Incredicoaster & Pixar Pier Coming Summer 2018
As previously announced, Pixar Pier will open at Disney California Adventure in Summer 2018, replacing Paradise Pier. The re-imagined land will feature the Incredicoaster based on The Incredibles, at least one new(?) spinner attraction, and newly themed attractions, food spots, and merchandise locations throughout.
Pixar Pier will be a permanent land on what is now the California Screamin’ side of Paradise Bay, and will replace what is now one cohesively themed land with several, disjointed neighborhoods that thematically make zero sense in a park named Disney California Adventure.
Disney Parks Blog released new info today on the redesign after the previous announcement over the summer at the D23 Expo raised more questions than it answered. While today’s article answers a lot of those questions, it also raises plenty of questions of its own. Namely, WHY?! (Also, does this mean we’re saying “bye” to A Bug’s Land?) We’ll cover the details of the announcement, plus some speculation and commentary of our own in this post…
The first of the four themed neighborhoods guests will find is based upon The Incredibles. This will be anchored by the Incredicoaster, which is a permanently transformed version of California Screamin’. The Incredicoaster will feature a mid-century modern loading area, new character moments, and a new look for the ride vehicles.
It appears that there might be an enclosed section of the attraction (perhaps with a show scene?) at the ride’s finale.) To prepare for this transformation, California Screamin’ will permanently close on January 8, 2018.
It stands to reason that King Triton’s Carousel will be reskinned to something based upon The Incredibles, but no details were given on that front. If the concept art is any indication, it could be more enclosed than how it appears at present.
The next neighbor is just an extension of Toy Story Mania, and it seems doubtful will add anything beyond what’s already there.
The third neighborhood will be inspired by Inside Out, and will be found on the western side of the boardwalk. Curiously, Disney announced that this will also add a new family-friendly attraction, scheduled to open at a later date.
Inside Out is Pixar’s one exceptional film from recent years, and an imaginative trackless dark ride would make the rest of this half-baked “transformation” forgivable. So of course, we’ll probably get a reskinned version of Francis’ Ladybug Boogie instead.
The fourth neighborhood will be a celebration of many of your favorite Pixar stories. In other words, this is a catch-all. In this neighborhood, Mickey’s Fun Wheel will have a new look, with each of the 24 gondolas featuring different Pixar characters. Fortunately, the iconic face of celebrated Pixar character Mickey Mouse (wait what?) will remain on the Paradise Bay side of the wheel. The Games of the Boardwalk and shops in this area will be Pixarified, too.
We’re up to what, neighborhood 5? That’ll be re-branded versions of Ariel’s Grotto restaurant and the Cove Bar. It’s unclear whether these will have characters added to them or not. Seems slightly ‘off brand’ to have family-friendly characters pitching booze, but I propose Cove Bar becomes Crush’s Bar. I’ve never pegged alcohol as Crush’s vice of choice, but this is California, so perhaps some modifications can be made to this bar to accommodate.
The remaining areas of the land that is now Paradise Pier, including Paradise Gardens, Silly Symphony Swings, Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Goofy’s Sky School, Golden Zephyr and The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, will become a new land called Paradise Park. It sounds as if none of this will be touched.
As for my reaction…what’s the point? Both in the reaction and in doing this project in the first place? This all strikes me as a rather pointless exercise. California Screamin’ is a fairly beloved attraction that is popular among tourists and locals, and I have a tough time seeing how this change will move the needle one way or the other after the initial surge of people wanting to see what’s changed.
The rest of what’s happening in these neighborhoods appears to be fairly trivial renaming and re-skinning. Hard to see that being any sort of being a big draw. A carousel with King Triton at the center is more or less going to draw as many people as one with some Pixar carousel. People are going because it’s a carousel, not because it’s the pinnacle of attraction storytelling.
Above all else, I keep coming back to why?! It seems like this brings little-to-nothing of substance to the table, while being a serious blow to the thematic cohesiveness Disney worked so hard at giving to DCA just ~5 years ago. Part of that project actually consolidated lands, and made the park more seamless. Now, the goal here is to undo some of that?
Moreover, the next time you see some video of a celebrity Imagineer touting how important “story” is to their creative process, and really going that extra mile to pat themselves on the back about their latest masterpiece, ask how much of that really matters to Disney, and how much of it is simply slick marketing.
I know to some Disney fans, it’s heresy to criticize anything the brilliant Imagineers do, but they are keen on publicly praising their own work, and in so doing open themselves up to such criticism. (This isn’t to say some of their projects aren’t praise-worthy–most are, but fans should not just eat up whatever Imagineers spoon feed to them.)
