DCA Update: 7/5/08

[PeoplemoverMatt]

As you found out if you've read my Monorail Pictures, I went to Disneyland with camera in tow last week. So far the only pictures anyone's seen from that are from the monorail trip I took to close up the park at midnight. No one's seen any of the pictures from the rest of the day! Back & forth I went trying to determine if anyone cared enough to see pics that aren't really news. Tonight I elected to just put 'em up and those who care will have the chance to enjoy them. Since all but one is either from DCA or about DCA, I'm calling it a "DCA Update" despite the pictures being from last week.

So heeeere we go...
(Hit refresh if some of the photos don't load)

All people have their own idiosyncricies, and for some reason Disneyland brings just about all of mine out into full view. One of them is the tram that takes you to/from the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure. I've hated this thing ever since it started dropping people off in front of, not Disneyland, but the World of Disney store. I never ride it, but since about 99.999% of Parking Structure guests do, Disney Marketing puts up these billboards to remind folks of what Marketing thinks they should see during their Disneyland day.


If they missed you at the tram stop, there's also a rotating billboard just beyond the bag check tent to remind you of what you really should ride today.


One thing about Disney Marketing, they love to repeat themselves a lot! Too bad they don't repeat themselves more to folks who aren't already at the Disneyland Resort. That is the point of marketing isn't it? To attract more people to the Resort? What's the point of heavily advertising to people who have already saved, planned, and made the trek to the park gates?


Since Marketing thought no one knew what a Midway is anymore and decided to remove it from the attraction's title in their stuff, these Green Army Men serve as silent apologists. Ok maybe not, but they would also like you to go check out the new ride.


Disney Marketing would also like you to think that the choice is between Park Hopper and Annual Passport. Nothing else. So pay no attention to that little 1-Day 1-Park blip down at the bottom, otherwise Disney won't get an extra $25 out of you!


This is the one non-DCA photo, so indulge me a little here. Just want to show this little exhibit, born out of the death of The Disney Gallery, has actually been here for months now. A new banner now hangs above the door that was solely the exit of the Opera House's theatre to hopefully attract some folks off the street.


The idea was a quick dart into Disneyland for a Space Mountain FP and a DDR game or 2, and then spend most of the day in DCA seeing as that's where all the buzz is buzzing. So off we go. I'm always a sucker for this shot since it's on DCA's death row.


Coming out of the Hyperion Theatre, this lovely view of Tower can be seen.


Over by the old Hollywood & Dine, Cruella's pointless trailer has been evicted in favor of this new WALL-E photo backdrop. So at least something found its way into the parks from what IMO is the best Pixar flick yet. (That's the sci-fi fan in me talking. Pay no attention to that nerd. )


So did Wal-Mart take over & trash the world? Or was it the Federal Government that took over & trashed the world? It can be taken both ways, that's why it's so brilliant!


The fun & scenic Grizzly Peak Pass disguises itself as merely Grizzly River Run's exit, but is actually a nice shortcut from the GRR area down to the south end of the park towards Paradise Pier. Here's a waterfall you pass fairly close to along the way, cuz y'know, waterfalls are thrilling like that...


Instead of the big wheel, guests get to see a big tarp. Not a big deal really...


Here's 3 more members of DCA's death row. Sun Wheel only has about 4 more months left to live...


The giant Mickey face's days are numbered as well. Word is the replacement will be a Paradise Pier logo complete with sunburst that won't be blocked by Midway Mania's roofline. What I like about the move is more giant, bland and entirely pointless stuff in DCA will soon die in favor of more detailed high quality themeing. What was the point of having a giant blank Mickey head anyway? California Screamin' was built as a giant, blank, themeless roller coaster & since huge oversized novelty stuff was favored at the time DCA was being designed, the Mickey head was touted as a good thing. Fortunately, that thinking is mostly dead now.


Word is that this sun look for the wheel will be removed in favor of an actual Mickey face (not blank, Mickey's actual face will be seen), and lots of old-school Mickey themeing on what are presently blank concrete walls in the Sun Wheel's queue. How DCA was allowed to have an entire "land" filled with themeless roller coaster, a blank concrete-wall queue'd Ferris Wheel, and a Midway full of obviously cheap stucco walls & ridiculous embarassing puns that serve no purpose other than to say "we're so cheap & ignorant that we think you just won't notice if we charge you the same to see this as we do to see a park with the Haunted Mansion and Sleeping Beauty's Castle" I will never know.


Had these boats actually ever been used, they would have been pretty fun. Today they're simply used anytime something needs to be set up in Paradise Bay. Oh well, we see you anyway mysterious Paradise Pier Tours boat! (See how incredible they were 10 years ago? They theme a boat guests never see, but decide the huge seaside roller coaster didn't need a theme. Amazing.)




***WARNING: The following Toy Story Midway Mania related pictures contain absolutely NO SPOILERS AT ALL. If you do not want anything about the ride beyond its already-discussed basic premises revealed, please keep reading!***



I wasn't 100% certain, but I think Disney Marketing wanted me to ride this today. If only some billboards or posters had been put up encouraging me to ride. Maybe some green army men too...


Ok halt the scrolling for a second. This is big. Y'know I've photographed Disneyland through the years, photographed lots of WDW as well, heck I even visited Tokyo Disney Resort in 2006 & 2007 & photo'd that place to death as well. But nothing, NOTHING compares to this picture IMO. Here is John Lasseter in front of his new attraction.


