The Dodgers and Disneyland -- Nostalgia makes a big difference

[DisneyIPresume]

As many of you may know, this season marks the Dodgers' 50th anniversary of playing in Los Angeles. Last night a record breaking crowd of 115,300 went to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to watch an exhibition game between the Dodgers and the Red Sox.

The reason this game drew such huge numbers (some are beginning to say this was the most highly attended game not just in Major League history but in the entire history of baseball) I think was due to a huge nostalgia factor. The Dodgers played at the Coliseum for 4 years while Dodger Stadium was being built and many older fans remember going to these games. The younger fans who weren't around for these games undoubtedly went to experience history and a chance to see what an early part of Los Angeles Dodgers history was all about.

I think Disneyland should look at this event last night and realize that the people of Southern California takes its history very seriously. Many of the fans at the game said this event was historical and nostalgic. Disneyland has been around longer than the Dodgers so it needs to do things to bring out the nostalgia. If the Dodgers can attract record breaking numbers based on this, perhaps Disneyland can do the same.

I must say that Disneyland is on the right track to doing some of this. They revived the subs, and although the actual show is different, the mere sight of the subs navigating the lagoon does a lot to bring back that what was once lost. Once the Peoplemover is back and the Astro Orbiter gets moved to its rightful location even more nostalgia will be brought back.

On the other hand, for each step made, they take a step back. Adding unneccesary characters to IASW does nothing to remind the viewer of its original message as put forth in 1966. Add larger boats but do not change its original meaning. Clean it up is all they need to do. I think if they do this it will remind us older fans what it was like and it would be something new for the younger fans.

So Disney, look at the Dodgers and remember that people do respond very positively to nostalgia, and those things that they have fond memories of.

What do you all think?

[Datameister]

I think this'd be a very, very appropriate post in about...oh, September of 2004. The great thing about the 50th was that DL did get great treatment, and it's still lingering, to a certain degree. Obviously, there are still plenty of messes to clean up, but a budget of $1.1 billion was recently decided upon to help clean up the biggest of 'em all...

Nostalgia is absolutely great. It's key to Disneyland's success and appeal. I don't think that it's been squashed in the park--it's still a huge aspect of everything.

[flynnibus]

might have something to do with the fact the Red Sox are the World Series Champs and its an interleague game between teams that don't normally meet?

[Club 33 Mike]

Your way off base with your assumption of why they sold out. It was the Red Sox and the Dodgers playing, thats why it sold out. First the only normal chance these two teams have to actually play eachother would be in a world series. Second, they only played one game instead of 2-3 in normal season series. Third, it was the Red Sox, everytime they are in town to play the Angels, the games all sell out.

Im sure there were some at the game for the nostalgia factor, but they were a very small minority.

[DisneyIPresume]

I can see all your points as to who they were playing makes a difference, but I don't see that this accounts for every seat being sold. There is a significant nostalgia factor involved here. Maybe if it was a different team maybe only 80,000 seats would have been sold -- a lot less than 115,000 but a lot more than average.

But the focus of my post is on the nostalgic factor and how that relates to the success of Disneyland.

[techskip]

Your way off base with your assumption of why they sold out. It was the Red Sox and the Dodgers playing, thats why it sold out. First the only normal chance these two teams have to actually play eachother would be in a world series. Second, they only played one game instead of 2-3 in normal season series. Third, it was the Red Sox, every time they are in town to play the Angels, the games all sell out.

Im sure there were some at the game for the nostalgia factor, but they were a very small minority.

