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Entertainment

Disney's California Adventure (DCA) opened with an ambitious entertainment roster. Possibly too ambitious. Already mentioned, the short-lived Lights, Camera, Chaos show was too artsy for most guests, and was quickly replaced with the kid-friendly Goofy's Beach Party Bash. Steps in Time, the original occupant of the Hyperion Theater, was completely re-tooled after just a few weeks. The new version lasted only long enough for the park to bring in a replacement, borrowing The Power of Blast from Epcot. Blast closed this fall to make way for Aladdin, the expensive and over-hyped show that, while failing to wow theater critics, packs in the crowds and is arguably better than most theme park entertainment.

Despite some interesting stage design, Steps in Time did not last long. MousePlanet photo.

In an effort to boost attendance the first summer, Disney brought the Main Street Electrical Parade to DCA's performance corridor. After an initial crush of nostalgia-hungry guests eager to see the parade that Disney said would never return to Disneyland, the parade now plays to light nighttime crowds.

The daytime Eureka parade was supposed to have been scrapped after last summer, but Disney has notified the cast that the parade will return for at least another season. Again, this probably isn't so much an affirmation of the show's entertainment value, as a financial decision — it's cheaper to run the parade you already own than to create a new one.

DCA has been very successful with its “streetmosphere” initiative, with a handful of acts appearing around the park. The feisty Chance to Shine show in the Hollywood District is a true crowd-pleaser.

Finally, a last-minute effort produced a moderately successful concert series at the Paradise Bay Amphitheater. While the series of has-beens (Herman's Hermits), never-weres (Jim Belushi?), and only-partials (the Beach Boys) provided some welcome diversion for guests, it also highlighted the inflexibility of design that is going to make wholesale change difficult.

The park has been unable to match the success of Disneyland's Fantasmic show or the Magic in the Sky fireworks, and has had its bombs (Steps in Time, for example). LuminAria lasted one winter — all that remains is a seagull-covered island in the middle of Paradise Bay — and planners are still struggling with a workable night-time show for the park, with plans for a new lagoon show apparently tabled for now.

And while Imagineers occasionally test fireworks from various positions around DCA, they have been unable to develop a pyrotechnic show for the park. Overall, though, the entertainment features at DCA are better than opening day, even if you can't avoid the terrible kid-only character shows.

Off the Shelf

Another concern voiced prior to the park's opening was the perceived lack of originality in the new rides being built. In fact, one whole area of the park basically had a theme of off-the-shelf rides (doubtless an accountant's dream).

DCA did open, however, with some rides that were to be unique Disney creations. Superstar Limo was to be the quintessential Disney dark ride in the vein of Peter Pan or Mr. Toad's Wild Ride — unfortunately, it failed to capture the imagination (unless wondering how fast Disney would react if one of the highlighted stars were caught up in a criminal or sex scandal counts as “capturing the imagination”).

The other unique ride, Soarin' Over California, has been an undeniable success with guests — but only time will tell if it is an enduring classic or if the shine will fade as it has with other movie-based attractions like Star Tours, Captain EO, and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience over across the esplanade.

Meanwhile, though the other more traditional amusement park rides have had varying levels of success, the accountants have learned that “cheap to build” does not necessarily mean “cheap to maintain.” California Screamin' experienced significant downtime over its first year as various kinks were worked out. Other rides, it turned out, were too sensitive for even mild winds and had to close at the first sign of inclement weather. These kinks have been mostly worked through, and two years later, DCA is left with a somewhat interesting mix of rides that are a good experience, if not necessarily a uniquely Disney experience.

Pricing

So sure was Disney of the imminent success of California Adventure, that sales of new, two-park annual passes were suspended months before the park opened. That disastrous decision did not long survive the park's opening. Annual passes were quickly reintroduced, and then reduced by almost $100 less than a year later.

Today, DCA tickets are something that Southern California residents get for free when they visit Disneyland.

As long as the front gates of the two parks were only 100 feet apart, Disney was going to have to deal with that comparison.

Is the experience of DCA equal to that of Disneyland? No – for most people it certainly isn't. Is it worth more than other area theme parks? Yes – most Disney fans should probably find it so. Pricing wise, this means that DCA should be priced somewhere between Disneyland ($47 a day, as of a few weeks ago) and Universal Studios, ($47 for an annual pass)

Disney pricing of DCA has a certain element of “damned if you do, damned if you don't.” By setting the admission price equal to Disneyland, it allows the obvious comparisons, in which DCA can only come up short (and will continue to do so for years). On the other hand, every time Disney discounts the price, it is held up as proof of the park's failure and creates a new round of negative PR in the press — how often do you see mention of DCA in a newspaper without an adjective like “beleaguered”? Despite this, Disney has broken with long-time policy and heavily discounted entrance into the parks.

In guest surveys, Disney asks visitors how likely they are to recommend a park to their friends and family. When DCA opened, the park lagged 20 percentage points behind Disneyland in this score. That gap is now 6 points. Clearly, Disney is taking DCA in the right direction.

The addition of Tower of Terror should only help bring people in. The new Aladdin show comes close to filling the theater during every performance. A Bug's Land is keeping the kids happy. Dining prices have begun returning to a cost level acceptable to the average park guest.

Eventually, DCA will find its niche and should grow to fill it well. The only question is, when the crowds start to show, will all the “old-timers” give up on the park because they now have to wait in lines?

The changes at Disney's Calfornia Adventure over the last two years have certainly been a mixed bag, but overall, the park has improved. If nothing else, the degree of change indicates that Disney recognizes — behind closed doors, at least — that there were significant issues with the park when it opened.

Somebody famous once said that Disneyland will never be complete. The modern version might very well be that Disney's California Adventure will never be complete as long as it underperforms. For whatever reason, though, the park is evolving, and we can only look forward to them getting it right.

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