That photo was taken during Midway Mania's Media Day. If you don't know, Lasseter currently works as Chief Creative Officer of both Disney Animation and Disney Imagineering. Lasseter was heavily involved in the creation of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and was most recently the Executive Producer of WALL-E. This man could easily be accepting an Academy Award in about 6 months, and that day he was kind enough to sign an autograph for me & pose for a picture in front of his new creation. Wow.

Anyway moving on, Midway is open to everyone now & has been for a few weeks. If you enter through the main queue, you walk by this interactive AA of Mr. Potato Head. Here he is looking like he forgot his stool softener this week. LOL!


"Don't mock my pain ya hockey puck!"


Going back to the earlier point about richly detailed themeing replacing old, bland & cheap, it's painfully obvious now where the new construction stopped & where the old, bland & cheap still lives. Fortunately this will not stay like this forever.


The main queue goes through a room filled with posters just before you obtain your 3D glasses and board. Do pay attention to these posters. As you'll see, they tell you a great deal about the games you're waiting in line to play. This one gives helpful tips on how to play the games. You launch projectiles in each game, with different projectiles in different games.


This one reminds you that you're playing more than one game, in case you were unaware. (Many people are quite surprised at this. They should have looked at this poster. :D )


In this game, you'll launch darts trying to pop sheep-shaped balloons. If you do this game right, ye be gettin' a bit watery.


IMO this is the hardest game of the bunch. Launch rings in the traditional ring toss game. It's not easy, but there are some nice juicy 5,000 point targets to hit.


This one is, well, interesting. Lots of targets to hit, but by this game you'll have a good idea of what you're doing hopefully. This game also has the distinction of being the only game you'll play while your tram is moving to a different set of screens. I was very pleasantly suprised that they threw in that particular monotony-whacker of a detail.


This is all very true. Do note this!


Almost there...I can see the loading area!


The "game trams" go inside the show building here. (Note: There is no front/back/middle setup here. Each bench eventually faces its own screen so there's nothing in the way of your view.)


And they thought California' Screamin' didn't need a theme. No one's going to notice, no one's going to care, let's just put up a bunch of concrete walls and put the word 'California' in the title so it fits with our park's (lack of) theme! MM-hmmm...


For all interested parties, guests with wheelchairs wait through the main queue (it's wide enough for a wheelchair), but proceed past main loading to their own loading area at the far end of the building. There's a special game tram for them and everything. Wheelchair loading should not interfere very much at all with the ride system, which is a nice improvement in ride design.


Have fun folks! John Lasseter was really excited for all of you!


Spot the copyrighted trademark!


Winning a beaver means I had a dam good score.


Here's the exit of the show building, every bit as detailed as the entrance. :D


More detail that Cynthia Harriss would have considered a colossial waste of money. Fortunately the oversized pointless stuff she wanted will be gone soon. Too bad it took $1Billion+ to fix her mistakes. Moral of the story: Detailed themeing is NOT a waste of money. It'll take far more money to correct being cheap later.


The exit queue reveals that we've actually been a minature toy for the past 10 minutes or so. Does that mean the mighty microscope is back? Probably not since to be a toy, it is not required to go beyond the limits of normal MAGNIFICATION....Magnification....magnification...magnification...magnification...


A look at the elegant roof to the large rotunda that functions as Midway Mania's exit and gift shop. Imagine if all of DCA had been originally built with this level of effort & detail. All this just for an exit! It's a winner for sure.


Here's the exit rotunda from the outside, where we say goodnight to DCA.


This is also where we say good night to this DCA Update. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and do catch a ride on Midway Mania. It is a fun ride that's worth a small wait. Hopefully some time in the future, I'll be taking & posting pictures showing all of Paradise Pier now sports this level of nighttime elegance. Until then, we can all have fun laughing & gawking at the juxtaposition of themeing styles that are in the starkest contrast possible. It really is a sight to behold.


-- PMM

[Piglet]

Matt, this update is just awesome! I haven't had a chance to see or ride Toy Story Mania yet, so this was an up close look for me =) Thanks for putting this update together, it's great!

[Mad About Mickey]

Thanks for the update! I'm happy that Toy Story Mania turned out well...the theming looks great! Again, thanks for the pictures !

[BCC]

Too bad DCA doesn't stay open long enough when it gets dark...TSMM looks awesome in the night!

Great photos!

[Mad About Mickey]

Winning a beaver means I had a dam good score.

Ha! I didn't even notice that joke the first time I read through your update.

[Ezra]

I know that banner really says "Now Presenting" but the way the P connects to an almost non-existant r makes it look like "Now Resenting".

Originally Posted by PeoplemoverMatt

Now Resenting The Art of Disneyland

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Has Ezra found a subliminal message? Hmmmm...

-- PMM

[Zip~a~dee~doo~dah]

Super special awesome!

[austen]

Thank you for the desperatly needed photo update!!! great pics!!!!


THANK YOU!!!!!

[ghoofie]

If I could text without a lot of typos, I'd send you a text to tell you it's a cool update.
Can't wait to ride it with ya in September.

[HMF]

I agree with you about how out of touch the marketing department is PMM.
As a matter of fact my Avatar and signature are a humorous messaage about my dissatisfaction with Disney Marketing.

[#1DisneyFreak]

That is so awesome that you got a picture of John! What a great guy!

[ntz4bbl]

Thanks for sharing those awesome photos! I had the opportunity to go to one of the special passholder days, but ended up not being able to go because of a conflict. I can't wait to go in September after the blockout days pass!

[TDella]

Wow, I'm impressed with how good the TSMM building looks.

And it's so awesome that you got a picture with John Lasseter!

[kmb728]

Great update i enjoyed it.... and i know this is probrably a very stupid question, but how long has the wheel on Grizzley Peak been covered.... when will it be uncovered