The Way Things Were, Or Would Have Been...

A great idea is as simple as black and white...

Buena Vista Street is supposed to be the vision of what Walt would have seen...

It's where is dreams would have started, his story would have began to be told. And if it were told in the 1920's/1930's, it would have been shown in glorious black & white photographs. So imagine what it would have looked like to walk down that street with a big, old Speed Graphic camera and snap a picture as you go to the Hollywood Hotel (before that tragic accident, of course) to hear that great new trio, the Silver Lake Sisters sing, or go shopping for a new suit in that dapper new store, Elias and Co., or stop for a refreshingly, cold and creamy treat to beat the heat of a 30's summer in southern California at Clarabelle's Ice Cream. Or... you get the idea.


























Imagine that...

BusinessWeak...

We screwed up, this was our attempt to fix it...





Bob Iger did an interesting interview with BusinessWeek that just came out...

Focusing almost entirely on the Extreme Makeover and rebirth of Disney California Adventure, he talks to reporter, Devin Leonard about Buena Vista Street/Cars Land. While it's a short interview, done while exploring the park, it's interesting getting into the mind of Iger, and how it relates to balancing the creative and business side of a company as big as the Mouse. I also like the fact that the CEO can admit mistakes. That's a rare quality that isn't shared with the former head of Walt's Empire.

Give it a read and find out for yourself...

The Signs Of The Times...

Take it as a sign...







The very point of a theme park is to have a theme...

This was one of the problems with DCA 1.0. really. You could say it had a theme, but it wasn't very strong or clear, it wasn't thought out and it wasn't really good.

For Imagineers it was a rare misfire.

When WDI began the task of taking/remaking California Adventure it needed a cohesive theme that would work throughout the new lands/areas/ to focus this park into a place that guests would want to go.

It's clearly been a success, but sometimes people don't notice all the little things. In addition to the architecture, the smallest of details help tell a story. For instance: Signs point the way, and lead the mind to the conclusion that it's believing the world that has been created for it. Or not. In this case, it works remarkably well.

Buena Vista Street is supposed to take you back to the late Twenties or Thirties and pull you into the period. The signs here are a great reflection of that. The buildings and music and atmosphere are all wonderful, but it's the signs that point the way.


























And these are only a few signs of what you take in as you walk into this representation of Walt's past...

Relaunched In 7 Days, Reborn In 11 Years...

California Adventure actually is an adventure now...








In a week, those entering Disney California Adventure will get an amazing experience...

Let me just say that Buena Vista Street and Cars Land are so detailed, and so amazing that the rest of the park looks bland by comparison. Not to put down all the detail and improvements that have happened over the past five years, but it's truly another level of immersion when you walk down these lands compared to what was there before.

There will be modest improvements over the next few years, but any major adjustments will come later. None are officially approved yet. And they won't until the Suits inside the Team Disney Building have seen the figures, but I don't think they have anything to worry about. This new front entrance and new land are great and take you to a Disney park that fans have hungered for since walking into Sunshine Plaza over a decade ago.

I imagine the wonder in a young child's eyes on that Friday morning, next week...

(Just) In Time...

Finally. period...


Three weeks from today DCA opens as a Disney Park...

I've said that various times over many, many posts in the past few years, but finally people will walk down the lands and get a true idea of what I mean. One of the great things that you will find is the thematic transition of characters in the park.

Buena Vista Street is the best example of this. Being as the areas represent periods of the California that no longer exists, or as I refer to it, Decades, the character theming is important to the presentation of these times. The official description of BVS is that it's 20's/30's, it it is essentially the Thirties. And the Carthay Circle Theater is the culmination of this narrative.

If you've ever been to Tokyo DisneySEA (and shame on you if you haven't), then you know how they are able to take classic Disney characters and project them into a time, a period and have them own it. From Mediterranean Harbor where Mickey and his crew are dressed in maritime/oceanic themed costumes, Lost River Delta where Donald and his gang appear to be 30's adventurers, or the American Waterfront where everyone looks like they walked out at the turn of the Twentieth Century.

And you can go anywhere else in that marvelous gate and see the way the characters work and how the designers get it. It is a textbook example of the "Disney Way", the very reason why the Moustro was so successful. And this is one of a laundry list of things that the original DCA failed at.

That will all change when you take a stroll down Buena Vista Street. From the Newsies-type singers on the Red Car Trolley, to the period band Five and Dime or the traditional characters you see walking around interacting with guests, or the Citizens of Buena Vista Street, it will all take you to a place that you've never been if you've entered DCA before:

A Disney Park.

And we will all have a much more memorable experience. One that should have happened a decade ago were it not for blind, bean counters. But better late than never, right?

21 days and what should have been, will finally be...

Posting Periods...

Posted...





If you happen to get to see the new display at the Blue Sky Cellar, you will find these...





Three new lovely posters for more attractions. This brings to nine the number of posters done in this retro-Disneyland style. Now wouldn't it be nice if they sold all of these together in a set? Of course, there's still more that need to be done, like Midway Mania, Radiator Springs Racers, ect.





But it's lovely to view the walk back...

Time Zones...

