Mouse House: Paradise Peered – Exploring the Renovations to Disney California Adventure – Part 1

By Brett Nachman • September 6, 2010 • 1 Comment

Approximately three years ago, The Walt Disney Company announced their ambitious plan to spend over $1 billion in renovations and new attractions to Disneyland’s lonely neighbor. Disney’s California Adventure opened in February 2001 to low attendance and some criticism from visitors. Many felt that the park, celebrating the people and places of the Golden State, lacked enough “Disney.” Sure, the place featured Disney characters and some rides or shows themed around them (It’s Tough To Be a Bug, Disney Animation come to mind), but the emphasis focused on the California culture.

Take for instance Superstar Limo, a low-budget dark ride taking “tourists” (a.k.a. theme park guests) around Los Angeles’ famous celebrity neighborhoods. This attraction was so heavily derided, it closed after one year in operation. Not until 2006 did a replacement come, in the form of Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue, based on the hit Pixar film, which relied on the same track as the former tenant. Despite the “Disney” overhaul and a moderately-enjoyable ride, this hasn’t been a runaway success.

Perhaps the most attacked area of the park has been Paradise Pier, which features Disney’s versions of boardwalk attractions. Fervent fans point to the fact that Walt Disney created Disneyland as a result of the visionary’s frustration with common carnival rides. According to them, Walt wanted entertainment that all in the family could enjoy. California Adventure essentially disregarded that dream by installing relatively-inexpensive, non-themed amusement rides. Here was a roller-coaster (California Screamin’), ferris wheel (Sun Wheel), drop towers (Maliboomer, Jumpin’ Jellyfish), mouse-style coaster (Mulholland Madness), swings (Orange Stinger), boardwalk games, and rocket ships that revolved (Golden Zephyr). The only attraction with a Disney theme was King Triton’s Carousel of the Sea, a merry-go-round with sea creatures that might be found in The Little Mermaid film. Countless visitors expressed disappointment that Disney’s version of a boardwalk lacked “The Disney Touch.” For about six years, Paradise Pier received no changes. Yes, there were the occasional events, such as bands that performed during “Rockin’ the Bay” and Christmas night show ”LuminAria,” but both failed to return for a second season. Not a great sign, by any means. Until the announcement of Toy Story Midway Mania! in 2006, which opened “under” California Screamin’ during summer 2008, Paradise Pier was seen as a dead zone by many fans. Admittantly, California Screamin’ and the Maliboomer saw long lines – even during slower days – but none of the Paradise Pier attractions were marked by the signature quality of Disney. In a way, they could be viewed as rides to consume crowds of people – serving no other purpose.

Here is a cartoon rendering of what Disney California Adventure will look like by the end of its massive expansion plan in 2012.

The dawn of a new era arrived in October 2007 with the exciting reveal for future plans of Disneyland’s ill-fortuned cousin. With the intention to spend over $1 billion in redesigning the park and adding a handful of huge projects, Disney would be pocketing out nearly as much money as they did in just building California Adventure years earlier. Among these plans: a redesigned entrance themed around Hollywood in the 1920s (when Walt would have first arrived in tinsel-town); a trolley system to carry guests from the entrance to the Tower of Terror area; Cars Land, a whole new section with rides set in Radiator Springs, the location of Pixar’s merchandise-machine Cars; and multiple new projects and design changes to Paradise Pier.

In Part 1, I will list out the changes that took place in 2008 and 2009, while Part 2 will showcase this year’s – and future – additions.

