Happy Birthday to Disney's California Adventure Park

[Kevy Baby]

On this date in 2001, Disney's California Adventure® Park officially opened for business in 2001. It's hard to believe it has been nine years already.

And some day soon, they hope to make it an interesting destination.

[lindyhop]

Soon. I hope.

[ToriBear]

Wow, I can't believe it's been that long. I was around five when I first went to DL and they had just opened it.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

NINE???

[JWBear]

I miss the parking lot. <sigh>

[BarTopDancer]

I've held an AP for 9 years. Wow.

[scaeagles]

Curious about those who don't care for the park.......will it ever be good enough? I agree it hasn't been pretty to look at, and has been rather sparse, but they sure are investing a lot of money in it at present. Larger, nicer to look at, more to do. Does anyone here think the investment being made will make them like the park?

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Curious about those who don't care for the park.......will it ever be good enough? I agree it hasn't been pretty to look at, and has been rather sparse, but they sure are investing a lot of money in it at present. Larger, nicer to look at, more to do. Does anyone here think the investment being made will make them like the park?

We'll see. It may work or it may just be putting lipstick, well not even lipstick more like clear lip gloss that we're so used to from Disney, on a pig.


I will say that it's a great place to have a few drinks. And after those drinks the park's appeal does seem to improve.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Curious about those who don't care for the park.......will it ever be good enough? I agree it hasn't been pretty to look at, and has been rather sparse, but they sure are investing a lot of money in it at present. Larger, nicer to look at, more to do. Does anyone here think the investment being made will make them like the park?

Have a birthday, DCA! In a couple years, I'll wish you a happy one.

I'm totally fascinated by the progress of the work on this park. My DL geekery has me studying the plans in the Blue Sky Cellar, poring over models, and checking, online and in person, the fountain tests for next summer's World of Color show. This show promises to be the MSEP + Fantasmic + the Bellagio fountains times a gazillion + Sunday nights on NBC at 7pm when I was a kid, all rolled into one.

The park was designed badly, insultingly, and, for something that was so expensive, on the cheap. There are places to find evidence of Imagineering's hand, but not much. This reboot will really make the park a Park, and a lovely place to spend a day. If you'd like to experience what the park can be, enter through the turnstile at the GCH. First, you've spent some time in an atmosphere completely different from Downtown Disney. I mean the hotel is gorgeous. By entering the Grizzly Peak area of the park first, you're in the most densely themed area of the park, naturally because it's the part of the park you can see from your $450 a night hotel room. You've got the rapids ride in front of you, so a nice bit of kinetic energy to enjoy. Head to the right, towards Paradise Pier. There are two routes, one will take you through a "back road," sort of like Thunder Trail, and this is probably my favorite area of the park. Paradise Pier is where most of the construction is apparent. A Little Mermaid darkride is replacing Great Moments with Whoopi, the Orange Stinger has been replaced with an old-fashioned swing ride themed to the Silly Symphony, "Mickey's Band Concert." The ferris wheel now sports the friendly 1930's visage of Mickey Mouse instead of a bland and slightly demented looking metal sun. The horrible stucco front shops on the pier are in the process of being rethemed with detailed Victorian facades. I usually walk through the cannery row area on my way out of the park at this point, occasionally taking a side trip through the Hollywood Studios Backlot area. Still not much going on there, but I like the details on the buildings. This route now places me at the right and proper place to approach the main entrance of Disneyland, the way it was designed to be seen when you got out of your car on the hot asphalt.

By 2012, there will be a new entrance to DCA, a tree-lined, heavily detailed Los Angeles street of the 1930's, with L.A.'s legendary Red Cars traveling its length. The backlot will be renamed Hollywoodland, and the facades will have real buildings behind them. Cars Land will be open with a massive new indoor/outdoor E-ticket ride, and the return of the Flying Saucers themed to Luigi's Tire Shop!

So, in a word, scaeagles, yes! I, for one, will be thrilled with DCA when all is said and done. I think it will be a beautiful Park, with enough going on to keep visitors occupied for the entire day and into the night. The one thing I hope for, as the idea behind the reboot is to show L.A. as Walt might have experienced it when he first came West, is a slight name change. "Walt Disney's California" is so much more evocative of what they're trying to achieve, than the dull moniker it now has that smacks so much of marketing instead of magic.

[wendybeth]

What Gn2 said.

(Only less eloquently).