But is it enough? Really?

[Club 33]

Well, is it? I was intrigued by Al's excellent update today, where he posed a great question:

Will the 50th Offerings be enough for non-Disney Fanatics?

Like Al said, while we may swoon over new napkins and Tomorrowland rising from the ashes of its former self, will the casual visitor be underwhelmed by the parks 50th offerings, especially given the huge ad campain?

[captveg]

All I know is that my Mom is excited about Buzz Lightyear, just as she'd be excited about any full scale E-ticket.

[Dustysage]

I remember going to the 45th birthday of the park and thinking how great the 50th would be. Certain that they would build the most fantastic Super E Ticket ever, in honor of this major Disney achievement.

Instead we get paint, refurbs, clones, and a new parade and fireworks. Nice, but not the stunning 50th that would show the world that Disneyland may be 50 but still packs a punch.

Too bad the new management team didn't start two years earlier. I have hope that they will make it all up to us in the next 5 years.

[cellarhound]

I really have to think about this one...

I think reopening Space Mountain is going to help more than anything... It is my favorite ride in the park...

But will this warrent the Marketing Campaign? No. You have this huge Media Push on May 4 and Space Mountain is still not open... You better recalibrate the celibration on the July 17th with another media event of sorts... JMHO...

[Club 33]

I think part of the problem is that they started behind. They've brought the park back up to scratch, but the haven't done a lot in the way of adding new things to it.

Wow. Gold.

Wow. More Gold.

Wow. Gold Pins.

Wow. Gold Hats.

Wow. Gold Attraction Vehicles.

Wow. Gold.

[cellarhound]

I think part of the problem is that they started behind. They've brought the park back up to scratch, but the haven't done a lot in the way of adding new things to it.

Wow. Gold.

Wow. More Gold.

Wow. Gold Pins.

Wow. Gold Hats.

Wow. Gold Attraction Vehicles.

Wow. Gold.

I thought the gold elements are a bit "goddy" actually...

The 50 50's are kinda lame... It says, "Hey look at us, how cleaver we are!" Which is so Pressler...

The parades are nice, but it is like adding a new show to your program... I love a parade, but if you see one parade of it's type you seen most of them... It isn't going to draw people to the park...

Seeing physical changes to Tomorrowland will change public perception, particularly SM... And especially if it is a HUGE media event...

Getting Tomorrowland up to snuff ASAP... Is going to help more than anything right now...

[Disneyfreak]

I absolutely hate what they did to Mark Twain.
I also think that we deserve something on the scale of Indy here. I mean we have waited for over 10 years for something like that.

[Lore]

I'd like to see them finally finish Indy. The bamboo in the projection area is still unfinished.

[Disneyfreak]

That is a great idea, have Indy updated for the anniversary. Make the special effects even greater then they are like with the dart room have some animatronics instead of those paintings on the walls.

[captsmith84]

Honestly... I don't think Disneyland is even doing enough FOR the Disney Fans...

Bob, if you're out there, I have one thing to say. "It's the rides and the quality of the theming, stupid!"

That is the only thing that will get people to come back over and over. Rides and the quality of the theming. I have never gone to a park because of a new show, and I never will. Kids are often the ones who bring the adults to the parks. And the shows aren't gonna bring the kids in. It's the rides and the themes... and yes, kids look at themes more than you expect. Walt once said, "If you aim for kids, you're dead." But what most people don't know is that quote didn't cut off there. It continued. "...after all, adults are just kids grown up."

Now, if they wanted to get people in the park like mad for the 50th, you'd have 5 new rides in the park. And I don't mean Dumbo Clones. Big rides. Maybe a new mountain in there and some new dark rides. But what is Disneyland getting? One new ride. A clone from 2 other parks (soon to be 4) around the world. Whoop-de-do! Perhaps the execs at DL don't see it... (save for Matt)

I should get a T-shirt for Matt... "I'd surrounded by Idiots" with Scar on the front. Though I don't think Matt is evil like Scar... he's truly trying to take the park back to Walt's standards. Matt is no Walt, but he's doing his best.

Disneyland needs rides that you can only get in Disneyland.

Let's go over the list of the only unique rides to Disneyland:

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride... though he has a place to eat in Paris.
The Matterhorn
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Grand Canyon & Dino diorama on the Disneyland Railroad
The Columbia Sailing Ship

Am I missing anything else?

No, I don't think I am. 5 attractions specific to Disneyland Park. I bet you're all very proud of that. HA! DCA is too fair-like, so it's not gonna attract as much either.

So, the kids are gonna want to go to Disney World. Not Disneyland. So, I think all Disneyland can expect are big fans like us and people on the west coast within driving distance to pay an extra visit. Otherwise, expect attendance to be the same.

Get some stuff in Disneyland that you don't have in the other parks!

[mrfantasmic]

That is a great idea, have Indy updated for the anniversary. Make the special effects even greater then they are like with the dart room have some animatronics instead of those paintings on the walls.

Or, since Indy was our last true E-Ticket, give a little extra TLC to one of the classice. Perhaps one that is showing more age.
But then, to out of staters, it's the NEW stuff that matters. "Space Mountain's re-opening? Cool, it was open last time I was there too."
Maybe I'm wishing for too much.

