California Adventures

Our oldest son Presley was so excited when he was tall enough to ride The Tower of Terror that he posed for a picture with the Tower and years later asked me to draw a sketch of that picture for him.

Its hard to believe it has been 17 years since the second theme park opened at the Disneyland Resort, it still seems like a "new" park to me. When we went to Disneyland on our first date in 1998 they had started the demolition of the original  parking lot, and I remember driving along the blocked off parking lot and being sent to a surface lot just south of the Disneyland Hotel behind what is now the Paradise Pier Hotel. We would end up going to Disneyland for New Years 2001 and you could see that they were nearly finished, it was very exciting that in just over a month the new park would open.   Disney's California Adventure park opened on February 8, 2001, we probably made it there by March or so, May at the latest as that is our anniversary and before we were pass holders we would try to go every year around that date.

Paradise Pier in 2016, soon to be "Pixar Pier"...the 3rd version of the "Classic" California Boardwalk at Disney California Adventure Park

It was still very new, and not crowded, I was not following the development very closely and did not really know what to expect. Jon Jerde's Universal City Walk had been a pretty big deal and we covered it in Architecture School, but I don't remember Downtown Disney receiving similar press. I had really liked Universal City Walk's collage like homage to Los Angeles Boulevard culture, it seemed a more organic way to represent "California" and it felt like a "City". The Craftsman vocabulary at Downtown Disney was beautiful and worked especially well in concert with the Grand Californian Hotel to give it a "Resort" vibe. As that Architecture was traditionally used for residences I felt at the retail scale used at Downtown Disney it did not "feel" like a real "City" the way City Walk did. I suppose I have softened a bit on that as I like Downtown Disney but it was never a place we went to outside of Disneyland visits but we would go to City Walk independent of visits to Universal Studios Hollywood.

The new Esplanade "plaza" between the park entrances was very nice and an elegant "front porch" for the the theme parks. It took a little getting used to to make a hard turn to face Disneyland from the Ticket Booths after being used to approaching it straight on, but everything at Downtown Disney and the Esplanade was done to a high level of detail, that it largely remains to this day is a testament to it's quality. On our first visit to then new "Disneyland Resort" I'm pretty sure we purchased Park Hoppers and spent the morning at California Adventure  and the afternoon/evening at Disneyland...that would end up being our usual touring pattern for nearly every visit.

 I remember they had a new "Disneyland Resort" logo that did not use the famous script. and it was jarring at first. It made some sense to give a "separate" identity to Disneyland Park (which still used the classic script) versus the Disneyland RESORT (which used the new logo incorporating the "Disney" signature letters). We had gone to Disneyland Paris in the summer of 2000 and they had a similar more "corporate" logo. I believe there was some push back on not using the Disneyland Script for the whole resort and they eventually got rid of the new Disneyland Resort logo and now use the classic script logo for both the original park and the resort.

I think our overall impressions were that portions of some areas were really detailed (Hollywood Backlot Street, Pacific Wharf, Paradise Pier Bay, Golden State Rec Area, Condor Flats) while some areas were really sparse and lacking (Sunshine Plaza, Studio Backlot, Bay Area, Paradise Pier Midway, Crazy Roadside area of Paradise Bay, Bountiful Valley Farm), and that there was not enough to do.

While somewhat critical of the park, we never hated it or thought it was awful, in fact there was much we liked. We became quite fond of it as it was a nice break from the Disneyland crowds! After seeing on TV all of the amazing stuff they were doing to Walt Disney World throughout the 80's & 90's it was so exciting getting some "new" stuff and a "Resort" to go with what was one park, a parking lot and at the time an older hotel.

Maybe it was slightly underwhelming because there were so few unique rides and because the place making was very disjointed. There was not a clear diagram of how the park was organized the way Disneyland was. The spine of the park was called "The Performance Corridor", I guess it is as clinical as "The Hub", but somehow it didn't quite work. The postcard entry and Golden Gate Bridge was clever but it led to a largely empty plaza and the "sun and wave wall" did not have a lot of presence as an icon...you felt like there was no anchors...it was just a series of places stretched out along wide walkways. The collage/juxtaposition approach of Universal City Walk(important to note is a shopping center and not a Theme Park), where disparate elements abut each other without attempt to recreate a specific time and place was in use in a lot of places in the park. Sunshine Plaza for example had simple metal storefronts and also a somewhat accurate portrayal of a train station but then the train was clearly set into the ground and there was no where for the train to go.

The collage approach can work as architecture, but it is not the way a Disney Theme Park is traditionally presented. Disney Theme Parks attempt to recreate specific environments with a logic to them. California Adventure had elements that didn't seem logical like a Golden Gate Bridge over a walkway, or a train to nowhere, a 1990's modern "Animation" building in the middle of a 1920's Hollywood Street. Is Hollywood Backlot a movie studio or a trip through old Hollywood, or both? It was not always clear. It was that lack of clarity which made the place come off as a Six Flags or Cedar Fair type park even if the environments were highly detailed. 

