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[ManaByte]

http://www.miceage.com/allutz/al100306b.htm

The end result, after much work and even some bickering amongst the WDI divas, is a broader DCA master plan that dwarfs the phased Placemaking plan. The budget John Lasseter has now shepherded through the WDI design process has swelled north of 650 million, to be spent over the course of just over five years. For those keeping score at home, that figure is almost as much as the entire park cost when it opened to underwhelming results in early '01!

That's not to say many of the original Placemaking ideas aren't still slated for DCA. They've just been beefed up and tied together in a much more cohesive package. The Sunshine Plaza would still become a late 1920's salute to Los Angeles, as Walt would have found it when he arrived from Kansas City. Antique tour buses, open limousines and trolley cars would leave from this "hub" on routes that would deposit riders in various areas of the newly re-themed park. The 1950's streamliner train and many of the store fronts would be changed. But the area would take on a streetscape look, which was always a problem for the original Placemaking budget.

Originally, the Placemaking plan didn't have enough money to create curbs and streets in the area that is now just one big, flat open plaza. The WDI designers insisted that a street with real sidewalks and curbs would need to be built to create a legitimate city feel to the area, but there simply wasn't enough money in the 30 million budget to allow for such luxuries. In the current DCA budget WDI has the money for all the curbs and sidewalks they want.

Antique tour buses departing from the hub would take passengers into what is now known as Condor Flats, but what will be an extension of the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area. And you will no longer find a contemporary state park atmosphere with modern music and 21st century sporting gear as props, but rather a period specific state park perfectly coiffed and pristine just as Teddy Roosevelt had envisioned them in the early 1900's. The Condor Flats area would lose the desert theme, as readers may remember we mentioned awhile back as a concept for the Placemaking initiative. The whole area would become a Yosemite-like forest area, which would certainly help visitors who currently have a much too small section of the park to enjoy this successful DCA theme.

The open top Duesenberg-style limousines will take passengers down a Hollywood boulevard that has been scrubbed clean of its cheeky 21st century references, and instead turned into something more akin to the Hollywood Boulevard at Walt Disney World's MGM Studios. The Hyperion Theater would finally have its outdoor lobby enclosed, and the newer street leading to the Tower of Terror would have the existing facades beefed up and themed to the period. The back area of the Hollywood section where Monsters Inc. has been installed has caused more of a problem for WDI as they can't bear to remove the parks only existing dark ride after they worked so hard to get it approved. But what is planned to go away is the sparsely-attended MuppetVision show, as a reworked facility to house the popular Philharmagic 3-D show from Orlando and Hong Kong would go in its place.

And finally those trolley cars would head out towards Paradise Pier and the beach, just as trolley systems did in the early 20th century in many American cities. Once DCA visitors step off the trolley, they'll no longer find bland stucco buildings covered in cheap vinyl signs and flat, inexpensive trim work. Instead, this will be an elaborate Victorian themed area with period specific clapboard and gingerbread trim work replacing the modern strip mall look. The popular California Screamin' roller coaster and its onboard soundtrack would remain, but now it would be themed to the Disney Villains with the track weaving and looping through the jaws and claws of such baddies as Maleficent and Ursula. The ugly Screamin' queue, currently an example of just how cheaply even the E Tickets in DCA were built, would be rethemed to a boardwalk Fun House and those waiting in line would be entertained by classic funhouse gags and props.

Lasseterland is coming! This is all due around 2010 or 2011.

 

[Forgotten_Taco]

Huzzah

 

[blahness]

But what is planned to go away is the sparsely-attended MuppetVision show, as a reworked facility to house the popular Philharmagic 3-D show from Orlando and Hong Kong would go in its place.

booo the MuppetVision show was one of my favorite parts of MGM... what they need to do is revamp the Star Wars ride... the outside and inside of the building are awesome but the ride itself is sooooo ****ing stupid.

 

[borghe]

phillharmagic was awesome. definitely looks like I might be going to california next year instead of orlando.

 

[ManaByte]

phillharmagic was awesome. definitely looks like I might be going to california next year instead of orlando.

It won't be there next year. None of this will be complete until DCA's 10th anniversary in 2011.

 

[Ryck]

Lasseterland sounds awsome

 

[distantmantra]

They need to get crackin' on bringing a DisneySea-like park to the states... Tokyo DisneySea is an absolutely beautiful park.

Disney is bringing the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride system to a North American ride, correct?

 

[ManaByte]

Disney is bringing the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride system to a North American ride, correct?

If you're talking about the sub ride, it was in Disneyland and Walt Disney World long before DisneySea was ever built.

They're redoing the Disneyland sub ride into Finding Nemo. The WDW one was long filled in by dirt to make a toddler playground.

 

[Cheebs]

What? Why would Disney get rid of MuppetVision when just last year they spent a sizable chunk of change to buy the Muppets?

 

[distantmantra]

If you're talking about the sub ride, it was in Disneyland and Walt Disney World long before DisneySea was ever built.

I'm not talking about the large submarine, but the little mini-subs that seat three or four people at DisneySea. It might use the same basics, but it felt different and unique. I don't remember the old submarine ride being like that, but I hadn't bothered to go on the ride at Disneyland for a long long time.

In any event, DisneySea is an absolutely gorgeous park. It's a shame the residents of Long Beach didn't want it.

 

[ManaByte]

What? Why would Disney get rid of MuppetVision when just last year they spent a sizable chunk of change to buy the Muppets?

They didn't buy the Muppets because they wanted MuppetVision (the movie was made LONG before the purchase). The Muppets deal had NOTHING to do with MuppetVision.

They're getting rid of MuppetVision in DCA because no one ever goes and sees it, while Philharmagic is so awesome EVERYONE will go see it multiple times.

 

[DDayton]

I just read the rumor about Tom Sawyer's Island today... while I like the idea of a major rehab, I also dislike the notion of completely destroying the theming all around Frontierland. Let's hope things work out... I suppose you could extend it to a Louisiana/Florida theme and make the island Lafayette's...

(Side note: Mana, is the guy in this thread (http://www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39642) you? The Manabye he mentions?)

 

[MaverickX9]

Universal Studios closed the Back to the Future ride.

The best ****ing ride in the world based on the best ****ing trilogy in the world and they close it. Bastards.

 

[M3wThr33]

Wow, an actual themed ride in DCA? That'd be a reason to visit it.
Maybe some of that money will also go to merging the two areas. I think it's pointless trying to ever compare DCA to DL. Just make it one, like it should be.

 

[sky]

Sounds cool!

Never been to Tokyo DisneySea either, but it definitely looks awesome. Must be pretty cool to design these kinds of attractions.

 

[DDayton]

Universal Studios closed the Back to the Future ride.

Did they close it at the real Universal Studios in Hollywood, or just at the Florida theme park thing?

I ask because I haven't had a chance to ride it yet...

Edit: It appears to still be there. I'd best go to Universal this month... heck, I could go today, I suppose.