One part of the renovation of California Adventure’s Paradise Pier is now open. Disney has released this short promotional video for Goofy’s Flight School tying it into one of the short animated films that stars our lovable Goofy.
What do you think? Have you been on Goofy’s Flight School yet? Obviously they didn’t change the track. So the experience is exactly the same as any off the shelf Mad Mouse roller coaster. Is the theme really an improvement over Mullholland Madness?
I haven’t been to DCA myself in a long time. But it seems to me that by expanding the Paradise Pier theme Disney has just made one of the worst features of California Adventure much more prominent. Yes, they were in for a penny, in for a pound. But to have such an obvious example of everything Disneyland was trying not to be literally steps away from Disneyland’s main entrance is embarrassing.
John, I’m a west coaster, so I get to DCA every year. I think Paradise Pier isn’t quite the disaster that some Disney fans have made it out to be. While Disney has traditionally avoided “off the shelf” attractions, this one section of DCA was always envisioned as a homage to the state’s coastal boardwalks (think Santa Monica Pier or the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk). Rides like California Screamin’ deliberately mimic the look and feel of the rides you would find at those places. I guess many would argue that the area’s theme was poorly chosen, but it seems authentically Californian – and I always thought it was nice to see what these sort of rides might be like with a touch of Disney magic.
Our family loves DCA, in many ways preferring it to Hollywood Studios in WDW – which has many similarities of course. Looking forward to seeing the post-Cars land version of the park soon.
The division for me is if a seaside boardwalk amusement park is an appropriate theme at all for a Disney theme park. Walt built Disney to escape that sort of cluttered, off the shelf, cheap games, and garish lights feel that Paradise Pier has to have if it is to appear at all authentic to the period it is trying to replicate. But it’s exactly that act of replication that renders it non-Disney. I know that some Disney fans will disagree with me on that, but it’s my blog, so I get to state my opinion here. :)
I would have to agree with you on this. I am a Disneyland Annual Passholder and go to Disneyland and DCA about two times a week. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to post on this. My feelings on the revisited section of DCA is the same. I fell the new dinning area is a even bigger waist of space then it was before. With the remodel we lost a whole ride and a little play area for the kiddos. As for Goofy’s Fly School, I think Disney really dropped the ball here all together. All they really did was replace the art so I’m not sure why it was down for so long just to do that. I would have like to see more added to the AKA (Mouse Trap fair ride). DCA all together is in need of some real help.
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I think Goofy’s Sky School is a short-term fix and won’t be there by the end of the decade. Now if they had enclosed it within a building turning it into a poor-man’s version of Space Mountain with loads of special effects they may have had something truly worthwhile. Personally I wish they would get rid of Mickey’s Fun wheel because nothing is more non-Disney than a ferris wheel.
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I agree with all of the comments, in part. The first time I went to DCA was for my sweet 16 – almost a decade ago, when it first opened. I didn’t even know what to do there. It seemed mostly vacant with the attractions too far apart and the themes being less than obvious to a teenager (likely to a child as well). However, I went again when I was about 19 and liked it a little more. We stayed in the Grand Californian or whatever that log-cabin hotel is called. I loved the hotel and literally cried when I saw it so I think that opened me a little more to the experience. I liked being able to go right into the park from the hotel, as well. The greatest dissapointment was, in fact, the mouse ride.
When I heard it was going to be re-done into a flight simulation goofy-ride, like Toad, I thought it was going to be enclosed and given special affects. I’m returning for my 1st wedding anniversary next month. I hope the revisions are for the better and am looking forward to it. It will be my husband’s first time so I’ll have to try not to be a critic and ruin it for him. I’ve been a die-hard disneyland fan since birth – going practically every summer from infancy to teen years.
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