According to those insiders on the great WDWMagic boards, a Coco attraction is in the works- a sure fire addition to the Disneyland Resort's second park, California Adventure. In a park with cultural festivals that can, at times, make it feel like a poor man's World Showcase from Epcot, it's a pretty good fit! The Mexican cultural had made a huge impact on California with everything from music, to food, to politics being affected.
Yes, today marks 19 years ago that California Adventure opened to a collective thud once the public discovered all the shortcuts Disney took when building Anaheim's second Disney park. Over the years, they may have learned their lesson, although you wouldn't know it if looking at some of the most recent ill-conceived ideas that made it past wiser folks.
What could be coming in addition to Avengers Campus, the Marvel focused mini-land debuting this summer? Where's the next big addition? Well, we can forecast where it won't be! The lovely Buena Vista Street just doesn't have the room, except perhaps for a small theater, and we know California Adventure does not need any additional films in its lineup.
It won't be Cars Land, as that franchise is as dead as can be. The area is some of Imagineering's best work of late- on par with Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and Pandora- but land is at a premium, so any expansion would not be a good use of space. Hollywoodland is a hot mess which needs a full overhaul, something the suits won't currently invest in. Grizzly Peak's beautiful but constricted by space as well, leaving the incredibly disjoined and ill-conceived Pixar Pier, where at least Coco somewhat fits. A beautiful Mexican style area would be a nice addition, but this is Bob Chapek's DCA, so that's out. I'd venture that something like Emotional Whirlwind is on its way.
What about what came before? While the future of the park looks rather muddled, the past was also a mess of a bad decision after another until Robert Iger admitted it was a "brand withdrawal", paving the way for Buena Vista Street, Cars Land, and other enhancements.
With over 400 articles on this blog about California Adventure, there's a lot more to read. But how did the park end up the mess it is now? Let's start by looking at the beginning...
Looking at the concepts for the park version 1.0, the painters brush was unintentionally (or intentionally) deceiving! Secondly, due to the cost-cutting measures of the leadership of the time, it reminds us what poor foundations the Imagineers were stuck working with.
As we look at concept art from the first incarnation of California Adventure, let's compare what we saw in the preview center versus what the park really looked like to an opening day guest. Many visitors, myself included, expressed displeasure at what was found at this new park. So did the media and for a good reason.
Let's begin with the park entrance. The tile murals flanking the sides are really well done. The CALIFORNIA letters are a unique touch and both together clearly communicate this is not Disneyland. It's not a bad design, there's just no follow through. When the Disney advertising experts have to create a fictionalized version of the entrance for promotional purposes, this should be the first clue that the park has some serious problems and design flaws.
It is what we encounter once walking past the turnstiles that shouts "bargain basement" design. Looking right through the gates brings a very ordinary looking area, nothing to entice a visitor who is considering a day at this park.
The Sunshine Plaza reigns as the ugliest and least original park entrance area in Disney's history. Yes, this includes the even less imaginative Walt Disney Studios in Paris! Framed by an out of place replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, the environment matches a low budget outlet mall, appropriately setting the stage for what is found in most of the park.
The Sun fountain is an interesting structure, but it really belongs in an open garden at a hotel, in the midst of a walkway from the parking area or just someplace else. Not large enough in scale to impress, not a fitting centerpiece for the park. In some ways, it is appropriate. This is big and flashy with a contemporary edge- but it lacks substance.
Moving on, let's head to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. At first glance, it is a pretty Disneyesque area, a more playful version of the main drag at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The centerpiece, and clearly the highlight at opening, is Disney Animation.
Frankly, this is one impressive showcase! Beyond the park's signature flight simulator attraction, this gem is filled with the kind of care in execution that should have been found all over the park. The Animation Courtyard has an impressive layout that dazzles, and The Sorcerer's Workshop, including Beast's Library, feels like a walk-thru dark ride, drawing guests in further and further inside. It's easy to spend an hour here just watching the transformation in the library. Well done, Imagineers! In a nod to the Studios old working animation area, The Animation Academy truly provides a fun and informative demonstration of the art of the wonderful and ageless 2-D process. (Below is altogether different concept for Disney Animation.)
