Jspider's DCA LA Expansion

[Jspider]

I've posted this idea on other boards but this post has seen a few further revisions since then (Increadibles ride plot is now more clear for one and Rockin Roller Coaster is better defined then the very first post of this I made at MIboards)

this's my idea for an LA expansion for DCA, my main maping idea is that the Hollywood backlot's main drag could become themed to the REAL Hollywood while the off section were Millionare, SSL and Hollywood and Dine are would stay the backlot. So that way ToT is just outside of Hollywood and as you walk past it your now entering the main bulk of the City of LA

now let us begin in the beginning, and in the beginning there's location location location



now on this map I've outlined several areas for my DCA expansion plans

the red being the showbuilding for the Little Mermaid Darkride of mine

the green being an area that I'm still considering about (It should be the backside of the Wharf I'm planning on a San Deigo or some other town that has a warf kind of district back there)

and the Blue area is were my LA district would go (I'll talk about the light blue later)

the LA district would basicaly be the counterbalance to the nature areas already present in the park, here you could see stuff pretaining to one of the largest cities in the US but with a bit of Disney magic thrown in (this area would also use the city backdrop kind of thing to block out the Berm a bit as well as incase any sort of necessary backstage stuff they might need such as parade buildings or somethin)

Now for my LA area I've got a lineup of four rides

1. Rock 'N' Roller Coaster
2. Increadibles Darkride
3. Autopia like attraction
4.Monerail Stop (not quite a ride )



1. so lets start with the bigest being Rock 'N' Roller Coaster, I've come up with several concepts for this ride all of which I believe would be very different from either of the two versions already out there

My first idea was to use the Paris Space Mountain track layout and simply rebuild the cannon with the facade of the signature Rock 'N' Guitar but now I'm starting to throw that idea out as DCA's Rock 'N' should be built mostly underground much like DL's Space mountain is to save space (the rides will both have very similar footprints) the que would probably still be like what they have at WDW (a recording studio) however my plans for the ride itself would be considerably different

at first I thought it could use either the normal ride system present in the other editions of this ride or the Mummy's ride system but I was wondering why can't they create a hybrid? I mean use the Mummys ride system but with inversions and such

and yes I am aware that this would take up a ton more space (possibly almost double the coaster size?) but imagine it your launched into the coaster and do lets say a corkscrew and then go diving down through LA and end up going through larger SSL styled rooms (without the stupid Hollywood stars but with cartoony flat character people that seem to pop out and demand your autograph or something but who cares your zooming by them and swerving off in another direction every time one pops up) then when you've almost made it to the concert your way is blocked off by fans and suddenly your car Zips backwords and goes through a loop (perhaps over the first corkscrew of the ride making the first room look huge and such) and zooming up a hill spinning around again and then going down a thrilling final drop (while lotsa camera people seem to jump outta nowere and take your photo for that final photo op that I'm always talking about)

now that would be an awsome coaster (at least the way I imagine it) maybe I should draw up some train routes and basic special effects for it to pass by

for space on this coaster I'd probably have to move that stage thing on my map further back closer to the ToT and enclose it a bit the stage would be part of the exit (as though it was the concert stage you were headed towards) it'd be right after the gift shop, I'd also have to increase the width of the building a bit perhaps by extending the LA area to the length of the hotel and moving back were that darkride building would be plus building over a small bit of the tram route (now part the backstage area for DCA were this development to go through)




2. Next comes the increadibles darkride my idea is that your going to a technology convention (which is quite common for LA with stuff like E3 and all) and of course it's secretly sponsored by Syndrome he plans to demonstrate his new technology that will allow ANYONE to become a Super, but something goes wrong (or is it Syndrome's plan plan all along) Syndrome attempts to come to the rescue and impress you but fails, the action then breaks out on the streets of LA and the incredibles are called in to save the day and return you back to the convention center building saftly

the Incredibles Darkride could use technology like the Spiderman ride at universal or perhaps using that robotic arm like Jim Hill has up on his site. The Arm could be placed on a track and could have four people per vehical (the robot arm could be themed as one of Syndrome's inventions)

While on the topic for darkrides for this area I also think that for future expansion they should have a place to put up a TDL Pooh style ride (aka trackless system, hydrolics, and the works) that way you have two E-Ticket style darkrides in the same location (like Mansion and Pirates but also like Fantasyland)




3. the Autopia like attraction is also something mentioned alot on these boards I'm thinking that they should try to install computer chips in the car and computer manage the speed of them slightly (so they slow down and/or break if they get too close together and when they have to stop at the loading station) this ride would also connect to my San Diego idea in that it could be themed to driving on the highway from LA up to San Diego thus having providing the park with a bit of nifty transportation and since it's the Highway it could be elevated over the parks regular walkways and such




4. now we get to the Monerail loading station (and my explination for that blue square )

This Monerail station would be a bit different from your normal one as it would actualy be themed to the LAX with themed ticket booth were you could buy either hopper tickets or tickets to DCA (how the heck does WDW manage those multipark monerail stops?)

there would be two exits from the themed LAX monerail stop actualy one would be into DCA itself but the other one would be into...

