[Chat] Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

[greeeneyes17]

I enjoy California Screamin, I do.
It's a fun, thrilling roller coaster that has a loop and starts you off in an exhilarating manner by counting down and blasting you off onto the ride.
But that's all it is. A roller coaster. A fast, thrilling, roller coaster.
There's no story, there's no Disney, there's no substance whatsoever to me.
Yes, I ride this one every time and I love it, but there are some rides that I would sacrifice for the sake of the park's longevity if it were up to me.
I realize it's hard to make a roller coaster into a story, but hey, Disneyland's got quite a few:

Matterhorn, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain...

SO, it can be done.

I know, it's like "if it ain't broke don't fix it", and this ride surely won't be taken down anytime soon, or possibly ever, but rides like this make me wonder if this is the best Disney can do.

This ride IMO would be fine in another type of amusement park or something, but it's just not for Disneyland.

Sorry to all you die-hard fans out there of Screamin, but for me it's just not up to par.

Anybody agree? Or disagree, want some opinions

[SparkChaser]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Thats how I feel about the coasters at Knotts when Cedar Fair took over they removed all sorts of cool original rides and brought in generic coasters just renamed and recolored. But Screamin' now is part of the theming a early 20th century wooden coaster. Gahh I'm stuck in the middle

See ya walkin' right down the middle of o'l Main Street USA

[JayD]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

I'm not convinced every attraction needs a story but every attraction should help "sell" the land's theme. If they had actually made California Screamin' look like a classic woody coaster it would be great, but they did a budget-job and it's a weird steel/fake woody monstrosity. Especially since there are so many great woodies around the country to compare it against.

The thing this attraction "screams" is DCA 1.0.

[CritterCountryGirl]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Nooooo I love screamin!! It's always been in a favorite in DCA.. If it were to have been placed in Disneyland I think there would be a problem, but because of where it is, I'm fine with it. For me personally, I don't really think of or look at DCA as an "expansion" of disneyland or whatever you might call it. They're two totally different parks and IMO not EVERYTHING in a park called California Adventure needs to have a disney story. I know most will disagree but that's just how I've personally always seen it. I do agree that DCA 1.0 had a lot of issues and I'd even call it kinda boring. I remember going over there specifically to only ride screamin, grizzly, and soarin only to go straight back to disneyland afterwards. It's getting better and will probly continue getting better. I just don't see the need to take out what I'd call the parks 3 main attractions from the beginning, just for the fact that they represent 1.0...again just my opinion based on the fact that those are the only things I liked from 1.0

[skratch addict]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Its part of the original Boardwalk theme...If we were getting rid of that because its got no story then we might as well get rid of the Color Wheel and the Zephyr.

[greeeneyes17]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Its part of the original Boardwalk theme...If we were getting rid of that because its got no story then we might as well get rid of the Color Wheel and the Zephyr.

I agree with getting rid of those as well :/

[JJKit]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

I think it works to help sell the whole boardwalk theme and gives a good visual backdrop and barrier to that part of the park. Doesn't hurt that it's actually quite a nice roller coaster. And it does have a story - you're in a turn of the century boardwalk amusement park amusing yourself. The new wooden coaster is part of that. Granted, the magnetic launch and loop are a bit weird for that, but the rest of the ride works with the theme. Oh, and the tubes. Those are odd. But beyond the launch, loop, and tubes, it works and fits the overall story of the area.

I'm just happy the 2.0 designers ditched the 1990s giant mickey head - it's at least moderately improved now. And it eats enough people and it's an actual ride in a place without too many of those that it's at least earning it's keep. Without it they'd have to come up with a new backdrop and E ticket. Worth it if it were another Super Star Limo, not worth it for what's actually a good ride that just needs a little more work on the overlay.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the initial idea was a good one (I know, I know - but look at The Boardwalk resort at WDW - proving they can capture the feel of a Victorian park if they want) that was planned and executed very, very poorly, and there's a limit to just how much they can fix and what's worth fixing.

[DLFreak15]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Screamin' is a beautiful coaster. I absolutely love it and honestly as arguably the only coaster in the park (I don't count GSS) Screamin' brings the thrill factor of the park way, way up.

We need to add another coaster, not demolish CS.

[ChurroMan]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

It helps add to the atmosphere of the land. Might as well get rid of the carousel in Fantasyland while you're at it.