If story and thematic integrity were paramount, projects like this wouldn’t happen in the first place. Paradise Pier was not a perfect land, but it was an idealized version of California’s seaside parks, and fit perfectly in Disney California Adventure. It could’ve used some placemaking and an strong attraction anchoring it (to further distance itself from the seaside parks it romanticized), but it was thematically apt for the park in which it existed.
The same cannot be said for Pixar Pier and its various neighborhoods, all of which only exist to help explain away why all these disparate movies (plus Mickey Mouse) are being crammed into one incredibly small space. It probably does not need to be noted, but Pixar is not a theme. It’s a filmmaking division.
The one item of interest here, and what was conspicuously not announced but is visible in the concept art, is that there’s a “new” spinner ride in the old plot of the Maliboomer. Our guess is that this is Flik’s Flyers, and the reason it was not mentioned in the press release is that Disney is not ready to announce details about the closure of A Bug’s Land. This certainly would fit with the rumors about Marvel Land replacing A Bug’s Land.
It’s certainly possible DCA is adding another spinner of exactly the same style, but that seems highly unlikely. More likely is a splashier announcement at a future date about Marvel Land, followed by another announcement of further additions to Pixar Pier. If this is the case, it’s possible a couple of the A Bug’s Land attractions will be relocated to Pixar Pier. (Hence our depressing “joke” above that Inside Out will probably have its first attraction be a spinner, rather than something truly befitting of that exceptional film.)
Beyond that, I don’t really know what to say. Incredicoaster could be fun in isolation, especially if there’s a show scene towards the end, but it does not exist in a vacuum. And California Screamin’ is already a very strong attraction, so why mess with it? The relocated attractions from A Bug’s Land also make some degree of sense, although I hope they don’t absorb this land’s expansion pad (once rumored to be for the “Museum of the Weird.”) The rest of this all seems like a waste of time and a step in the wrong direction. I guess we shall see.
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Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with our take on the addition of Pixar Pier to Disney California Adventure? Are you excited, angry, or indifferent? Any questions? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!
Maybe it’s a meta commentary on SoCal boom/bust cycles. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Wow, this literally sounded like a mis timed April Fools joke.
Again, why? I just do not get the limited net gain here, if you were going to expand, then fine, maybe you could do something but the reskin doesn’t do anything to add capacity, make better rides or create continuity in theming.
it’s definitely time to ice the ‘California Adventure’ name. As you & others have inferred, it simply can’t be justified anymore.
I’m not thrilled, but will keep an open mind on these changes to the Pier, but maintaining the DCA name now would be blatantly ludicrous.
“Welcome to Disney Pixar Marvel Adventure Park!
Sponsored by OtterBox, the Official Protective Case of Disney Pixar Marvel Adventure Park.”
I usually get mad when Disney replaces the classics or original attractions/theme with modern intellectual properties like Frozen, Pixar, Marvel, or Star Wars especially when its in the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, or Disneyland Park. It doesn’t bother me when the replacements are in Hollywood Studios or even California Adventure since I do not have the same nostalgic view of those 2 parks like the other USA Disney parks.
I am in agreement with the concept that DCA no longer has a unified California theme as a whole theme park. But… I also feel compelled to point out that Disneyland itself doesn’t have a uniform theme. Futuristic + Americana + wild west + jungle/adventure + storybook characters? Those are not cohesive themes at all. We only think of Disneyland as a cohesive theme/unit because Walt decided to bring all of those themes together 60 years ago into one park.
So it’s not unprecedented that a successful park can unite a lot of disparate themes. Maybe the same can be true of DCA. Of course… a major part of that success is how well each land carries out its individual theme. For example, I never spend any time in Tomorrowland (outside of speed walking to and from Space Mountain, Star Tours and Buzz) because that land has an outdated and crappy theme. But I love wandering around Rivers of America or New Orleans Square or heck even Cars Land and the new Grizzly Peak area over at DCA because they are so true to their “land” theme.
I guess what I’m saying is as long as the individual lands maintain well-executed and fun themes, I don’t really care what they end up being. It just doesn’t sound at first blush like Pixar Land is a well-executed or even that fun of a theme.
Can anyone give a more definitive date for “summer”?? We’re going to Disneyland starting Memorial Day weekend…will all of this be back open?
I grew up in CA and I’m disappointed because slowly but surely I’ve been losing the things that brings so many good feelings of nostalgia. That, of course, is never a good reason to stop progress. I think the changes are probably for the best. Ultimately, however, I see little reason for preferring DLR over WDW. My kids will likely grow up loving WDW and we will all but stop going to DLR.
