ONE | TWO
The invited children
and media were the first into Flik's Fun Fair, followed by a
crowd of curious onlookers. The children and their chaperones explored
the new rides, and the media had their first chance to see how the
public liked the newest attractions.
The children look down to see if
there may be bugs underfoot.
During preview days, many visitors expressed surprise that Tuck and
Roll's Drive 'em Buggies, a gentle bumper car ride, had height restrictions
of 42 inches to ride, and 48 inches to drive alone. Across the way,
youngsters just 40-inches tall can ride all four of Disneyland's mountain
attractions.
A cast member is recruited to ride
with an opening day guest.
This concern was quickly illustrated during the very first ride of
the opening day, as child after child were turned away for being too
short. When the number of chaperones did not match the number of children
who were tall enough to ride, spare cast members were quickly recruited
to ride along with them. As a member of the general public however,
do not expect this same service on your next visit. Disney cast members
are not allowed to watch or supervise smaller children while adult guests
ride with the older youngsters, nor can they ride with the children
while parents watch. If you have a group of children under four feet
tall, the attraction calls for two adults in a party in order to make
sure everyone gets to ride.
Strollers quickly clog up the narrow
pathways.
Before Flik's Fun Fair opened, there was brief discussion of banning
strollers from inside the area. This idea was quickly rejected by park
operations managers. Unfortunately, it looks as if proponents of this
plan had a legitimate point. On opening day, the walkways quickly filled
with abandoned strollers, even through large parking areas are located
next to each attraction.
On Monday, visitors faced a wait of
about half an hour just to see the new land. Crowds had
thinned by Wednesday, and it was possible to walk right in. It has been
rumored that the Fastpass machines from the nearby It's a Bugs Life
show might be used to control access to Flik's Fun Fair. While there may
be some days, as was seen during the first weeks that Disneyland's
Toontown opened, where visitors experience a brief wait to enter Flik's
Fun Fair, a permanent solution is probably unnecessary.
Visitors wait up to 30 minutes
to see what the fuss is about.
The addition is certainly
creating buzz for DCA, but probably not the type Disney would like.
Writing for the Los
Angeles Times, Robert Niles said, "There's nothing
unique to the Golden State in this land."
The emcee stands at the podium
(left), while Kathy
Magnum, John Lasseter, and Cynthia Harriss sit on the panel.
At an afternoon press conference, Vice President of Walt Disney
Imagineering Kathy Magnum, John Lasseter, and Cynthia Harriss spoke with
reporters about the creation of the new land. When a reporter asked
Harriss about the perceived shift away from the California theme, she
said that the park was "busy and hard at work" creating new
attractions that fit with what Disney is all about. To this, Lasseter
added, "A Bug's Life was filmed entirely on location in
California."
John Lasseter, describing the new
land as the biggest clover ever seen.
Asked if any of the rides featured new technology or contained a
"first," Kathy Magnum said that the rides are "not the
first; it's what we do best." Lasseter said, "This is the
first gigantic four-leaf clover in the amusement park world."
All joking aside, these are not the
kind of "firsts" that set the Disney parks apart.
Redressed tea cups, a new spin on Dumbo, and slower-than-molasses bumper
cars are not exactly cutting-edge. As Ann Figueroa wrote in Newsweek,
"[T]hatās the problem with all of California Adventure. Itās
all a little shoddy."
The first "official"
guests try out the bumper cars.
Yet critics complained that DCA needed more family-friendly
attractions, and Disney moved very quickly to meet that need. While the
new rides are not the latest and greatest, most people agree that the
environment is well-themed, and the rides certainly appeal to small
children. The families we spoke to were extremely pleased with the
rides, and their children had a good time.
A family from Murietta said that their 5- and 7-year old boys loved
everything, but "especially the water." Another family gave
high marks to "the ladybugs" (Francis' Ladybug Boogie, the
teacup-style ride), "the flyer one" (Flik's Flyers, a Dumbo-like
ride), and "the bug show" (the Ugly Bug Ball, a new show presented
on the adjacent stage).
Heimlich in the candy corn field.
One family from Whittier said that their four children, ages 4
through 13, had enjoyed looking at the park, but had not been on any of
the rides because "the lines were too long, and the kids didn't
want to wait." They planned to return the next day and visit when
the crowds had thinned.
When you have spent hours standing
in line with a child who is too short to go on most
everything at DCA, and hour at Flik's Fun Fair may be just what you need
to get through the rest of the day with a new outlook.
Whether the new land is enough to get anyone through the park's gates
is the question that remains to be answered.
BACK |
CONTENTS
Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix
can be reached at this link
