DCA new gates, Golden Gate coming down, Edited OP 7-26 with new blog post

[skiingfast]

Disney Blog post, with nothing too great, mostly just history, but at the bottom announces the Golden Gate Bridge will start being removed Sunday.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...ode=15580&CMP=SOC-WDWFY11WDW_SocMedFBJK010045

UPDATE:
Blog post about the new bridge.
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...ode=15580&CMP=SOC-WDWFY11WDW_SocMedFBJK010047

UPDATE 7-26:
Engine Ear Toys and Greetings closing.
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...underway-at-disney-california-adventure-park/

 

[sonnyjane]

Oh man! So, I've been pretty much glazing over the DCA renovation stuff because I'll keep going no matter what, but I guess I completely missed that the Golden Gate was coming down! And according to that blog, it's being replaced with a replica of the Glendale Hyperion bridge? I Googled it and it looks kind of crappy :-/ I'm not sure I understand that decision. I feel like the Golden Gate is very recognizable. Sigh lol.

 

[Sherry E]

I remember that fire that took down the Pan Pacific Auditorium, too (mentioned in the blog). It was quite scary to see from the street and the smoke was horrible.


What was also interesting to me in this blog was that, for some reason, it had escaped me that there is going to be a bridge where the GGB currently sits. In all the discussion about the DCA makeover, how did I miss hearing about a new bridge? So they are just basically replacing one bridge with another bridge.

 

[Sherry E]

Okay, I'm glad to see that apparently I was not the only one who didn't know the GGB was being replaced with a new bridge! I was really confused as to how I could have missed that, but I don't think it's ever been discussed!

sonnyjane - I just looked it up online too. I don't know if you and I were looking at the same photos since there were several which popped up when I typed in 'Glendale Hyperion Bridge,' but I agree with you - it's not all that exciting. I guess that's the one they have to go with if they are going to stick to this new theme, but it is rather anti-climactic and lackluster in the photos. Maybe once it is Disney-fied and scaled down it will look better.

 

[JH87]

Anyone know how it's gonna affect the entrance route into DCA? I'm sure it's been mentioned somewhere I just can't find it.

 

[Belle Ella]

You're definitely not alone Sherry! I knew the bridge was coming down, but I didn't know there would be a new one. I'm actually kind of glad to hear it, I don't think I would have been a fan of it being a completely 'open' space (can't think of a better word for what's in my head right now). To me it feels a tiny bit comparable to walking through the tunnels below the train tracks over at Disneyland. Obviously not the same thing, but that's what goes through my head with the bridge.

I do, personally, love the new gates compared to the old ones. I'll just say it's probably the color though. Well, that's not the sngular reason.

 

[farmfresh]

Used the new gates today - much easier to get in and out than over the last few days with the hoardings up.

So no changes to entry strategies required.

Same style of turnstile, they do feel more spacious though. And they look a lot better too.

 

[Sherry E]

You're definitely not alone Sherry! I knew the bridge was coming down, but I didn't know there would be a new one. I'm actually kind of glad to hear it, I don't think I would have been a fan of it being a completely 'open' space (can't think of a better word for what's in my head right now). To me it feels a tiny bit comparable to walking through the tunnels below the train tracks over at Disneyland. Obviously not the same thing, but that's what goes through my head with the bridge.

I do, personally, love the new gates compared to the old ones. I'll just say it's probably the color though. Well, that's not the sngular reason.

Jessica -

Good! You hadn't heard about the new bridge either! I was thinking, "How has this information passed me by on the DIS?" But, actually, I don't think a new bridge has ever been mentioned in any of the little blurbs we've gotten about the DCA makeover plans or progress because I don't recall anyone on the DIS ever mentioning a new bridge. All we knew was that the GGB was coming down.

I agree with you - I was really wondering what that whole DCA/GGB entry area was going to look like when the GGB comes down, and I think it would look too open without anything there. We are so accustomed to seeing a towering structure in that spot that to suddenly have nothing there would be weird. I think that what you said is spot on - they (TDA) probably want to have some sort of 'Disneyland tunnel' equivalent at the DCA entrance, no matter which bridge it is. I think there is something about walking under a tunnel or bridge of some kind that adds to the mystique and wonder of stepping back in time into another land.

I will miss the CALIFORNIA letters for certain reasons - I had gotten so used to them - but I like the new Pan Pacific-inspired entrance.

