Closing Projects

Wow, can you guys believe that a few years ago we were all gawking at the major projects Disney announced? If you've been living under a rock and have no concept of what I'm talking about, here's a recap of what we've gotten, and what we're going to get.

What we've gotten:

Disney California Adventure

World of Color - a night time water show that is one part Disney magic, one part Bellagio fountains on steroids. It doesn't have a defining story, but it is a giant platform that is bigger than a football field, has all of the latest water fountains, projectors, lasers, flame throwers, and sounds systems, and takes you on a emotional journey through several Disney stories. This show is great for DCA because it can always change with just a few nights of testing and programming, so it will always be able to change with the park and times.

Silly Symphony Swings - Small change here. They took out this:

To Add this:

It's the same ride, just now out in the open, and has the story of the classic Mickey short "The Band Concert.


What is coming VERY soon:
This is what we're getting this summer.

Goofy's Sky School: It's the same ride, just with a new story of Goofy teaching you how to fly (based on the short "Goofy's Glider"). Here's some before/soon to be after shots:

Paradise Garden Grill:

It's the same dining area where Pizza Oom Mow Mow and Burger Invasion once stood. Now it's a victorian themed area with a new italian and mediterranean menu debuting later this summer.

The Little Mermaid: Ariels Undersea Adventure

This took over the theater that once housed Golden Dreams. Remember it? Y'know..the one with Whoopie Goldberg? No? Yea neither do I.

This attraction is currently in soft opening mode, with occasional openings throughout the day for the general public to enjoy. Basically its a big preview before the "official' opening.

It's pretty self explanatory. It's a ride with dey FishyGirl.
Don't think it's some super awesome E-ticket. That's next year. This ride is like DCA's fantasyland dark rides. Highlights of all the cool scenes from the film, but with super awesome, state of the art, brand freaking new animatronics. For those of you that don't know, an animatronic is a really awesome robot. Plain and simple.

before

after. much prettier, no?

There's some other minor things the park has gotten this year, but those aren't really the things that will draw the average guests in. These are. So, THIS is what we've gotten so far. Now lets see what we're GOING to get. 

Buena Vista Street

This is what I'm looking forward to the most. They're changing up the ENTIRE entrance to the park to look like REALLY old Los Angeles. No, not like when the first twelve people and a burro were there. A little younger than that. Let's say the 1920's. The golden age of L.A. The park is getting its own 'castle' so to speak. At the end of this street is going to be a full scale model of the Carthay Circle Theater....Theatre? Either way. It's going to be the focal point of the street. It's super awesome looking, and will be a great, big thing to take pictures of. Or just admire. Or try to sneak into the rumored exclusive, members only restaurant that'll be built inside. 

Carsland

This is actually being added ONTO the park. This area is where a parking lot used to be. But now, it's all going to be designed to look like Radiator Springs. Inside this desert new land, there'll be three rides, and a variety of dining areas. The rides include "Mater's Junkyard Jamboree" where you get to spin around with those tipsy tractors to hoedown music. "Luigi's Roamin' (hehe...get it? Roamin? he's...Italian? yea? Not punny enough? Fine.) Tires" where you get to sit on a tire, and play bumper cars with your friends.

Finally, the granddaddy of them all is Radiator Springs Racers. This ride will be taking you through the caverns of the Cadillac Range, to either Ramon's Paint Shop, or Luigi's tires, and then as the finale, you'll be racing side by side with another car! Think of it as a giant slot track for humans. 

Overall, it's a fantastic project that is really helping out California Adventure. The park was really suffering from the lack of guests visiting (compared to the nearly always busy sister park next door). But even now, with just over 1/2 of all the things open, the park's numbers have risen significantly, and I'm sure that the creative geniuses at Walt Disney Imagineering are already thinking of things to add to the park in the future. It's an exciting adventure, and I can't wait to see what else they have planned for this newly redesigned park. 

as a final note, here's a overhead shot of the ongoing expansion of the park. You can see the stage in the bay. That's World of Color's platform. All that dirt to the right of it, is Radiator Springs (Carsland). And that building to the top (north) of the water, is Little Mermaid's ride building. It's exciting to see so much construction go on, and see how everything progresses. The imagineers deserve a large amount of praise for their fantastic work that they do. They really do care to make the best things they can for the guests enjoyment and experience. Sure, they have a budget to work with, and some things may not end up looking like the original blue sky concept, but they always find the best way possible to work with what they're given, and they rarely disappoint. They've exceeded my expectations and thoughts of the park being re-designed already. There's always more to come, and I can't wait for the future. 

It's only the start of a great Adventure.