DCA's newest in park hotel! yep that light blue area would become yet another Disney owned hotel area themed to LA (or possible Rock 'N' Roll doesn't WDW have a hotel like that?) the hotel could open years after the LA upgrade is made basicaly whenever Disney gets around to buying the proporty but it would integrate nicly with the surrounding area (maybe they could do a sort of concert stage setup there too but only if they plan on taking one out somewere else in the park)

anywho that's basicaly my idea right now (or what I feel like typing up)

so thoughts? (thoughts not limited to just the land concept but also what you think about the ride concepts themselves)

[Subgoon]

This seems well thought out, but I had a few problems... First and formost, the connection to the dark blue area would be hard, since ToT is there now. Instead, Id move this 'LA' area to the green location and center it more on San Diego. The dark ride concept is cool. The Incredibles dark ride is also a good idea. I could see something like Spiderman at IOA. Basically, your ideas are good except the dark blue thing. The light blue zone is good though. I think the area is seriously lacking in Disney-owned hotels. The only difference Id make is to re-arrange the parking area there, or get rid of it all together and move the parking to garages off-property.

[Jspider]

yeah I should probably move the blue area over so it's wider and not a square o_o (not many lands are perfect squares)


but glad you like the idea (my main goal would be to link the trail back around from the trail that goes by the ToT)

[yensid1987]

Speaking of parking lots. Why dose that lot exist at all?

[Subgoon]

Before DCA existed, that was the one and only parking lot, because it was only one park. Now its expanding into a resort with two parks and downtown Disney. They really should buy the property around them and expand more efficiently, instead of building bits and pieces here and there. Thats one thing I like about WDW, its all contained in one big Disney area.

[sediment]

Speaking of parking lots. Why dose that lot exist at all?

Someone other than Disney owns them, according to Jim Hill. That's why, sorry to say, all that hard amateur (as in not getting paid) Imaginearing is headed for the little basketball hoop over the waste bin.
(I can't find the freakin' JHM article.)

[Jspider]

Someone other than Disney owns them, according to Jim Hill. That's why, sorry to say, all that hard amateur (as in not getting paid) Imaginearing is headed for the little basketball hoop over the waste bin.
(I can't find the freakin' JHM article.)

i've read it, but I've also heard from other sources that have been proven to be pretty reliable that while Disney used to not own parts of the parking lot that has long since changed

heck if you check the ariel maps from 1995 you'll see that actualy large portions of the Timon lot used to be hotels which shows you something right there

I'm wondering if Disney is just using the lot as expansion place and that the parking lot may just be filler space


and imaginnearing isn't hard it's pretty fun for me I think up story ideas that arn't related to rides and ride ideas and many other things just sitting around (yeah imagineering is one possible career route I'm considering, basicaly I wanna job doing creative for some company or another)

[sediment]

i've read it, but I've also heard from other sources that have been proven to be pretty reliable that while Disney used to not own parts of the parking lot that has long since changed

heck if you check the ariel maps from 1995 you'll see that actualy large portions of the Timon lot used to be hotels which shows you something right there

I'm wondering if Disney is just using the lot as expansion place and that the parking lot may just be filler space


and imaginnearing isn't hard it's pretty fun for me I think up story ideas that arn't related to rides and ride ideas and many other things just sitting around (yeah imagineering is one possible career route I'm considering, basicaly I wanna job doing creative for some company or another)

1. I'll stick with Jim Hill, since I know his name, and I don't know the names of your sources.
2. Do you know a location of these historical aerial maps? That would be nice to see.
3. I think this lot (and others) is owned by someone else, and that it would be wasteful to build on land that could be reclaimed.
4. You do a great job of Imaginearing. It's a great post.

[Jspider]

1. I'll stick with Jim Hill, since I know his name, and I don't know the names of your sources.
2. Do you know a location of these historical aerial maps? That would be nice to see.
3. I think this lot (and others) is owned by someone else, and that it would be wasteful to build on land that could be reclaimed.
4. You do a great job of Imaginearing. It's a great post.