I think this just reaffirms what a terrible idea DCA was to begin with. The entire concept of the park has been slowly erased and soon there will be little left to relate it to California. Seems to me they could just as easily call it Disneyland Park #2. There isn’t any conhesive theme to the park. Now that doesn’t change the fact that the rides and themed areas may be really good. But there’s no theme and no relationship to California other than the park exists there.
Tom, I’m with you on this. This doesn’t make the park better, it just makes it more blatantly entrenched in franchises.
Walking around both WDW and DL, you can clearly sense the *brand* they’re pushing through each store, each area (particularly the new/renovated ones), etc. Frozen, Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, Cars, Pirates, Princesses, Mickey & Friends, Pooh, etc. It’s getting more and more blatant, and I don’t like it. Because to be frank, I don’t care about most of these entities that much. I’m not invested in them simply because they’re owned by the Walt Disney Company.
Not denying this strategy is worthwhile for Disney, but doesn’t mean we as fans have to accept each and every move in this direction. I don’t, and as a California resident who’s spent *one* day at DL/DCA over 2016 and 2017 (with a free ticket from a CM), that’s already started impacting my spending with Disney. That’s all I can do, but maybe it’s time to forget what Disney Parks once meant to me. Disney certainly has.
Geez Tom….could you be any more of an old man? I half expected a “get off my lawn” somewhere in the article.
Seriously, the only things that are news here are the particulars. Everyone has known since the Expo in July that Pixar Pier was happening. Yes…California Sreamin’ is a popular attraction, but what’s the theme. I dare you to come up with one that makes sense other than it fits with the “boardwalk theme” of Paradise Pier, which is a disjointed theme at that. How can you seriously criticize an “Incredibles Theme” for the coaster…it’s the freaking Incredibles.
I’m seriously excited about this.
I don’t think that the “California-ness” of DCA is a big attraction to guests from outside of California. Perhaps some market research by Dinsey found this to be the case, and given the likely changes in guest demographics that Tom has talked about once Star Wars Land opens, less chest-thumping about California was seen as a potential benefit. I have vacationed in California on numerous occasions, and while I appreciate the theme in DCA, I don’t go there to get a dose of California. For that I visit other places in California. On the other hand, if my grandkids like Pixar films, they will be more excited about visiting DCA going forward.
I always saw DCA as having originally been developed to appeal to the local market, and with that likely to become a smaller percentage of the clientele, these changes are more understandable.
THE fact that Californianess isn’t much of an attraction or draw just emphasizes what a terrible idea DCA was to begin with. Slowly but surely they’ve been developing themed areas that are beautiful and Disneyesque but they have to get rid of any vestiges of California. Overall I think it’s a good move but there are a couple negative consequences. One it doesn’t have the nostalgic appeal that draws a lot of regulars. It also is disjointed so that some people will view DCA as merely Disney Park #2. If you had a day to spend at Disney which park are you going to spend it at?
I think progress has to trump nostalgia. But I used to come to CA for that and for DCA which was different. If CA is merely going to be a lesser version of WDW, then Disney is going to get fewer tourists. WDW is cheaper to fly to and cheaper to stay.
They need to figure out a cohesive theme and offer something different about DCA than simply being a second Disneyland Park.
I mean, Pixar is located in California, so…
#theming #branding #obviously #totallynotbecauseIPisreplacingidealizedCaliforniathatssilly
I’ve more often been proved wrong than right about Disney re-skins, but I really don’t see the upside here. It literaly feels like someone toured the park, said “there’s not enough Pixar in here, fix it”, and this was the best that could be engineered.
Pixar is fantastic fodder for attrations, as Monsters, Inc., Toy Story x 3, Cars, Ratatouille, etc all demonstrate. The difference is, these attractions stand on their own without needing an arbitrary “Pixar Land” to join them together. This feels like a way to work Pixar attractions that are not strong enough to be attractions in their own right into the park. Like WDS’s “Cars Race Rally”, the outcome is just sad.
As for California Screaming itself, I’ll reserve judgment. Personally, the music, narration and seaside feel (carried off throughout) is a big part of that attraction, and I’ll miss it. I see no reason why another theme wouldn’t work just as well, but equally find myself thinking “Why..?”.
Our 1st time trip to the West Coast parks is planned for late April 2018. It sounds like a large part of DCA will be closed then…? Do you think it would be worth it to push the trip back a few months until it reopens?
I agree with you 100% Tom. When I first heard about this my immediate reaction was “why?”. And it’s still the same. This seems like a complete waste of money, “fixing” something that doesn’t need fixing, when there are other areas of that park that need real help. It definitely makes more thematic sense as is in the park. I’m just shaking my head about this decision.
