Paradise 2.0
But in the meantime, the bulldozers will be moving in this winter in and
around the Paradise Pier section of the park (and no, I haven't been invited to
direct them where to go). The other new entertainment offering, and it's on a
much more massive scale than the new parade, is the Wonderful World Of Color
lagoon show that is no longer a secret to anyone. That's still heading towards a
2009 debut, but big work needs to be done to get ready for it.
Photo: Fishbulb
Basically the entire northern edge of the Paradise Bay lagoon will be torn
out and rebuilt to handle thousands of spectators per show. While the rather
charmless "Golden State Amphitheater" that sits there now offers a terraced
viewing area of sorts, it's not going to be nearly big enough to handle crowds
approaching 10,000. That amphitheater was a last minute addition to DCA, and the
area was originally supposed to house exhibits for the "California Workplace"
concept Eisner and Pressler touted to the press in the late 1990's. By 2000,
only three California companies signed up to sponsor exhibits; Mondavi, Boudin
and Mission Tortilla, and they were all placed elsewhere in the park.
Mondavi bailed out of its custom built winery facility after the first summer
as the family and business were deconstructed. They still officially sponsor the
Seasons Of The Vine movie, but the theater is managed by the Foods department
instead of the Attractions department and it is rarely ever opened to visitors.
The average number of people who view the Mondavi show each day has averaged
about 15 this summer, and that requires the viewer to know to go across the
patio, track down a Cast Member, and specifically ask to have the movie started
for them. There are days when the attraction is simply kept shuttered and closed
all day. You have to wonder how much Mondavi is paying for that sponsorship
agreement for a movie that is never actually operated for anyone, don't you?
To get ready for the lagoon show, the area from the Paradise Pier entrance
bridge to just past where the Golden Zephyr currently stands will be transformed
into multi-level terraces designed to look directly at the huge new lagoon show.
Photo: Fishbulb
On the other side of the parade route, backing up to this new terraced area,
the Route 66 section is planned to be removed entirely. In place of the cheap
Mulholland Madness county fair coaster and the McDonalds and pizza parlor a
beautiful Victorian beer garden would be built. Nestled next to the beer garden
would be a new coaster themed to Ratatouille and a mad race through kitchens and
alleys, although there are some Imagineers who don't think that rides theme will
do much to increase food sales next door at the beer garden.
Photo: Fishbulb
Just to the east of that and across from the current amphitheater the Golden
Dreams attraction would be torn down. Sorry Whoopi, your time is coming to an
end. Only the Palace of Fine Arts dome would remain, and it would be used as the
exit for a brand new Little Mermaid ride using an Omnimover ride system like The
Haunted Mansion. Those trusty Ominmover ride systems can carry up to 2,300
riders per hour, and seeing how Golden Dreams has been averaging only 75 or 80
visitors per hour this summer, that should be a much better use for that space.
Tony Baxter describes the Paris Little Mermaid
ride model on the DVD
This new Little Mermaid family dark ride would help strengthen the presence
of San Francisco in a park supposedly about California, especially once they
tear down the droopy Golden Gate Bridge out at the entrance. Currently the only
real homage to San Francisco in the park is the Golden Dreams dome, a single
Churro cart painted like a cable car, and the empty San Fran row houses across
the way.
Photo: Fishbulb
But those row houses won't be empty for long, and this is where John
Lasseter's style really starts to make an immediate impact. In fact, those row
houses will likely feature the first proof that DCA has hit the budget jackpot
while more and more Imagineers and many Disney fans (even the few who actually
like the place now) get excited about the first-rate park DCA will become. The
current plans call for those empty San Francisco row houses to become a new
Disneyland Resort Preview Center with models and sketches of the new attractions
and park themes coming to Anaheim in the next few years. The center will most
heavily tout the plans for DCA, especially at first. But it would also be used
to showcase the new Disneyland Resort hotels, Downtown Disney expansion, the new
Disney Cruise Line ships based out of Long Beach, the new look and attractions
planned for Tomorrowland, and any number of the growing list of new projects now
headed to Anaheim.
John Lasseter remembers fondly the "Coming Attractions" exhibits that
Disneyland used to feature in the Disney Showcase on Main Street USA, and he
wants to recreate that for the new DCA projects about to get underway. And he
also knows full well that any model or sketch displayed would be the talk of
internet message boards all over the world. The 1.2 Billion to fix DCA has
already been committed by the board, in addition to the hundreds of millions of
dollars already ear-marked for Anaheim expansion and investment after the 50th
changed the corporate conventional wisdom on Anaheim's earning potential.
Lasseter and the Imagineers assigned to the DCA projects would love to see a
Preview Center, if only to prove to everyone that these huge undertaking is
really going to happen. |