The raft ride was done well and the Rec Area right adjacent to the Grand Californian was very successful, I really loved the way the walkway was done as if it were a road through a National Park complete with road barrier. But then you had wonderfully detailed "Painted Ladies Bay Area" facades for bathrooms and no attraction.

                             

There were so many shops and places to eat but too few rides. Soarin' Over California was magnificent, and California Screamin' was fun, it seemed pretty wild for a "Disney" Coaster. We went on the very strange Superstar Limo, the style of the ride was very cartoony and the DC Follies/Max Headroom style characters were creepy. The premise had potential but the execution was bizarre, I have enjoyed the Monsters Inc. version much more.

On only one of our visits was the backlot food court open, it was a set of eateries themed to classic LA nightspots...like Ciro's, and The Coconut Grove, Trocadero, etc., I thought that was really neat and have never seen it open ever again. I really loved The Muppets show and it was new to me as I had not yet been to Walt Disney World. The Animation exhibits were top notch, we spent a lot of time there.  Overall though we enjoyed it; I suppose it was a mixed bag, but since we had park hoppers we filled the rest of our day at Disneyland. 

Presley meeting Goofy in front of the Frank Lloyd Wright Bathrooms

Around the time of our oldest son's second birthday we became pass holders and would visit both parks much more frequently. We stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel several times and appreciated the quiet vibe of the place and were always given park view rooms without an up charge. I fondly remember watching the Electrical Parade travel "The Performance Corridor" from our rooms! 

Theme Park View no charge upgrade every time in those uncrowded days

Building the Grand California DVC in the foreground there

The tortilla factory was a favorite of ours especially when they were handing out flour tortillas. I suppose what we most enjoyed was how laid back and uncrowded it was. 

When we moved away from California they were just starting to put up the barriers for Buena Vista Street & Cars Land.  We have since been back to see the new "Disney California Adventure"...and have enjoyed it. The new Buena Vista Street is a wonderful counterpoint to Main Street USA and brings a lot of energy and life to the entry of the park.

With Presley & Ryker on "Route 66"

Cars Land is of course fantastic, both Radiator Springs and Radiator Springs Racers. Racers is the perfect combination of dark ride and thrill ride, it is one of the best Disney Rides I have ever been on, I think of the "Modern" attractions Indiana Jones is the only thing that comes close to it for detail.

We left California in 2009 and from what I understand the parks have gotten more and more crowded since, but for a while there we really enjoyed our slower paced California Adventure.

Looking backward at Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland was my favorite Disney land when I was a kid, and I have a big soft spot for it today.  I was always a Trekkie, a Star Wars Fan, and a Space Program Fan so it was a big thrill to walk around in a world of Tomorrow.  I often suspect that my passion for Mid-Century Modernism is an outgrowth of my love for Star Trek, Disneyland, and the Brady Bunch.  Star Trek: The Original Series had a very thinly veiled Modernist aesthetic, complete with pedestal furniture and angular minimalist sets. Disneyland had the wonderful Tomorrowland of 1967 with its space age spires reaching for the sky. And The Brady Bunch, well the Father was an Architect with a groovy Frank Lloyd Wright-ish home that always captivated me.  As for the Space Program, I vividly remember the first Space Shuttle launch and Space Shuttle toys were among my favorites.

Tomorrowland grab bag of memories: Riding Adventures Through Inner Space and being so sure we were going to be shrunken down in the Mighty Microscope. Being equally convinced I had flown on a Mission To Mars...and why shouldn't I believe it, after all my older brothers assured me they had seen my rocket leave while they were in line for Space Mountain (I was not tall enough for that one at the time). For some reason we usually ended up at Tomorrowland in the late afternoon, when I think back it is always with a western sun. Usually we had taken the Monorail over to the Disneyland Hotel and gone to see the Toy Store and the remote control boats in the Hotel Lagoon. One time I rode in the monorail bubble behind the driver with my brother, that was a real treat, as much as I liked the "Lear Jet" Monorails I really missed the bubbles!

My sketch here tries to capture Disneyland's Tomorrowland circa 1984...the Peoplemover is still solid colored. I have a very clear childhood memory of being so happy looking at the three flag poles atop the Carousel Theater building, with the combination of the smell of the chlorine from the Submarine Voyage and the gasoline from Autopia heavy in the air. Overhead the Skyway whisking folks off towards Fantasyland through the Matterhorn. You can see the Rocket Jets spinning around, Peoplemovers and Monorails snaking around each other, all so fantastic. And the sounds, the goose like "honk-honk" of the Monorail, the steam whistle of the Disneyland Railroad, Is Harold growling at the screaming Matterhorn Bobsleders as they pass through his ice caverns?

Walking right down the middle of Main Street, U.S.A.

  

With the Roy O. Disney & Minnie statue looking down Main Street, U.S.A. from Town Square, Magic Kingdom, WALT DISNEY WORLD, Florida.  Note size of Castle and this is from Town Square.

