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"Placemaking" at Disney's California Adventure
"Placemaking" at Disney's California Adventure
Posted Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 6:24p Pacific Time
I've always liked California Adventure. The word "liked" in that sentence is a deliberate choice, and for me, an accurate one. A good time can be had at DCA, though it would be an exaggeration to call the place an amazing experience. Fun? Yeah. Charming? Not as much. And it's that charm-deficit problem that the recently-announced upgrade to the park is designed to fix. (Al Lutz has a nice overview here.) From all indications, it seems like the upgrade will do its job nicely.
The term "placemaking" came into vogue at Imagineering not long after California Adventure opened. Turns out Imagineering wasn't, as many might have supposed, in the business of building fun amusement parks; their business was creating an atmosphere, "making a place." I don't disagree with that assessment. And, in fact, I suspect this new definition of Imagineering came to be because "placemaking" was exactly what WDI hadn't succeeded in doing at California Adventure. It must have felt like it was time to re-focus, and "placemaking" was the way to do it. The 1920s-era, Walt-arriving-in-California theme overlay should, in theory, make park guests feel like they're in a different place and time, the first goal of any placemaking mission, and, indeed, the first mission that any Disney park has to succeed at. Here's hoping it works.
And here's hoping that they avoid one misstep I noted in the announcement. The entrance plaza--at least according to Al--is going to be modeled after L.A.'s long-gone Pan-Pacific Auditorium. WDI is supposed to be the master of spot-on theming...but the Pan-Pacific Auditorium, well, doesn't look like the '20s. In fact, a quick look in Wikipedia indicates that it wasn't built until 1935. The entrance plaza is supposed to invoke Walt Disney's arrival to California in the mid-'20s, yet it's styled after a Streamline Moderne building that wouldn't be built for another decade? Maybe this is a nitpick, but it would seem like the first goal of placemaking would be to not hit any false notes; hopefully WDI will think this one through a little more.
5 Comments • permalink • link with comments
tags: Disney's California Adventure (DCA), Disneyland Resort
Comments
Post 4: For god's sake, they had characters in the park on day 1. Why do people keep saying they didn't? THEY DID.
OK? There were costume characters in the place.
Posted By ChurroMonster Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 2:07a Pacific Time
Characters were there from day one. You do not remember correctly.
Posted By disneydiaries Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 2:03a Pacific Time
I remember when they first opened DCA, they didn't want to have the characters there. No characters at a Disney park?! What would be the point? At least they fixed that.
Posted By gmaletic Sunday, October 21, 2007 at 8:14p Pacific Time
You're right; I did misquote slightly. The entrance plaza is going to be Mission Moderne, typified by the Carthay Circle Theater replica. But my objection still stands: if the goal is to set a '20s atmosphere as the beginning of the experience, why would you start with a structure that looks nothing like the '20s?
Posted By odyssea Sunday, October 21, 2007 at 2:01p Pacific Time
If I remember right, the entrance plaza is not going to be modeled after the Pan Pacific Auditorium. They're simply going to make the turnstile structure have a similar design.
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