Paradise Pier Sign Up on California Screamin'

[bumbershoot]

Erm...... I dislike it aswell. It doesn't look like the "unique" Disney park they are trying to make. From my sources, they are taking down the reaminder of the Mickey head and placing a Paradice Peir logo in its place. Why, though, did they put up the sign before finishing the take down?

Back in December there was a Muppets "scavenger hunt" thing for APs that I participated in. The prize at the end was a map of what it's all going to look like at the end (like the artwork in the Blue Sky Cellar). I just looked at that, and it appears that, at least at the time they made that drawing, they are going to put a sunshine image in the same spot as the big circle (former Mickey's non-ear face). Looks like the sun image will be "inside" where the coaster goes...so I would bet some money (not much, though, considering how often I've been wrong this year!) that they'll just keep the panels that used to make up Mickey's face and put something over it, or paint it, etc, rather than take it all down and then build something else.

Plus, there's the sound-shield aspect of that circle, which I bet is why they needed it to begin with, so that the neighbors didn't hear the screams in the loop (though why one would scream in a loop I don't know, I find the loop to be the easiest part of the coaster!). They might have had to shut it down if they took the circle down, until they could put something back up.

 

[Jennifer03]

Thanks for sharing the picture, I'm looking forward to seeing it in person.

 

[Eeee-va]

While I like some parts of DCA I really dislike Paradise Pier. It just doesn't feel original. Now that they are making it more like a Victorian Boardwalk I'll probably like it less. Plus, with the exception of TSMM/Screamin' they got really lazy with the rides there. Even with the attempt to theme them, they are no better than those at a state fair or local amusement park.

I'd argue that the Golden Zephyr is probably something you can't find at a state fair or local amusement park, as Imagineers supposedly went to England to view one. I like them because they're an old-style ride like you would have seen in parks in the 1900s - 1920s. And I believe that there are only 2 other Fun Wheel-style wheels in the world (though as I understand it Disney did blatantly rip off the design from the original in Coney Island ). I'll concede that both LOOK very much like typical fair rides, though. I'm not sure I'd call the Fun Wheel "lazy" (well, unless you want to call stealing other people's ideas lazy ) and I certainly wouldn't call the Golden Zephyr lazy either. (I also probably wouldn't call it particularly fun to ride, and maybe not even a good idea to build given its limitations on operation due to wind. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't a lot of effort put in to it. )

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Also, if you believe Al Lutz, the letters are going because they are changing the name of the park.

You have to love what some of the websites guess without remembering the published facts......

They have said repeatedly that they are trying to do a "Main Street" kind of thing and the current distance from the gate to the entry plaza isn't long enough to create that effect and have the trolley run the length of the street.

In order to get the street long enough and get the new buildings in place, they have to remove the gates, the mural walls and the letters. The new entry gates will be placed somewhere around where the letters currently stand. That's the reason they have to remove the letters. Since they can't increase the length inside the park, due to the location of the "Tough to be a Bug" theater, they have to go outside the park to get their new property line.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

For those who stated that Paradise Pier feels too much like a 1920's and 1930's amusement park - that will make the Imagineers feel good - it's supposed to feel like that.

Remember the storyline to Paradise Pier and the whole park. Each section of DCA represents something California is famous for. There aren't many left, but at one point, the Pier amusement parks - like the one currently existing in Santa Monica - were just as famous as the ones on the East Coast - like Coney Island.

As locals, we tend to forget that DCA is designed more like the Florida WDW parks - they all tell a larger story - not just fragments lands, like those in Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.

Molly is right about the sound guards. Remember that there are even the scream shields on the Maliboomer for that reason. Disney has to respect and follow neighborhood sound ordinances. They are in the middle of a residential area, after all. (Same with wind delays and cancelled fireworks. Fireworks can't go past 10 or 10:15pm due to noise regulations.)

 

[mechurchlady]

I will check on Micechat and other sites for updates. I loved the Pike however Walt built Disneyland so that his kids could have a safe place to play without the dirtyness, drunks, and other bad things at the old style parks. I would have loved to have seen them old parks when they were clean and well maintained.

I do however remember how Walt said he was making parks to get away from the 1920's amusement parks. I think I felt another earthquake. Walt, please settle down. Personally it would be nice to see the old things like Coney Island and the Pike.

 

[BecBennett]

Molly is right about the sound guards. Remember that there are even the scream shields on the Maliboomer for that reason. Disney has to respect and follow neighborhood sound ordinances. They are in the middle of a residential area, after all. (Same with wind delays and cancelled fireworks. Fireworks can't go past 10 or 10:15pm due to noise regulations.)

hahaha! I always thought they were vomit shields!!