Toy Story Midway Mania! (opened May 2008)

The first dark ride (think Peter Pan’s Flight or it’s a small world)  to open in Paradise Pier, and currently only one of two in the entire park, Midway Mania! served as the park’s new “E-ticket” experience. Taking guests through a virtual, state-of-the-art midway, Toy Story features all of the favorite characters from the hit Pixar franchise in various minigames. Have a seat in your spinning vehicle, put on your 3-D glasses, and let the gang lead the way. This 4-D adventure incorporates the typical effects you would expect (puffs of air and squirts of water), but what makes these series of games so much fun is the instantaneous, interactive nature. Using your spring-action shooter, you shoot virtual projectiles (pies, plates, arrows, rings, etc.) toward multi-valued targets. Each game, which lasts about a minute, is hosted by a different character. In my favorite game, for instance, Buzz Lightyear’s Flying Tossers lets guests project rings around the green aliens. Unlike other comprable games, when you score, an effect occurs on the screen. Rocketships launch, the three-eyed aliens jump around, and other effects surprise. By the end of the six-minute ride, your scoreboard (a screen against the vehicle) displays not only your total points, but also accuracy percentage. Nice touch. The best part of Midway Mania! is that there are always opportunities for updates, since the attraction relies on simply “replacing” the games. Just this past summer, an initial gamed entiled Bo Peep’s Baaa-loon Pop was removed to make way for Rex & Trixie’s Dino Darts. The games feature a similar purpose, but with different characters, backgrounds, and effects. Without a doubt, Toy Story Midway Mania! has been a success story. With repeat value, beloved characters, the latest technology and pure fun, this is one attraction that will remain popular for many, many years to come.

Games of the Boardwalk (reopened April 2009)

Replacing the bland, typical carnival games, Disney updated this section, located under the California Screamin‘ coaster during early 2009. Four new Disney-themed games offer enjoyable diversions. Purchase a “play card” for a minimum of $5, which represents 500 points. Each game costs at least 250 points. Like any carnival game, prizes are applenty. In the beginning, stuffed animals were not Disney characters, but I believe they have now been themed to have well-known characters in stock. The four games include: Casey at the Bat (throwing baseballs); Bullseye Stallion Stampede (“horse racing”); Goofy About Fishing (“fishing”); and Dumbo Bucket Brigade (aiming water into holes). The renovated 1920s boardwalk feel continues into the architecture of the buildings housing these games, which is a nice stylistic improvement over the tacky theme that has characterized Paradise Pier from the beginning.

Mickey’s Fun Wheel (reopened May 2009)

Originally with a large, iconic “sun” in the center (see picture toward top of the page), the Sun Wheel was another opening-day attraction. While this didn’t draw much criticism from guests, having a ferris wheel in a Disney park wasn’t really necessary. Instead of taking down the massive structure, they instead “rethemed” it with Disney characters. Buh-bye, Sun. Hello, Mick! Other than replacing the center image, repainting with new colors, adding some lighting effects, and adding pictures of the original Disney characters on the gondolas, very little has changed. But this may be considered enough for the dedicated Disney enthusiast, who may not have liked the Sun Wheel. Original plans called for installing a shaded, nicely-themed queue, but that didn’t pan out. Meanwhile, since a huge Mickey face was placed on the ferris wheel, I suppose Disney thought having that Mickey ears on the roller coaster (see same picture aforementioned) would be “redundant.” Therefore, that was removed in favor of what else, but a sun burst (see above picture in background). Basically, this move just switched the icons around. Was this vital? Probably not. I would say that the Sun Wheel was more visually-appealing than a gigantic Mickey head, but I do respect the choice to include old cartoon versions of classic characters into the attractions.

See ya later, Dinosaur Jack Sunglass Shack (see left) and McDonald’s-sponsored Burger Invasion (see right). These were a few of the original shopping and dining locations found in Paradise Pier. Among the others: Corn Dog Castle (serving what else, but corn dogs?); Malibu-ritos (Mexican fare); and the ever-popular Pizza Oom Mow Mow. To make the atmosphere more classy, these places have met their demise, to be replaced by less-tacky establishments.

That concludes Part 1 of “Paradise Peered.” Next time we’ll explore 2010 additions to Paradise Pier, and future plans that promise even more exciting adventures. What are your thoughts on the attractions of Paradise Pier? Post away in the comments section below!

Bonus: Check out how Disney showed off Toy Story Midway Mania! – or Toy Story Mania! advertised here – in this amusing commercial that aired before its summer 2008 opening!

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