DisneySea Preview pics

[wdwguide]

Have you ladies and guys seen the pictures of DisneySea on Mouseplanet.com?
I can't put how great the park is themed in words - it's more than amazing. It looks.... REAL!

 

[babar]

My father and I were comparing his pictures from his trip to Italy along the coast, and to Venice. I swear they look the same!! At least in the pictures!

amazing, but sad because it's so far away......

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I'm at a loss for words, simply amazing.

 

[J. Thornhill]

I'm at a loss for words as well. It's difficult to speak as you choke back the bitter bile of resentment. Why can't we have nice things too? Why, I ask you?

J.-

 

[toefungus]

DisneySea sure puts DCA to shame.

 

[Another Voice]

And you know what – they haven’t even put up the pictures of the good stuff yet.

 

[toefungus]

I've seen some pictures from Mouseplanet, and just the entrance looks amazing! Here's a link to some more preview pictures http://www.jtcent.com/disneysea/index.html

 

[Another Voice]

But Mr. Scoop, Disney’s next stateside park is already available for your inspection here in sunny Southern California. Remember that DCA was given the green light after Tokyo DisneySeas, and that most of the DisneySeas work was done as part of the Port Disney complex in the ‘80s & ‘90s. If Disney wanted that caliber of park in the states, we’d have already seen it by now. To answer your question, “Does Disney dare imitate OLC in spending habits?” – that’s already been answered.

As for the public reaction, a rumor holds that one of the unfortunate WDI designers to have been stuck on California Adventure (and subjected to intense management interference into an attraction the same executives now despise) very recently went to one of the previews for DisneySeas. This person broke down into tears when they first saw the vista across the lagoon to the fort and to the volcano. Most people are calling DisneySea the last truly Disney theme park.

 

[toefungus]

Hopefully, I'm saying hopefully DisneySea does amazing. If it were to pull in more guests than expected, and it does really well, maybe the Eisner and Pressler over here will get a clue that if you build parks like DisneySea and not DCA, they will be more willing to build better parks here. Just a thought.

 

[airlarry!]

Warning! DO NOT LOOK AT THOSE MOUSEPLANET PICTURES...if you have any plans to visit DCA in the future.

I cannot remember being blown away at the details OF JUST THE ENTRANCE of a park.

Anybody that reads this bb knows that I am a big fan of AK. But, when we look at DisneySeas, we are looking at what AK *could* have been with a little bit more support. I mean it, the theming in AK *could* have been every bit as detailed as DS. In fact, in many parts it is. It just was not finished.

The Japanese Disney fan is getting the whole enchilda...er...sushi....at the start of the park. And if the projections are correct, this park is going to outdraw both DCA and AK easily.

One look at these pictures effectively ends any argument that DCA was anything but a poorly conceived way to rake in more attendance and shopping dollars by artificially making Disneyland into a three day stay.

I WANT MY DISNEYSEAS IN ORLANDO!! I WANT THE PLANS FOR THE FINISHING OF AK ANNOUNCED TOMORROW, Mr. Eisner, with a newsrelease in my email box bright and early. or there will be Universal to pay.

 

[Another Voice]

The only parade I’m casting a shadow over is the one that claims that the artist and financial success of DisneySea is somehow forcing Mr. Eisner’s hand and that a Golden Age of Wonder is near. As much as I want to believe that, it just isn’t so.

The truth is that if Disney wanted to build DisneySea or anything like it stateside, they would have. The Company is simply choosing not the offer the American consumer the same level of product that it provides overseas – it’s a simple business decision to maximize the power of the “brand” with the lowest possible investment. Does anyone have any idea how much of DisneySea was originally designed for the U.S.? ‘Journey to the Center of The Earth’ sure seems like a ‘mountain’ with ‘fire’. The on-again, off-again Mediterranean Resort for WDW, you’ve been looking pictures at the one that got built. The Little Mermaid’s area was to replace the old Motor Boat Cruise/Fantasyland Autopia area in Disneyland. What does it “bode” when stateside plans only become reality when another company pays for them?

And isn’t the next stateside “land” already under construction - Din-O-Rama? I’m having a hard time seeing the reflection of that gleaming tower in the mad mouse ride and the carny games.

 

[tiggerstheman1]

I just looked at Laughingplace.com's coverage and I'm thinking to myself -- "I know I said I have to pay off the credit cards from the last 2 trips first --- but ...." as I think about how to finance a trip to Tokyo as soon as possible.

I think we are seeing the Internet revolution hit Disney and they are caught flat-footed. First they design DisneySea but abandon it, then ship it overseas, then build DCA for the home crowd.

But, then comes 1999 and the internet boom and now everyone has an ISP connection and surfs the web and what happens? Well, word gets out faster than ever that DCA isn't all that it's cracked up to be. I certainly am not interested in traveling across country to see it. Then, DisneySeas starts coming together and again word travels through the internet that it is a mind-blower. Now Disney is left with a park they own 100% scrambling to make any sort of attendance numbers, one that I won't spend $300 on airfare to go see while I will spend $4200 on airfare for 3 to go across the Pacific and spend money at at park where Disney only gets 7-10% of my money. All the while, Marty Sklar says that OLC was crazy to spend the 2.x Billion on TDS (but they weren't crazy to blow 1.x Billion on DCA).

