A Numbers Game...

Popularity is a fleeting thing...

The attendance of theme parks shows the popularity of the destination, and from time to time parks rankings will move up or down.  For long periods of history certain spots have been held by the same park.  For instance, the Magic Kingdom in Florida has maintained the top position in theme parks.

Years ago, before Tokyo Disneyland added a second gate, the stunning Tokyo DisneySEA, there was a horse race between the two parks for the top position.  Now, WDW's first park wins outright with the original here on the west coast getting the silver prize.

The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and AECOM have just released the figures of theme parks for 2012.  How did Disney do this year?  Where did Disney California Adventure get to after the Extreme Makeover?  Where is the rest of the world in themed entertainment?

You can find the answers to all these and many more here.  It's an exhaustive analyses of where, what and why of theme parks.  It's also quite readable with graphs, charts and lists that put in perspective the theme parks of the world, not just Disney's world.  But here is a list of the top 25 theme parks for the Cliffs Notes version:

1. Magic Kingdom 17,536,000  +2.3%
2. Disneyland 15,963,000 -1.1%
3. Tokyo Disneyland 14,847,000 +8.5%
4. Tokyo Disney Sea 12,656,000 +8.5%
5. Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris 11,200,000 +1.9%
6. Epcot 11,063,000 +2.2%
7. Disney's Animal Kingdom 9,998,999 +2.2%
8. Disney's Hollywood Studios 9,912,000 +2.2%
9. Universal Studios Japan 9,700,000 +14.1%
10. Islands of Adventure 7,981,000 +4%
11. Disney California Adventure 7,775,000 +22.6%
14. Hong Kong Disneyland 6,700,000 +13.6%
15. Universal Studios Orlando 6,195,000 +2.5%
19. Sea World Florida 5,358,000 +3.0%
20. Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris 4,800,000 +1.9%
23. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay 4,348,000 +1.5%

24. DeeFTeLING  Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands 4,200,000 +1.8%

25. OcT eAST Shenzhen, China 4,196,000 +7.9%



Now, if this intrigues you then head over to the actual report for a detailed look...

Hallowed Ground...

Boo, I mean, boo...




In a few weeks the holidays will begin at the Disneyland Resort...

Soon you'll be able to walk into the "Nightmare Before Christmas" seasonal overlay of the Haunted Mansion and take part in all of the HalloweenTime parties, or just walk through all the heavily layered lands of this holiday. But then there is the excitement of seeing what will happen across the Esplanade. Remember how Buena Vista Street was themed to an old fashioned celebration of the Fourth of July? It was minimal, but showed how you can take this great new entrance and turn it into something even more special. But now, the next major holiday is right around the corner and you have to wonder what is up the sleeves of Disneyland's entertainment department?

From what I hear, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and happy. But this is the first season for the newly rebranded park, and the thought is that it will be adding layers upon layers as the years go by. So we will find areas throughout the park decked out in orange and black and other activities to go with Halloween, but it will also be a minimalistic celebration of this spooky time. This won't be as dramatic as the Christmas layover which will go all out, but unless the plans change, the areas around Disney's second gate will still be filled with enough ghosts and ghouls to delight the child in all of us. And each year, more and more theming will be added.

Now that's scary...

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...

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...

Looking In The Mirror...

Mirror, mirror on the Esplanade...







It's been a very bizarre week at the Disneyland Resort...

Not only has DCA been doing better than expected, it's been doing better than Disneyland. Take Sunday for instance. The projected attendance for the day for California Adventure was a mind blowing 58,000 guests. All this while Disneyland was supposed to get a more moderately high 30's figure. It's like a reverse image of a month ago. And just getting 30,000 would have been a very busy day for DCA. Not anymore. Mid to high 40's are the norm and lately it's teetering on the 50,000+ level.

It's amazing the success you can achieve when you do something right.

The bean counters that smacked Disney's name on the mess that was DCA in 2001 couldn't grasp this simple concept that the company's founder put forth as a business model. They were the antithesis of what the man, and his company was. The majority of the new management in Burbank realize this now. Not all, but most, and that's as good as can be expected. After all, 12% of the nation believes Elvis is still alive. You can't get everyone on the right issue, but as long as you can get the majority of them with you, then you're doing alright.

