Disney California Adventure
| Disney California Adventure | |
|---|---|
| Location | Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, California, United States |
| Opened | February 8, 2001
|
| Theme | California, Pixar and Marvel |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
| Operator | Disney Experiences |
| Status | Operating |
Disney California Adventure is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States. Opened on February 8, 2001, it stands directly across the entrance esplanade from Disneyland Park, on the site of Disneyland's original surface parking lot. The park was conceived as a celebration of California — its history, landscapes and industries — and since a sweeping billion-dollar expansion completed in 2012 has increasingly drawn on the characters and worlds of Pixar and Marvel.
The park's icon is the Pixar Pal-A-Round, a 150-foot Ferris wheel on Pixar Pier bearing Mickey Mouse's face, with Grizzly Peak — a bear-shaped mountain rising over the Grizzly Peak area — as its natural landmark.
History
Disney had explored a second Anaheim park since the 1990s; an ambitious plan called WESTCOT, modelled on EPCOT, was abandoned in 1995 as too costly, and the company settled on a smaller park themed to the state outside its gates. Built for a reported 600 million dollars as part of a larger resort expansion that included Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and the Downtown Disney district, Disney's California Adventure opened in 2001 with districts themed to a seaside pier, Hollywood, wine country and the Gold Rush.
The park underperformed from the start. Attendance fell well short of projections, and critics and guests found it thin in attractions — especially for children — and its California theme lightly executed beside the original park next door. The first corrections came quickly: A Bug's Land (2002) added family rides, and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror followed in 2004.
In 2007 the company announced a comprehensive five-year, 1.1-billion-dollar redesign. The Sunshine Plaza entrance became Buena Vista Street, a 1920s Los Angeles evoking the city Walt Disney arrived in, anchored by a replica of the Carthay Circle Theatre. The Red Car Trolley began running. The centrepiece, Cars Land, recreated the town of Radiator Springs from Cars across 12 acres, and its Radiator Springs Racers became one of the most acclaimed rides Disney had built. The expansion was rededicated on June 15, 2012, and attendance rose sharply.
Change has continued since: the Tower of Terror was rethemed as Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! in 2017; Paradise Pier became Pixar Pier in 2018 with the Incredicoaster; Paradise Gardens Park's Pacific Wharf became San Fransokyo Square, from Big Hero 6, in 2023; and Avengers Campus, a Marvel land with the Web Slingers and Mission: Breakout! attractions, opened in 2021 on the site of most of A Bug's Land, which had closed in 2018.
Areas
- Buena Vista Street — 1920s Los Angeles at the moment of Walt Disney's arrival, with the Red Car Trolley and the Carthay Circle restaurant.
- Hollywood Land — the backlots and boulevards of Hollywood, with the Animation Building and Mickey's PhilharMagic.
- Cars Land — Radiator Springs, with Radiator Springs Racers, Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters and Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.
- Pixar Pier — a seaside boardwalk of Pixar stories: the Incredicoaster, Toy Story Midway Mania! and the Pixar Pal-A-Round.
- Paradise Gardens Park — the remaining bayside area, home to The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure and Goofy's Sky School.
- Grizzly Peak — the Sierra Nevada in timber-and-gold country dress: Grizzly River Run and Soarin' Around the World.
- San Fransokyo Square — a mash-up of San Francisco and Tokyo, opened in 2023.
- Avengers Campus — Marvel's training ground for the next generation of heroes.