I will miss the Golden Gate Bridge but am anxious to see the 1920's/1930's theme fully come to fruition. I just hope that the new Glendale Hyperion Bridge looks better in person at DCA than the original one does in photos!

 

[skiingfast]

If you would like to see what is happening in the entrance area, use the link in the lower part of the text in this link.
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/dis...-sky-cellar/?name=BlueSkyCellarAttractionPage

It will have a bunch of concept photos. Of course if you look at some of the pier which is now done, notice not everything planned comes to fruition.


The main implication of removing the GGB is that it requires overhead work on the monorail line. This means the entry pathway will have to be closed when this work is going on. It may also mean the monorail will have to stop operating.

This may mean shortly after Sunday we won't be entering DCA the normal way for a while.

 

[DangerMouse]

Does anyone else have the Xanadu theme song running through their head while viewing the pics of the new gate?

 

[Eeee-va]

Googling the bridge, I found it looks like there were balustrades (look like stone railings) when it opened. I think they make the bridge look less bleak, IMO.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7294653@N07/2700327978/

But, I could be biased because it reminds me of one of the few historic-ish (1930s) structures I'm familiar with in Tempe, Arizona by Tempe Town Lake.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielgreene/3163224050/

So depending on how DCA's looks, I might get a reminder of DCA every time I'm near Town Lake.

I am not sure, but I THINK the new bridge will be intended to kind of fade into the background compared to the Carthay Circle Theatre and other things beyond it?

 

[skiingfast]

Does anyone else have the Xanadu theme song running through their head while viewing the pics of the new gate?

 

[skiingfast]

I am not sure, but I THINK the new bridge will be intended to kind of fade into the background compared to the Carthay Circle Theatre and other things beyond it?

I basically agree. I think it will detract less from the Carthay Theatre. But before DCA didn't have a true weenie like most Disney parks. Was it the GGB or the Hubcap in Sun Plaza?

As much as I miss the letters, and the mural along the entrance, and the GGB, I think the result of all of this is going to be a huge improvement and those old things easily forgotten.

 

[HydroGuy]

Anyone know how it's gonna affect the entrance route into DCA? I'm sure it's been mentioned somewhere I just can't find it.

Al Lutz has some rumors...

http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al062111a.htm

 

[becpee]

Does anyone else have the Xanadu theme song running through their head while viewing the pics of the new gate?

It's certainly a very retro transformation.

It will take me a while to see it in person

 

[Tekcor1]

I'm glad we were there last week to see the GGB, apparently for the last time! It was before the wall came down so in the evening it got pretty bottlenecked up trying to get back into the park. I really like the new sign better than the old California letters though! It works much better for photos. Just my opinion.

 

[Belle Ella]

The one thing I will miss about the GGB is feeling like "hey, that's my part of CA". But I am excited about wanting it to feel like what Walt came to when he came to California. It reminds me of the Walt Disney Family Museum in SF (which by the way, if you get to chance to, definitely go!) where an elevator that takes you to the first gallery on his start in Hollywood is supposed to give you the same kind of feeling (it's like you're in a railcar on the Santa Fe). I really, really, really love what they are planning to do with that area.

 

[skiingfast]

I'm glad we were there last week to see the GGB, apparently for the last time!

The one thing I will miss about the GGB is feeling like "hey, that's my part of CA".

Having never been to SF, that is the only structure modeled after a iconic place my DS could recognize in DCA. I don't know why as he doesn't watch a lot of tv, and I don't know what Disney film it appeared in.

 

[geekypeach]

The GGB coming down is breaking me. I, for one, got teary over the CALIFORNIA being gone. My kids loved posing with the letters. I have a hard time with change.

I never did get the shot of the kids "holding up" the bridge like they wanted to.

 

[Sherry E]

Does anyone else have the Xanadu theme song running through their head while viewing the pics of the new gate?

Callie - I do! It was big news to those of us who lived near the Pan Pacific when "Xanadu" came out because the movie featured something from our neighborhood. At that time, as a kid, it was exciting to me to see a specific place in a movie that I had visited in person for ice shows or special events. Now I just feel nostalgic and almost kind of melancholy when I see the Pan Pacific design pop up anywhere.

Even at The Grove here in L.A. - which is on a property that is kind of adjacent to where the Pan Pacific Auditorium used to be, in a roundabout way - there are some PPA-inspired marquees (not quite as blatant a copy of the style as DCA and DHS have, but the same general look) and it makes me nostalgic to see them!