Disney's California Adventure Project Tracker

[AliKzam]

Originally Posted by Not Quite Cpt Jack

This makes very little sense with the new theme of the park wouldn't you say?

'Screamin' works by mimicking the look of a wooden boardwalk coaster. How does Rockin Roller Coaster fit in? I realize it's an indoor attraction so you wouldn't see it, but there is no connection to the 20's/30's theme there at all; it would be pretty anachronistic to tell you the truth. Any new coaster attraction will need to incorporate the theme.

Oh! I just thought of a classical piece that would be perfect! But I can't think of the title of it. Also, I guess it wouldn't really be a Rock n' Roller coaster, then. It would be difficult to say Contempory Classical Coaster all the time you're in the park, I guess.

[Mojave]

Originally Posted by Not Quite Cpt Jack

Yes, I think you mean underpass though. This has been done recently in Davis where bike tunnels are plentiful and frequently go under 4-6 lane main thoroughfares. Streets utilized a strange-looking but effective detour to keep traffic moving.

Yeah I couldn't decide whether to refer to it as an overpass or an underpass/tunnel. Actually, I'm not sure which would go over and which under. Think about Disneyland Dr. - it goes under the DTD walkway. But then it goes over the tram.

If they keep the eastern entrance open and allow traffic to flow behind DCA over to Disneyland Dr. they might just make Harbor an overpass while keeping the tram and Disney Way/entrance on level ground.

[Uncle Bob]

To me it wouldn't make sense to keep that road over to Disneyland Drive. It takes up a lot of space and wouldn't be necessary if they had this proposed Pumba structure. I think they should eliminate all of that stuff and just get people used to no longer having any entrances on Harbor.

I also think it would be significantly easier to ramp the tram route down and under or up and over Harbor then to alter the elevation of Harbor itself and that would cause issues for businesses on Harbor likely. In the end though, you have to have an overall vision for what you're going to do for the resort as a whole to really make some of these decisions. I would guess they'll hold off on doing any of this until they have made some decisions about the third gate and long term expansion plans for DCA as well as plans for DTD and future hotels and whether or not they'll eventually install any other transportation systems for the resort area as a whole.

[mrfantasmic]

Either way, the right of way Bruce pointed out is that land to which I was referring. I don't know which would be easier to build, tunnel or overpass. I know for a tunnel they can build it to the height of a tram, meaning less change in elevation for the tramzilla, while an overpass would require the tram to climb steeper.
A Harbor overpass/underpass is not possible due to the businesses on that street that rely on a Harbor entrance. Any change to that area will need to be under or over Harbor, unfortunately. Chalk that up to Walt not having enough foresight (money wasn't really the determining factor here) to buy more land around his property.

EDIT: Yup, just like what Uncle Bob said.
As for the access to Disneyland Drive, I don't see it as necessary and I believe it becomes backstage infrastructure (much like Winston back in the day).

[Uncle Bob]

Another possiblity is that thet could design the hotel for the current tram and other drop off areas to have a big basement area that would still allow all those fuctions to go on and still add a big hotel structure in that same location. Then they could even have additional lower levels below that with parking for hotel guests. That would be a much more efficient use of that valuable space.

[Uncle Bob]

The tram going below Harbor would seem to make the most sense to me, but I may not be aware of all the factors. They would also probably want to provide pedestrian access there as well, at least I'm sure the Garden Walk would like that.

[Bruce Bergman]

Originally Posted by mrfantasmic

Either way, the right of way Bruce pointed out is that land to which I was referring. I don't know which would be easier to build, tunnel or overpass. I know for a tunnel they can build it to the height of a tram, meaning less change in elevation for the tramzilla, while an overpass would require the tram to climb steeper.

They can make the ceiling lower on the Tram underpass tunnel, but they shouldn't go much lower than 12'. I'd go for the full 14', since most trucks are 13'-8" max.

The lowered clearance on the route to Mickey & Friends (10'-ish, I've never noticed a sign) means they can't redesign the trams any taller or the roadway under the bridges needs to be rebuilt, and some of the maintenance trucks can't go that way - not a big problem unless you are driving a truck that won't clear and forget that fact at 4 AM... (CRUNCH!)

A Harbor overpass/underpass is not possible due to the businesses on that street that rely on a Harbor entrance. Any change to that area will need to be under or over Harbor, unfortunately. Chalk that up to Walt not having enough foresight (money wasn't really the determining factor here) to buy more land around his property.

Raise Harbor? No way - not because of a Disneyland gate, but for business access rights for the motels shops and restaurants. They would have to provide alternate access.

Raise the Puumba Tram Route over Harbor? No way, they would have to go up 18 feet with the roadway deck surface to get 16' at the bottom. 14' would be "enough", but I've long heard rumors of an old 1940's Civil Defense rule (Pre Freeway) that Harbor Bl. is a 'national defense highway' (or some such) that has to remain clear and be big enough for oversized trucks and tanks.

