Disneyland Resort

[Jerroddragon]

I've actually thought of a similar idea to the one mentioned above, but I agree that the mountain wouldn't be able to sustain a major retrofit, mainly because it's not really a show building so much as it is an impressive bit of set dressing around a rapids track.

Based on the space available and the design of the land, the only way I would see to feasibly do a mine cart coaster would be to retrofit parts of the Grizzly River Trail (extended queue), Redwood Forest Challenge (main queue), and Mermaid/Wine Country (the gravity building/mine part of the attraction). I personally don't see those sections of the land ever being removed in the near-term, but the performance corridor is becoming less relevant as Mermaid ages poorly and Pixar Pier encroaches on the remaining sections of Paradise Garden Park.

Mermaid is a very popular ride and as far as I can tell the effects all work

So No idea why your shading that ride

 

[Jake S]

It’s a pretty underwhelming ride, that’s been true for me since it opened. And i’m not sure it’s all that popular, either.

 

[Freak]

If they got rid of Mermaid for a better ride, I won’t cry. There’s more they could’ve done with that IP.

 

[belloq87]

Little Mermaid is an excellent value* at both California Adventure and Magic Kingdom. Basically every theme park needs more of those.

* "Value" calculated by the attraction you get relative to the time spent waiting for it.

 

[Jerroddragon]

It’s a people eater, if monsters inc had better capacity it would have the same line

It’s popular and much need. Not every ride needs to be a super e ticket that only lets 800 people on it an hour

 

[Mad Dog]

Little Mermaid is an excellent value* at both California Adventure and Magic Kingdom. Basically every theme park needs more of those.

* "Value" calculated by the attraction you get relative to the time spent waiting for it.

We like the attraction (at MK). We do it numerous times every vacation. Very good queue. Usually a fast moving line since it has very high capacity.

 

[TheUniC6]

If they got rid of Mermaid for a better ride, I won’t cry. There’s more they could’ve done with that IP.

Maybe they could get rid of Emotional Whirlwind and replace Mermaid with an Inside Out dark ride. That IP deserves far more than just a carnival style spinner.

 

[Clive]

This park needs more, not lateral moves. Mermaid is fine, they just need to ditch the Lightning Lane so that it can work for the park the way it was intended to.

 

[DrStarlander]

I've actually thought of a similar idea to the one mentioned above, but I agree that the mountain wouldn't be able to sustain a major retrofit, mainly because it's not really a show building so much as it is an impressive bit of set dressing around a rapids track.

Based on the space available and the design of the land, the only way I would see to feasibly do a mine cart coaster would be to retrofit parts of the Grizzly River Trail (extended queue), Redwood Forest Challenge (main queue), and Mermaid/Wine Country (the gravity building/mine part of the attraction). I personally don't see those sections of the land ever being removed in the near-term, but the performance corridor is becoming less relevant as Mermaid ages poorly and Pixar Pier encroaches on the remaining sections of Paradise Garden Park.

The image below is messy, sorry, but it shows what I had in mind. Firstly, I don't want to seem like I minimizing the scope here, this is a big project, bigger than building a coaster from scratch on a green-field site by quite a bit. So it's not proposed here because it's easy or efficient effort/cost-wise. It's proposed strictly as a way to use the acreage DCA has in a denser way. GRR takes up a huge chunk of the park and many guests have no interest (in getting soaked). And even Anaheim has seasons, so it's a questionable use of that much space alone, I think.

There may be many logistical hurdles I'm not aware of or accounting for, so take this as just fun armchair Imagineering that is founded on the main strategic point: DCA needs a themed coaster.

Okay, again, the image is rough. But here's what it tries to show: I overlaid a plan-drawing of Grizzly River Run onto a Google Earth image to clarify that ride's layout. Then I pasted Seven Dwarfs on top, it's outlined in teal and pink. Why two colors? Because I cut it apart and rotated each side a little differently and connected them with the solid teal lines. That would be the coaster...so a bit longer than Seven Dwarfs.

The blue shape about where the pickup truck is now on the trail is where a two-story queue building and coaster loading would be. The queue would use the north half of the trail (the south half may be needed for ride maintenance, not shown).

The yellow dots show the support posts for the coaster, and how they do not fall where the Grizzly River is. But, the rockwork and topography of Grizzly River would need to be significantly "modified." We saw Disney do some of that with the top of Splash Mountain -- cutting away and reworking old rockwork. Well, they would be doing that across the entire 4-ish acres of Grizzly River to put footings for the coaster everywhere they need to be. Like I said, it's a big project! Maybe as big of a project as that Fast & Furious coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood (to squeeze in coasters, they gotta do what they gotta do).

 

[chris.g]

I like Mermaid, but I really wish it were at DL instead. It’s so out of place at DCA and would be perfect if moved at DL for a Fantasyland expansion if they ever do away with Autopia/ the Subs.

 

[DrStarlander]

I found the lower-left aerial view of Grizzly River Run during construction, after rockwork was complete and landscaping was partially in (e.g., trees planted). It provides a good look at what is piled dirt and what is concrete rockwork, and actually much less than I thought is concrete rockwork.

Overlaying a possible coaster track (lower right image) shows that very little of it would overlay on top of concrete rockwork (supports shown with red dots), nearly all of the coaster and footings could land in earthen mounds and landscaped areas.

I included some inspirational images of mining structures which typically have those covered ramped conveyors, which is perfect for Lift 2 along the two-story queue building. Lift hill 1 to the top of the rockwork would be an exposed trestle.

This project looks more feasible than I thought, I think I'm going to move ahead and green light it (Armchair Executiveering )

 

[Freak]

I found the lower-left aerial view of Grizzly River Run during construction, after rockwork was complete and landscaping was partially in (e.g., trees planted). It provides a good look at what is piled dirt and what is concrete rockwork, and actually much less than I thought is concrete rockwork.

Overlaying a possible coaster track (lower right image) shows that very little of it would overlay on top of concrete rockwork (supports shown with red dots), nearly all of the coaster and footings could land in earthen mounds and landscaped areas.

I included some inspirational images of mining structures which typically have those covered ramped conveyors, which is perfect for Lift 2 along the two-story queue building. Lift hill 1 to the top of the rockwork would be an exposed trestle.

This project looks more feasible than I thought, I think I'm going to move ahead and green light it (Armchair Executiveering )

View attachment 26405

That’s great but DCA still needs a water ride for guests to cool off on.

 

[DrStarlander]

That’s great but DCA still needs a water ride for guests to cool off on.

Grizzly River Run stays where it is...actually it gets enhanced with the show scenes (mischievous bears, etc.) that show producing Imagineer Chris Tietz wanted to put in there in the first place, for which there was not enough budget. (Chris also wanted to run a train all around the raft ride, and planned for it, but alas, no budget.)

The coaster goes above the raft ride on trestles, rock ledges, etc. They are intertwined somewhat like the Tomorrowland spaghetti bowl (Autopia, Monorail, People Mover, Submarines) and how Indy was originally envisioned, with multiple rides intertwined.

So, no loss of Grizzly River Run.

 

[saint.piss]