California Adventure not getting the crowds, why?

[Disney Davo]

After visiting WDW 3 times this year and Disneyland once this year I think I know what Disneylands problem is with CA. Value wise the Magic Kingdom is a better deal, you get more bang for your buck, specifically how crowded the park gets in the evening for the Fire Works and Fantasmic. You can't really enjoy both shows anyway because it is impossible to move from the Fantasmic show to a better vantage point for the Fire Works. In fact it's not even that enjoyable to be at the park after the two shows. My suggestion is Disneyland needs to build a stage specifically for Fantasmic the way they have done at WDW MGM. If you have ever been there you will know it is modeled after the Hollywood Bowl and would fit in perfectly with the theme of CA. Each park at WDW has it's own huge nightly show; Magic Kingdom-Wishes Fire Works, Epcot-Illuminations, Animal Kingdom- Festival of the Lion King and MGM-Fantasmic. Disneyland keeps putting more and more into what generates the most money without trying generate new crowds for CA. I believe Disneyland is going to have to give a little from the Magic Kingdom to get the huge crowds in the future for both parks, it will take time, It works very well at WDW, each park generates huge crowds for its specific show. All you Disneyland lovers feel free to comment, I'd love the discussion.

 

[Pirate-Emery]

Well, there's something about Fantasmic being on the Rivers of America that strikes a "magical note" in my heart. I buy into the magic as these Rivers are vast and unknown to me. (also, we have a big pirate ship that resides in those waters that would be hard to move)

The magic comes from the fact that the Rivers of America are easily visable all day, however they are changed at night. The stage being Tom Sawyer Island/Pirate Island is sheer brilliance.

But a good idea is brought up: DCA needs a night show. DCA needs to be open just as long as DL. I sure would love to ride the Tower of Terror at night, something impossible given the hours of that park.

I'd say if DCA remains open when DL is open, then the crowds in Disneyland will subside and DCA will gain more visitors.

 

[Sosai X]

There are various theories, they vary depending on whom you ask. The most prevalent seems to be that they made the place without a real plan in place, and did it as cheaply as possible. Some of the opening attractions were terrible (like the Whoopie Goldberg film and the infamous Super Star Limo). Others say it lacks the magic and originality of Disneyland. Many of the DCA attractions (especially at the southern end, at Paradise Pier) were bought off-the-shelf from outside suppliers, and not designed by Disney Imagineers. Others say DCA is just a clone of the attractions at WDW. Take your pic. Most pepole agree that DCA does have its good points, and they are working to improve it, with the new Monsters Inc. and Midway Mania rides, and John Lassetter has big plans for it.

 

[Tink33]

DCA did have a night time show on the water - Luminaria. It didn't bring crowds, but brought a lot of criticism.

 

[shellyof4]

I love the idea of DCA having a night show, but I don't want it to be Fantasmic. We first saw it at Disneyland and after viewing it at WDW, were so disappointed!! There is something so cool about being "right" there by the action and the pirate ship is so much fun too! I like the DL version best and would hate to see it changed. Sure you don't have to sit on the hard ground at WDW but at least at DL, Mickey is more than 1/2 inch big!! (ie. From our seats WAY up in the middle section, that is how he looked). You have to get in line pretty early to get front section seats. Anyway, I would love to see some sort of show like that at DCA because I love nighttime at Disney!

 

[Pirate-Emery]

DCA did have a night time show on the water - Luminaria. It didn't bring crowds, but brought a lot of criticism.

That was a Holiday Show, correct?

If DCA wants a regular night show, it needs to really sit down and think about the theme of the park. I know there is a beautiful theme in there regarding how diverse and beautiful the state is (look at Soarin' over California for inspiration if you have to). I just think that DCA should open at night again.

 

[DLR29]

DCA does have the Electric Parade. But I think that the problem is not just the "night show". At AK, FOLK is not a "night show" but the park filled to capacity the other day.

DCA does not get the crowds because of:

1) Many locals take day trips to DL. Nobody's going to go to DCA for a day. It's just not going to happen when DL is right next door. Therefore the majority of DCA's customers are multi day visitors and DL gets the multi day visitors + the day trippers.

2) It just doesn't offer as much as DL. I can easily do all of the major attractions in a few hours. At DL, to experience the attractions, it takes more than a day.

3) The quality of the attractions are lower than any disney park in the world (in my opinion). 1/2 of the rides are cheap carnival style rides just "Disney-fied". People have less of a desire to go if they can ride the same type of ride at a (much) cheaper amusement park/carnival.

4) The attractions at DCA are more geared to the adults making it less appealing to families with younger children.

