California Adventure Rises Above Hokey, But Challenges Await
Ever since the Gold Rush days, California has been the place where people flock for a fresh start in life, to get rich or to fulfill their dreams. Walt Disney Co. is banking on that popular notion to draw people to its new California Adventure theme park in Anaheim.
But despite Disney’s big expectations for the project, California Adventure is the park that almost didn’t happen,at least not in Orange County.
Ten years ago, Disney toyed with the idea of an oceanfront park in Long Beach near the Queen Mary. Though Anaheim still was in the running as a site for expansion,Disney bought up land surrounding the Fujishige strawberry fields in 1990 for $1.3 million per acre,for a while, Los Angeles seemed to have the inside track.
By 1993, Disney abandoned the Long Beach idea and proposed a $3 billion resort development in Anaheim called Westcot, modeled after its Epcot Center in Orlando. But by then, OC was in a recession. In 1994 Disney decided to rethink the project, saying the resort plan was too ambitious, too costly, and too repetitive of its parks in Florida.
Two years later, at an executive retreat in Aspen, Colo., led by Chief Executive Michael Eisner, the concept of California Adventure took hold after several other ideas were discarded: a sports-themed park, one based on Route 66 and another focused on the world’s oceans.
Initially the brainchild of Paul Pressler, then president of Disneyland, and Barry Braverman, then executive producer of Walt Disney Imagineering, the park envisioned taking visitors on a journey through the California dream,from Hollywood to San Francisco, from mountains to the oceans. What’s more, the cost of California Adventure would be less than half that of the original Westcot.
When the concept was publicly launched in 1996, it seemed hokey to jaded residents who doubted that a “phony” California theme park would work. And it could have turned out that way. But as California Adventure nears opening day Feb. 8, the timing,and the theme,seem to work.
For one thing, attendance at U.S. theme parks has been on the upswing for the past five years, with a 3% increase in 1999 to 309 million, according to Travel Industry Association data, and 2000 looks to be equally strong at year’s end.
“California Adventure is likely to be a distraction for other areas of Southern California,” said Skip Hull, vice president and director of San Diego-based CIC Research Inc., which provides visitor data for the Southland. Hull last week told a conference of tourism officials that OC should see visitor numbers climb to 41.9 million next year,up from about 40 million in 2000.
California Adven-ture’s reincarnation of historic Golden State places and events also may play to a growing interest in cultural, agricultural and adventure travel identified by industry watchers. The park,in contrast to child-centered Disney-land,has more adult appeal, which should help lure baby boomers, who make up a big chunk of travelers.
California Adventure is far cry from the often-frenetic pace of Disneyland, where the biggest risk can be getting run over by minivan-sized strollers.
Though smaller in size than Disneyland, California Adventure’s wide walkways make it seem more spacious. And it appears to offer a more leisurely pace for visitors. Many of the video presentations are more than 20 minutes in length, and some rides,like the 6-minute Grizzly River Run at Grizzly Peak Recreation Area,are longer than those found at other parks.
Then there’s the 2,000-seat Hyperion Theater (the first live-stage facility inside a Disney park), where up to 10 shows per day will be presented, beginning with “Steps in Time,” a tribute to Disney musicals through the ages.
And since California Adventure was built from scratch, Disney’s Fastpass system was built into many of the park’s rides. Fastpass, which allows guests to hold their place in line, offers flexibility for a more leisurely visit. It also affords visitors time to go to sit-down restaurants like the Golden Vine Winery by Robert Mondavi (the first such facility inside a Disney park) or Wolfgang Puck’s Avalon Cove, rather than grabbing a hot dog or popcorn from a nearby vendor to munch while waiting in line for a ride.
While the slower pace should appeal to adults, California Adventure has a lot for younger visitors.
For one, it relies heavily on doses of virtual reality that play out in a number of rides and exhibits, including the Disney Animation pavilion and Soaring Over California at Condor Flats.
Disney Animation, in an art deco pavilion in the Hollywood Boulevard section, could hold attention for hours by itself. Visitors can view clips from Disney’s animated films or hang out in the Sorcerer’s Workshop,an interactive area that allows guests to create their own animation, do voiceovers and take personality tests to see which Disney character they most resemble.
