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Pier Drops
(continued)
While it may only be a D Ticket, Midway Mania is looking very promising. DCA
visitors will likely take to the attraction instantly and it should easily
exceed their expectations as it kicks the dark ride concept up a notch or two
over the rest of the similar Anaheim offerings. In Walt Disney World however,
where the only other classic dark rides on the entire property are the three
aging and dusty workhorses in Fantasyland, this new ride may be a bit confusing
to people. Some folks in WDI are wondering if people at Walt Disney World will
assume this ride is meant to be a lavish E Ticket, instead of the more modest D
Ticket dark ride it actually is.
There is more detail just here in the one
roofline than the whole area had before.
Remember, as Walt Disney World was allowed to stagnate by it's poor quality
management, it missed out on occasionally adding modern dark rides like Monsters
Inc. and Roger Rabbit that have unique gimmicks but are really just simple dark
rides at their core. So there won't be much of a point of reference for Florida
visitors unfamiliar with the dark ride format, Buzz Lightyear being an
exception. But here in California, there is no worry that people won't
understand what type of ride this is supposed to be, and then when they do
experience the state-of-the-art 3-D wow factor this one has the result should be
very positive for DCA.
Midway Mania won't offer Fastpass, and it won't gobble up crowds. But at
around 1,300 riders per hour and a 5+ minute ride time, it will certainly keep
its head above water on all but the busiest days. The construction on the queue
and area around the new facility will expand this winter, and require the
Paradise Pier area to be cut down the middle for several months. Construction
walls will slice the area in two and create two dead-ends on each side of the
construction zone. To get from the Sun Wheel to California Screamin' during this
time means you'll have to walk all the way back to Golden Dreams, and over the
bridge into the eastern half of the Pier area. This construction is for work on
the new Victorian themed building that houses the loading area and queue, as
well as two new Victorian pavilions along the edge of the boardwalk that will
shade the extended queue used on busy days.
How do they do it? Two hit albums and not a
single melody to be found. High School
Musical 2 at DCA isn't much, but what little there is benefits from hard working
performers and their involving the kids in the audience. Not my cup of tea, but
it's well produced and connects with the kids who are it's biggest fans.
Water Wiggling
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Paradise Pier lagoon, work will begin
this winter on the newly reconfigured viewing area for the World of Color lagoon
show. While the new ride in Paradise Pier got a word added back to its title,
the new water show for the Pier has had a word sliced off of the title. The
current working title for the show is "Disney's World of Color", although the
original Sherman Brothers score and lyrics from the Wonderful World of Color
will still be featured in the water show. World of Color is now scheduled to
premiere for the summer of 2009, and the advance buzz on this one is that it is
shaping up to be a real winner.
All to be torn out.
To handle the anticipated crowds the northern flank of the lagoon will be
entirely rebuilt with terraced viewing areas capable of accommodating 10,000
viewers at a time. The people standing there will watch an approximately 18
minute long night-time spectacle without a single pyro shell. The entire show
will be presented with fountains, lights and projections, but the immense scale
and giant water effects likely won't have anyone missing the fireworks. Think
big, then think bigger than that, it will be impressive.
The new viewing platform being built atop the DVC expansion wing of the Grand
Californian wasn't added so folks can see the fireworks, it was specifically
added so hotel and DVC guests can watch the World of Color show in the lagoon
just to the south. Certainly the Disneyland fireworks will be visible from that
rooftop deck, but it was a presentation on World of Color that wowed the DVC
planners enough to add a viewing platform atop the new hotel wing.
The new hotel wing will be closer to DCA.
Disney learned their lesson on trying to pull off even limited pyrotechnics
in that lagoon with the old (cough, hack) Luminaria show, and Steve Davison is
designing World of Color without a single fireworks shell. The show will also be
sans performers, boats, barges or dancers, as the whole thing will be controlled
by a small group of technicians in a control booth. While nearly every
recognizable Disney Character will make an appearance, they won't be there in
person, but instead by digital projection on massive moving and rotating water
screens that dwarf the current Fantasmic! setup. Imagine a finale of fountains
that reach as high as the Maliboomer, and you've got an idea of how big this
show will be.
Dead or Alive, II
And imagining the Maliboomer is about all you'll be able to do by the end of
the decade, as that ride is one of the first to be sent to the scrap pile for
DCA. The Maliboomer doesn't fit the new Victorian theme that will sweep all
around Paradise lagoon, and it's on the way out. We'd told you in an earlier
update that John Lasseter had wanted to bring back an old Orange County favorite
and replace the Maliboomer with a parachute drop ride like the one Knott's Berry
Farm used to have. That's one of the plans for the Pier remake that has been
shelved for now though, as issues with the sightlines and ride system made some
in WDI think twice about it.
Maybe Cedar Fair will buy it.
The other ride originally proposed for the Paradise Pier remake was a roller
coaster themed to Ratatouille. That one has been shelved for now. While the box
office for Ratatouille was strong in North America, there wasn't much appetite
for the merchandise with American consumers. It's thought now that the
Ratatouille theme isn't lasting enough to dedicate a major attraction to in DCA,
and an attraction for the northwest corner of Paradise Pier is undecided at this
time. Ratatouille has done very well in Europe however, and the merchandise and
toys are selling better in France than they did in America. With that, the
Ratatouille attraction concept may very well be slotted in to the Walt Disney
Studios park in Paris. The Little Mermaid omnimover is still a go next door
however, in the space currently used by Golden Dreams and the Route 66 souvenir
stand.
While the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area was one of the more successful
sections of DCA, it is also slated to receive attention and additional
attractions. However, after initial studies were completed that even included
some Imagineers placing plywood animal cutouts along the Grizzly River Run flume
during early morning testing, the plans for many of the new rides there have
been shelved for now. The initial hope was that the Grizzly Peak mountain
structure would support several additional wilderness themed rides that wrapped
in and around the existing raft ride. A new version of Mine Train Through
Natures Wonderland chugging past animatronic scenes, as well as a new theater
home for the Country Bear Jamboree built into the side of the mountain were all
seriously proposed, considered, and sketched out. Sadly, those ideas have been
shelved for now.
The main culprit is the infrastructure of Grizzly Peak itself. It was built
to house the raft ride and only the raft ride. In a perfect example of the short
sighted and tight fisted creation of DCA in the late 1990's, that huge chunk of
the park was dedicated to only one attraction; the Grizzly River Run white water
raft ride. It's a decent ride as far as raft rides go, but it takes up a huge
chunk of land. Not only that, but it caters to a specific slice of the DCA
demographic; those who want to get soaking wet.
Photoshop can make rides seem even more
exciting.
While it's a popular attraction in the heat of summer, once the sun goes down
or the weather turns cool, the lines for the raft ride disappear. People know
that they could get soaking wet on those types of raft rides and there's really
nothing they can do to prevent it. Unlike Splash Mountain, where Mom can always
ask to sit in the back and let the kids bear the brunt of the water, the
inherent nature of the Grizzly raft ride means anyone can get not only splashed,
but oftentimes completely drenched.
The ridership capacity of both Grizzly River Run and Splash Mountain are very
similar, with Grizzly capable of handling up to 1,550 riders per hour and Splash
Mountain capable of handling up to 1,400 riders per hour. But over the course of
an average Saturday, Splash Mountain will continue to pack them in even during
cool weather. The logs on Splash Mountain allow water-shy riders to request the
back, and even those sitting right in front on Splash Mountain aren't subjected
to the torrents of water that can crash over the sides of the rafts at Grizzly
River Run. Even during the mild days of Fall, the ridership on Grizzly River Run
falls off completely after sundown.
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