And as to money, it most certainly was a factor in 1953-54. Walt had barely enough money to buy the land for Disneyland, and did it under several shell company names. But as soon as word got out that Disney was buying the land and what he had planned, the asking price for land in the area shot up up 10X to 100X. They had to really scrape to get the last few parcels that were still in negotiation, and there were holdouts - I believe some were on Winston St. and the other old strets going through what is now backstage areas.

This is why there were all the motels around the inner perimeter of Harbor, Katella and West that are now mostly DCA and parking lots (with a few exceptions still there) - They wanted more for the land than Walt could offer, so the orange groves were sold to developers building motels and restaurants, and a very busy 7-11 Mini-Mart.

Walt had to mortgage his house and his Life Insurance to build the Mark Twain and the Railroad, and he personally owned those attractions for many years (through the RETLAW holding company) till Disneyland Inc. had the money to buy them back.

EDIT: Yup, just like what Uncle Bob said.
As for the access to Disneyland Drive, I don't see it as necessary and I believe it becomes backstage infrastructure (much like Winston back in the day).

Like Winston Street, they just have to get the City to cede the street right-of-way back to the land owner of the parcels on each side of the road, and it can be removed. But there has to be alternate access provided in case there's a private lot inholding on that street - or they have to buy that lot.

--<< Bruce >>--

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Originally Posted by mrfantasmic

During Westcot days that was the site of parking structure 2 with direct off ramps from NB 5.
There is a large strip of land in front of that area for the tram stop and for it to tunnel under Harbor. Thats why the Lion King Tram is still needed.

Ah, here's the thread that got everybody talking.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Mad Duck

Hello everyone!! Long time (very long time) reader 1st time posting. I don't think that anyone has touched on this. Once Carsland gets underway I’m guessing that the remaining Tamon parking lot will no longer be used for guest parking. Right? If this is so then that would mean that the Tamon drop off and pick up area will become obsolete. This would give DCA a good chunk of land to expand Hollywoodland. Bulldoze the old Millionaire building and you now have yourself some good real estate. Can anyone say UPDATED Great Movie Ride!!! Has anyone heard anything about this part of the park???????

Actually, it was this one...

[Mojave]

Sorry for being so stupid re: making a Harbor overpass over the tram. I was thinking about Disneyland Dr. and simply drew a blank about all the hotels on Harbor needing access. Duh!

And I'm all for getting rid of the road that goes behind DCA so that they have more backstage space for show buildings. But I wonder about overflow issues - if the Pumba lot gets full or some other issue, they have to route traffic somewhere. I guess they could use Harbor and Katella, but I think for the immediate future, they'll keep that access road.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Mojave

Sorry for being so stupid re: making a Harbor overpass over the tram. I was thinking about Disneyland Dr. and simply drew a blank about all the hotels on Harbor needing access. Duh!

And I'm all for getting rid of the road that goes behind DCA so that they have more backstage space for show buildings. But I wonder about overflow issues - if the Pumba lot gets full or some other issue, they have to route traffic somewhere. I guess they could use Harbor and Katella, but I think for the immediate future, they'll keep that access road.

I think you're probably right, they'll need to keep that road until they have some other major parking capacity. I would think that Pumba will need to be used a lot once Timon is gone and that will be the easiest way to access it for overflow from M&F as you say.

Does anyone know if there are any plans for the surface parking lot to the west of DCA and DL Drive?

[WDW1974]

Don't want to depress anyone here, but a little birdie flew east with word that many of DCA's projects have been slowed down to what I term 'creep mode' due to the disaster that is the US economy right now.

Nothing to my knowledge has been cancelled.

But there's a whole lot of administrative hand-wringing over things that appeared long since decided and the prevailing thought is it's to give the economy a chance to either right itself or, if things keep up, bottom out before Disney invests billions more in Anaheim.

So don't be surprised if things you expected to happen in say 2011 ... suddenly get pushed back to 2012 ... or 2015.

[KAN]

That would be really awesome if imagineering decided to construct an extension of the monorail to surround DCA. It could have a stop near Paradise Pier or something... Disney could build it like this: Start construction on extension track leaving only connections to old track unfinished, leave old track open. Close old track and finish connection to new track. Open new track with extension, start demolition of old track. The new track would look good with the new Mark VII monorail.

[k_peek_2000]

Originally Posted by WDW1974

Don't want to depress anyone here, but a little birdie flew east with word that many of DCA's projects have been slowed down to what I term 'creep mode' due to the disaster that is the US economy right now.

Nothing to my knowledge has been cancelled.

But there's a whole lot of administrative hand-wringing over things that appeared long since decided and the prevailing thought is it's to give the economy a chance to either right itself or, if things keep up, bottom out before Disney invests billions more in Anaheim.

So don't be surprised if things you expected to happen in say 2011 ... suddenly get pushed back to 2012 ... or 2015.

Nothing is going to change, the reason for all the dates being pushed back these days were because of really craptastic planning on behalf of TDA.

It'll be fine.

[benihodge]

I agree, Putting things off is like telling stock holders we're not planning on increasing profits.