Beyond this great little attraction is where the troubles begin. Wandering around the rest of this land, guests discover raw steel and bland walls lie behind the great looking storefronts. Even the seemingly impressive Hyperion Theater is really just one great optical illusion. Just a big box but one with state-of-the-art facilities inside. However, it is a facility with no lobby and no restrooms!
Nearby, the past its prime MuppetVision 3D show is found. Not too thrilling an idea or presentation. It's a quick retread from Florida to save some cash- and an attempt by Disney to relaunch a very tired but once charming franchise.
The worst of the (Back) lot, however, is the only dark ride found here in 2001. In one of the oddest moves ever for a Disney park, the Imagineers designed and built the strange Superstar Limo attraction. The building housing the ride is at once quirky and likable to some degree, but the experience inside is just plain bizarre. Hosted by an on-screen agent who seems like someone you'd never let your children be alone with, the limo ride takes you through a tongue in cheek and trendy Hollywood filled with animatronics of "B" list celebrities from the Disney Studio. It quickly became the laughing stock of the theme park industry and a symbol of everything wrong with California Adventure. Less than a year from its premier, this ride quickly disappeared forever.
In a bit of poor planning, the Backlot's main street becomes a dead end, so let's cross back over to Condor Flats, a recreation of a California desert airfield.
Condor Flats effectively marks the entrance to The Golden State district, the portion of the park that truly strengthens the California theme. The airstrip is a small area to be sure, but it houses the park's signature attraction, Soarin' Over California. All the quibbles of the queue and its minimal theming aside, this film experience is the emotional heart of the park. Californians are rightfully proud of their state and its stunning diversity of landscapes. The photography is exhilarating, the musical score heightens the mood, and the ride mechanism impresses to thrilling results. It is the single standout attraction in the park. This crowd pleaser should not have been duplicated at any other resort. Period.
The true icon of this park, and one that for the first time is positioned to please hotel guests instead of park visitors, is Grizzly Peak. No expense was spared in creating an authentic and beautiful mountain environment. The rockwork created by the Imagineers ranks with the best of their efforts, including Big Thunder Mountain and the younger Expedition Everest. The landscaping is superb. The network of waterfalls, winding paths and viewing areas makes this part of the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area the most beautiful location of the entire Disneyland Resort.
The setting for the Grizzly River Run is spectacular and "E" ticket worthy. However obvious short cuts have been taken with this attraction, starting with the design of the watercraft. The promotional poster below shows a whitewater excursion with an authentically styled raft. Somewhere between concept and execution, the attraction ended up with standard theme park fare circular rafts. Certainly the same company that could imagine and engineer leading edge ride systems for other attractions could find a way to build an authentic raft that was safe while providing the desired thrills!
Further cost-cutting took place by the exclusion of animatronic animals. Every other nature-based attraction designed by Disney uses them to good effect. From slow moving rides like The Jungle River Cruise to the high speed adventures of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, there is simply no excuse for their absence except budgetary restraints. It's still a very fun attraction with terrific views of the park (and the less than beautiful city of Anaheim), but it could be so much more than it is.
Guests quickly noticed a trend in this new era Disney park: there may have been discounting on the attraction detail, but no expenses were lost when it came to the shops! California Adventure has some Disneyland quality shopping areas, and the Rushin' River Outfitters (below) is no exception.
Continuing a trend that began with Disneyland itself, the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is a new take on the original park's Tom Sawyer's Island. Both provide plenty of fun as well as an area where younger visitors can run free. It is a nicely themed playground but not much more.
The limited number of attractions and cutbacks aside, this region of California Adventure provides the immersive environment that Disney guests are accustomed to finding at the parks. If only the rest of the small park had this much charm and care taken with it! The glaring shortcomings are only heightened when we enter into the San Francisco area, one far removed from the Golden Gate Bridge we found at the park entrance.