[chesirecat]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Its part of the original Boardwalk theme...If we were getting rid of that because its got no story then we might as well get rid of the Color Wheel and the Zephyr.

I would be fine with them taking out Screamin', the Color Wheel, and Zephyr. I've only ridden the Color/Ferris Wheel a couple times. The wait area is so depressing, just steel everywhere and a concrete tub, and it takes forever. The ride is kinda boring as the last time I rode the ferris wheel only went around a couple times ?? (or maybe just once) and the view kind of showcases how DCA doesn't care about berms and visual intrusion. If you can see the steel backside of the Cadillac Mountain Range, it sort of ruins that magic too.

Let's not forget why Paradise Pier exists, Eisner thought that Disney needed to offer stuff you can find outside of Disneyland in California:

1. Run-down Pier side amusement parks.
2. Roller Coasters with no theming, just thrill rides.
3. Hollywood
4. Redwoods, generic river ride like at Knotts
5. Golden Gate Bridge and Frisco
6. Tacky Souvenir Shops became Sunshine Plaza

Heck, the front of DCA was a giant postcard, as if to con guests into thinking that the real California is right this way . . .

People hated it so they slapped Mickey and Friends all over it, and tried to add some fake history, but I still don't like the area as it looks like urban blight. There was a reason why Disneyland succeeded, plus Walt made the revolutionary move of having guests *pay* to enter Disneyland . . . Pier side amusement parks you could just walk around for free as there ain't a whole lot to look at, you have to pay individually to ride the rides. They were going to take out the turnstiles for DCA, and have it so you paid for the attractions . . .

DCA was sort of like an alternate reality where Disneyland was never built and Californians made do with run of the mill Californian faire.

[trueBruin86]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

I love Screamin' and I love the whole Pier. I think they all go together, but that's just my opinion

[sbk1234]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Eh, I wouldn't miss it,but if it was going to be replaced, then it should be replaced by something of much better caliber.

But it's not going anywhere.

[Mr. BuenaVista St.]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Screaming shouldn't leave.....it just needs to be "touched up" and maybe renamed. Theme it towards the 20th century victorian style pier that DCA 2.0 is trying to move towards. Switch the color scheme from blue to red(or the color of the toy story mania roof), restructure the ride queue, and add in new cars themed to the victorian style. It doesn't need to leave though...

[Uncle Bob]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Story is the biggest myth on Disney chat sites. There is no story to about 80% of the attractions in DL, there is a theme, and that is totally different. None of the other coasters you mention have a story. CS is almost in theme with its land, it just still needs some very minor tweaks. The idea of getting rid of it is insane, it's literally intertwined with a lot of the park, is absolutely critical to creating the theme of PP, helps to block out the outside world and the power lines. (You know, the ones they just built a hundred million dollars of rock work to block out on the other side of the park.) You'd basically have to redo everything, in the largest land in the park, after they just redid half of it.

[chesirecat]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Eh, I wouldn't miss it,but if it was going to be replaced, then it should be replaced by something of much better caliber.

But it's not going anywhere.

I would think eventually it will be taken down. Places that it was modeled after, like the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk have one big advantage, they are on the ocean. Despite World of Color's success, audiences will bore with the show and during the day the lagoon looks pretty boring, and kind of a downer.

Also, as the rides look cheaply built . . . how long are they supposed to last? Did they plan on keeping Goofy's Sky School for fifty years?? Pier side amusement parks didn't have any real theming, they had bare-bones rides and the stuff that Disney recreated was just the cheap look of such thrill parks which nobody really likes anyway.

DCA had one purpose, to make a lot of money quickly and cheaply, and help executives like Michael Eisner retire with a big bonus . . . didn't work. At any rate, they didn't care if DCA fell apart shortly after they were gone. Sort of the attitude of pier side amusement park owners I would assume . . .

---------- Post added 07-01-2012 at 12:02 AM ----------

Story is the biggest myth on Disney chat sites. There is no story to about 80% of the attractions in DL, there is a theme, and that is totally different. None of the other coasters you mention have a story. CS is almost in theme with its land, it just still needs some very minor tweaks. The idea of getting rid of it is insane, it's literally intertwined with a lot of the park, is absolutely critical to creating the theme of PP, helps to block out the outside world and the power lines. (You know, the ones they just built a hundred million dollars of rock work to block out on the other side of the park.) You'd basically have to redo everything, in the largest land in the park, after they just redid half of it.

