In an effort to attract the lucrative 18-to-34 age group, theme parks
all over Southern California are offering extreme sports programs this
summer.
…Knott’s Berry Farm unveils its new All Wheels Extreme show, featuring
bikers, skaters and boarders on Saturday, June 21.
…A week later, Legoland debuts its Sports Jam Summer Show in the
new Lego Sports Center. [Read the article
by Lisa Perkis.]
The X Games Experience logo eclipses the Sun Plaza. Photo by Adrienne
Vincent-Phoenix.
And just when you thought there could not be an unemployed extreme athlete
left in all of California, Disney’s California Adventure park launched
the X Games Xperience this past Tuesday — in a big way, as Moto X
star Mike Metzger jumped DCA’s scale Golden Gate Bridge in front of a
crowd of media and invited guests.
Mike Metzger jumps DCA’s Golden Gate Bridge. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
During the opening ceremonies, Metzger, who jumped the bridge five times,
was named an official Disney cast member. He received two name badges,
including one with his nickname “Godfather,” and a gold Mickey
Mouse medal.
The 28-year-old athlete who grew up in Southern California, said, “I
never expected to be jumping a dirt bike at Disneyland.” With apologies
to Walt Disney, he also said that he was probably the first guy to work
at Disneyland with (visible) tattoos.
Crowds of fans wait inside for the big moment. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Larger crowds wait outside DCA to catch a glimpse of the action. Photo
by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix
After last summer’s Rockin’ the Bay concert series failed to attract
enough baby boomers to see the lineup of nostalgia and cover bands, Disney
officials turned their attention to wooing a slightly younger crowd. The
result is the X Games Xperience, Disney’s the latest effort to draw attention—and
crowds—to Disney’s California Adventure and the Disneyland Resort
in general.
ESPN Vice President of Original Entertainment Ron Simeo and Disneyland
Resort President Cynthia Harriss welcome fans and media to the opening
ceremonies.
For this new program, the Paradise Bay Amphitheater has been turned over
to the Halfpipe Bay Show, where athletes on bikes, in-line skates and
skateboards perform four times a day. A new X Arena, constructed on the
edge of the Timon parking lot behind DCA, is the venue for a Freestyle
Moto X show, and an interactive skate park.
In-line skater Fabiola da Silva, BMX rider Jamie Bestwick and skaterboarder
Bob Burnquist chat with winter X Games reporter and announcer Sal Masekela.
Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
DCA’s new shows star some top talent from the world of extreme sports,
including Mike Metzger (Moto X), Jamie Bestwick (BMX), Bob Burnquist (Skateboard),
Matt Lindenmuth (In-line Skating), Fabiola DA Silva (In-line Skating),
John Parker (BMX), Jim Burgess (BMX), Mike Crum (Skateboard), Chris Livingston
(Skateboard), Marc Englehart (In-line Skating), Ronnie Renner (Moto X),
Chuck Carothers (Moto X), Myles Richmond (Moto X), Robert Distler (Moto
X) and Jimmie McGuire (Moto X). Celebrity skateboarder Tony Hawk will
make a special appearance on Saturday, July 19.
Mike Metzger greets fans after his successful jumps. Photo by Adrienne
Vincent-Phoenix.
Even if you are not a fan of extreme sports, the shows can be fun to
watch. How can you not be entertained when a tattoo-covered biker performs
a back flip on a logo-covered motorcycle in the middle of a Disney park?
The Halfpipe Bay Show during soft-open previews last weekend. Photo by
Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
BMX riders perform a doubles combination. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
The Halfpipe Bay show features a mock competition between the “three
Bs” of the extreme sports world — bikes, ‘blades (in-line skates)
and (skate) ‘boards . During the 20-minute show, athletes of each equipment
fling themselves down one side of a near-vertical 14-foot ramp, performing
“kickflips” and “tailwhips” when they reach the top
of the other side.
A skateboarder gets some air above the half pipe. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Even the wipeouts can be entertaining. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Each of the athletes take several runs, some performing doubles combinations,
and the crowd is encouraged to cheer for their favorite discipline. In
each show, one of the three “wins” the competition, and must
“defend” his title at the next show.
Paramedics and Disney’s health services staff stand ready in case a performer
is injured during a show. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
The Paradise Bay Theater offers no protection from the sun. Photo by Adrienne
Vincent-Phoenix.
Unfortunately, DCA did not apply the knowledge gained from the Rockin’
the Bay concert series, namely, that the Paradise Bay Amphitheater needs
some sort of shade structure to make it bearable. If you don’t get a sunburn
during the Halfpipe Bay Show, you’ll certainly finish the job watching
the Freestyle Moto X show in the new X Arena.
A sign on the Boudin Bakery silo points the way to the X Arena. Photo
by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Fans wait in the sun for the “Big Air” show to begin. Photo
by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
The X Arena is accessed through a performance gate next to the Mission
tortilla factory. The centerpiece of the arena is a dirt track for the
Freestyle Moto X show, edged on one side by bleachers for the audience.
Announcer Keith Alan introduces the athletes. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Mike Metzger performs a flip high above the X Arena. Photo by Adrienne
Vincent-Phoenix.
The arena is nothing spectacular; it consists only of three jump ramps
and two giant mounds of dirt to cushion the landings. But most of the
audience won’t care about the ground, instead focusing on the air above
the arena, as an assortment of athletes launch themselves off the ramps.