 

[amyamya]

I'd argue that the Golden Zephyr is probably something you can't find at a state fair or local amusement park, as Imagineers supposedly went to England to view one. I like them because they're an old-style ride like you would have seen in parks in the 1900s - 1920s. And I believe that there are only 2 other Fun Wheel-style wheels in the world (though as I understand it Disney did blatantly rip off the design from the original in Coney Island ). I'll concede that both LOOK very much like typical fair rides, though. I'm not sure I'd call the Fun Wheel "lazy" (well, unless you want to call stealing other people's ideas lazy ) and I certainly wouldn't call the Golden Zephyr lazy either. (I also probably wouldn't call it particularly fun to ride, and maybe not even a good idea to build given its limitations on operation due to wind. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't a lot of effort put in to it. )

Good points. I will retract "lazy" because, like you said, the IMs put a lot of time, research and imagination into what they do, and are by no means lazy. One of the reasons I love DL so much was because Walt departed so much from the typical amusement park when he created it, like Mechurchlady said.
To have those "typical" rides at DCA I never found fun disappointed me. We used to go to the Santa Cruz pier growing up and it always seemed so lacking in comparison to DL.

 

[bumbershoot]

We used to go to the Santa Cruz pier growing up and it always seemed so lacking in comparison to DL.

And then there's me, who missing the Beach Boardwalk hugely, and hopes to have a long enough CA vacation to go really do the BB right, not just the one hour trips here and there (long enough for my dad's money to give out and his patience as well) on our weekends with him. I love love love their coaster and miss the cave ride (is it still there?).




I adore DCA.

The one thing it's missing is those actual kiddie rides with the sparkly-paint cars that make the eh-eh-eh-eh-eh noise while going around...and I'm serious! I love those rides, and yes they are at the Puyallup Fair every year but I'd still love them at DCA.

 

[caligirl stuck in va]

I understand why they are moving the California letters. I guess I don't understand why they are removing the letters. I will miss them when they are gone.

 

[mechurchlady]

I understand why they are moving the California letters. I guess I don't understand why they are removing the letters. I will miss them when they are gone.

They want to make a Main Street type of entrance with the Trolley Car. The only place to lengthen the entrance is at the letters. They need more room and the Esplanade will be their source for that.

 

[amyamya]

And then there's me, who missing the Beach Boardwalk hugely, and hopes to have a long enough CA vacation to go really do the BB right, not just the one hour trips here and there (long enough for my dad's money to give out and his patience as well) on our weekends with him. I love love love their coaster and miss the cave ride (is it still there?).

No, I think that ride is gone, but the big, rattley, jerky coaster is still there and I will admit it has some great views from the top. Oh, the Beach Boardwalk! I have some serious memories of that place. They had a booth where you could record yourself singing on tape! My friend and I sang Janet Jackson's Black Cat... didn't they have those buckets you could ride on along the Boardwalk, too? That and getting sick on salt water taffy stand out in my mind.

I get the whole PP idea of the California piers in their heyday, but it doesn't feel Disney to me like the rest of the park.

 

[Bread&Butterflies]

ok- I am glad to know I am not the only one hopping onto the HoJo rooftop cam just to look at DisneyLand!...

I took pics of the fireworks one night- watched the entire show.
You know you belong on the Disboard when you are doing that!

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

ok- I am glad to know I am not the only one hopping onto the HoJo rooftop cam just to look at DisneyLand!...

I took pics of the fireworks one night- watched the entire show.
You know you belong on the Disboard when you are doing that!

Nope! I do it all the time!

 

[caligirl stuck in va]

I know they need space in the esplanade to create the Main Street they have now envisioned for DCA. I don't know why they have to get rid of the letters completely - put them back in the esplanade.

However, this thread was about the new PP sign on California Screamin. I miss the Mickey ears. I think the sign looks disproportionate with the scale of the ride. They must be planning on adding something else to it as well.

I know they are adding Mickey to the Wheel of Death. And even though I don't enjoy the Wheel of Death, I did really enjoy looking at it. I liked it as the Sun Wheel. I have seen the Artist Concept for the Mickey Fun Wheel of Death and although ok, I still like the Sun better.

I am a Virgo - I have problems with change when I don't see anything wrong with the way it is.

Golden Dreams - you want to take that out? NO problem. You want to fix the nothingness that is San Fran rowhouses? NO problem. You want to add big rides to enhance the park? NO problem. But some of the spending they are doing does seem silly. And while I am writing it, I will miss the GG Bridge and the murals on the way into the park. I always felt the entrance to DCA was different from DL for a reason - very casual and laid back and beautiful in it's own way. I will miss DCA. I hope I enjoy the new version, though, as I plan to come back to the parks.

Now all you people that h&8^ DCA, don't feel compelled to tell me how much you H&8# it - I have already read your posts.

 

[Eeee-va]

To have those "typical" rides at DCA I never found fun disappointed me. We used to go to the Santa Cruz pier growing up and it always seemed so lacking in comparison to DL.

I grew up far away from the ocean so I never had a seaside park nearby, even though I think they're really neat. I just love the idea of having one I can visit in one of my favorite places in the world. So for that reason I am happy to see one in DCA. I just wish they had a nice wooden coaster from the 1920s as well!

(But I fully agree that there are a few rides there that are more like a traveling fair's rides, and/or are just not themed in a way that portrays the idealized world that I like to see at Disney parks.)