Parks and Resorts- Disney's California Adventure Roundup

What to do with Disney's California Adventure...the red headed step child of Disney's parks and resorts continues to struggle. It has had several iterations and yet it still continues to struggle in fun and identity.

The first iteration of the park was part of a budgeted compromise to make Disneyland into a multi day resort. The 2001 opening saw the opening of Downtown Disney, the Grand Californian Hotel, and DCA. DCA was a broad representation of the areas of California (Napa, seaside, Hollywood, etc.) Due to the tight budgeting the park was light on true attractions and bought many "off the shelf" attractions to fill it with. The charm of Disneyland was clearly not seen in DCA. Additionally, the few noteworthy attractions (California Screamin, River rapids, etc.) had lines that filled up so quickly because there was no place to disperse the population as Disneyland is able to. The park also had few restaurants, but had many food stands, which cheapened the experience a bit. Lastly, the park was just not fun. The comparison between Disneyland and DCA was staggering and DCA became a half day afterthought. Attendance suffered throughout the next decade, revenues fell, disappointment set in. After all, Disneyland resort is extremely landlocked, so the land available needs to be used to its fullest potential. Minor modifications were added though the years, such as "A bugs life" area with one major attraction .

The second iteration opened in 2012 and included aa new water show, a re-themed entrance, two new restaurants, and the new "Cars Land" area. The broad overview of California was largely gone, in its place was only a nominal connection to California. This iteration occurred only 11 years after its original and cost close to $1 Billion. Did it work? Hardly, attendance is barely any higher than before. So what is the problem here?

First, let me state that DCA needs a concrete identity. Being a half California and half kid friendly intellectual IP is a strange mix. What is the solution? I don't know. The California aspect makes it unique, but it also limits it in what it can do. Perhaps just keep the name, but abandon the overall concept.

Second, DCA needs to abandon the off the shelf attractions. The pier area is still weak after its redevelopment. What should DCA become? Well, I have an idea...since Disneyland park is getting Star Wars Land, make a large part of DCA a Pixar land. There already is a Cars land, Bugs land, and Monster Inc...lets get a Toy Story land, a Ratatouille restaurant, a Wall-E space attraction, an UP themed flyer (perhaps re-theme Soarin'), an Inside Out attraction, etc. In order to do this effectively, this should take up about half the park (Going from Hollywood land area to Bugs land to Cars land and parts of the Grizzly Flats area)...not just a few acres. Really theme it properly.

Third, DCA needs to revamp some of its restaurants. It needs more, but it also needs better quality. The only true kids restaurant is the Little Mermaid one...the food is lackluster at best, but the theming is good. Let's get two more kid friendly table service restaurants. Then, this park needs its own Blue Bayou. A restaurant within an attraction that is fun and part of the attraction. Third, there are two adult restaurants; the new Carthay Circle and the Wine Country Trattoria. Two adult restaurants is probably a little much for a small park such as this, so Wine Country Trattoria can be repurposed to more child friendly.

Fourth, the monorail needs to be diverted for a small area to allow for a stop at DCA and Grand Californian. This will be mildly expensive, but will put DCA on the same par as Disneyland Park.

As the Disneyland Resort continues to grow (will be covered in the Disneyland Resort Roundup post), the success of the resort idea rests solely on the success of DCA.