1. Marcie on MIboards is a pretty relyable source, I generaly trust Michael more because he waits longer to say so he's more accurate? Al's preatty good at being accurate too when it comes to his articles, sometimes he's a little ahead of what he says and plans change. Jim Hill is pretty low on my accuracy rating, while he has alot of articles that are interesting I haven't seen many of them actualy being anything close to what happens (and I have a hard time swallowing the whole Pigs in Space Mountain Muppet overlay)

2. here's one http://terraserver.microsoft.com/ima...cdisneyland%7c
and here's what it looks like now
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/ima...cdisneyland%7c

3. I'm still not quite sure on the accuracy of that but I already said that

4. and thanks

[mp3piratesavvy]

Unfortunatly, there are several flaws in this plan.
Although I believe DCA should expand into the rest of the parking lot, the way the park is designed I dont think it would really work. The ugly back of buildings are all facing directly towards the parking lot, and how they have ToT situated, its going to be even more hard to expand back there. And I highly doubt the whole little mermaid darkride thing would work, because again the way the park is designed, how would you get an entrance to that? It would need a que, fastpass line, fastpass station, etc.

And the imitation of the state we are standing in right now is one of the factors why California Adventure is failing. Why worsen the problem with an "l.a." area? Its bad enough that they have a Hollywood themed area

Last but not least, I think a small section of the parking lot should be there forever, commemorating the park's history. You know its bad at the Disney company when you miss the old parking lot.............

[Jspider]

Unfortunatly, there are several flaws in this plan.
Although I believe DCA should expand into the rest of the parking lot, the way the park is designed I dont think it would really work. The ugly back of buildings are all facing directly towards the parking lot, and how they have ToT situated, its going to be even more hard to expand back there. And I highly doubt the whole little mermaid darkride thing would work, because again the way the park is designed, how would you get an entrance to that? It would need a que, fastpass line, fastpass station, etc.

And the imitation of the state we are standing in right now is one of the factors why California Adventure is failing. Why worsen the problem with an "l.a." area? Its bad enough that they have a Hollywood themed area

Last but not least, I think a small section of the parking lot should be there forever, commemorating the park's history. You know its bad at the Disney company when you miss the old parking lot.............

first of yes but you put facades and disguise the ugly backs of the buildings, it's not like Disney hasn't done this before

yes ToT is situated funny and it would require some cleaver trail routing

the main premise is to stuff the huge showbuildings back behind the ToT and simply have the city facades upfront , note that with it's discription and everything that the Rockin Star Limo coaster will need a ton of space, it'd be dumb to have guests walk around it so it would have a city facade way up front and a back area for the ride (think of it as being built outside the Berm, if DCA had a berm)

as far as the Little Mermaid darkride goes, I haven't really posted plans for it yet on this message board (or did you read the plans when I put a weblink to em on another thread?) the line can easily cut under Screamin (just like the Mansion or Indy go under the berm of Disneyland) in fact if I remeber right Imagineering once looked at putting a Monsters Inc darkride/coaster back there so anything's possible


an LA area would help bring a bit more diversity to the park, it could be Disney's optoimsitic outlook on LA, you'll also notice that all the rides I've suggested match the city theme but use it in creative ways that would be very exciting and fun to experience. If you move away from DCA's theme now it will become conviluted and confusing for many years thematicaly, and then if it ever DOES start to make any since the park layout would be hideous and wouldn't match the design at all, I'd rather take the creative way and simply theme it right but use the theme so creativly that people will love it

think the Haunted Mansion here, remeber what Walt said? "we'll take care of the outside and the ghosts will take care of the inside" and that's what this LA expansion entails


and you know what I think? every bit of the land should be used to it's maximum potential, not an ounce of land should not be touched by a imaginative outlook of the theme, sure it's hard to work with but I believe I've just demonstrated a land that would work very well for the theme and for guest enjoyment

do I believe that they've made the best use of all the land they've used so far? I'd say no, but I have many many idea's on how to fix the different lands of California adventure and how to give the park it's very own feel while still making Disneyland fans happy

[mp3piratesavvy]

as far as the Little Mermaid darkride goes, I haven't really posted plans for it yet on this message board (or did you read the plans when I put a weblink to em on another thread?) the line can easily cut under Screamin (just like the Mansion or Indy go under the berm of Disneyland) in fact if I remeber right Imagineering once looked at putting a Monsters Inc darkride/coaster back there so anything's possible

Too bad theyre are resteraunts/"DCA Boardwalk games" below screamin. They would have to be torn down for the little mermaid project, sorry

and excatly WHAT does Monsters inc have ANYTHING to do with California?

[Jspider]

Too bad theyre are resteraunts/"DCA Boardwalk games" below screamin. They would have to be torn down for the little mermaid project, sorry

and excatly WHAT does Monsters inc have ANYTHING to do with California?

