Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The End Of The Beginning Of The End...


Today "Toy Story Midway Mania" opens up at the Paradise Pier area in Disney's California Adventure...

It's a new day. A new dawn for a park that was badly under-funded, under-themed, under-built and under-planned.

Let this be the start of something big... something magical that turns this park into a true "Disney Park".

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

And that for a park I think is one of the nicest themeparks in the world already :)
Let's make it even better, can't wait to see it!

Unknown said...

This is the gospel, according to Hunter.

Praise be to thee, O Lord Walt.

Seriously dude, your tenses drive me crazy.

Honor Hunter said...

That's what I'm here for Corruption...

To drive you crazy. Glad to see it's working!

Unknown said...

Perhaps you should retitle the blog "Making Corruption Crazy."

:-P

Honor Hunter said...

Too much paperwork...

Anonymous said...

I hope it's true that Disney's going to remove the creaky old Muppets show and replace it with a Narnia attraction. That would be an important second step to making DCA worth visiting.

Anonymous said...

This "ride" sucks. I would have stayed home if I wanted to play a freaking video game!! WTF..a 3 hour wait for this!?

Oh no but its "special" because its in 3D and they blow air on your face!! Puhleeeze...all your doing is passing in front of screens and playing some cheap video game. Its nice I guess but its not very groundbreaking or amazing like ppl are making it seem. Don't wait more than 30-45 minutes for this.

Anonymous said...

I would not wait more than 20 minutes for this attraction.

Anonymous said...

Well anonymous, you can also put dolls in your living room and make a tour around them on your bike without a 3 hour wait...

Anonymous said...

It will be exciting to see this park blossom further.

I have to say, though, I had a real reminder of how *good* a park DCA is yesterday!

I live here in San Jose and we have California's Great America. I think missing Disney caused me to buy an annual pass this year--and I went yesterday for the first time on it. Wow! What a difference. It's not a horrible park or anything--but compared to *any* Disney park, it paled. Paint faded and peeling, *very* minimal theming, mostly rude staff (some were great though), and just a lack of any area that makes you want to sit and look around.

I think DCA *is* worthy of being a Disney Park--it's just not worthy of being a FULL DAY Disney park. , or, frankly, the same Admission price as Disneyland.

Brer Dan

nojarama said...

I think what they have planned WILL make it ALMOST as good as DLR and TDS. Can't wait to see DCA evolve in the next few years. And leave the Muppets ALONE!

Spokker said...

While I like Toy Story Mania in the sense that it didn't replace a previous attraction, I don't think it's the start of a new era.

There's already a shooting type attraction at Disneyland. TSM has little immersion and it's pretty obvious you're just staring at 3D TV screens and playing a game. It doesn't have the atmosphere or story of a Pirates or a Mansion, or even a Mr. Toad.

What I like about TSM is the facade. The building is beautiful and if that's what the Pier will look like in 2012, count me in. The audio animatronic Potato Head is also very cool. But the ride itself isn't very interesting to me. Like others have said, it's just a mindless video game.

I'm also concerned about something at Disneyland right now. Indiana Jones is in really bad shape. It's running at partial capacity because it really needs a refurbishment right now. They don't want to close it because of the seasonal Indy event they have going on right now.

Letting rides get this bad was a product of the Pressler-Harris era and it's sad to see it still happening in one corner of the park.

Anonymous said...

It's a very fun ride, and it WASNT meant to be an "E" ticket, so stop complaining~! I LOVE the facade of this attraction and goes to show you what's to come of the park, and that's very exciting. While I'm not a HUGE Pixar fan, Its a change from what DCA has to offer. I cant wait for the rest of the pier to look like that, and for the park to be a true DISNEY park :)

Spokker said...

"It's a very fun ride, and it WASNT meant to be an "E" ticket, so stop complaining~!"

No one is complaining that it isn't an E-Ticket. But as is the case with Astro Blasters in adjacent Disneyland, if you just sit and watch, it's a very bland and empty experience. It's an attraction that relies on a gimmick that's already been done in a park just across the way.

Anonymous said...

I was there this morning. They only let the first 60-70 guests watch the opening ceremony which was disappointing since I wanted to see it live!

The line was incredible. I waited 5 hours in line only to have the ride break down and they had to evacuate the entire line of people in the ride's que. By rides que I mean near the ride, because the line for this ride started at the entrance to California Adventure, went through the Hollywood Studios, through A Bugs Land, had a major que on top of the pier, then went down stairs to the extended que area, then went to the actual ride que area.

A cast member told me the line had gotten to 10 hours long at the entrance so they had to close it off. After it went 101 I decided to leave the line although I was so close! But people all over the park in the various que positions stayed there. The ride was still down when I went by a while back.

Quite an opening...The crowds have arrived at DCA.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to Honor for getting a mention at latimes.com in the funland blog about breaking the story about the changeover for teh Orange stiger

Anonymous said...

