ManaByte
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First up was the news of the dramatic remake of the main entrance area. As we had told you in previous updates, the two-dimensional and sterile entrance area with a contemporary feel from 2001 will all be gutted. Never before has Disney had to go in and rebuild an entrance area to a theme park before, but Bob and his team feel this is absolutely necessary for DCA to not only fix the cheap looking and unattractive entrance that leads to a barren cement plaza, but to also set the stage for the rest of the park and create a unique and welcoming buffer zone between the outside world and the experiences beyond.
Since we first told you about the plans a year ago, the original concept of entrance turnstiles framed by Craftsman architecture hung with bougainvillea has morphed into the jazzier version of the Pan-Pacific Amphitheater facade as inspiration for the new entrance (the Studios park in Orlando has a similar entrance). Set where the California letters currently stand, the new turnstiles lead to a space similar to the Town Square in Disneyland.
Here's where the Pacific Electric Red Cars will stop to pick up and drop off passengers, surrounded by new Mission Moderne buildings that will house the Guest Relations office, stroller rentals, lost and found desk, and all of the standard infrastructure a fancy Disney theme park needs near the front gate.
In the middle of this square will be a flagpole and statue, finally fixing the oversight DCA had on opening day of not containing a flagpole for the American and California flags. The statue at the base of the flagpole is planned to be a new spin on the Walt statue in the Hub at Disneyland. Except this time the statue is of a much younger Walt arriving in Los Angeles in the late 1920's with a cardboard suitcase and a much more wiry and and wide eyed version of Mickey Mouse at his side. It is in this opening entrance area where the Imagineers hope to lay out the concept of this being a park celebrating "Walt Disney's California."
Moving down the street, you pass under the art deco bridge that hides the monorail beam. This bridge won't be too much of a focal point however, as the long term plans for transportation around the Resort may have the monorail moving from that circa 1961 path. The newly rebuilt street reminiscent of Los Angeles 1920's architecture will still house stores and dining facilities, and Bob spoke repeatedly about "pulling in" the scale and scope of that entrance area of DCA, making it more intimate and approachable.
The entry street leads to a circular plaza with the trolleys and antique cars circling the street. The entire area will receive curbs and sidewalks and traditional street furniture. The current broad expanse of cement known as the Sun Plaza is universally derided amongst Imagineers for having no curbs and no welcoming feature that invites people to stop and sit. The parade route will no longer pass through this section of the park, and that gave the Imagineers leeway to make the streetscapes a bit narrower and add in architectural texture and design elements that would not have been possible if they had to plan for a big parade passing through there each day.
Bob explained that all of the new buildings would be very individualized and distinctly broken up, much like Main Street USA. He went into detail about the vast amount of work WDI has put in to creating shops, restaurants and architectural features that will bring a distinctly period and realistic feel to the area, all unlike the broad, bland, and cartoon-ish two dimensional surfaces that are there now.
The northern edge of the new Walt Disney Plaza will be bounded by the big new eye candy, and a structure that may become the parks signature icon, a remade Carthay Circle Theater. (This was the Wilshire area theater Snow White was premiered at in 1937.) Bob made the announcement that the theater would house a "New version of the Walt Disney Story," which effectively ends Whoopi Goldberg's reign as the Queen of California. For a time there was a concept to move a slightly revamped version of Golden Dreams into this theater, but Bob and John Lasseter want to pursue the Walt Disney angle completely, especially at the front of the park. So long Whoopi, it's back to Universal's trams for her. The trolley cars circling Walt Disney Plaza will take a left turn and rumble down Hollywood Blvd., before traveling south past the Tower of Terror and ending right at the entrance to the Cars Land expansion.
Bob then turned his attention to Paradise Pier, and explained all about the Victorian remake for that area that we've been telling you about all year. Midway Mania (yes, that really is the title for DCA's version), was included in the presentation, even though it is not formally part of the Billion dollar budget. Bob went on to explain how the midway games will all be rethemed to Disney or Pixar characters, instead of using the gimmicky California place names in their theme. Sketches were shown demonstrating the elaborate detail work that will soon sweep through Paradise Pier, and the sprawling beer garden and new viewing terrace for World Of Color were mentioned.
The modern Mickey Mouse symbol on California Screamin' will be replaced by a period looking sign advertising Paradise Pier. Mickey will instead take up residence on the Sun Wheel, with its new Victorian loading area rebuilt around it. Bob also explained how a new LED lighting system will be installed on the Sun Wheel that will offer dramatically improved effects over the existing conventional lightbulbs that always seem to be partially burned out.
In place of the Ratatouille coaster once planned for the area, the existing Mulholland Madness coaster will be rethemed as Goofy's Flying Academy, although this area and the space to the east where the sunglass store and corn dog stand currently stand will be held for future expansion.
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.
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