I believe there are boardwalk games below screamin, I didn't know about any resturants the Pizza place and Mcdonalds seem to be right next to it as opposed to right under it

the WDI plans called for some of those games to be removed for an entrance to be put in place, it's not like the games couldn't be moved or just destroy'd completly if they arn't popular enough, an Indy style entrance really isn't too difficult and like I said WDI has looked into similar things (with the origional plans for what Monsters Inc would've been and all)

and I don't know what Monsters Inc has to do with California, it wasn't something I thought up it was something that WDI did and it's something they're obviously adding to the park (according to Michael of Mouseinfo demolition of SSL has started now and the vehicals have been removed from the attraction and are in a backstage area behind ToT awaiting the refitting of them into different shells)

[mp3piratesavvy]

I cant remember what the resteraunt is called, But I know for a fact there is one there, just take a look at a DCA map

hmmm.....Bugs land....Monsters Inc....Nothing to do with california, yet in a park called "california adventure". Why not call it Pixar Adventure?

So if they are destroying super star limo now, that ment it could have been open for the past few years? They might as well have had it open, it would be one ride for them to advertise. And it actually had something to do with California

[Jspider]

I cant remember what the resteraunt is called, But I know for a fact there is one there, just take a look at a DCA map

hmmm.....Bugs land....Monsters Inc....Nothing to do with california, yet in a park called "california adventure". Why not call it Pixar Adventure?

So if they are destroying super star limo now, that ment it could have been open for the past few years? They might as well have had it open, it would be one ride for them to advertise. And it actually had something to do with California

why not call it Disney's Character Adventures

and I believe Al was saying last year that Matt was looking into reopening the ride to go along with the ToT opening (I believe Cynthia had closed the ride do to complaints or something like that?) but then later Al said that Matt had seen the ride and decided to not reopen it but look at putting something different there instead

I really dislike the increase of character use in theme parks and DCA has gotten hit the worst it seems, that's why I'm recommending stuff like this LA expansion, there are creative ways to bend the theme and with a new outlook I believe one could balance the characters with the California theme itself and come off with a experience that would be different then Disneyland, Similar to Disneyland and have a little bit more thrill then Disneyland in order to get those teens but yet still good enough to justify for a family to stay even longer at the resort

[mp3piratesavvy]

California Adventure needs a Indy-type E-ticket. Im not sure what, but basically it needs a POTC. It already has a haunted mansion (TOT), but it needs something like, a mining mountain roller coaster (not like thunder, but in mine cars instead of a train) and have it go past scenes of gold, like indy. I dunno just somethin off the top of my head. And it could have a whole area deticated to it with like a tavern. Sure its copying Frontierland but the whole GRR area is copying Critter Country

[Jspider]

California Adventure needs a Indy-type E-ticket. Im not sure what, but basically it needs a POTC. It already has a haunted mansion (TOT), but it needs something like, a mining mountain roller coaster (not like thunder, but in mine cars instead of a train) and have it go past scenes of gold, like indy. I dunno just somethin off the top of my head. And it could have a whole area deticated to it with like a tavern. Sure its copying Frontierland but the whole GRR area is copying Critter Country

DCA needs alot of things,

if you've read through the whole LA expansion then you know I'm recommending a rather elaborate redo of Rockin RC or should I call it Rockin Star Limo

I once thought of a mining mountain coaster but now I have different ideas for any ghost town/western themed areas, I think the modern california theme is flexible enough to do what I have planned as far as that goes

ToT is a good ghost themed attraction but there isn't necessarily a limit on them if Disney wanted to do a non thrill ghost ride it'd be perfectly acceptable


DCA's infulstructure could use a slow moving family darkride and it also needs a coaster to counterbalance screamin (hence the LA expansion's E ticket really being the Rockin Limo) that way they can take one or the other down for a refurb without a ton of complaints (much like Disneyland does with it's coasters)

as it is right now I've heard when Screamin goes down complaints jump waaaaayyyy up

[mp3piratesavvy]

Mine Train Ride Thru California's Wonderland

Make it like the old Disneyland ride, go past scenes reminesint of the old disneyland ride before big thunder mountain. Have the gyser, the mountains, the hidden-mickey cactuses, everything. That way people who missed the old ride could have this ride, and its in California Adventure.

Sure its no E-Ticket, but it would be a land of its own. Except have it more Desert-based, that way the "sand" could provide a good transfer from Paradise Pier. The only problem with it would be the hollywood pictures backlot

[mp3piratesavvy]

Over by the Grand Californian, that parking lot they use for the hotel, is that part of the original parking lot?

[llama5492]

Great idea woth all those rides! I'd love too see Rockin' Roller Coaster and an Incredibles dark ride here! But, I agree with most people, there is a problem. The connection between the area of where the park currently is and the Blue and Light Blue areas, would be extremely difficult and the idea of you not being able to see outside of the park anywhere, would be runed.