying Saucer ride that closed at Disneyland when I was just a baby. Let's hope this one is more reliable. The 1961 version was their equivalent of Rocket Rods and was removed almost as fast.

I'm also looking forward to the electric trolley cars. Anyone who has been to San Francisco can tell you, they definitely add some atmosphere. Something sorely lacking at DCA. That being said, all the theming in the world will never equate it to Disneyland. For two reasons... one, Walt built that place and walked around it. Sure he walked around DCA's property too, but it was orange groves and a parking lot so not quite the same. But I like what they are doing with the theme...seeing Calif as if you were Disney himself who just arrived. Interesting.

The other reason it will never have the same nostalgia is quite simply one word...fireworks. Okay, two words, fireworks AND castle. There's a reason people gather in front of the castle each night and gaze northward. Now, unless Disney is shooting fireworks off the roof of the Anaheim Convention Center, you just aren't going to get the same kind of experience with the Carthay Circle Theatre no matter how nice it is. (And it DOES look nice!). Oh, and also you have all the little girls out there who still dream about being a princess in a castle and not an usher at a theatre from years gone by. It's just not the same.

But, the changes announced along with the ones they haven't yet should go a long ways for the company to do a little face saving over a park that never should have been built in the manner it was. It will always be a bit of a Frankenstein park hobbled together though now. I'm sure deep down they wish they could just start over from scratch.

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Funny how he refers to Disneyland as the Magic Kingdom, you would think him of all people being as high up as he was would know that the name Magic Kingdom refers to the Florida park and only the Florida park

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See now I thought that was the case too, but last time I rode the Disneyland train, its soundtrack most definitely referred to the park as "the Magic Kingdom" throughout.

^ I heard that too and I'm pretty sure I saw it written in a couple of places as well. I thought it said the "original" Magic Kingdom, but I can't be certain.

The new concept art looks wicked. But, I agree the Sun Wheel redo looks horrific as well as the MGM clone entrance gate. The rest of the stuff looks awesome. Hopefully they've managed to get the Test Track ride system working better since it appears to be what they're using for Radiator Springs Racers.

I enjoyed my visit there, it wasn't very busy compared to Disneyland so it was about a 3/4 day park. A couple of rides made it all worth while but conceptually I thought it was a stretch. In fact, I said to a smiling castmember somewhere, "This place is great! Why, I feel just like I'm in California!" Whether it was lost on her I'll never know, she just kept smiling.

It seems the re-do can only improve the park. It adds much needed rides, boosts the overall appearance of the place, and provides some needed balance. As for the entrance, I'm getting a little tired of that fake Studio look, even Six Flags has some of that going, so I think the smart, logical choice is the Old "Hollywood & Vine" look. At least it's "historic California", which automatically makes it longer lasting. Most park visitors alive today can't remember when Hollywood looked, or rather, was envisioned that way, so it ages slower. Kinda like Main Street USA, it's still with us and we still think it's cool.

I'm really intrigued by Dave's idea , it would have been a great idea to make it one big park. A Disneyland expansion of that sort would have certainly eased the crush of humanity that passes through those gates every day. But like he says, are we foolish enough to think that Disney would actually pass on the chance to get two separate admissions from everyone that came? Or at least a twicket? No. Just like Florida's Magic Kingdom, Disneyland continues to be the most popular, and Disney's struggle is to improve those second and third gate experiences so that everyone will make sure they visit them, too.

I think these current plans can only be seen as improvements.

Me again. Disneyland has always been known as the Magic Kingdom and when the Florida park was built they wouldn't call it Disneyland, but used Magic Kingdom as the name for the park that would join others under the Disney World banner. But for a while, it was the only place to visit down there, and when people went to the park they simply said they had gone to Disney World, and the Magic Kingdom name got kinda lost. Now, (at least in my part of the country) people still refer to MK as Disney World, then go on to mention EPCOT, MGM, etc. They might have done best to go ahead and call it Disneyland, it was a copy anyhow, and then made the Disney World Resort concept appear when the other stuff started showing up.

I like to think there's only one Disneyland, though. Those who have been to both might agree.

Some of us remember when Splash Mountain first opened, and Indiana Jones Ride, and the Tower of Terror at MGM. The excitement generated by these attractions brought families in from around the world to experience these ichons for themselves. As mentioned before; who the hell is going to book a vacation to L.A. just to see another mainstreet when Disneyland has its own a few hundred yards away? People flock to Disney for the amazing rides, not the shops.

Sure, there is only one Disneyland but with each new generation, the park becomes that much more dated. I may prefer Disneyland, but kids today Kids want IoA. 1 billion can go a long way to show Universal that Disney can build their own Islands of Adventure here in California. Isn't that what Universal spent on IoA, 1 billion? I'm surprised Universal hasn't already tried to bring IoA to LA.

Anyway, Expedition Everest proved to me that Disney's imagineers still got it when it comes to theme park tech. But a DCA facelift without introducing a few more iconic attractions would a huge waste and would send the wrong message to a public eagerly waiting the next big Disney ride. It also opens the door for a next-generation theme-park like IoA to compete with an ever aging Disneyland.
*** This post was edited by rc-madness 10/20/2007 3:47:25 AM ***

Oh they have wanted to expand Universal for quite some time rc. But the problem is one of space. And most notably, neighbors who have fought them on any such plans. In addition, unlike Florida, USH is an actual working movie studio, so that needs to be accommodated too. All those reasons is why you haven't seen anything additional from them. Will we ever? Who knows. It would be nice, but I wouldn't hold my breath.