Disney has developed a great system at establishing their theme parks: build a centralized corridor with a generic well known theme, surround the hub with “lands” based on a common theme. In each land, stick a big attraction at the end, a few minor attractions within, and one or two restaurants. Put a shop in the front, and another shop at the exit of every attraction you can. Bam! You have a theme park.
It’s a good system that promotes spending and drives guests to see a little bit of everything. Disney has been using this system since its initial success within Disneyland and they have never changed it because of the inherent risk - theme parks are just too expensive of an item to try something new and unproven. Star Wars land alone is rumored to cost over $1 billion for each version (and think about all the savings involved with building the same design twice!). If a theme park, or a land in a theme park flops because of “out of the box thinking”, it could be disastrous. Tried and true is always the way to go.
Enter California Adventure. A park - now almost two decades old - that has been all but completely redesigned from the ground up. Since opening day we’ve seen the addition of Bugs Land, Tower of Terror, Little Mermaid, World of Color, Cars Land … and well I could honestly keep going for a while. No park in Disney history has had as much turnover as California Adventure. Why? Well for the most part it’s been a failure. Over the first 10 years, attendance went from 5 million to 6.3 million - 26% growth. But over the last 5 years, and after steep reinvestment, those numbers hit 9.3 million - 48% growth. That’s almost twice the growth in half the time!
In 2016, California Adventure was ranked 11th by TEA, the Themed Entertainment Association, and the park is now a success on everything but paper (it's still in the red as an investment)--but that’s actually okay! When you make a movie, payoff is expected to happen within three to five years, with any additional sales as a bonus. Businesses develop five-year plans, some big ones even will make ten-year plans. Disney Parks, however, have much stronger “staying power” than a movie - and appeal on the market for 25 or 50 years depending on the investment. So investments aren’t necessarily designed to payoff until after 10 years at the earliest.
California Adventure is now back on track, but they did it through unconventional means. Sure - the hub and spoke pattern is still there, but California Adventure isn’t as thematically defined as any other Disney park. Those upgrades and revisions over the years ditched the hub and spoke pattern that’s defined Disney Parks, and the attractions that Disney has built within California Adventure aren’t the ones you might be used to.
See, Disneyland is a slow learner. It mostly has brick and mortar attractions made from sets, props, and animatronics. Rides are set in stone and projected displays are usually very specific. Few attractions in Disneyland change without going under a heavy refurbishment or closing for a week or two. California Adventure on the other hand has many agile offerings.
Hollywood is the most agile land within the park. It has been home to Tron, Mad Tea Party, a Frozen Winter Wonderland, and a Summer of Heroes - each overlay transforming the land and giving new, wildly successful offerings throughout both day and night. The theater within Hollywood has been home to Aladdin, and now the projection-heavy Frozen. Drawn to Animation has gone from telling you how characters were developed to teaching you how to draw characters - with a different character at each showing. On a grander scale, the characters are adjusted seasonally to highlight holidays and new movie releases. Guardians of the Galaxy has screens that alternate content, and music that changes with each ride through - it’s even received a Halloween overlay within six months of it’s opening!
Look at the recently announced Pixar Pier. It’s Pixar Pier - not Toy Story Pier, or Inside Out Pier. Pixar is inherently more flexible than a direct movie tie in, allowing Imagineering to create many little offerings from specific movies throughout the land that can change frequently and with little investment as Pixar movies go in and out of popularity.
These smaller “sweeping” changes is what makes California Adventure so unique. Creating a new experience within the park doesn’t require installing a brand new ride, instead it requires just a minor tweak. California Adventure might have opened as a traditional Disney park, but over the years it’s been upgraded to a technological marvel - an agile theme park.
Agile development of a theme park is great. It keeps content fresh over the years, ensuring new experiences each time you go. If done right, that content can be thoughtful, innovative, and downright fun! California Adventure’s recent success isn’t based on it’s original attractions - but on it’s constant small changes, something no other Disney theme park has ever been able to do.