This tiny little sliver of San Francisco houses only restrooms, leaving guests who expected an elegant area such as New Orleans Square in a state of shock. In place of a fully realized cityscape, we find Golden Dreams, the film tribute to the history of the state. Originally envisioned as Circle of Hands, it was intended to be a heartwarming multimedia presentation of the brave men and women who settled and worked the land. Budget cuts again derailed the project. We are now left with a small scale but warm and politically correct vision of history. Unintentionally, this show is also one of the best arguments for Disney to stop using its a film stars as part of their attractions.
As we move around the bend, the beautiful Golden Vine Winery comes into view. Of course, so does the Pacific Wharf food court, Bountiful Valley Farm, and the surprising Paradise Pier.
The winery area charms guests with a sophistication not found elsewhere. Of course, like Napa Valley itself, we find a couple of pricy restaurants among the park's vineyard. Attractions? Oh yes, Seasons of the Vine is here- yet another film, this one highlighting the process of the art of winemaking from field to table. It is a slice of Epcot Center, an undiscovered gem. The music and photography perfectly capturing the area.
Across the way on this side of the bay is the Pacific Wharf. What could have been a wonderful setting for some California themed Disney attractions is reduced to mostly a food court with a couple of bakery tours using short films to tell the manufacturing story. The educational aspects of the park are important, however, they needed to be balanced out with traditional Disney attractions to justify the full ticket price.
Butting up to the Wharf is Bountiful Valley Farm, showcasing the agricultural impact of the state. Aside from yet another film, this one a clone of an additional 3D attraction from Florida, guests to the area are left without much to do except viewing tractors and watching a quite unimaginative fountain. In the age of "Bargain Basement" Imagineering, it's Disney storytelling at it's sorry worst.
Controversial. Cheap and tacky. Off the shelf. Not what Walt would have wanted. Paradise Pier is all these things and more. And less. Much, much less.
Once guests had experienced the limited number of attractions in the other areas and the truly good live entertainment to be found, many headed toward Paradise Pier hoping to round out their day at Disney's recreation of a seaside amusement area.
The California Screamin' coaster stands tall over the area, and it is a roller coaster ride very worthy of a Disney park. Unfortunately, it is just a coaster- no great theming to be found here. No journey to outer space, no wildest ride in the wilderness, just an exposed track reaching for the sky. It is fun, day or night, but there are no Disney touches to be found except the giant glaring Mickey head. In this new fangled park, big, loud and obvious has mostly replaced the charming nuances of designers from earlier generations.
The rest of Paradise Pier is fleshed out with carnival games, kiddie attractions, swing rides, and an impressive Ferris Wheel. There's truly nothing magical or Disney here, yet the advertising department thought this was one of the best areas to show to promote the new park. What were they thinking? The public was not fooled, and the executives at Disney were left with an embarrassment on their hands.
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In the next segment of the story (link below), we discover Disney got serious about fixing the park. Starting with the areas that guests complained about the most, the makeover worked. The entrance to the park was reworked into the lovely Buena Vista Street. The Pier changed but was still more or less a carnival. Cars Land drew the crowds, but Hollywoodland remained full of DCA 1.0 design.
What can we learn from the "Bargain Basement Imagineering"? Concept art can be deceiving, and budgets can be reduced. Disney has learned some important lessons from trying to fool us as they did in 2001. What would they do next?
What to read more as they changed direction? Go to Imagineering a New Dream, my article that begins here. More history, more stories, more concept art.
(All art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)
Construction couldn't happen soon enough- and it wasn't until my second visit to my favorite Florida park that I was able to ride this epic attraction. Back in the day, pavilions were often much more than a two minute thrill ride. The artists who designed them took the time to fully bring you into the story. This meant well thought out attractions that did not rely on backstory told on television screens to set what guests were about to experience.
