DCA 1.0 Memories

[PiratesOfTheSea]

The first day of my honeymoon trip will always be a bittersweet day because it was the last day of Bugs Land and I had to say goodbye to Heimlich's Chew Chew Train.

 

[LKing]

That was the headliner .

Really? I guess I never thought of it that way. Did they cancel more than the evening show on the Hollywood Backlot Stage? They still had the decorations in both parks as well as the esplanade, the drive in movies, photo backdrops, the food carts and specialty items, merchandise, and the Pixar Pals Dance Party.

 

[DizMe]

I was going to mention how much we loved Ariel's Grotto. My girls adored going to the Princess meal. The decor was so beautiful--loved the hand-made glass fixtures--and it was a cute "under the sea" look. The girls loved coming down the stairs in the princess outfits and each had her own favorite princess. We liked the food, atmosphere, and ability to meet each of the princesses as they came to the table. I guess you can see why I chose the sock monkey princesses for my avatar or whatever it's called!

 

[LKing]

I was going to mention how much we loved Ariel's Grotto. My girls adored going to the Princess meal. The decor was so beautiful--loved the hand-made glass fixtures--and it was a cute "under the sea" look. The girls loved coming down the stairs in the princess outfits and each had her own favorite princess. We liked the food, atmosphere, and ability to meet each of the princesses as they came to the table. I guess you can see why I chose the sock monkey princesses for my avatar or whatever it's called!

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Adorable! And which one is now doing character meals herself?

 

[DizMe]

Adorable! And which one is now doing character meals herself?

The one on the left! She does parades and special events as well. She was just invited to audition for Disney entertainment (all properties and cruises) and was singled out to sing another song so fingers crossed for her! She has her degree in musical theatre.

Here's a picture of her from a red carpet thing in June. She was in a musical that did a national tour so it's from that.

 

[LKing]

Wow, that's exciting. Good luck to her! Please keep us posted.

Does she ever do regular days in the park?
I've thought of waiting in line and mentioning that I hang out on the DisBoards with her mom, but thought the wrong person would think I was crazy.

 

[DizMe]

Wow, that's exciting. Good luck to her! Please keep us posted.

Does she ever do regular days in the park?
I've thought of waiting in line and mentioning that I hang out on the DisBoards with her mom, but thought the wrong person would think I was crazy.

LOL!! Yes, she does Main St and...well, I'll ask her. I know she does the character breakfasts as well. She told me that what they're instructed to tell people to ask a character is "Are you friends with Alex?"

She gets to be "friends with" Prince John for Oogie Boogie

 

[LAS2AMS]

Really? I guess I never thought of it that way. Did they cancel more than the evening show on the Hollywood Backlot Stage? They still had the decorations in both parks as well as the esplanade, the drive in movies, photo backdrops, the food carts and specialty items, merchandise, and the Pixar Pals Dance Party.

No, but the show was the headliner and once it was canceled, they stopped advertising the event. The Coco event started late last month but was already replacing Pixar Fest on the billboards by early June. So they just accelerated the advertising campaign.

Pixar Fest in generally was generally panned, especially the food, so I’m surprised they didn’t scrap the entire event.

 

[vratiana]

Love this thread.
My oldest memories:
1. Mission Tortilla Factory (Maseca!)
It was almost a free lunch between the that and Boudin next door (especially if you had a birthday button).
2. The Beach Boys music and pier vibe. I really miss this.
3. Chips, Dips & Strips on the pier. Mozzarella sticks, tenders, fish. We were obsessed.
4. Soap Opera Cafe- I think we ate on the docks of General Hospital.
5. The soft serve ice cream on the pier where you could get weird gel flavors swirled into it.
Not 1.0 but still early memories:
6. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Play It.
7. The single rider line at Midway Mania used to be so great. I could ride it over and over again.
8. The smells from Heimlick. Loved that adorable ride.
9. Not at all 1.0 but, because it was so short-lived, the original Luigi’s Tires when they had the beach balls will always live in my memory. It was total chaos.

 

[Sidney Land]

Not 1.0 but still early memories:
6. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Play It.

That was big fun! Friend of ours won the big prize, a DCL cruise. I won a polo shirt sometime during the run.

I think we could call it DCA 1.1 since it opened in late 2001. Not opening day DCA but later that year.

 

[Bruno33]

That was the headliner . Sources had indicated the show would be cut as a result of the cast member entertainers unionizing… although the Register claimed it was cut because kids and parents alike thought it was boring. But if that had really been the case, Disney could’ve tweaked it…

The various billboards Disney has long term agreements with started advertising Pixar Fest very early this year… but by early June, they changed to the Coco event.

Huh?