The "Red Sox" excuse would have been enough to fill up the majority of Doger Stadium... but I highly doubt it would have drawn the crowds that were there that night. Dogers... playing at the Coliseum... they could have been playing anyone and people would have turned out. There was so much there; old players signing autographs, 50 years of memorabilia, it was a Doger convention, a moment in history, and ball game all rolled into one. KCAL 9 even aired some of the warmup in Black and White... it was a complete throwback and the historic implications were not lost on the crowd. To say the Doger 50 and the choice of venue had nothing to do with the crowd is to say the 50th celebrations at Disneyland had nothing to do with heavily increased crowds at Disneyland for 18 months! Not sure if you attended on July 17th, but I bet everyone else picked that day because it was in the middle of summer right? I'm sure only a small number attended on the 17th, for the actual 50th anniversary of Disneyland, because of the increased celebrations, speeches, or due to the fact that you could only do that ONCE in history.

[Seawolf]

Your way off base with your assumption of why they sold out. It was the Red Sox and the Dodgers playing, thats why it sold out. First the only normal chance these two teams have to actually play eachother would be in a world series. Second, they only played one game instead of 2-3 in normal season series. Third, it was the Red Sox, everytime they are in town to play the Angels, the games all sell out.

Im sure there were some at the game for the nostalgia factor, but they were a very small minority.

This post highlights why some people just don't get it. I'm very curious, what motivates you to discount history and nostalgia so much Club 33? They play a very huge and positive role in everything we do. If people forget the past there is no hope for our future.

Completely agree with you techskip.

[rokketride]

This post highlights why some people just don't get it.

Completely agree with you techskip.

Same here, and I was at the game last night.


A couple things to keep in mind while putting last nights game in perspective:

- Last night's crowd of over 115,000 (game attendance) is the literal equivalent to 3 Dodger Stadium Sellouts. There were thousands of other people at the "event" who didnt have a game ticket just there for the festivities.

- It was a spring training game. Statistically it means nothing. By the middle of the game, many Stars were replaced by their bench counterparts.

- Dodgers played the Red Sox on Friday at Dodger Stadium. Attendance?......34,404 (thats about 61% capacity)


This game was entirely about the event and not the game itself.

And interestingly enough, this thread sparked my interest most because I started the day at Disneyland for the Olszewski release and ended up at the Dodger game that night.

[3rdshiftCM]

Your way off base with your assumption of why they sold out. It was the Red Sox and the Dodgers playing, thats why it sold out. First the only normal chance these two teams have to actually play eachother would be in a world series. Second, they only played one game instead of 2-3 in normal season series. Third, it was the Red Sox, everytime they are in town to play the Angels, the games all sell out.

Im sure there were some at the game for the nostalgia factor, but they were a very small minority.

might have something to do with the fact the Red Sox are the World Series Champs and its an interleague game between teams that don't normally meet?

Nope, Did you see the game? How much red did you see?

Dodgers fans are fanatic about the team the way we are fanatic about the park. Trust me I'm one of those fanatics.

The game was a once in a life time chance to experience history, the Coliseum was the Dodgers home for there first 4 years in LA, they won there first LA World Series there, It's that simple.

And as a note they also played the Sox on Friday Not sold out and today also not sold out, so I think that shows how much those 115,300 people cared about Boston.

[3rdshiftCM]

Same here, and I was at the game last night.


A couple things to keep in mind while putting last nights game in perspective:

- Last night's crowd of over 115,000 (game attendance) is the literal equivalent to 3 Dodger Stadium Sellouts. There were thousands of other people at the "event" who didnt have a game ticket just there for the festivities.

- It was a spring training game. Statistically it means nothing. By the middle of the game, many Stars were replaced by their bench counterparts.

- Dodgers played the Red Sox on Friday at Dodger Stadium. Attendance?......34,404 (thats about 61% capacity)


This game was entirely about the event and not the game itself.

And interestingly enough, this thread sparked my interest most because I started the day at Disneyland for the Olszewski release and ended up at the Dodger game that night.

Exactly!

I also hate you! I wanted to go so bad last night, watching the game on TV at work was just depressing!

I was so depressed I went out and spent $200 for Opening day tickets, I just couldn't miss that too.