Disney has realized these and with the additions since opening (Flik's Fair, ToT, MI:M&SttR, TTw/C, and the new Midway Madness), they are trying to bring more high quality attractions that will bring families and day guests.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I like the idea of a nighttime show at DCA but I agree they need to think about it carefully and plan something really special. However, one problem/reason they may not have done such a show may be the strict noise ordinances in Anaheim. Every time Remember goes, Disneyland is fined for breaking the ordinance. I believe that is what did in the old Believe fireworks show. At WDW no such worry exists. Another possible issue of why they don't offer nighttime shows at both parks at Disneyland is money. Given WDW's huge base of out town of guests who fork over money not only for park tickets but lodging and food they can throw more money into nighttime entertainment. Much of Disneyland's base is locals who attend on inexpensive Southern California Annual Passes which makes Disneyland's revenue and therefore their ability to do those expensive nighttime shows a bit different than WDW's. Also, having two nighttime spectaculars could create a headache that makes the human traffic jam of Fantasmic look mild as thousands of people exit one park to go to the other's show. With the parks so close they couldn't run them simultaneously. I also agree that Fantasmic! can present some logistical problems but what makes Disneyland's show so much more superior to WDW's is that it has the real riverboat and the Sailing Ship Columbia. Don't get me wrong, I love WDW's and I even enjoy the Pocahantas sequence about as much as the Peter Pan one. But every time that plywood boat comes around I just have to giggle. Talk about cheesey. Nothing on the cheesey scale at DCA can touch that plywood joke of a boat. It is all interesting to think about and it never hurts to hope they'll add something really incredible to any Disney park. Although judging by my last few visits to Disneyland, they aren't hurting in the attendance department. Its always fun to compare DL and WDW yet sometimes not fair. You cannot compare Disneyland to WDW in many ways. Its landlocked with no room for expansion and situated within a large city so they have a lot of concerns with everything from noise to traffic that WDW never has to think about.

P.S. Festival of the Lion King can hardly be called a nighttime show. It runs all day, inside and only runs in the evening if they have evening EMH at AK.

 

[DisGirl819]

I agree that DCA needs some livening up. When we go we only go on TOT (about 10-15 times though), Ca screamin, Soarin and the Monsters Inc ride. I happen to love the Monsters ride and was so sad on my last trip when we walked back there (on the way to TOT) and there was NO ONE in the courtyard and the CM was whistling to herself. I said to her that it was sad and she said she was lonely. We went on the ride and then TOT. Of course, I realized after TOT when they closed the line that DCA was closed! HA that is why it was so empty. Boy did I feel dumb But...DCA is open at night. I rode the TOT twice at night on my last trip and boy is that fun fun fun. Waaay better than during the day. My DH and I don't even touch the paradise pier part of the park (except screamin) because the rides are cheap and boring and Mullholland Madness scares me to death!! So...DCA needs new theming/rides and a nighttime show would really help things out and could really start to bring crowds in. THey need to make more big ticket rides in DCA and simply more rides, especially for the visitors like me that visit often (I live in AZ) and the locals who visit more often.

 

[Albort]

After the Electrical parade, around 90% of the crowds go bye bye and it turns into a ghost town...

i been there working... BUT it has been busy these days...

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

I agree that DCA needs some livening up. When we go we only go on TOT (about 10-15 times though), Ca screamin, Soarin and the Monsters Inc ride. I happen to love the Monsters ride and was so sad on my last trip when we walked back there (on the way to TOT) and there was NO ONE in the courtyard and the CM was whistling to herself. I said to her that it was sad and she said she was lonely. We went on the ride and then TOT. Of course, I realized after TOT when they closed the line that DCA was closed! HA that is why it was so empty. Boy did I feel dumb But...DCA is open at night. I rode the TOT twice at night on my last trip and boy is that fun fun fun. Waaay better than during the day. My DH and I don't even touch the paradise pier part of the park (except screamin) because the rides are cheap and boring and Mullholland Madness scares me to death!! So...DCA needs new theming/rides and a nighttime show would really help things out and could really start to bring crowds in. THey need to make more big ticket rides in DCA and simply more rides, especially for the visitors like me that visit often (I live in AZ) and the locals who visit more often.

I agree, were really not interested in the Paradise Pier rides they have. It's just not what were looking for in a disney trip. Doing so would make it feel like a waste of time, time that could be spent on the rides we've come to know and love from Disney.

I really don't believe it's a matter of night time shows. Shows are awesome, and add to the expeirence. But without the big ticket rides, the shows aren't going to hold the weight alone.

Granted we do go on some of the rides in DCA. We love some of them (Monsters included!). A lot for me are too hard of rides. But my husband loves TOT and screamin. And my son and husband go on Soarin. So we do enjoy DCA. With more big ticket, themed rides, I think it would do much better.

 

[MateasMom]

I do think it could use some more 'family' type rides. It seems like DCA is all 'little kid' and 'big kid' with only a few 'everyone' rides. I also think they need Mickey Philharmagic (or whatever it's called). We loved that at WDW.

But we love DCA. I think it's misunderstood, people don't understand what to 'do'.

And it had plenty of crowds yesterday LOL.