Going back into the magic of the past...



We've talked before about the retheming of Disney California Adventure, but I thought this time we'd explain it with a visual representation...

While I've talked quite a bit in the past about the new perspective on focusing on the park's representation of the Golden State. That view of California from the perspective of how Walt saw it. Basically, a representation of all the periods in which Disney lived in this state. So the experience is a Disney Experience, in whatever attraction is put in, and the various areas/lands will be made up of seeing a place from the perspective of the time he was here. These are my words, but the Imagineer's intent, just so you know.

The park is divided into the sections of Walt's life from his first entering in the Twenties, to his passing in the Sixties:

Paradise Pier - (1920's) An idealized seaside pier and harbor representing a walk by the shore during the early part of the twentieth Century, just as Walt Disney arrived in the state to realize his dreams. Set during the Post-Victorian/Edwardian Era representing a simpler, but vibrant life for those walking along the golden beaches of the growing and prosperous West Coast.

Buena Vista Street - (1930's) Set during the rising days of Walt's studio and the establishing of it as a major player in Hollywood, the Spanish Revival style will evoke much of what it was like to walk down the sidewalk of Los Angeles during that period.

Hollywood Land - (1940's) Imagined as the way it was viewed during the Golden Era of Hollywood. The Art Deco and movie studio influences are supposed to give you the feeling of being in a nostalgic interpretation of what Tinsel Town was like during this period.

Golden State - (1950's) A representation of the national parks that you would find in the state, like Yosemite or Redwood National Park. Drawing on inspiration from the Real Life series, this area with its woodsy feel and Arts & Crafts architecture invoke a rustic view of what it was like to see rural mid to northern California.

Cars Land - (1960's) Driving down Route 66 in its prime, seeing what it was like to travel through the open desert going down the "Mother Road" as an entryway into California. The end of the American way of life before the highways took over and pushed you past the lands, not through them. And as the sun set on this special time, it also quietly represents the passing of the company's creator.

And as far as A Bug's Land goes, well that happens to be a bridge land set between two others. It represents the lands and valleys that occupy the state, feed our nation and the world, but it doesn't represent a time period. But everything else has it, or will eventually have its own time and feel.

So think of this as a new beginning, not a middle and certainly not an end...

From Postcards To The Past...

As many of you know, this week prep begins for the hubcap and bathroom tiles to come down...

We have to wait a little while before the alphabet joins it as most construction on the front takes place in the new year, but progress abounds. Once the metallic sun goes down, prep work will begin for the new weenie; the replica of the Carthay Circle Theater. The mosaic tiles will be slowly disappearing behind the California letters. The design, meant to appear as a postcard looking into the wacky world of the Golden State, never really connected with anyone. The artwork looked far better than the actual result, and the result didn't look that good. If you make theming that has to be explained then it's not good theming. A major problem is the fact that the real world the park was to represent, can be gotten outside for free. No need to pay almost $80 bucks for it.

The entire mark of the entrance (and park) were off. When you walk down the entrance, it doesn't take you out of the real world, it just tells you you're in a cheap replacement for it. Contrast this with Main Street U.S.A., which with each step you take, sends you into an idealised version of turn-of-the-century America. By the time you get to the hub, you've left reality and moved on to another world. One created by Walt and his dreams.

It's not the same over experience across the Esplanade. After moving that short distance from the gates to Sunshine Plaza, you're left wandering why you paid for something you can get outside. And usually better themed. That's a major mistake and one that made many a person not go through the turnstiles. I know a lot of people e-mailed me to say that I was saying the new theming is as good as DisneySEA. Anyone who says that hasn't been reading this blog for very long. No theme is as as strong as TDS, save for Disneyland itself. And both of those aren't perfect either. There are cases and places where things have been put that don't belong. That said, I accept the new layout and explanation for Anaheim's Second Gate. It works a great deal better than the original plan ever did. I like how the new plan is a compliment and be a flip on the whole concept of Main Street.

While Main Street U.S.A. is a romantic, idealized version of Marceline, Missouri that Walt saw in is days as a young boy and Disneyland is a reflection of his imagination. Buena Vista Street will be a romantic, idealized version of Los Angeles, California that Walt saw in his first years starting his company and California Adventure will be a reflection of the adventures created by his company. I like that. It's not perfect, but then again, the Arabian Coast in Tokyo DisneySEA is an attempt to wedge something from the desert, where there was no water anywhere to be seen, into an aquatic environment. And it works. You have to suspend your belief and reasoning when looking at it and also forget that the film makes no mention related to the ocean or water. But the Imagineers made it believable. DCA will have a connection to the magic of the Disney Brothers company that started in L.A. so long ago. The entire park will be transformed into the Disney experiences viewed through the times and themes of the state where Walt made it all happen.

And when it's all done in 2012, it won't be really done. There will still be work to be done. There always will be. But a kid coming into that new entrance is going to have a much better experience than the tykes that walked past those letters in February almost a decade ago. As time goes by, the theming and detail will get better and slowly we will forget the mess this park was in the beginning. Let's just make sure we never let the Suits forget.

The second decade of this park is going to shine like Sunshine Plaza never did...