Have you guys been to any park that wasnt owned by Disney?

[ChurroMan]

If not, that perfectly explains your hatred for DCA.

If you have, your claims that "the park shouldnt be taken seriously" or "it suckz lol" are ridiculous. No need to give me your long winded cynical explinations, its just overdone and really tiresome.

The park isnt masterful, but to call it terrible is absurd.

[Lost Boy]

I like DCA. It's just that it's not a full day park, yet. Neither was Disneyland when it opened. It's got a lot of eye candy and too many off the shelf rides and movie based rides. But it's a nice place to go and rest and look and eat/drink and take in TOT or Screamin' and other good rides as well.

I have been to Knott's since the 1940's, Sea World, Universal Hollywood and Florida plus Islands of Adventure (That one out themes Disney and I really loved it, of course this was back in 1999 so I am not sure if it's still as nice looking. And now they are adding The Magical World of Harry Potter to it so in a couple of years I have to find a way down there again to take it all in again and the new stuff.) I don't hate anything and I think that some of the remarks about DCA are totally misplaced and wrong. It's a good Park, not a great Park and it needs help, and is getting it, so it will grow up soon. EPCOT was not a big success when it opened either until they made some changes, now it's a big hit. Things need to have time to grow and expand, and DCA will be a great place in a few years.

[johnatthebar]

whoa, whoa, whoa...

there are other parks?

imagine that.

[dougeebear]

Originally Posted by ChurroMan

If not, that perfectly explains your hatred for DCA.

If you have, your claims that "the park shouldnt be taken seriously" or "it suckz lol" are ridiculous. No need to give me your long winded cynical explinations, its just overdone and really tiresome.

The park isnt masterful, but to call it terrible is absurd.

No it isn't. It's an opinion, and everybody's got one. Since an opinion of a theme park's success or failure is a personal matter of preference, every opinion is just as valid as the next. Meaning that those who like DCA are just as correct as those who don't.

For the record, yes I have been to other parks: Knotts, Sea World, Marriots Great Adventure, Magic Mountain, Universal, Busch Gardens, and so on.

IN MY OPINION:
DCA stacks up ok against these parks, but not well. For thrill seekers, DCA comes up short - more thrills can be found in other parks. For theme seekers, DCA also comes up short - it certainly doesn't compare well to its next door neighbor in terms of immersive themeing.

The first time I went to DCA was to ride the Tower of Terror. Made the trip to Cali. Got to the park around 10:30am. By 1pm we'd already done Tower twice, Screamin', Soaring, Rapids, Ferris Wheel, Mulholland, and were scouring the map to find something else to do. I suggested Muppets or Aladdin and was chastised for suggesting a show. I then offered the map to the naysayer and challenged them to find another ride to go on as we'd already hit the big ones, some of them more than once. No further suggestions were made, other than to re-ride what we'd already done.

It sounds like you enjoy your time at DCA. Well, good for you. But to expect everyone to share your opinion is pure folly.

[Datameister]

While I partially agree with the spirit of your post, ChurroMan, it strikes me as about as extreme as the DCA-bashing you're decrying. Not all of us are DCA haters! Me personally, I have been to non-Disney parks, and they almost always disappoint me, though I certainly try to have fun and not be snobbish. DCA is certainly a step (or three) up in terms of cleanliness and, in some cases, visual appeal. But it lacks the harder thrills of most non-Disney amusement parks, which leaves it in a strange and vaguely pleasant but not at all impressive limbo. It's not a bad park...it's just a disappointment in that it's going to take a lot of time, work, and money to bring it up near the benchmark Disneyland sets.

[MikeChat]

I like DCA both directly and indirectly: I like it directly because I just plain like it, I like the theming and the decor and the theming. It's no Disneyland but it's still a neat place. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I am easily amused. I go to Balboa Park alone and can spend a whole day there where a lot of people would get bored after a couple of hours.

2) indirectly: I think it reduces the crowds at Disneyland. I didn't go to Disneyland between 1990 to 2004 (and I lived in L.A. 1991 to 1993, sad, huh?) and I noticed a huge reduction in the crowd and this was in June‼ I theorized (and still do) that DCA siphons off the crowd, like adding lanes to a freeway.

Now: what I don't like about DCA: It FUBAR'ed the parking lot. There should at least be a parking structure at the Timon lot. But then, this doesn't even affect me because I take the train, and even when I did drive, I stayed overnight so I parked at the hotel.

[aashee]

I'm not sure what's more tired. DCA bashing or people bashing those who bash DCA. It's all negative, choose you poison I guess.

[MasterGracey]

Originally Posted by ChurroMan

If not, that perfectly explains your hatred for DCA.

If you have, your claims that "the park shouldnt be taken seriously" or "it suckz lol" are ridiculous. No need to give me your long winded cynical explinations, its just overdone and really tiresome.

The park isnt masterful, but to call it terrible is absurd.

