A Lightbulb Moment in the Power Crisis

I took a stroll through Disney’s California Adventure in February and immediately consigned it to the dustbin of amusement parks. Not enough fun stuff to do and too expensive--$43--to do it. Plus, it was starting to sprinkle.

The analysis was strictly gut instinct; in all honesty, predicting long-term attendance and revenue streams for amusement parks is not my forte. But now it’s May, and the new park still hasn’t hit its stride.

The Mouse people are stroking their whiskers and wondering who goofed. They say they aren’t worried, but we know better. You’ve seen a worried mouse. It scurries to and fro, looking for a solution to its problem. The manic activity can produce a rather amusing result.

And that’s what has happened in recent days at Disney headquarters, not generally a source of big laughs.

But in their desperation, they’ve provided comic relief. The brainstorming over its California Adventure problem has led the Mouse to bring back the time-honored Main Street Electrical Parade that once graced Disneyland itself.

Surely they jest. A nightly electrical parade, starting in July? The company announces the return of the parade at the same time the state is trying to convince the rest of the country we’re in the midst of an electricity crisis and facing a summer of rolling blackouts?

The mouse has roared again.

Somewhere, Gov. Gray Davis is slapping his forehead and saying, “Aarrgh!’

In a society where symbolism is everything, Southern California’s most visible entity plans to light up the summer sky when people a few blocks away may be eating by candlelight.

Disney was quick to point out that its multitude of lights is battery-powered. I’d suggest writing that in extremely large letters on the park billboards, because it most likely will get lost in the fine print as the rest of the country gets wind of this. Just to make sure no one is confused, Disney might want to rename the reinstated feature the “Main Street Battery-Powered Parade.”

Doesn’t have quite the same lilt, does it?

Disney Looks Back to the Future

As the Mouse scrambles, ironies abound.

The electrical parade was discontinued amid much fanfare late in 1996--a time long ago when we had plenty of affordable electricity. Then Disney scrapped the 24-year-old parade for “Light Magic,” a hipper and more technologically advanced show.

It made sense, except for one miscalculation: The public had come to love the electrical parade and never warmed up to its newfangled replacement. But the electrical parade stayed mothballed, maybe in part because Disney made a big deal of having a charity sale of thousands of lightbulbs from it.

But then along came California Adventure this winter, and nothing seems to have gone right. It debuted during a stretch of crummy weather a slowing economy, and, well, the park hasn’t caught on with the public.

If you didn’t know better, you’d think the new park was built just to reinforce in people’s minds what a brilliant idea Disneyland is.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the strategy, and the Disney thinkers are trying to stimulate interest in the new park. And if it means touting a nightly electrical parade in the midst of an electricity crisis, so be it.

As long as it’s gone this far, Disney should go all the way.

This summer, as Southern Californians struggle to pay their electricity bills and are told to conserve, Disney’s California Adventure park ought to try counter-advertising:

Something along the lines of, “It may be dark at your house, but not at California Adventure!”

Whatever works.

The Mouse understands symbolism better than anyone. He knows that summer tourists Joe and Martha from Altoona may wonder how Southern California can be having an electricity crisis when tens of thousands of lightbulbs are beaming down on them. But the Mouse also needs to think of a way to get more people through the turnstiles.

I picture Mickey standing there on a summer night, with palms upward and a playful smile, saying to the crowd, “What did you want me to do, reduce ticket prices?”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821; by writing to him at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626; or by e-mail at dana.parsons@latimes.com.