Pixar Fest was always slated to end August 4. They didn’t change anything.

Club Pixar was not the headliner event of Pixar Fest…

As for DCA 1.0, we enjoyed Burrrrrrrrbank Ice Cream or whatever it was called.

 

[LAS2AMS]

That was big fun! Friend of ours won the big prize, a DCL cruise. I won a polo shirt sometime during the run.

I think we could call it DCA 1.1 since it opened in late 2001. Not opening day DCA but later that year.

Definely 1.1, since I would consider 2.0 the reimagining of the park some years later. I rarely got to experience the attraction - it opened around 9/11. Attendance was dismal before 9/11 (one article reported that attendance was between 1.000 and 2,000 people in the days following Labor Day) yet after 9/11 it was largely mouthballed most days. It didn’t last more than a few years and the show’s popularity was waining even when it opened.

Ironically, the attraction was built in a desperate attempt to increase attendance. Meanwhile, Tower of Terror was allegedly an opening day attraction that was cut due to budget constraints. It wasn’t built open until around the time Millionaire closed.

Superstar Limo was originally suppose to be a modified Test Track ride with a paparazzi chase theme. The theme was changed after Princess Diana’s death and the attraction was built as a dark ride again due to budget constraints.

A DCS version of the Great Movie Ride was also allegedly cut as an opening day attention, again due to budget constraints. Disney also planned versions of the ride at Disneyland and allegedly WESTCot that obviously wern’t built.

Any other attractions that were planned but not built?

 

[LAS2AMS]

Huh?

Pixar Fest was always slated to end August 4. They didn’t change anything.

Club Pixar was not the headliner event of Pixar Fest…

As for DCA 1.0, we enjoyed Burrrrrrrrbank Ice Cream or whatever it was called.

Club Pixar was definitely billed as one of the marquee events. Disney scrubbed the advertising Pixar Feat early - the billboards were replaced in early June but were suppose to be up into July. I’m not guessing on that. The Coco campaign was accelerated.

I thought Pixar Feat was okay but it was largely panned. The Register, historically Disney’s biggest cheerleader, was critical of the food, parade and entertainment.

 

[Iceman93]

I was going to mention how much we loved Ariel's Grotto.

Even this was DCA 1.1. The original restaurant in that space was called Avalon Cove and it was an upscale Wolfgang Puck place. Between that and the Robert Mondavi-run Vineyard Room, there was some REALLY good sit-down dining in DCA 1.0.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Even this was DCA 1.1. The original restaurant in that space was called Avalon Cove and it was an upscale Wolfgang Puck place. Between that and the Robert Mondavi-run Vineyard Room, there was some REALLY good sit-down dining in DCA 1.0.

Dining was suppose to be a huge part of the park’s allure. It was modeled after the success at Epcot. DCA’s designers expected that patrons would regularly come to the park just to eat. But Los Angeles isn’t Orlando and Disneyland wasn’t the foodie destination is to day. Thus most of those dining concepts quickly failed.

Ironically, Disneyland has become such a huge foodie destination in the past 25 years that DCA 1.0 may have been successful if launched status quo…

 

[DizMe]

Even this was DCA 1.1. The original restaurant in that space was called Avalon Cove and it was an upscale Wolfgang Puck place. Between that and the Robert Mondavi-run Vineyard Room, there was some REALLY good sit-down dining in DCA 1.0.

I wish I could have gone in the beginning! I'm sorry I missed DCA 1.0.

 

[LAS2AMS]

I wish I could have gone in the beginning! I'm sorry I missed DCA 1.0.

In fairness we sound like a bunch of old friends who get together regularly and talk about what great athletes we were in high school… and every time we get together we remember ourselves as being better than we did the last time .

There’s a reason Disney redid DCA to the tune of up to $2B, just a few years after it opened.

 

[Tinkaboo]

LOL!! Yes, she does Main St and...well, I'll ask her. I know she does the character breakfasts as well. She told me that what they're instructed to tell people to ask a character is "Are you friends with Alex?"

She gets to be "friends with" Prince John for Oogie Boogie

She is gorgeous and Mom, you must be so proud! Okay, if I’m on Main Street and see that pup, I’ll try to ask if he’s friends with Alex! Best of luck to her and her career!

 

[Iceman93]

In fairness we sound like a bunch of old friends who get together regularly and talk about what great athletes we were in high school… and every time we get together we remember ourselves as being better than we did the last time .

There’s a reason Disney redid DCA to the tune of up to $2B, just a few years after it opened.

No doubt about that! But I think we're more like a bunch of old friends talking about how much our high school teams sucked, but we relive the single games (or even plays) that were great despite the overall level of suck-itude.