Splash Mountain tells a very coherent story.

Pirates tells a story.

HMH tells a very coherent story, HM's classic version has moved from having a lot of story elements to telling a bit more of the bride's story. Plus there's a new movie in the works.

Space Mountain has great theming, and when the movie comes out they will probably add some more story elements. Remember that rides like Space Mountain sort of implicitly tell a story with great thematic elements, exploring space, the adventure of space travel . . . I don't know what CS story would be, a day at the lagoon?

Jungle Cruise tells a story.

Big Thunder has a lot of story elements, the old west, frontier town.

Fantasyland is 80 to 100% story in my mind.

CS tells no story, has not story elements, and I wouldn't consider it themed as the bare-bone roller coasters of decades past is not necessarily theming. It's building something cheap like they used to and cramming it down the throats of guests by telling them that such pier side amusement parks were wonderful places when they were really just cheaply built.

I get the theming in all of Disneyland and Carsland, and it is nice to look at (not including the old people mover track), and it inspires me to imagine about the old west, turn of the century, a jungle, a futuristic world . . . I have never daydreamed about pier side amusement parks . . . they really aren't a land but a dated way of building cheap rides, right?

[JayD]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Screaming shouldn't leave.....it just needs to be "touched up" and maybe renamed. Theme it towards the 20th century victorian style pier that DCA 2.0 is trying to move towards. Switch the color scheme from blue to red(or the color of the toy story mania roof), restructure the ride queue, and add in new cars themed to the victorian style. It doesn't need to leave though...

Exactly right. Make it more like Belmont Park in San Diego.

[chesirecat]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

You'd basically have to redo everything, in the largest land in the park, after they just redid half of it.

They sat down and had to figure out whether to rip out the whole park and build something new, or try to fix it.

I think they made the wrong decision, and pride and money was involved, though a lot of people involved were fired. The suits still want to make money off of cheap thrill rides which were supposed to line their pockets with gold for a small investment.

When DCA first opened, it was easy to feel that it wasn't a Disney theme park, I think that was why they put the name "Disney" on it as some guest probably figured that somebody built a cheap amusement to siphon off guests leaving Disneyland to make a quick buck.

Actually, that's kind of what the plan was.

[frollofan]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Sorry but Screamin is one of the few things that were done right with DCA 1.0 imo. They should retheme it of course with a new name and a new victorian queue and new soundtrack. In reality, this ride is very popular with guests and it would make zero sense to rid of it.

[Uncle Bob]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

They sat down and had to figure out whether to rip out the whole park and build something new, or try to fix it.

I think they made the wrong decision, and pride and money was involved, though a lot of people involved were fired. The suits still want to make money off of cheap thrill rides which were supposed to line their pockets with gold for a small investment.

When DCA first opened, it was easy to feel that it wasn't a Disney theme park, I think that was why they put the name "Disney" on it as some guest probably figured that somebody built a cheap amusement to siphon off guests leaving Disneyland to make a quick buck.

Actually, that's kind of what the plan was.

Well I just don't agree that they made the wrong choice. Screamin' is one of the most popular attractions in the whole resort. If they tore down any more you'd have hardly any attractions now without spending another billion dollars. It would have been impractical, caused the park to need to shut down and lay off all the employees and a million other problems. Not to mention, millions of people actually like the theme and the ride.

[chesirecat]

Re: Wouldn't mind seeing Screamin! leave DCA

Well I just don't agree that they made the wrong choice. Screamin' is one of the most popular attractions in the whole resort. If they tore down any more you'd have hardly any attractions now without spending another billion dollars. It would have been impractical, caused the park to need to shut down and lay off all the employees and a million other problems. Not to mention, millions of people actually like the theme and the ride.

Everybody can disagree, nothing wrong there.

I will say that a lot of the pictures of old wooden roller coasters I've seen on pier side amusement parks look a lot nicer, as I guess this because it really is a metal tube coaster with wood tacked on.

If the roller coaster was surrounded by nice green hills, meadows, and oceans, then it would be ok, and wouldn't need theming. But doesn't the presence of mechanical stuff on the ground and the sights of modern Anaheim turn anybody off?

I think Disney could have done a small victorian type roller coaster . . . the rocks and everything about Paradise Lagoon just looks so fake and cheap to me, and there is modern stuff on the SC, so it really doesn't take me back in time anyway.