Credit: DisneyThere have been significant bumps on the road for Disney California Adventure!
Walt Disney is famous for saying that “Disneyland will never be completed…as long as there is imagination left in the world”, but there are certain things you just don’t touch, right? Some attractions just can’t be changed in their very essence, though there have been additions, like classics in Fantasyland, or Pirates of the Caribbean, or The Haunted Mansion. Fans and Guests will allow things to be improved, but not removed, so how was Disney to expand on the Park in Southern California?
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The answer came with Disney California Adventure park. Conceived initially as WestCOT, Disney CEO Michael Eisner shifted plans after the death of his business partner and friend Frank Wells in 1994. It took eight years, but the plans were made for Disney California Adventure, and the ground was broken on January 22, 1998. Guests to the Disneyland Resort looked on with curiosity as massive shapes rose from the former parking lot.
From the get-go, something was…off. Despite a fantastic concept of Downtown Disney between the Parks and the ever-engaging giant “California” photo op, the Park wasn’t as popular as Disneyland. Constrained to the small space of what had once been a parking lot, California Adventure had fewer attractions, fewer characters, no berm, and no nostalgia. How was the Park going to compete?
Little by little, things began to improve, like the addition of the E-ticket ride, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. A classic from Walt Disney World adapted for California Adventure. The most significant changes were yet to come: starting in 2007, Disney CEO Bob Iger poured millions of dollars into improving the Disney Park and bringing it up to snuff with its neighbor, at least making it a place people want to visit!
New rides like Toy Story Midway Mania and The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure opened and were immediately popular with Guests, but Disney didn’t stop there. Soon after, Disney began a campaign to make the entire Park seem not only more cohesive but more Disney. To that end, the entire entryway was rethemed, and not only was it much more Disney, with a statue of Walt and Mickey, but it was also still distinctly Californian, mimicking the style of architecture that existed when Walt first arrived in the state back in the 1920s.
Other areas followed Buena Vista Street: Cars Land brought an impressive exact replica of Radiator Springs to life, complete with a beautiful neon show that starts each night at sundown. Paradise Pier leaned into the intellectual property and was rethemed as Pixar Pier, along with the shops, restaurants, and attractions, all becoming themed to Disney and Pixar. Later on, Avengers Campus was added as another land, further improving Park cohesion and increasing the berm around the Park.
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While things still aren’t perfect at the Park, Disney California Adventure has really come a long way, and according to pre-pandemic totals, attendance between the two Parks at the Disneyland Resort has started to even out. The regulations and timing imposed on Park Hoping have definitely hurt attendance. However, if Disney continues their trend of continuously improving or “Plussing” the Parks, as Walt put it, there’s a bright future for California Adventure. Here’s to 22 years and many, many more!
What is your favorite part of Disney California Adventure?