Grizzly River Rapids provides an interesting photo background for the
show. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Moto X athlete greet fans and sign autographs after a show. Photo by Adrienne
Vincent-Phoenix.
Again, we’re not talking high art here, but the crowd was certainly enthusiastic
as the riders performed tricks like the “double-grab cliffhanger”
and the “nac-nac.”
X Games merchandise for sale in the arena. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Visitors can see and sit on the new Yamaha motorcycles and ATVs (all-terrain
vehicles). Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
After the show, the audience can meet the riders in person, purchase
X Games-logo merchandise, and see an exhibit of Yamaha bikes and all-terrain
vehicles (ATVs).
The Disneyland Resort maps are featuring the X Games Xperience. Photo
by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
In addition to the two new shows, DCA has unveiled a host of new offerings
to support the 41-day promotion. In fact, the X Games Xperience looks
a lot like one of the park-wide theme overlays more common to Disneyland
during major anniversary years. New food and merchandise is themed to
the promotion, event banners hang from every light tower, and the park
is even offering the “Ultimate Scratch and Win Game.”
Sorry, this card was not a winner. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
All DCA visitors with paid admission (including annual passholders) receives
a game piece when they enter the park for the first time each day. Prizes
range from Saturn ION cars, and Yamaha motorcycles and ATVs, to pins,
watches and ESPN Zone game cards. The former Lost and Found location,
next to DCA’s Guest Relations Lobby, serves as the redemption center for
the lucky winners.
The interactive skate park lets fans try their own moves. Photo by Adrienne
Vincent-Phoenix.
The X Arena is also home to the Interactive Skate Park, where visitors
ages 7 and over—and accompanied by a legal guardian—can borrow
a skateboard, helmet, and kneepads, wrist pads, and elbow pads, and try
a few moves of their own… After signing the appropriate liability
waivers, of course.
A display of skateboards and helmets await the guest riders. Photo by
Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Instructors are there to give a few pointers, or a helping hand up when
you fall. The skate park is open daily from 10:15 to 6:15, and tickets
are distributed as soon as the park opens. Tickets are assigned for specific
times, and riders can stay for up to 20 minutes. The park does not allow
riders to bring their own equipment. A shaded lounge area, complete with
couches and televisions, gives parents a place to wait if they cannot
bear to watch their kids on the ramps.
If you turn the photo sideways, it appears that you just jumped California
Screamin’. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
A series of clever photo opportunities allows fans of all ages to get
shots of themselves demonstrating extreme skills. Disney photo hosts are
sometimes on hand to take digital pictures, which are available for sale.
Parents ignore signs and ropes to get a photo of their children. Photo
by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
After the displays had been on stage for two days, DCA added safety signs,
admonishing visitors not to ride, climb or hang from the equipment. Unfortunately,
we watched too many parents who allowed their children to do just that,
even climbing under the ropes of unattended displays to help their child
mount the equipment. It may take more than a sign and a “Wild About
Safety” campaign to avoid an injury here.
Priority Seating, version 3.0 — and they still haven’t fixed the
bugs. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
DCA is taking another pass at the Priority Seating program, offering
reserved seating in the X Arena for the Freestyle Moto X to visitors who
dine at one of three restaurants. As with the last incarnation of this
program, confusion reigns about the minimum purchase requirements.
The park map explains that Ariel’s Grotto and the Wine Country Trattoria
have “cover charges” of $25 per person, while the Vineyard Room
has a $45 per person cover charge. Ariel’s Grotto offers an $18 fixed-price
menu, making it impossible to reach the $25 minimum without ordering an
alcoholic beverage, or an additional menu item to go.
If the best seat in the house is important to you, you can make your
Priority Seating reservations at (714) 781-DINE (3463).
The Xcade is a little less than xciting. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
An empty storefront in the Golden State District houses the Xcade, a
collection of sports-themed arcade games and simulators, including a rock
climbing wall. This arcade is rather disappointing, with bare floors,
exposed walls and really poor lighting.
If it looks like the arcade is in a dark warehouse, that’s because it
is. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
With so much competition on the extreme sports entertainment field, DCA
has to hope that star power will be enough to separate its offering from
the rest of the theme-park pack. But that trick might prove more difficult
than Jamie Bestwick’s award-winning “downside tailwhip flair.”
Greeters on roller blades distribute temporary X Games tattoos to visitors
at the park entrance. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
A new commercial, running on local television stations, opens with a
BMX athlete performing a back flip The scene cuts to a shot of riders,
gripping their over-the-shoulder safety harnesses and screaming as their
ride vehicle bounces up and down a white tower.
This trick is called a “nothing,” because that’s how much the
rider has in contact with the bike. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
It isn’t until the third scene—of a bird’s-eye view of a large wooden
roller coaster—that you realize you are looking not at the Maliboomer
at DCA, but the Supreme Scream at Knott’s Berry Farm. The commercial and
the clips are from that park’s All Wheels Extreme show. With competition
like that, it looks like Disney’s marketing team is going to have to be
Extremely busy this summer.
Legoland’s Sports Jam runs through August 31, and Knott’s Berry Farm’s
All Wheels Extreme show ends on September 1. DCA’s X Games Xperience closes
August 10, just prior to the ninth annual X
Games competition in Los Angeles, August 14-18 at the Staples Center
and the Los Angeles Coliseum.