Now, I don't want you to think that I believe DCA is perfect. It's not. It still needs work, and it will still get work. But it will be incremental, not dramatic like what has come before. It will have some interesting improvements, but that is/will be a talk for another day. In another post. For the next couple years, lets all walk down Buena Vista Street and enjoy what the company does best when it does its best. Let's take a stroll through the Pacific Wharf area and head beneath that arch for a breathtaking view of how you can be consumed by an idea. It's the best representation of entering the world embodied in a film. It's mesmerizing. Even if you're not a fan of the film, "Cars", Cars Land is a sight to behold.

And the new found success of DCA is good for everyone...

Lucky Rabbit Ears...

Are you marketing guys paying attention...






You're looking at one of the most asked for items in Buena Vista Street...

And it's not for sale. It's not even available. But the Cast Members working at Elias & Company as well as other stores/shops like Oswald's gas station have been telling guests we don't have any. Not that they're out of stock, but they don't have any Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Ears.

This is actually a giveaway item that the makers of Epic Mickey 2 were handing out to people at E3. Little did they know they'd create such a demand for something. These are now collector's items that are selling for between $80 and $400 on ebay right now. And still people are asking where they can buy them.

It doesn't help seeing all those people walking around the park wearing them. It makes people think they can be purchased there. And if all those Cast Members keep telling their managers, and those managers tell their higher ups, then we might see some of these available in the parks sometime in the near future. It's not like the Mouse doesn't like to make money on something.

Especially when so many people are willing to spend the cash so they too can walk around the park wearing a pair...

Carmageddon...

Your Ad Here

I can't wait to see that animatronic Whoopie...



It appears that the Suits in Burbank finally got the crowds they were expecting for the Second Gate...

Not that you couldn't tell it was going to be a success, and long lines couldn't be have been see months ago. I'm sure Paul Pressler felt that Superstar Limo was supposed to have a six hour wait, but the park he planned wasn't what people expected out of a Disney theme park. Even with the warning signs, Eisner and his team went forward with what they thought was a surefire hit: California in California.

It wasn't.

Especially the idea of a contemporary, extreme sports type park that became dated before it opened. The Imagineers have taken that concept and twisted it into something that not only actually works, but appears as though it was actually planned that way. A view of California the way it was while Walt was here. Each area were nostalgic representations of the Golden State that no longer exist. From the Roaring Twenties when he arrived, to the Idealist Sixties when he left this world for the next.

Imagine what a child walking into this park over the next decade will think? The presentation they will experience and the attractions they will get to enjoy are an entirely different kind than guests got in 2001. Imagine what the park's fifteenth anniversary will bring? The improvements, plussing and additions that will further make DCA a worthy sister to Disneyland. The long lines we saw yesterday are an example of what happens when you create something that people desire to see. This was something lost on the bean counters a decade ago. But it wasn't lost on WDI when the rope dropped yesterday. You could tell that from the smiles on the Imagineers faces as they watched guests head into the reborn park. They did a great job turning a piece of coal into a diamond.

Good job, daydreamers...

Comic Appeal...

The World of Tomorrow, today...







With all the media attention today surrounding DCA, one obvious question was asked...

What about Marvel?

Tom Staggs was giving a press interview at the Golden State Winery, he was pressed about the matter and was honest without being too revealing.

"We were hard at work on attractions using Marvel characters previously, and that work has only intensified given (the film's) great success,"

Yes, there are plans to work the characters into every park in some way or form, but the thing I like is he emphasised about it being in a proper way. So you won't have to worry about Sleeping Beauty and Thor walking out for a photo op. Or don't plan on seeing the Hulk and Belle walk through the castle opening to greet guest, while the Other Guy says: "Hulk Happiest When Smash!"

But you might see something along the lines of the Fantastic Four in Tomorrowland, or maybe Iron Man and the Avengers in a Stark Expo there... theoretically, of course. But time and place will still mean something. While Bob Iger has spent more on parks in the last few years than his predecessor, spending will tapper off a bit as Burbank settles in to see how guests react to the Extreme Makeover. Disney California Adventure will enjoy its new place in the Resort, while next year the Big Sister starts to get some much needed attention. And I don't believe you'll see many Marvel characters at the Second Gate, but in a couple years some interesting events/shows/attractions mights start to show up in other areas of the park here in Anaheim and the world.

