The Whys of the Disneyland Resort

My recent visit to the Disneyland Resort was a great experience (and a tiring one as I covered 26 major attractions in a very lengthy day. Almost 18 hours actually. Read my Theme Park Commando trip report here), but the experience left me with a surprising number of questions. (Don't worry- I covered the same topic on Walt Disney World just a few days ago.)

Let's start with California Adventure, the park I visited on the first half of my day in July. I have so many "Why? questions about this park, it will be hard to limit it to three. 

• After all the work the Imagineers did to give the park a sense of charm, (accomplished in Buena Vista Street and Cars Land) why are they removing it with cheap looking overlays and removing the cohesiveness they worked so hard to bring into it?  Pixar Pier is- in a word- a mess. The Hollywood area is even worse! I found the new Marvel focused Guardians of the Galaxy attraction fun, but the building does not fit into the land. It looks even worse when the beautiful Red Car Trolley shows up right in front.
• Why did they do what they did to Ariel's Adventure/Under the Sea/The Little Mermaid? Here's a beloved and true First Class Disney Intellectual Property given a treatment so far below what it deserved or should have been. I go on it because I love the characters, the music, and the story - a father gives his life for his daughters- and I sense the potential in the first few rooms. But after the Ursula scene, let's be honest, it falls apart. Do I blame the Imagineers who worked this project? Yes. But I blame the suits who approved it. 
• To pull out the last one, Why did they approve such a half baked job for Marvel Land with an industrial looking "campus" as a super hero placesetting? Stark Industries looked cutting edge. Not at California Adventure. Did they even see the Iron Man film?

Now for Disneyland. Just because its the Granddaddy of them all, it doesn't mean the park is perfect. Consider these questions:

• Why haven't they- suits or Imagineers- figured out something to do with Tomorrowland? It's a disgrace. I went to Space Mountain, and then going into Star Wars Launch Bay, I turned around and left mere minutes later. A waste of space and waste of a land. See those trash cans? It's a good place to start placing the remnants of the demolition that needs to happen. Save the mountain, and scrap the rest. Yes, submarines included.
• Why are they keeping the "new" Pirates of the Caribbean entrance? Here's a company that known for innovation and creative thinking. Figure something out and return the original building to the way it was. They will need all that open land come Memorial Day weekend when Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens. 
• Why is Star Wars being put into Disneyland in the first place? Yes, it will cement the old gal as being the most "E Ticket" packed park in the Disney empire. But honestly, it should have anchored a third theme park. Admittedly, the newly shortened Rivers of America looks great, and the new land will drive attendance, but does it belong in "Walt's Park"? No.

I won't even talk about the Downtown Disney area. After having been in Florida's Disney Springs, Anaheim visitors and residents deserve much better. Go see for yourself.

(Photographs copyright Mark Taft.)