A water and light show is drawing big crowds at Walt Disney Co.’s second Anaheim theme park.
But how far World of Color goes toward boosting attendance at underachieving Disney California Adventure remains to be seen, said George Kalogridis, president of Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.
“It’s way too early,” he said. “The true test will not come for another couple of years.”
World of Color, which features scenes from Disney movies projected onto streams of water, debuted last month at California Adventure.
The exhibit is the first installment in a $1.1 billion makeover of California Adventure, which opened in 2001 and has failed to live up to attendance expectations. Plans call for additional rides and a rework of just about all of the park by 2012.
Long Lines
World of Color is drawing long lines of people waiting to get into the show’s viewing area. Some line up as much as two hours beforehand.
The show’s viewing area holds roughly 4,000 people. World of Color also can be seen from other parts of the park, but views aren’t as good.
Showgoers can get a fastpass reservation that allows them to cut waits and secure a good viewing spot.
But even fastpass machines have seen long lines with passes running out in about an hour.
The demand has prompted Disney to add a third nightly World of Color show and consider the possibility of a fourth.
The show “really has fired on all cylinders,” Kalogridis said.
While Disney doesn’t disclose attendance, California Adventure is seeing more visitors versus a year ago, Kalogridis said.
He said he can’t tell if World of Color or other factors are driving the increase.
“This is the busiest time of the year, so you can’t necessarily assume that you’re going to do a lot more attendance this year when the parks are already busy,” he said.
Disney likely is seeing more visitors this summer than last because of a rebound in the economy.
Attendance at all theme parks could rise nearly 2% this year from 2009, after dropping nearly 4% from 2008 to 2009, according to Santa Monica-based researcher IBISWorld Inc.
For the three months through March, attendance at Disney’s Anaheim parks was up 10% from a year earlier, according to the company.
Disney’s two Anaheim parks see an estimated 20 million yearly visitors, with the lion’s share going to Disneyland Park, and California Adventure drawing mostly spillover crowds.
Attendance has seen a boost from Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game being held Tuesday at nearby Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
The All-Star Game and related events have brought some 100,000 people to Anaheim. Many, particularly visitors from other states and countries, have included Disneyland in their visits.
World of Color has seen a mix of locals and tourists vying to see the show, according to Kalogridis. The bulk has been tourists as most annual passholders—typically locals—are blocked for the busiest times of the summer.
“For the summer it has shifted to domestic tourists and local guests who are purchasing tickets,” Kalogridis said.
The real test for World of Color will come after summer, Kalogridis said. And come next year, the show could be eclipsed by other additions to the park.
“The likelihood of one attraction causing a major turnaround is not typically how we have been successful,” he said.
World of Color, named after founder Walt Disney’s first TV series, uses 1,200 cascading fountains to form a towering sheet of water nearly 200 feet high as the backdrop for digital projectors, lights, lasers, fireworks, smokescreens and fire.
The show was created by redeveloping a lake in the middle of California Adventure. Disney isn’t saying how much it spent on World of Color.
Various fan websites that follow the Anaheim parks estimate the cost at $75 million.
Redo
Disney is remaking the rest of California Adventure with tried and true themes—the early days of founder Walt Disney and characters from its Pixar Animation Studios—in a bid to get people to identify with the park like they do with Disneyland.
In the next year, plans call for redoing the entrance to California Adventure to echo Disneyland’s Main Street. The park’s Buena Vista Street is set to be changed from its current CityWalk motif to a 1920s Los Angeles theme with storefronts.
2011 is set to see the first big ride of the expansion—The Little Mermaid, based on the classic Disney movie—debut in spring.
The largest part of the expansion is Cars Land, with rides based on the Pixar movie “Cars.” It’s expected to open in 2012.
