Disneyland’s Golden Anniversary celebration was anticipated
as the be-all and end-all of theme park promotions. It just started off
the summer with a lot more excitement than it ended it.
“The summer ended with a whimper,” said one cast member, commenting
on the slight, premature slowdown in business. “The crowds were here
up to and around Disneyland’s birthday, but dropped after that. Attendance
really took a hit when Hurricane Katrina hit and the gasoline prices exceeded
$3.” (Kids returning early to school didn’t help, either.)
Disneyland’s challenge will be figuring out how to extend the excitement
of the last four months for another 14 months. It has a few cards up its
sleeve—such as the Honda car giveaway at Disneyland next month. Then
at Disney’s California Adventure there’s the new Monsters Inc. dark ride
in January and the reprofiled drops patterns on Tower of Terror a few
months later. Also in late spring, Disneyland will power up the new night-time
version of Space Mountain, “Rock-It Mountain.”
The latter is just the first of possibly several instant overlays the
park is considering. The idea is based on the success of the seasonal
overlays on It’s a Small World and the Haunted Mansion (and, before that,
the Country Bear Jamboree). The only problems was these promotions have
become so comprehensive, that they’re quite expensive to produce, install
and tear down—and mean an extra month of downtime for the popular attractions.
The instant overlays create a new ride experience with the flip of a few
switches—a change in lighting, music, sound level, effects, even—as
is proposed for Pirates of the Caribbean, having your boat rerouted into
new show scenes installed in the current boat storage channel.
Now that the summer’s over, management can finally catch its breath and
evaluate what’s worked and what hasn’t. Chief among the crowd-pleasers
has been the fireworks show; in fact, it’s been uncomfortably popular.
The new parades at both parks are also hits.
The biggest loser was Disney’s California Adventure as a whole, where
estimates have summer-time attendance levels at historic lows.
Perhaps the downturn shouldn’t be surprising. For a change, DCA offered
no significant discounts this summer. Too, while Disneyland boasted about
10 exciting new additions, the only thing DCA got was the parade and later
the Turtle Talk With Crush show. As well, the marketing department seems
to have forgotten the place exists.
Certainly concern must be growing that DCA will never be able to stand
on its own—a necessity before Disney will ever invest in a third
gate on the strawberry fields.
Something tells me that, with only 150 shopping days left ’til DCA’s
5th birthday, there must be hundreds of thousands of Southern Californians
who have never given the park a try. Who are these people? Why haven’t
they been to DCA yet? I went looking for these Block Party-poopers and,
to be honest, they were not difficult to find.
Karen is a 40-ish mom with two daughters, one in high school, another
in college. She still likes to get to Disneyland about once every year
or so (down from about twice a year when her girls were young), but she’s
never been to DCA. Never even considered it. She’s pretty familiar with
it, but just doesn’t have any interest in it. She’s seen the TV commercials
and, from across the esplanade, the big roller coaster and other carnival
rides. For her, it looks too much like Knott’s Berry Farm and Magic Mountain—neither
of which appeal to her or her family. “I don’t like the circus,”
she says firmly.
Ironically, the similarity to the competition is intentional. Disney
figured that if it could give visitors the Hollywood atmosphere of Universal
Studios, the thrill rides of Six Flags, and the woodsy charm of Knott’s.
What it’s given DCA is Knott’s-sized, not Disneyland-sized, crowds. Apparently,
Disney’s audience isn’t an exact match of the competition’s.
Consider Rita, 60. She adores Disneyland. She’s been going at least once
a year for as long as she can remember. Rita’s never paid to visit
DCA, but did find herself in the park to attend a community service award
presentation in the Hyperion Theater. An hour after the cermony ended,
she had hopped over to Disneyland.
Why such a hurry to flee DCA? “It’s not fun,” Rita explained.
“There’s really nothing that I like, except they served alcohol.
