8/25: The Reluctant Dragon

[Al Lutz]

Fantasmic Murphy Update, D23 Expo, Disneyland/DCA Projects, More... Discuss it all here...

DIRECT ARTICLE LINK: MiceAge.com - A different look at Disney...

[blondiethesounds]

Yay Al!!!

Thanks for all you do, it is very appreciated.

[SanDiegoAl]

Here's hoping for a return of the dragon this week and a goldmine of info at D23.

[evmo]

Whoah some big news here! Are they going to drain motorboat cruize or just use the water that's already there?

[Mousecat]

As always, thanks for the update. From the hype on the Micechat boards you would think the lines for the D23 Expo were going to reach to Garden Grove. And if Comic Con is the goal then they would have to attract larger crowds each day than what they get for DCA. Could this be a repeat of the Insider book of 2005?

[Wendygirl]

I just love your updates and today's was just full of great stuff. Thanks Al.

I so wish I could afford to go to the Expo. I've been getting updates on Facebook and would love to attend some of those presentations. I'm looking forward to the coverage I'm sure will be here on MiceAge and MiceChat.

[Coast21]

Great update. I was wondering how scary space mountain was gonna be and now I'm really looking forward to it, especially if they're worried about smaller ones going on it

[Quacky4Donald]

Hmmmm....

From Al's article today:

There's also a proposal to create a new series of Attractions Posters for DCA, starting with the new attractions opening as part of the makeover. Disney theme park fans know how important Attractions Posters are to the mystique of any good Disney park, and it should come as no surprise that Attractions Posters were deemed a silly and wasteful expense by Paul Pressler and his crowd in the late 1990's.

And here's a letter I wrote to Disney a few years back:
Response To My "Remember..." Poster Letter To Disneyland

Not saying there's any connection...

[jcruise86]

Thanks for the update!

Of course, Halloween Space Mountain should be made as scary as possible! Little kids don't ride it, and no one wants it to be tame. Knott's Scary Farm isn't known for its technology, so this would be a way for Disneyland to win tens of thousands of thrill seekers, and appear a little cooler to the many high schoolers I've taught who shun Disneyland. The really awful guests will still go to Six Flags Magic Mountain instead.

[nursemelis374]

Wonderful update as usual! I am interested in the potential promotion for 2010 involving volunteer hours. I wonder how that would work.

[SpcMtn77]

Thanks for the update! I'm glad to know there are plans to add more attractions to Disneyland in some abandoned areas like the motorboats lagoon. Hopefully they will invest in making it a better dark ride than they did w/ Pooh.

[h2opolodad]

Thanks Al - great update as usual.

I too, have questions about the community service requirements to receive something on your birthday, but I also agree with Al - a very classy way for Disney to go about celebrating birthdays while encouraging community involvement.

[Mr Wiggins]

Originally Posted by Al Lutz

"While her new office is being built, Mary Niven, as the new Vice President of DCA, has been trying very hard to work through her learning curve on just what it means to run a Disney theme park. Mary has spent her entire professional career in large-scale food service, coming to Anaheim 10 years ago from the UCLA campus cafeteria department, so running a theme park where the food is not a primary goal for most customers has been a change for her."

You laugh, but that cafeteria had the best damn mac & cheese on the West Coast.

And to think Walt wasted all those years with Dominguez and Lindquist when he could have hired Chef Boy-ar-dee.

Originally Posted by Al Lutz

"Mary has provided a bit of humor to her co-workers this summer by unwittingly dredging up an old issue from the past, the cumbersome name the park was saddled with and the early response to just call it by its acronym "DCA". Mary has now outlawed the use of the DCA acronym amongst her managers, with offending parties having to apologize and drop change into a bucket every time they don't call the park Disney's California Adventure."

Don't worry -- newbie or no, she's clearly got the chops to becoming a top TDA executive.

AIR FORCE COLONEL: You mean you don't want our best pilots?
ASTRONAUT RECRUITER: No, I didn't say that. We want the best pilots... that we can get.
- The Right Stuff

[Disneykin Kid]

Wow this is THE place to come for THE latest news and updates! Dragon - I can't fathom how the mistake was in the operation - isn't it kind of a 'follow the instruction manual' kind of thing? The wave machine - to me it's not a biggie to have waves in the lagoon, I'd rather not risk damage to all the valves etc. for WOC, I hope they're not making a mistake here. Tinker Bell dark ride in Motor Boat Cruise area - nice but I always wished they would put an E ticket Tomorrowland dark ride in that spot, something like a giant Star Wars 'universe' attraction. Volunteer work for free admission - now that's a great idea!

[airick75]

So, there's a new campaign coming up, but is there still a planned 55th anniversary campaign on the way too? When will this begin?