DCA to maybe get $650 million

Al Lutz at MiceAge.com is reporting a breath-taking plan by John Lasseter, not yet greenlit, which would shower DCA with $650 million over a few short years. That would essentially double the cost of this park, maybe finally bringing it up to the potential that was squandered at the outset. He mentions new rides (many of them E-Tickets), new atmosphere and transportation rides, and new theming, sometimes quite heavy.

Elsewhere in the article, there are also plans afoot to replace Tom Sawyer Island with a pirates theme, to capitalize on the runaway success of the movies. A group of folks are already screaming murder, and that Walt would hate this. Others are convinced that TSI hasn't met its potential in years now, and why not move to something more beloved by today's crowd?

I can see both sides of that debate. Certainly Disneyland is no museum, nor did Walt want it that way. But it's hard to set aside quite that much history. Would we be so blase about replacing the circa-1900 Main Street with a 1960s urban scene? It's all escapism and fantasy, culminating in the idealization of reality, right?

Well, no. It's not that simple. But having made that complaint, I should probably give an opinion on TSI. If you pin me to the ground and insist I answer something, my answer right now is that change in this case is probably both warranted and profitable, so I reckon it will be inevitable.