Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Happy 10th Anniversary California Adventure!

Disney California Adventure, or simply California Adventure, is a theme park in Anaheim, California, adjacent to Disneyland Park and part of the larger Disneyland Resort. It opened on February 8, 2001 as Disney's California Adventure Park. The park is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. On May 28, 2010, it was announced through the official Disney Parks Blog that Disney's California Adventure Park would be renamed to its current title, Disney California Adventure.
This 55-acre theme park was constructed as part of a major expansion that transformed the Disneyland area and its hotels into the Disneyland Resort and consists of five areas: Sunshine Plaza, Hollywood Pictures Backlot, The Golden State, A Bug's Land and Paradise Pier. Each area is meant to resemble various aspects of California, its culture, landmarks and history.

In 2009, the park attracted approximately 6.05 million guests, making it the 11th-most visited theme park in the world, its highest ever attendance total for a calendar year.

Many Disney characters can be found throughout the park, greeting visitors, interacting with children, and posing for photos. Some characters have specific areas where they are scheduled to appear, but can be found wandering as well.

There have been some wonderful new additions such as World of Color, which is a new nighttime show at Disney California Adventure that was designed by Walt Disney Creative Entertainment. This show has more than 1200 fountains and includes lasers, lights, and fire with high-definition projections on mist screens similar to the ones used in Fantasmic! at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The show is expected to change regularly and feature seasonal overlays for Halloween and Christmas, says show creator Steve Davison.

The Pixar Play Parade features floats and characters based on the Disney·Pixar films Monsters Inc, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life, and Cars.

"ElecTRONica" is an interactive nighttime dance party in Hollywood Pictures Backlot. It is considered a similar experience to Glow Fest, which was staged in the same area in summer 2010, but this party is themed to Disney's new film, Tron: Legacy. ElecTRONica features lights, music, projections, and more to promote the new film. Past performances from live DJs include: Giang Star (Fridays), Michael Paul (Saturdays), Adam Auburn (Sundays) and Josh Billings.

There are some exciting things planned for the future of California Adventure. The one I am most looking forward to is the new Cars Land that will contain three attractions and will span 12 acres (49,000 m2). The first, Radiator Springs Racers, will be an E ticket ride using the technology of Epcot's Test Track. It will be among the most expensive rides ever built at an estimated US$200 million. It will be a detailed dark ride that ends with an outdoor side-by-side dueling racing finale. The ride will begin with a race briefing from Lightning McQueen and end at the Wheel Well Motel from the movie. Some elements said to be featured as road details in the attraction are switchbacks, tunnels, bridges, waterfalls and banked turns.

The other two attractions are going to be smaller family attractions with smaller height requirements featuring Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, a tea-cup like attraction, and Luigi's Roamin' Tires, which looks like the 1960s Tomorrowland "Flying Saucers" ride. Cars Land will also feature a life-size model of Radiator Springs and several dining and shopping venues.

It will take the place of the existing Timon parking lot behind the Tower of Terror and is supposed to open in 2012, after the park celebrates its 10th anniversary. Cars Land will also serve as a connection between the Golden State and Hollywood Pictures Backlot lands, to eliminate the awkward dead end at the foot of the Tower of Terror attraction. Construction began in July 2009. The structural steel has been being laid out for months as they are building Radiator Springs Racers.

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