Orlando and Yunibāsaru Sutajio will just have to wait and watch, for the meantime...

The Adventure Begins...

Now let's start on 2.1...We've only just begun...









Today is the day...

From this day forth, from now on, Disney California Adventure starts off with a new, fresh slate. For all of us entering the park that were there at the beginning, it's a new day. For those entering the park for the first time, it's a blessing. They get to start off the park from a completely different perspective.

Walking through that first land, it's going to be an experience that sets the tone for an incredibly fun journey. While Buena Vista Street is the flip side to Disneyland's Main Street U.S.A., Cars Land will be to DCA what New Orleans Square is to Disneyland. And Radiator Springs Racers will be its Pirates of the Caribbean.

So if you enter through that new front entrance today, enjoy the stroll, take it all in and drink from the canvas that Imagineers have painted.

It's going to be an adventure...

Reborn...

Now let's start on 2.1...






Today the media gets its first look at the new DCA...

While the Disneyland Resort's Second Gate doesn't officially reopen for guests until tomorrow, this marks the beginning of the rebranding as a park that can now truly be said to be a Disney Park. There is no such thing as perfection, and there are areas of the park which need to have more plussing, but people that come to the resort will no longer hesitate when they think about buying a ticket just for Disney California Adventure. It will finally be worth the admission price.

In fact, Buena Vista Street and Cars Land succeed so well at putting you in a Disney world, that they make the rest of the park pale by comparison. Not that there aren't great areas or detailed places in the park. It's just these new additions are so beyond what is/was expected that they leave the modest creations that Imagineers put in a decade earlier in the back of your mind.

Walking down that recreation of 1930's Los Angeles is going to create an entirely different impression for guests experiencing this park. People who have never been here will be amazed by the beauty, and people returning will be stunned at how different it is. The level of detail with the hidden treats waiting for you to find are indescribable and have to be experienced. Main Street's sister had a very successful plastic surgery and her sibling is in the same league for a change.

Cars Land is a wonderfully immersive environment. If you walk down the Mother Road toward the land you will feel yourself drawn into an animated film like no other experience you've had at a Disney park. But if you really want to feel the transformation, go through the entrance at Pacific Wharf. Going under that archway and entering the land there actually is more revealing and successful than the main entrance, IMHO. Even if you're not a fan of the film, your senses will be overwhelmed by the detail. You can't help but be impressed by the experience.

It's been a long road, but after a decade of disappointments, the park is finally the destination Suits expected and fans deserved...

A Full Plate...

Yummy...









Disneyland has released a list of all the entertainment that will be offered at DCA over the summer...

It's quite a collection, between all the good entertainment that was there and the new or returning offerings. This park is a long way from where it was a decade ago. Imagine where it will be a decade from now.

And that's a good thing.

Here's the list:

Starting June 15, 2012 when Disney California Adventure's new hours will be open/close 8:00 am-11:00 pm
Continuing Entertainment/Returning Entertainment/New Entertainment


World of Color - Paradise Bay
9:00pm , 10:15pm

Pixar Play Parade - Performance Corridor
2:00pm, 5:00pm

Phineas and Ferbs Rockin Rollin Dance Party - Performance Corridor
9:30am, 10:30am, 11:30am,12:30pm,2:55pm,3:55pm

DJ's Dance and Drive - Route 66 (Cars Land)
3:30pm, 4:30pm, 5:30pm, 7:00pm, 8:00pm, 9:00pm

Disney's Aladdin a musical Spectacular - Hyperion Theatre
11:55am, 1:35pm, 3:20pm, 4:45pm, 6:20pm

Five and Dime - Carthay Circle
8:30am, 9:30am,10:30am,12:30pm,1:30pm, 3:30pm ,4:30pm, 6:00pm, 7:15pm , 8:15pm

Red Car News Boys - Carthay Circle
10:00am, 11:00am, 12pm, 1:00pm, 3:00pm, 4:00pm

Disney Junior- Live on Stage - Disney Theatre
10:15am, 11:15am, 12:15pm, 1:50pm, 2:50pm, 3:50pm

Minnie Fly Girls Charter Airline - Condor Flats
10:50am, 11:50am, 12:50pm , 2:35pm , 3:35pm, 4:35pm

Instant Concert: Just Add Water - Paradise Bay
11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm, 2:45pm, 3:45pm, 4:45pm

Dancing' With Disney - Stage 17
1:00-5:00pm

Mad T Party - Hollywood Land
7:00pm ,8:00pm, 9:00pm, 10:00pm


It's nice to not see Disney Dance Crew and Disney Channel Rocks on that list...