If that's not pressure - if that's not competition - then please, clue me in.

 

[JeffJewell]

maybe they tread more carefully in competing against themselves

Maybe so. And maybe monkeys will fly out of my butt. We have precisely the same amount of compelling evidence for both of these hypotheses.

Forever an optimist? Maybe. Forever a pessimist? I can't speak for you my friend!

There is a distinct difference between being a pessimist and being pessimistic about something in particular based on the demonstrated tendencies and past performance of the major players involved.

Jeff

 

[larworth]

I guess a key question is how much impact did the internet bad press really have on the poor word of mouth that developed for DCA? I know Disney cited this as one of the reasons for their early DCA attendance woes. Was this just spin to the financial guys to try to cover up the real structural problems, or did it really have an impact?

On the surface it is hard for me to imagine that TDS would impact the average consumer's perceptions and eventual purchasing decisions. How many people today still don't know what Fastpass is. Wasn't there a problem when DCA opened where many thought it was just a new land in DL. Does your typical WDW visitor have any idea what attractions are in DLP? The average consumer seems pretty unknowleagable and therefore unlikely to pay any attention to details about a park on the other side of the world.

Also, with the average consumer be more accepting of product differences between here and Japan? Japan has long had electronic products, cars with features superior to domestic products.

If I had to quess, I say it will not signficantly alter the average customer's perception of what quality is. DL/WDW will be the standard that haunts DCA. TDS is surely salt in the wound, but won't create a mass groundswell to change Disney's dosmetic strategy.

But hey, I would have said a similar thing about the power of the internet before DCA opened, so I hope I am wrong again.

 

[Another Voice]

We already know what Disney’s next stateside projects look like – renderings for Din-O-Rama are posted at the Animal Kingdom. If that’s the dramatically greater detail you’re looking for, then you’ll simply be enthralled with the statues of mythical animals made out of tiny plastic bricks that’s on tap for the next, next big thing. Spending money on the parks because a few people will see pictures of Tokyo on the Internet is the farthest thing from Eisner’s mind at the moment.

The Internet was an early scapegoat for the failure of California Adventure. No one at Disney who really new the situation believed the Company line, but the “all those negative, hurtful, evil people killed this wonderful park” fib made for good public relations. Remember, this is Hollywood and this town has been run by gossip and manipulation since the moment D.W. Griffith stepped off the train. Disney’s effort to spin the discussions on the Internet was far larger than anything the “negative” sites could do – the simple fact is that people (on the whole) who have gone to California Adventure do not like it and that fact can’t be covered-up or explained away.

No, DisneySea will not change the Company’s plans. But it already has changed mine. I just cancelled a trip to Orlando because I’m heading to the other side of planet for my dose of “magic”. The only way that the Company’s thinking will be corrected is if the public holds Disney to a higher standard than Disney is willing to impose upon themselves. If the flow of pictures from the Pacific helps people to do that, then it’s all is for the better.

 

[tiggerstheman1]

I agree with you, A.V. that pictures/message boards alone will not not change Disney management's opinion one bit. In fact, they most likely will have zero effect on them. What will change them is doing what you are doing (and I am planning on doing) - travel 1/2 way around the world to go to a great park and cut Disney out of 90-93% of the money. Perhaps that will shake current Disney management.

So, let's not have the great DIS meet in Orlando, let's all plan on Tokyo instead (says TTM1 while figuring out how many extra jobs it will take to pay off the credit cards and afford the trip). . A whole section of Mira Costa for the DIS and drinks on DVC !!!

 

[airlarry!]

Oh my. Oh. Oh my.

Day 3 pics have been posted. When I read all the preview sites months ago, and they talked about the detailing and the loving care that was going into this park...I maintained my doubts. I mean, come on, I was getting first hand looks from every major disney site about DCA and how uninspiring it was turning out to be...and how AK was not finished, etc. etc.

But wow. We are still only at the entrance, and I am completely blown away.

So that's what an Imagineer, with a little support, can produce? How can Paul Pressler go to DisneySeas, and then come back to Team Disney Anaheim and look Mike in the eye...and say "Yep, Boss, things are looking as sharp out there as they are at our California Adventure."

This answers all the doubting Thomases out there who don't believe that there is pixie dust left at TDA. The spirit of Walt is alive and well in a large bay an hour away from Tokyo.

 

[airlarry!]

I was just fantasizing...what if the team that designed Tokyo DisneySeas designed a minor park at WDW...like the next water park there?

Oh my! What a grand water park that would be. Anybody know the address where I can write to Cousin Mike and beg him to put that team on the project?

 

[DC7800]

I must admit I have not kept up with developments on DisneySeas. Really, I knew little about it until recently. However, seeing these images changes my whole impression of the place.

Now, that submarine in the Mysterious Island Preview looks just a little too familiar...

 

[Another Voice]

"I was just fantasizing...what if the team that designed Tokyo DisneySeas designed a minor park at WDW..."

Trust me, you don't want to see that design. Don't let anything spoil your appreciation of DisneySea. Spend your money on a trip to Tokyo to enjoy the park as it should be seen, not the Blue Light Special version once destined for WDW.