“Above all else, I keep coming back to why?! It seems like this brings little-to-nothing of substance to the table, while being a serious blow to the thematic cohesiveness Disney worked so hard at giving to DCA just ~5 years ago. Part of that project actually consolidated lands, and made the park more seamless. Now, the goal here is to undo some of that?” “It probably does not need to be noted, but Pixar is not a theme. It’s a filmmaking division.”
Nail on the head Tom. Couldn’t agree with you more. Insert deep, exasperated sigh here.
I’m okay with this. I’d rather see them send the Ariel ride over to Disneyland entirely and focus CA on marvel/pixar/etc. and leave the classic fantasy alone. I’m still more upset about the disruption of StarWars, frankly.
So, Tom, what’s the solution? None of us are going to swear off Disney parks anytime soon. None of us will go to DCA and *not* try these “re-imagined” rides. I’m appalled by this and the overriding trajectory that Imagineering is on. But they’re still gonna get my money.
So, for those of us who aren’t going to protest with our wallets…is there anything we can do to voice our disappointment that’s actually effective?
You are right for the most part, but I must say that between putting Star Wars Land in Disneyland Park, and now doing this to DCA, I am feeling kinda over DLR at the moment. I’ve always been a fan of the original park & loved DCA 2.0, but I think I’m going to skip it for the next few years. I’ve made 13 trips to DLR in my lifetime, and 7 of those have been in the last 6 years, but I couldn’t tell you when my next trip will be, and I’m fine with that.
David Z,
I agree with most of the comments here – WHY?!!! I find myself saying that over and over with more changes to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
To be 100% honest, there is only one solution. Just do what my wife and I have done – give the money that you were originally going to give to the Walt Disney Company instead to the *one* company that actually knows what they’re doing when it comes to creating and expanding Walt Disney’s vision – Oriental Land Company.
Yes, it has now come to this. A foreign company in Japan now is doing “Disney” better than an American company that originated it. It’s sad but true. (If I may quote from Metallica.)
Our first trip to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea was in 2016 and throughout our four days there we were *SO* impressed with both parks and how all of the people there were really working to create “Disney magic.” Over there that’s not a cheap phrase spouted by some suit and tie clad business person from Burbank in a press release. It’s a reality. They’ve rolled up their sleeves, done the necessary hard work, and actually done it over there.
As a result, my wife and I have cancelled our Disneyland and Walt Disney World future plans and replaced them with trips to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea instead. Our first return trip to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort is in a few weeks. This recent announcement with details about the butchering of Paradise Pier only confirms how happy we are with our travel plans.
So to you David and anyone else out there that is not happy with the changes at the US Disney parks, just do what my wife and I have done and you’ll be much happier with your hobby of going to the Disney parks. As an extra incentive, if you’re a US citizen, you don’t even need a visa to go to Japan. Also, with all of the insane price hikes and fees that the US Disney parks are ripping people off with, a trip to Tokyo Disneyland isn’t really all that much more expensive than a trip to the US parks.
Frozen Rapids River Run
You know it’s coming next.
The “Frozen ” jokes stopped being funny about 18 months ago.
And soaring around arendelle
Why don’t the three of you just let it go!
I was not at all excited about this when they announced it at D23, and today’s press release is just confirming my fears and disappointment. I LOVE Paradise Pier. My first reaction is, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! This seems like a silly distraction and/or stopgap until they start working on Hollywood Land, the part of DCA that actually needs the help. And my second reaction is, if you’re going to invest more in Paradise Pier, why not do it right? Why not make the improvements it needs and maintain thematic integrity? Why undo the hard work of a few short years ago? I suppose the cynic in me knows the answer to those questions. My only consolation is that the Paradise Park section will remain relatively the same (at least for now). I’m sure I will enjoy Pixar Pier for what it is, but with the knowledge that what it is, is inferior to what it was.
I feel so hypocritical now about rolling my eyes at people who were furious over the death of Tower of Terror (in my defense, Twilight Zone was a REAL WEIRD fit for a Disney ride). I’m heartbroken! Paradise Pier is one of my favorite places in DCA and I’m so sad to hear it’s going to be so different. I know the Pier as-is is a really really weird fit for the park, but . . . I love it. 🙁
Do you even have to ask about attractions in a Disney park that they want to promote Disney characters and IP. The DCA 2.0 makeover of Paradise Pier was didn’t really touch the far side. The shops and restaurants was pretty much the same. This change is a bit deeper. Certainly they didn’t want to touch the swing ride, which did get a major update. Previously, they changed Screamin’ loop decoration and the Fun Wheel centerpiece and added World of Color lights. This is just a minor update and the continuing evolution of the park. I would have been better to just make it Toy Story Pier with the same roller coaster theme as at DHS. They can always change their minds.