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Elephant Acknowledged (continued) The biggest news for Paradise Pier was the latest concepts for the Little
Mermaid attraction that was shown. The ride was constantly referred to as "a
major attraction" by both Bob Weis and Jay Rasulo, as the budget on this one is
approaching 100 Million. Now normally a 100 Million dollar attraction would be
considered an E Ticket, but that title was reserved for the 200+ Million dollar
thrill ride in Cars Land.
Even though this brand new Omnimover ride will be long
and lushly themed, showcasing every major musical number from the movie, there
is a current thought that labeling this as an E Ticket might raise expectations
to a level where people expect a wild thrill ride or a 15 minute long Pirates of
the Caribbean type experience. So instead of calling it a "Super D Ticket" or a
"Family E Ticket", the term "major attraction" is currently being used to
describe this expensive new musical ride. The big Little Mermaid show building
alone is already looking DisneySea-esque to many observers, and the accompanying
play area and fanciful water garden alone will certainly bring more people to
the area than Golden Dreams currently does.
Finally, it was time for Bob to unveil plans for the biggest piece of the
Phase One expansion, the new Cars Land section of the park. The Radiator Springs
Racers attraction using a third generation Test Track ride system, with dual
tracks and a custom built show building, is clearly the headliner here. Bob
showed several pictures as he explained that the ride will have indoor and
outdoor ride sections, with the indoor show scenes featuring all of the Cars
characters before the ride turns into a thrilling road race with you and another
car racing side by side.
Just one look at the massive show building, reminiscent
of some of the early artwork for the mothballed Western River Expedition ride at
Walt Disney World, tells you that this is a big-budget, fancy E Ticket
attraction in the grand Disney tradition. Bob clearly was proud as he explained
that this one will have it all; detailed themeing, a technologically impressive
ride system, advanced animatronics and special effects, and an engaging and
interactive plotline that ends in family friendly thrills.
The rest of Radiator Springs will keep people around before and after their
ride on the Racers however. Two additional C Ticket attractions will open in the
attached town of Radiator Springs. A full-sized moving, talking and dancing Tow
Mater will be the disc jockey at a spinner ride that will have passengers being
whipped around the desert floor in truck trailers. Nearby, DCA visitors will get
a chance to experience the old Flying Saucer ride of the 1960's at a bumper car
ride hosted by Luigi. Instead of sitting in toy flying saucers however, riders
will perch themselves on the giant hubcaps of huge truck tires, and using the
same pneumatic technology that Walt used in Tomorrowland over 40 years ago the
tires will slide and spin across the floor.
Art © Disney
Bob explained how modern computers
will be able to control the air compressors and valves much more effectively
than they could in the 1960's, and the ride should be dramatically more reliable
than Walt's original version. Bob also explained that when WDI gave a
presentation to John Lasseter on the C Tickets planned for Radiator Springs,
that Lasseter became as giddy as a schoolboy when the Luigi's flying saucer
concept was shown to him. John immediately recognized the ride system and
technology as almost identical to the Flying Saucers, and he immediately wanted
it included in DCA just for the Disneyland nostalgia of it. The scenery may be
vastly different than Tomorrowland circa 1964, but a whole new generation
visiting Radiator Springs will be able to discover the joys of riding in Walt
Disney's Flying Saucers.
Bob went on to explain that all of these projects, and more, will be on
display in the Preview Center we'd already told you about that is planned for
the San Francisco buildings in the center of the park. He then concluded his 30
minute presentation with an overview map of the future DCA, highlighting the
buildings and areas that will be rebuilt or newly constructed for the project.
So let's recap exactly what was announced at yesterday's Town Hall Meeting, and
what was not. Opening in DCA by the summer of 2012 is:
New Park Entrance Complex by 2011
- New Art Deco turnstiles pushed out to the current California letters
- Pacific Electric Red Cars to Hollywood and Radiator Springs
- Antique vehicles to Hollywood
- Carthay Circle Theater with new Walt Disney Story
- Walt Disney Plaza
- 1920's Los Angeles architecture throughout
Paradise Pier Remake 2008-2011
- Toy Story Midway Mania in 2008
- DCA Preview Center in 2008
- Disney's World of Color in 2009 with new amphitheater
- Little Mermaid Attraction and play area
- Goofy's Flying Academy
- Beer Garden
- Victorian architecture and themeing throughout
- Disney-Pixar character overlay to midway games
Cars Land expansion 2012
- 12 acre expansion into the existing Timon Lot
- Radiator Springs Racers E Ticket
- Luigi's bumper tires C Ticket (a la' Flying Saucers)
- Mater's Spinner C Ticket
- Drive-In Movie Restaurant
- Radiator Springs area development, stores, quick serve dining
- Realigned parade route
A peppy Question & Answer session followed the presentation, and the
questions from the middle management troops assembled were all rather safe and
predictable. While the beginning of the Town Hall meeting was painfully canned
and stiff, the ending Q&A gave the two executives a chance to loosen up just a
bit and speak rather candidly. There were a few questions about Downtown Disney
expansion and GardenWalk hotel rumors, and Ed answered those with a smile saying
that clearly there was an opportunity to expand those areas, and while his
executive team has been working on it, that further announcements weren't too
far off.
One of the gutsier questions came from someone who simply asked if there were
any plans to change the name of the park. Jay answered openly that while there
were no current plans to change the name in the short term, by the time this
five year plan is nearing completion there could very well be a reason or
opportunity to change the name then. Of course the easy money is on the name
Disney's California Adventure going the way of Superstar Limo by the time Cars
Land opens in 2012, but kudos to Jay for not skirting the question everyone was
thinking.
The DCA announcements yesterday were a lot for any Disneyland aficionados to
take in. Even regular readers here who have been learning of all of this for
months had reason to be excited by the formal announcements. But keep in
mind this is not everything planned for the next four and a half years. Still to
come is information regarding a digital Philharmagic going in to the space
currently occupied by MuppetVision, plus announcements on details of the
Maliboomer being removed, some existing Pier attractions being moved around, and
some additional development in and around the Pacific Wharf area. There are also
additional dark ride concepts being worked on and new entertainment planned for
DCA's looming construction era beyond the new Pixar parade that opens this
spring.
People will still be visiting the park in the midst of the overhaul, and
plans are being kicked around to come up with new entertainment to keep things
hopping in between all the construction walls. And of course there's the Downtown
Disney expansion, Disneyland Hotel remodeling, the Disney operated hotels
planned for GardenWalk, and yes, a separate five year plan for Tomorrowland's
overhaul, all now on the front burner for Anaheim.
Yesterday's announcement was meant as just the first big splash, and having a
separate Billion dollar budget to work with helps. While the genesis of these
projects and funding predate the mess caused by the Anaheim City Council over
proposed housing in the Resort District, that sticky issue now has to be thrown
into the equation when Disney goes about picking a time to announce these
projects.
There will be several more DCA announcements to come between now and next
summer. The message is going to be made very clear that Disney is investing
heavily in Anaheim, to the tune of well over a Billion in just the next
five years, and they have no plans to back down from an aggressive schedule of
expansion and unprecedented growth. The mood at the Town Hall Meeting was
clearly giddy, and that should continue with each successive announcement
yet to come.
The
"Universal Berry Farm" (a nickname for DCA the old time Imagineers came up with)
may finally morph into a Disney quality park that can justify a full price
admission on its own merits. Wow. |