Oh, and Soarin’ over California. I also rode Tower of Terror, but it wasn’t
very terrifying. They had things for teenagers, but I’m not into all these
roller coasters. It conjures up the image of Magic Mountain, which I detest.
And it’s not worth the price. Disneyland has so much to do.”
Chuck, 43, has three teenage kids and has also never been to DCA. But
then he hasn’t been to Disneyland either in the last five years. What’s
kept his family away? “The cost,” he says. “If it were
cheaper I’d go in a heartbeat. It costs $50, $60 to get in, and it’s just
not worth it.”
Perhaps it’s Disneyland that has priced DCA out of the market. Although
the two parks charge the same amount to get in, it’s difficult to argue
that they provide the same value.
Chuck’s favorite activity had been to just walk around. “We wouldn’t
go to ride rides. We’d mostly go to look at stuff and people watch. But
it’s so crowded now, that’s no fun anymore.” Instead, he finds it
much more comfortable (and affordable) to hang out at entertainment-themed
malls similar to the Irvine Spectrum.
He knows DCA is there, although the only rides he can name are two he
can see as he drives by, “the Hollywood Hotel that looks like it’s
falling apart and the roller coaster with the mouse face on it.”
William, in his mid-50s, had been an annual passholder for a few years
before being distracted by other interests—about the same time that
DCA opened. He also wouldn’t mind visiting DCA some time “just to
see it.” Yet, from what he’s heard about DCA from his friends, nothing
about the place really excites him. “It sounds more like an amusement
park than a Disneyland, with a Ferris wheel and a lot of big rides instead
of visual rides,” William says. “I get the impression there
aren’t that many rides, and that it’s not as much fun [as Disneyland].
Frankly, I haven’t heard any ringing endorsements.”
So what’s a Mouse to do? Keep adding rides until something catches the
public’s fancy? Change the theme to something more appealing? Steamroll
the carnival rides? Bribe dissatisfied customers to stop bad-mouthing
the place? Just know that inside DCA something’s got to change. I wonder
if anyone will notice.
The Golden Anniversary celebration has resulted in a treasure trove of
merchandise for Disneyland enthusiasts. It’s also made the company begin
to appreciate some of the people who have worked so hard to “make
the magic” on a daily basis. Over the last 25 years, Disney had become
adept at venerating its animators and Imagineers, but continued to neglect
most of the pioneers who operated the theme parks.
Fortunately, the 2005 class of Disney Legends—to be honored at an
invitation-only presentation September 20 at 10:00 a.m. in the Main Street
Opera House, then 11 a.m. in front of the castle—consists mostly
of unsung Disneyland heroes.
This year’s inductees are Chuck “Mr. Matterhorn” Abbott (Disneyland
Operations), Milt Albright (Magic Kingdom Club originator), Hideo Amemiya
(WDW & Grand Californian Hotels), Hideo “Indian” Aramaki (Disneyland
Foods), Chuck Boyajian (Disneyland Custodial), Charles Boyer (Disneyland’s
master illustrator), Randy Bright (Disneyland Operations, WDW, Imagineering),
Jim Cora (Disneyland Operations), Bob Jani (Disneyland & WDW Entertainment),
Mary Jones, Art Linkletter (Disneyland Opening Day host), Mary Ann Mang
(Disneyland Public Relations), Steve Martin (actor/comedian who got his
start at Disneyland), Tom Nabbe (original Tom Sawyer at Disneyland, WDW
Facilities), Jack Olsen (Disneyland & WDW Merchandise), Cicely Rigdon
(Disneyland Guest Relations), Bill “Sully” Sullivan (Disneyland
& WDW Operations), Jack “The Voice of Disneyland” Wagner, and
Vesey Walker (first leader of the Disneyland Band).
Sadly, half of the Legends are no longer around to enjoy the accolades.
And, we lost another one last week. On September 7, Indian Aramaki, Disneyland’s
first executive chef, passed away. He lived until age 90—two weeks
short of his day in the sun.
