Putting the Disney into Disney's California Adventure

Massive $1.1-Billion Expansion of Disney's California Adventure

Filled with a sense of enchantment and optimism, Disneyland is the standard-bearer for all theme parks. By comparison, the smaller Disney's California Adventure, which opened in 2001, seems more like a collection of attractions (some of which are quite spectacular) rather than a cohesive theme park experience. And there aren't all that many attractions. That is changing, however, as Disney announced in October 2007 that it has an ambitious five-year plan to transform the underperforming park. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is planning to spend a whopping $1.1 billion on the project. That's more than it cost to build the original park.

The overarching theme that will give DCA the magic spark it's been missing will be none other than Walt Disney. The iconic founder of the company that bears his name resonates deeply with generations of fans, and the focus on Walt at DCA will allow the Mouse House to celebrate a legacy that is uniquely theirs. Instead of a generic California adventure, the emphasis will be on Disney's California adventure.

The new tone will be established at the front gate. The entrance itself will look like the main entrance to Disney's Hollywood Studios park at Walt Disney World in Florida. Both entrances take their inspiration from the facade of LA's art deco-ish Pan Pacific Auditorium. The classic building is no longer standing.

Instead of the mishmash of Golden State markers, the entry plaza will be recast as circa-1920s California, the vintage Los Angeles and Hollywood that Walt Disney encountered when he first headed west to chase his dreams. Like Disneyland's Main Street U.S.A., the idealized boulevard will lead to a stylized landmark, a building designed to evoke the Carthay Circle Theatre. The real Carthay Circle (which is no longer standing) hosted the world premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. DCA's new theater will likely present a revamped Walt Disney Story. To help establish a sense of place, Red Car streetcars, reminiscent of LA's old Pacific Electric Railway, will ply the thoroughfare.

Disney's California Adventure Expansion Photo Gallery

Additional changes, including new attractions, new shops and restaurants, new shows, and landscaping will be made throughout the park. Highlights will include:

Toy Story Midway Mania!

Toy Story Midway Mania is now open!

• Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney's California Adventure Ride Review
• Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney's California Adventure Photo Gallery

An interactive ride-through attraction featuring the characters from the Pixar hit, Toy Story, is located in the Paradise Pier section of the park. Befitting its seaside amusement park location, the ride offers a series of carnival-style midway games. Guests wear 3-D glasses and use an electronic activator to shoot targets and rack up points in the games.

Disney's World of Color

Disneyland has rousing fireworks and the wild Fantasmic! show. Now DCA will get its own nighttime spectacular. To be located in a new 9,000-capacity viewing area alongside the Paradise Pier lagoon, the show will use water effects, lasers, and flame projections to highlight classic Disney animation. (Hmm, that sorta sounds like Fantasmic!, minus the pyrotechnics and live performers, doesn't it?) Scenes will include "Alice in Wonderland," "The Lion King," "Pocahontas," "Toy Story," and "WALL-E." Powerful fountains will reach as high as 200 feet, and the projected water screen, the world's largest when it debuts, will be 380 feet wide by 50 feet tall. Look for Disney's World of Color to make its splash in spring 2010.

Other Paradise Pier Changes

Instead of a generic seaside amusement pier, the revamped area will incorporate Disney characters and feature a more classic Victorian look. The Mulholland Madness Wild Mouse coaster will get Disneyfied into Goofy's Sky School. The Orange Stinger swing ride will get a Mickey's Band Concert overlay with conductor Mickey perched atop the a re-creation of the famous cartoon's cyclone. In spring 2009, the Sun Wheel, a clone of Coney Island's Wonder Wheel, will sport a 1930's-era "pie-eyed" Mickey and become Mickey's Fun Wheel. And the boardwalk games will all get Disney themes, such as Goofy About Fishin'. Interestingly, the Mickey ears will be coming down from the loop on the California Screamin' roller coaster. The Imagineers determined that the Mickster clashed with the revamped vintage look of the seaside pier area.

The Little Mermaid Ride

A dark ride featuring the wonderful music and characters from the hit film will be coming to the Paradise Pier area. Again, Disney hasn't released much detailed info, but its rumored $100 million budget should make this a marquee attraction. It will use an Omnimover system and "clammobile" cars that will be similar to the ones found at The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride at Epcot. The attraction should debut in 2011.

Cars Land

By appropriating twelve acres from what's left of Disneyland's original parking lot, DCA will add a new land based on the Pixar film, Cars. (Isn't there something at least a bit ironic there?) The featured attraction will be Radiator Springs Racers. While Disney hasn't released much official info about the E-ticket attraction, the buzz is that it will use a ride system similar to the one at Test Track in Walt Disney World's Epcot. Since that attraction is reminiscent of slot cars, adapting it for a racing ride sounds like a great idea. Look for hairpin turns, banked curves, and plenty of peel outs. Cars Land will also offer two other, smaller rides based on the film's characters, Luigi and Mater, as well as a Flo's Cafe restaurant Cars Land will probably debut in 2012.

Note that you can learn more about the expansion plans by visiting the Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar preview center at Disney's California Adventure.

Official Disney's California Adventure Expansion Site