Hat Tip to Lighttragic for his compiling this list for Disney fans to enjoy.

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...

Thinning The Herd...

Money, money, money...





In case you missed it, the price to get into Carsland go a whole lot higher...

Daily Tickets:

One Day/One park... $87
One day/Two park... $125


Annual Passports:

Premium... $649
Deluxe... $469
Southern California*... $329
Southern California Select*... $269

Southern California Residents Only

On Sunday the Suits put out their new prices to get into the park/annual passport and it was much more than most were expecting. And it could be described as the Mouse being greedy, it's also correct to say that it's a way to control the ever growing AP's that are coming to the parks monthly/weekly/daily.

While I too cringe at the thought of paying $600+ for a premium pass, the over a million annual pass holders and their spending habits have gotten Team Disney Anaheim in a position where they felt to control the coming onslaught of crowds, a line was going to have to be drawn.

With AP's walking around the parks spending far less and coming far more than tourist/foreigners it was determined that a much larger (30%) fee was going to have to be charged. Now, some have felt that this will cause less people to come and this is true. But it is also the Disneyland Resort's intention. Why would they want less people to come, you say?

Well, the crowds that will be coming over the next few months are expected to be large and the worry inside the halls in of the Suits is that controlling them and the AP's was going to be too difficult a headache. So, the decision was made to make those paying for a pass, to pay a slightly larger premium than they've paid before. Not all will renew their passes. Some will get a lower passport like the SoCal or SoCal Select (which is what the Suits wanted) or even the Deluxe. But with the resort finally being a Disney Resort, and the park finally being a Disney Park it was time to stop giving away what they felt was a package that was worth more than the price.

Now, a decade ago it could be easily argued that the price of going into DCA or a park hopper wasn't worth it. That is a much more debatable argument today. It's certainly worth more to go there, but it has yet to be determined if it's worth the price that Disney is charging. We won't really find out on June 15th either. It's more likely the success of this Extreme Expansion will not be known for a year, or at the very least till the end of the holidays.

But the confidence it shows in the new branding/offerings is the mark of a new day for the Resort...

Another Year, Another Milestone...

Iger, party of one, your table is waiting...







As work progresses on DCA, a lot of people are wondering what will be happening in the top of the Carthay Circle Theater...

Most of you know that the building will not actually be a theater, but have a high end restaurant on the top floor and more modest accommodations down below. But everyone is wondering what the new joint will likely be know as.

"1901"

That's right. That is the name of the new, premium restaurant in the park that the Suits are looking to use. Named as most of you know, for the year Walter Elias Disney was born.

The final approval hasn't been given, but it's the name that everyone seems to like. The menu is still being worked on, but you can expect a high caliber place along the lines of the Blue Bayou, but not quite the exclusive Club 33 type that the Suits and WDI was aiming for. Until the park starts to develop a mystique of its own, regular guests will be able to attend for dinner. The 33 Members will have to stay content with a private lounge.

A decade from now, we'll see...

A Thousand Colors...

The world is a carousel of...





Not only do they debut the "Prep & Landing" pre-show tonight...

But DCA reaches a milestone with World of Color. Tonight the show has it's 1000 presentation. That's right.

One Thousandth Show.

Hard to believe it's only been going on for a year and a half and they've already had that many show, but they have.

Imagine how the park will look when they celebrate two thousand...

Prepping Color...

You been busted...







Those of you that have read this blog often know that I'm a huge "Prep & Landing" fan...

Well those of you that are at Disney California Adventure for World of Color this Friday will get a special treat. There will be a pre-show featuring the lovable elves, Lanny and Wayne before the actual show begins. It's only a couple minutes long, but it's still a wonderful little promotion that they've put together to push, "Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice."

Anyone that's a fan of the WDAS short will sure to love it...

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...