Soaring Over California, a ride first envisioned by Pressler, goes one step further than IMAX films by carrying riders into a virtual tour of California on film while they “hang glide” over the state on a 4-minute flight.
Scott Tanner, director of destination sales for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts calls the park the “fun and adventurous complement” to Disneyland, but little kids aren’t forgotten, either.
Jim Henson’s Muppet*Vision 3-D is a salute to the art of moviemaking, Muppet-style, while another 3-D presentation,”It’s Tough to be A Bug”,offers a bug’s-eye view of the world, complete with special effects similar to those found at Disneyland’s “Honey I Shrunk the Audience.”
The state’s history plays itself out throughout the park,from tiled murals, a titanium sun wheel and train station at the park’s entrance to art deco Hollywood, the Monterey cannery feel of Pacific Wharf, and a 23-minute film highlighting the state’s heritage. And the Bountiful Valley Farm trumpets California’s contributions to agriculture through three-dimensional exhibits and programs about farming.
Braverman, who has overseen the park’s development for Imagineering, calls it “a look at what people come to California for.”
But California Adventure doesn’t take itself too seriously. There are plenty of tongue-in-cheek touches, like Award Wieners on Hollywood Boulevard, Taste Pilots’ Grill at Condor Flats, and Engine-Ears Toys at the railway station.
While running the risk of being corny, the movie-set feel of Hollywood Boulevard is infectious. The ABC Soap Opera Bistro, for instance, recreates sets from the Disney-owned network’s “All My Children,” “General Hospital,” “One Life to Live” and “Port Charles.” X-rays hang above the nurses’ station bar. Costumed food servers interact with customers in skits similar to those in their favorite soaps. And once those visitors feel like stars, they can be whisked through a dark ride cartoon version of Los Angeles in a Superstar Limo to an important date at Mann’s Chinese Theater.
Braverman describes Superstar Limo as a fun takeoff on the popular perceptions of LA that includes animated versions of celebrities.
Tinseltown Studios, a similar Anaheim venture spearheaded by former Disneyland president Jack Lindquist, bombed in its bid to offer visitors the Hollywood star treatment.
Meanwhile, Paradise Pier, the portion of California Adventure most visible from Katella Avenue during construction, recreates seaside recreation parks of the past like The Pike in Long Beach and Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica,parks long glamorized in song and by California’s surf culture.
Here the giant roller coaster called California Screamin’ is classic Disney kitsch coupled with technology. The 3-minute ride includes a catapult start, a 2-mile track and a 360-degree loop,around the interior of a Mickey Mouse face. The 150-foot tall Sun Wheel,which is taller than the Matterhorn,includes cars that move within the spokes of the wheel. All the Paradise Pier attractions surround an oceanfront lagoon, where guests can fancy themselves watching sunset from the beach,about 10 miles inland from the ocean.
Disney officials contend they’ve employed lessons learned from past parks at California Adventure. The California Adventure parade route,called a “logistical nightmare” for staff at Disneyland,has been configured around a circular plaza at California Adventure where a parade entitled “Eureka” will be presented to illustrate the “energy of the park and the state,” according to Braverman.
Disney officials say they don’t plan to neglect Disneyland, which runs of the risk of initially losing visitors to its new neighbor. One way Disney is addressing that is by offering a pass that allows visitors to visit both parks.
“Disneyland will continue as the crown jewel,” said Bill Ross, senior vice president of public affairs for the Disneyland Resort.
Despite all the optimism about what the park will do for Disney and OC tourism, California Adventure faces challenges. Some have bemoaned the park’s $43 entry fee,the same as Disneyland, which offers more rides.
And Disney will have a tough time getting visitors to spend more time and money at both parks. That’s an easy proposition in Florida, but in Southern California, Disney is competing with a host of other theme parks and tourist sites spread out over a wider region.
Keeping locals coming back is another hurdle. Southern California visitors make up a big chunk of the year-round visitors to Disneyland. And selling Southern Californians on a Disney version of the Golden State won’t be as easy as pitching the park to tourists. n