Compared to any other Disney theme park, DCA is weak. Disney's California Adventure is a Disney theme park -- so to compare it to other Disney theme parks in completely natural. Disney has set standards, and DCA has failed to live up to those.

As a Disney theme park, Disney's California Adventure is pretty terrible.

[Datameister]

I'm not sure what's more tired. DCA bashing or people bashing those who bash DCA. It's all negative, choose you poison I guess.

Indeed. They both got old about...mmm, seven years ago. Luckily, there are plenty on this site who go to neither extreme, which is nice. Too bad some individuals get so fired up about it.

[DisneyIPresume]

I've been to Knott's, Universal, Magic Mountain, Sea World, and Legoland

DCA is actually quite a good park, but it is not a good park compared to Disneyland. However, it is still leaps and bounds better than all of those non-Disney parks.

It is my personal opinion though, that DCA was intentionally built to be of a lower standard than Disneyland, and it's purpose was to draw the locals away from the non-Disney parks. All of the parks are pretty much equally priced, and even when they are discounted it is expensive to get into them. And a local's decision to go to a certain park could easily be decided even within a few minutes or even on the spur of the moment -- there is no months of planning like someone would have to do to make a trip to WDW.

As you approach DCA, you see the soundstages and immediately am reminded of Universal Studios. California Screamin' conjures up feelings of being at Magic Mountain or Knott's. So DCA offers alternatives for people who might instead choose to go to one of these parks, so instead of actually going to these parks maybe they'll decide to go to DCA instead.

And on top of that, instead of the money going to one of these other parks, the money goes straight to Disney. DCA is not a good park, but it does what it is supposed to do brilliantly.

[CASurfer65]

I'm not a huge fan of DCA, but I certainly am not going to go off on it. It's there for those who want to visit it, and for those who don't, we have the perfect park next door. That is usually where I spend my time.

Disneyland will forever be the consummate theme park, and will never be surpassed. It's forever the tough act to follow, and I don't necessarily expect DCA to ever compete no matter what they do to it. It just isn't Disneyland. Nothing is.

Didn't one of the Disney Treasures DVDs remark that when they stepped back and looked at HKDL, it looked amazingly like the original---DL? I don't personally know if it does or not, I haven't been there. It just seems like some of the narrators on the DVD said they were looking to combine all the best that Disney had to offer when creating the park in HK, and it ended up looking a lot like DL. If it indeed does, I think that says a lot about what we have in Anaheim.

[Datameister]

I don't necessarily expect DCA to ever compete no matter what they do to it. It just isn't Disneyland. Nothing is.

You're right in that it's true that we'd be unrealistic to expect every park to totally meet that standard. But there are some parks that do compete, even though they don't surpass Disneyland in my mind, and it'd be cool if DCA did, too.

[Hakuna Makarla]

I have only been to 4 parks, disneyland, Knotts, DCA and silverwood... out of all those parks, silverwood falls so short its not funny. not bashing it, its the only local poark for many of us here and around silverwood. its so carnivalish, no dark rides, nothing but carnival. this said, my favorite park is disneyland, then DCA and I loved knotts to!! For what it was, its no disneyland, but it was so much fun for us and we still have fond memories of that park.
Silverwood to me is 3 hours tops, if that and then your out. knotts was a full day for us, and yes we have been known to spend the whole day in DCA. there is so much to do in that park ! see everything, take your time and enjoy drawing, all the little things along with the big things. that park rocks in my book.
I will let you know what I think of epcot, MGM, animal kingdon, and the magic kingdom in 5 months ( if you want my opinion

[techskip]

Recent Knott's Trip
http://micechat.com/forums/showthrea...08#post2868908

As to my opinion on DCA. I believe it gets a lot of bad press BECAUSE it has the Disney brand. Disney has MUCH HIGHER levels of showmanship, expectation, quality, and service. DCA does not meet those standards. Had DCA been built by Knott's, or another company, it would likely have opened to better reviews. I honestly believe that while it is Disney, it is Disney in name only.

[Hakuna Makarla]

Originally Posted by techskip

Recent Knott's Trip
http://micechat.com/forums/showthrea...08#post2868908

As to my opinion on DCA. I believe it gets a lot of bad press BECAUSE it has the Disney brand. Disney has MUCH HIGHER levels of showmanship, expectation, quality, and service. DCA does not meet those standards. Had DCA been built by Knott's, or another company, it would likely have opened to better reviews. I honestly believe that while it is Disney, it is Disney in name only.

I do not by this, i believe its a park in its own right and has exactly the quality disney has. I think its so clean, well managed, the rides are awsome, shows are great, and I love how much there really is to do there. maybe its b cause I am from out of State, but I do believe when you measure this park against Deisneyland there is to much comparing. DCA is awsome, i will always know this in my heart. and in fact I run to DcA when I get to California long before I hit disneyland.