Bill,
I think your Ideas are great. Disneyland does need those exclusives! Thanks for pointing it out.

[Tom Chaney]

The average person out there isn't really that up on what's going on. I think sometimes we get so wonky that we expect too much. A lot of flashy ads, a free cupcake, some gold touches and an evening of awesome fireworks... Mr & Mrs America will be mightily impressed. New E-tickets would certainly impress the MiceChat crew. I think most people are just happy to be there.

[jurgenb52]

After the years of Pressler and Harris, I think the expectations are so low that anything beyond a new pin has sent us fanatics into a tizy. With the addition of Buzz, and the revamped Space Mountain, as well as several other 'updated' attractions like Jungle Cruise and Splash it will be enough to bring in higher than normal crowds.

I also think the aggressive ad campaign they have been pushing throughout the country will help. I'm not too sure how long the crowds will last, but I'm confident this summer and also this Holiday season will be much higher than average. If not only for the fact that EVERY fanatic will be showing up this year. Living in Seattle I don't get to come to the park every day, or every year for that matter, but with it being the 50th I'm gonna make it down there for sure, and I have a feeling I'm not alone, I think the adds as well as the new Buzz, and fireworks and parade will give people just that much more reason to show up this year... even if we don't get a new E-ticket this year, at least now that Mr. Ouimet is in charge there is one in the future.

[captsmith84]

I didn't say they all had to be E-tickets. More new rides in general are what is needed.

[mickhyperion]

There's always a lot of talk about how "we" haven't gotten any new E-tickets since Indy. I guess "we" means Disneyland Park. Somehow Tower of Terror, California Screamin, Soarin, and GRR don't seem to count (though of course not everyone agrees that any of these are actually E-ticket worthy). I guess because they are in California Adventure.

It's also interesting how when the furor goes up about Walt Disney World always getting new attractions, all of their parks are lumped together as if they are one. The Magic Kingdom has pretty much only received one new E-ticket in the last many years with the addition of Mickey's Philharmagic and who can even recall when they received one before that.

[captsmith84]

Keep in mind the mindset of WDW vs. DL... people don't consider DCA a part of Disneyland yet... most tourists that are planning a trip don't know that DCA even exists. They're much more familiar that WDW is huge and has at least Epcot... Disneyland in their minds is that one old park in California.

You'd be amazed to see the mindset of people.

[Aladdin]

Wow. Gold.
Wow. More Gold.
Wow. Gold Pins.
Wow. Gold Hats.
Wow. Gold Attraction Vehicles.
Wow. Gold.

At least we finally got rid of those GOLD floats from the 45th B-day Parade!

Almost 4 years ago I made a list of what DL deserved for it's 50th Celebration.

A new Villain Village for DL ~ a whole new land with DL's 5th Mountain for it's 50th anniversary Villain Mountain.
2 new major E-Ticket for DL (Villain Mt being one of them, and another E-ticket for TL)
E-Ticket for DCA (not including TOT)
a couple C and D tickets (Little Mermaid Dark Ride)
50th Parade with upbeat fun music along the style of the 35th Party Gras Parade,
A new Electric Parade for DL
A New Parade for DCA
Give a ways like they had for the 30th and 35th,
upgrading TL
New show for Country Bears
A Terrific fireworks show.


I really didn't think that was too much to ask for DL 50th, and still

No DL isn't doing all it could have or should have. And some things are getting back to where they should have been at a minimum, all along.

Matt seemed to do as much as he could, in the time he had to
work with. And hopefully he will soon be announcing DL's and DCA's next E-Tickets. C and D tickets are ok, but it's [email protected] time for the next E!

[Aladdin]

And NOW gold in MiceChat

Lets Hope they don't goldleaf the statue of Walt and Mickey!

HEY! Maybe they should!

[MickeyMania]

I think the "gas up the car and grab the kids" crowd that decides to travel across a few states to make the long haul to Disneyland will find plenty of things to do. It would help things out more if they weren't so insistant about what they perceive the value of DCA to be. Yes, they expect minimal amounts of rehabs and nice nighttme fireworks, but by that logic they will come and see and go home happy.

This has been pretty smartly planned in that all the new things for the 50 is crowd-pleasers: a decently sized dark ride, a parade, a nice fireworks show, an especially festive atmosphere.

[jurgenb52]

There's always a lot of talk about how "we" haven't gotten any new E-tickets since Indy. I guess "we" means Disneyland Park. Somehow Tower of Terror, California Screamin, Soarin, and GRR don't seem to count (though of course not everyone agrees that any of these are actually E-ticket worthy). I guess because they are in California Adventure.

It's funny you should bring up the idea of "we." As I wrote my post I even deleted it and replaced it, and then re-typed 'we' back into place.

In regards to 'we' in reference to Disneyland, or any park for that matter, I think it really refers to us as the public. More particularly people like ourselves who devote so much time and energy to Disney, and Disneyland specifically. I also didn't include DCA in my reasoning because it isn't its 50th anniversary, and the attention is not on that park at the moment.