10 HOURS for TSM?? I'd rather spend a day riding Its A Small World endlessly than that. That's crazy. Guess that "Disneyland Resort" ad wasnt so misleading after all?? People obviously got the message that its at DCA. Even at DHS on a busy Friday during Star Wars Weekends, the wait was never more than 2-3 hours and I never even saw the queue line stretch out past the ride building. (& east coast advertising was park specific and listed it as opening at Disneys Hollywood Studios)

Spokker said...

I doubt it's 10 hours for TSM. People didn't even wait that long for Indy in 1995. No ride is worth that long of a wait.

Anonymous said...

It's a very fun ride, and it WASNT meant to be an "E" ticket, so stop complaining~! I LOVE the facade of this attraction and goes to show you what's to come of the park, and that's very exciting. While I'm not a HUGE Pixar fan, Its a change from what DCA has to offer. I cant wait for the rest of the pier to look like that, and for the park to be a true DISNEY park :)

I totally agree. You folks need to stop picking on Toy Story Midway Mania. It truly IS an awesome and immersive attraction and should be enjoyed it for what it is!

I'm talkin' to you, Spokker, Ghostbuster, Anonymous #2, etc.!

Anonymous said...

”This "ride" sucks. I would have stayed home if I wanted to play a freaking video game!! WTF..a 3 hour wait for this!?

Oh no but its "special" because its in 3D and they blow air on your face!! Puhleeeze...all your doing is passing in front of screens and playing some cheap video game. Its nice I guess but its not very groundbreaking or amazing like ppl are making it seem. Don't wait more than 30-45 minutes for this.”

Considering that in a year or so Disney will probably be realeasing the TSMM game as an interactive video game for your new 3D TV (http://news.cnet.com/Philips-3D-TV-to-appear-in-2008/2100-1041_3-6022254.html), the only thing missing will be the wind and water effects.

Ken Paris said...

I agree that this is a new day for DCA. I have not ridden the ride yet, but I am looking forward to it. Hopefully the wait will be much shorter than grand opening.

Congrats to WDI for pulling off what I think will be a hit for this whole summer.

Anonymous said...

Spokker, have you even been on it?

Anonymous said...

I hope there are holiday layovers for Christmas and Hallowe'en.

Spokker said...

"Spokker, have you even been on it?"

Nope. And I have no interest to go see it.

If this person:

"I agree that this is a new day for DCA. I have not ridden the ride yet"

can say that it's a new day for DCA without even riding it, I can say just the opposite without riding it.

Anonymous said...

Paging Honor Hunter, paging Honor Hunter...

Anonymous said...

Originally posted by lee: "The line was incredible. I waited 5 hours in line only to have the ride break down and they had to evacuate the entire line of people in the ride's que. By rides que I mean near the ride, because the line for this ride started at the entrance to California Adventure, went through the Hollywood Studios, through A Bugs Land, had a major que on top of the pier, then went down stairs to the extended que area, then went to the actual ride que area."

Since Hollywood Studios and Bugs Lands are not connected and are both dead ends, how is this even possible? Exaggeration maybe?

Anonymous said...

”I think what they have planned WILL make it ALMOST as good as DLR and TDS. Can't wait to see DCA evolve in the next few years. And leave the Muppets ALONE!”

Even with everything they have scheduled for the park upgrades, DCA will NEVER approach the quality and themeing level of TDS,

Anonymous said...

"I can say just the opposite without riding it."

Nah, you're not saying the opposite. You did when you said it's not the start of a new era, which is an opinion just like the other persons.... but then you went off like you always do.

You went on saying that it has no atmosphere, is a bland and empty experience, and that it relies on a gimmick. That's where it goes from opinion to you preaching your opinion as fact.

"And I have no interest to go see it."

Then why on earth are you talking about it????????????

Why was it again you've been banned from every other Disney site you try to frequent? Oh yeah, BLATANT TROLLING.

Spokker said...

I see Toy Story Mania as three distinct entities.

There's the building, which I have seen in person. It looked beautiful even in it's pre-opening state.

There's the Potato Head animatronic which, to be honest, impresses me more than anything the ride portion has to offer.

But the ride itself doesn't excite me. I simply abhor 3D attractions, and I dislike the recent reliance on TV/projection screens in place of actual three dimensional audio animatronics.

Am I wrong about Toy Story Mania in that much of the ride itself is painted flats and TV screens with carnival lights strung above you? If not, then I'm right in saying that I wouldn't like it.

Overall though I'm happy that Toy Story Mania was built, even if I dislike it's shallow core. But for all the hype I don't think it's any more advanced than the Fantasyland dark rides.

If trolling is voicing a sincere and strong negative opinion, then I'm trolling :)

Anonymous said...

Spokker, I look forward to the day that Honor Hunter finally kicks your sorry behind out of here.

Anonymous said...

It'll happen. Just like the other Disney sites, he'll keep going like this until one day he'll cross the line and be banned.

Spokker said...

"he'll keep going like this until one day he'll cross the line and be banned."

Cross the line by saying I don't like the TV screens or the 3D effects in Toy Story Mania? Haha, okay.

Anonymous said...

It's really cool to look at the archives...now that DCA is great and all, it's interesting to see how it began.