The Original Opening Day California Adventure Attraction Posters

The premier of DCA 2.0 in 2012 brought Disney fans a new slew of attraction posters. But did you ever see the ones designed for the opening day of Disney's California Adventure? Here they are! Do you remember Condor Flats, the Golden State, and Paradise Pier? 

Nowhere in the park was the theme of California more convincing than in the collective area known as the Golden State. With Grizzly Peak as the park's centerpiece, guests were drawn into separate areas celebrating the state's key experiences with unique attractions fans were sure to love... like agriculture and bugs. I kid you not. The desert themed Condor Flats honored the realm of aviation. In the later re-imagining of the land, desert gave way to the forests of California since Cars Land made the original desert area redundant. Soarin' Over California survived, at least seasonally.

One of the park's most disdained lands was Paradise Pier, a seaside carnival that never belonged in a Disney park. Cheap, tacky, and plain ugly, the lone star attraction was California Screamin', now the lesser Incredicoaster. There was a season of time when the San Diego themed overlay to the land actually made it more attractive. But now, it's Pixar Pier, an even tackier overlay than the original mess. 

Hollywood Pictures Backlot continues to disappoint. But it will soon give way to a Pandora / Avatar themed attraction in a park honoring California. That's modern Disney for you! 

If you'd like to see the next set of attraction posters for this park, you can take a look here.
 

Superstar Limo Leads the Way

Are you a Disney park fan and puzzled by some of the recent decisions made by the suits? Time to take a deep breath, relax, and laugh. Go ahead and laugh. You see, this wouldn't be the first time boneheaded choices were made. And unfortunately, it will not be the last.

In fact, Disney Imagineering was once forced to design an entire park made of poor decisions: Disney's California Adventure. And the weakest of the weak was the inclusion of Superstar Limo. Imagine a ride so lame that guest satisfaction with the park went up when it was closed.

CEO Michael Eisner made many great decisions in his first decade as far as the parks were concerned. Not so in his second. The demand for a hip and edgy park next to the flagship Disneyland perplexed many and signaled the man had lost his way. Anaheim should have received the elegant WESTCOT, but it was trashed in favor of what became the laughing stock of the theme park industry. (Search this blog for many articles on the California park that should have been.)

For Superstar Limo, Hollywood honchos figured common folk would be fascinated by this attraction with its insiders view of Hollywood. They were not, and the crowds filled both guest services to complain about the park and the entrance gates to Disneyland as a "consolation prize". 

Bad decision were not limited to North America. The Walt Disney Studios Paris was opened on the cheap as well. One more collective thud, especially when placed next to the most gorgeous Magic Kingdom of all. 

While not everything can be Cars Land, Pandora, or Galaxy's Edge, nothing should ever be California Adventure 1.0 or Superstar Limo. On that, most fans can agree.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)