 

[disney-super-mom]

I do think it could use some more 'family' type rides. It seems like DCA is all 'little kid' and 'big kid' with only a few 'everyone' rides. I also think they need Mickey Philharmagic (or whatever it's called). We loved that at WDW.

But we love DCA.

I agree with this.

We actually love DCA too, but I completely agree that it needs more "family" type rides - the kind that can be mildly thrilling for the younger ones and just plain fun for us older "kids".

 

[DisGirl819]

I also think they need Mickey Philharmagic (or whatever it's called). We loved that at WDW.

What an awesome idea!!! We loved Philharmagic in WDW...dragged DH back to MK for 'one last show' a couple times That could replace the muppets 3d show that is currently there. We've been on it so many times that we just don't do it any more.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I think it's because it's not really Disney enough. Disneyland is right next door, who wouldn't want to be there.

Oh and because it sucks.

 

[HydroGuy]

I also think they need Mickey Philharmagic (or whatever it's called). We loved that at WDW.

Philharmagic at DLR may be in the works. See:

"The Lasseter Effect: DCA Upgrades and Other Great News" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1241090

 

[HydroGuy]

After visiting WDW 3 times this year and Disneyland once this year I think I know what Disneylands problem is with CA. Value wise the Magic Kingdom is a better deal, you get more bang for your buck, specifically how crowded the park gets in the evening for the Fire Works and Fantasmic. You can't really enjoy both shows anyway because it is impossible to move from the Fantasmic show to a better vantage point for the Fire Works. In fact it's not even that enjoyable to be at the park after the two shows. My suggestion is Disneyland needs to build a stage specifically for Fantasmic the way they have done at WDW MGM. If you have ever been there you will know it is modeled after the Hollywood Bowl and would fit in perfectly with the theme of CA. Each park at WDW has it's own huge nightly show; Magic Kingdom-Wishes Fire Works, Epcot-Illuminations, Animal Kingdom- Festival of the Lion King and MGM-Fantasmic. Disneyland keeps putting more and more into what generates the most money without trying generate new crowds for CA. I believe Disneyland is going to have to give a little from the Magic Kingdom to get the huge crowds in the future for both parks, it will take time, It works very well at WDW, each park generates huge crowds for its specific show. All you Disneyland lovers feel free to comment, I'd love the discussion.

For recent info on Disney's plans for DCA see:

"The Lasseter Effect: DCA Upgrades and Other Great News" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1241090

 

[HydroGuy]

3) The quality of the attractions are lower than any disney park in the world (in my opinion). 1/2 of the rides are cheap carnival style rides just "Disney-fied". People have less of a desire to go if they can ride the same type of ride at a (much) cheaper amusement park/carnival.

I decided to throw in my two cents here. I think DCA gets a bum rap in the area of rides.

I have broken down the rides at the DLR and WDW parks here: http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/1819958. This is slightly out of date, and does not include the new Nemo ride at Epcot.

MK - 32
Epcot - 20 (including Nemo)
MGM - 10
AK - 11

DL - 41
DCA - 25

Comparing DCA to DL is just not fair. A more fair comparison is to AK or MGM at WDW. DCA has way more rides than these parks. DCA has four true headliner rides: Soarin Over CA, ToT, CA Screamin, and GRR.

MGM has two: ToT and RnR

AK has four: EE, Dino, KRR, and KS.

Since DCA has so many more rides, and some of them are not that great, it is easier to say that DCA has a lot of rides that are not that great. IMO, if you take the top 10-12 rides at DCA, they are pretty good compared to MGM or AK.

In addition, MGM and even Epcot have some truly awful rides as well (think Sounds Dangerous and Figment). I cannot think of any awful rides at AK, but it does have a cheap carnival area along the lines of DCA's.

If we take the positive view in all of the above cases, which I tend to do already, it means that the Disney parks have room for improvement.

 

[MateasMom]

Hey! We LOVE Figment! I didn't know that was considered a 'blah' ride. We think it's really cute and love the little interactive area after the ride.

And AK...I think it can get away with less rides because their are so many FANTASTIC shows, there's alot of hands on, and it's just plain beautiful. But, I also think AK is one of the highly misunderstood parks. We loved it, and I know in many 'circles' it is considered a 2nd rate park.

MGM on the other hand. Maybe because I'm born and bred SoCal and have seen and done that whole Hollywood, backlot, Universal thing a zillion times. But to me that's probably as '2nd rate' as Disney gets. Worth a visit, but 1 visit is enough for me.

 

[c&m]

Our family loves DCA! And we like the fact that this park doesn't get the crowds. When the crowds get too much at DL, we head to DCA. We actually spend more time in there and get on more rides. Some of our favourite rides (TOT, Soarin', and River Rapids) are there. Because we live so far away from Disney and it costs so much for us to go south, we have to maximize our time. Love the fact that we can sometimes ride the River Rapids again and again without the line-ups.