[GoofyWife]

The "Red Sox" excuse would have been enough to fill up the majority of Doger Stadium... but I highly doubt it would have drawn the crowds that were there that night. Dodgers... playing at the Coliseum... they could have been playing anyone and people would have turned out. There was so much there; old players signing autographs, 50 years of memorabilia, it was a Dodger convention, a moment in history, and ball game all rolled into one. KCAL 9 even aired some of the warm-up in Black and White... it was a complete throwback and the historic implications were not lost on the crowd. To say the Dodger 50 and the choice of venue had nothing to do with the crowd is to say the 50th celebrations at Disneyland had nothing to do with heavily increased crowds at Disneyland for 18 months! Not sure if you attended on July 17th, but I bet everyone else picked that day because it was in the middle of summer right? I'm sure only a small number attended on the 17th, for the actual 50th anniversary of Disneyland, because of the increased celebrations, speeches, or due to the fact that you could only do that ONCE in history.

I think you hit it directly on the head with those comments. As a matter of fact, they did play in Dodger Stadium on Friday night and there were several entirely empty sections.

[Mojave]

Your way off base with your assumption of why they sold out. It was the Red Sox and the Dodgers playing, thats why it sold out. First the only normal chance these two teams have to actually play eachother would be in a world series. Second, they only played one game instead of 2-3 in normal season series. Third, it was the Red Sox, everytime they are in town to play the Angels, the games all sell out.

Im sure there were some at the game for the nostalgia factor, but they were a very small minority.

Actually, I think you're way off base here.

It was a spring season game. Nobody cares who the opponent is. Coaches replace star players throughout the game. This is why NEITHER of the other games was sold out. Why was this one, to the tune of triple the normal Dodger Stadium sellout?

Nostalgia!

[flynnibus]

Why would people buy tickets to the Friday night game when they know the big shingdig is happening on Saturday? Friday night's attendance isn't really relevant because people KNOW about the other game.

Would you prefer a simple game with the sox.. or a rare event? You all are saying the same thing.. its a unique opportunity. I think the first post is a stretch to try to justify a theory though.

Make the event not unique - repeat it every month.. then you could start drawing conclusions based purely on nostalgia.

[techskip]

Just a personal note. My Grandfather was from Boston (Quincy Mass. if you want to be technical). He never accepted them as the L.A. Dogers. Right up until he died (1997) He continued to refer to them as the Brooklyn Dogers!

While I considered attending last night, I have small children and that area is not where I would want to take my family after dark!

Make the event not unique - repeat it every month.. then you could start drawing conclusions based purely on nostalgia.

Oh you mean like the 18 month long 50th Anniversary at Disneyland which was so packed we didn't have an off season? Just checking...

As to the question of "Did nostalgia do it?" the whole reason they played at the Coliseum to begin with was nostalgia! They could have just played a simple commemorative game, and not bothered with the expense of setting up a ball park in an oval, but they didn't! Another huge draw was the memorbilia, some of it extremely rare. You also had a chance to meet various Doger legends, and have pictures and autographs. The actual game took a back seat to the fanfare of the Dogers turning 50 in LA (I say "turning" in the sense that they have been here 50 years)! I would say nostalgia was a huge factor in the turnout. You offer the fan base a chance to be a part of history, you offer them a chance to meet legends, and you offer them a game... all in one place. There were several generations at that game, from very old retired individuals who hadn't been to a game in decades (they interviewed several who were there as fans the first 4 years) to little ones at their first ballgame! People who generally would not turn out, did, in some cases just to relive old memories. That is the very definition of Nostalgia, remembering the fond memories of the past and in a way reliving them.

[3rdshiftCM]

Just a personal note. My Grandfather was from Boston (Quincy Mass. if you want to be technical). He never accepted them as the L.A. Dogers. Right up until he died (1997) He continued to refer to them as the Brooklyn Dogers!

While I considered attending last night, I have small children and that area is not where I would want to take my family after dark!

Those Dang Dogers!