 
  Frank Lloyd Wright called Architecture the "Mother Art"....because all other arts had to go through it, and so in that spirit I pull just about everything I love(Disney, Cars, Theater, Film, TV.) through this blog using that justification. I am obviously a huge Disney nut, I come by it honestly as I grew up in a Disney household. We went to Disneyland at least once a year, and my folks were always sharing Disney movies with us. Their Disney love went back to their childhoods too. My parents are from the same small mining town (Morenci, Arizona) and although they didn't  start dating until they had both ended up in Southern California they have known each other since childhood. My Mom and my Dad's sister were in the 5th Grade together and their friendship started with an outing to see a re-release of Walt Disney's Cinderella at their local theater.

Looking down Main Street, U.S.A. from about half way down, DISNEYLAND, California.  Note the size of the castle and this is almost 3/4ths down Main Street.

 
  My great Aunt was a school teacher in San Bernardino, California in the 50's and my Dad and his siblings would come visit from Arizona during breaks from school. Dad has tons of Disneyland stories from way back. My great Aunt took them on their first trips to Disneyland. He would talk of going when they had the circus...which was so short lived that it was only in operation over the Christmas holiday from Dec. 1955- Jan. 1956. That was how I was able to determine that he first went to Disneyland in it's opening year, not bad for some kids from a tiny town in eastern Arizona. Some of my earliest memories are of Disneyland, and I imagine it will be the same for my children, if you love it, truly love Disney I think it is something you can't help but pass on to your kids. Walt Disney became a childhood hero of mine, there was something about the story of a kid who likes to draw who goes on to do great things that was terribly attractive to this daydreamer. Our second son's middle name is Elias both as a tribute to my wife's family and to Walter Elias Disney.

Looking down Main Street, U.S.A. from Cinderella Castle across The Plaza, Magic Kingdom, WALT DISNEY WORLD, Florida. Note the flag poles and cupolas and generally fancier "gingerbread" architectural detailing on the buildings. 

 
  Southern California in the 50's is a place with a lot of transplants from the midwest and east and here they were living in this sort of magical desert with eternal spring and summer and ground that if you added water would grow anything.  I think Disneyland grew out of that, after living on the east coast for a few years now I can see how it generated feelings of nostalgia and reassurance to transplanted Midwesterners and East Coasters. A large portion of it is essentially a petting zoo of the rest of America, you have the small town Main Street that could be anywhere, the Rivers(and forests) of America, and Frontierland,  If you watch old episodes of Walt Disney's anthology TV show you will see in the shows filmed at Disneyland many more older people just taking the place in than you are likely to today.  At some point there has been a shift from being nostalgic about the settings of Disneyland to being nostalgic about Disneyland itself.

Looking down Main Street, U.S.A. across Town Square from in front of Train Station, DISNEYLAND, California. Note the size of the Castle and this is looking across Town Square.

 
  "Main Street, U.S.A." is that wonderful gateway to the Magic Kingdoms, it's been said that Disneyland is like a movie that the guest stars in, the tunnels beneath the train tracks are like the darkness in a theater right before the curtain pulls back and the credits begin. So "Main Street, U.S.A." acts as a kind of opening credits(which is why the names on the windows honor folks who designed and built and ran the parks).  It also acts as transition from the real world to the fantastic worlds of the rest of the park.

Looking down Main Street, U.S.A. from edge of The Plaza, DISNEYLAND, California. Note the brick, mansard roof/attics, awnings, fewer turrets & cuppolas.

  In the 1950's a Victorian turn of the century Main Street would have been something still fresh in many people's memories(as it was for Walt Disney). Southern California has many downtown streets next to a railroad line(sort of like "Main Street, U.S.A." but without the churros) like much of the country, but by the 50's they probably had been stripped of much of their charm. There was the spread of automobile-centric design, shopping centers with large parking lots ("strip malls"). You might find yourself parking in front of one store and because of the size of the parking lot getting back in your car and driving to park in front of another store in the same center.  The intimacy of the streetscape with sidewalks and shops lining it that you walk between was being lost. Disneyland had a part in reviving that tradition.

Horse drawn trolley and motor bus in front of Main Street Train Station, DISNEYLAND, California

  Today I think Main Street exists in the popular imagination not so much as a shared past but as a Disney concept.  But it is still a powerful concept and it's appeal can be seen in the spread and success of "Lifestyle" shopping centers.(Like "The Grove" in Los Angeles a newer shopping center that even has a Trolley going down an artificial street!) The secret is in a visually interesting place("Main Street U.S.A." buildings have tons of detail, cornices and molding and lights and trim around the windows/doors) with varying sights and sounds and being able to walk it comfortably. The Disney version of Main Street is idealized; it's not a false memory but the way things should be.

East side of Main Street, U.S.A., DISNEYLAND, California. Note how the windows are slightly smaller as you look at each floor of the buildings.  In reality this is a two story building, but the window detailing makes it look as much as four stories tall.  This is what is meant as "Forced Perspective"

  
  I've always loved "Main Street, USA", having been a fan of model railroading, and after all what is Disneyland but a slightly larger model railroad. It is said that it is(very) loosely based on the impressions Walt Disney had of his hometown of Marceline, Missouri. This is really only true in that it recalls the small town downtowns found next to many railroad depots. The buildings were Art Directed by Disney Artist Harper Goff who worked in the architectural details of the buildings of Fort Collins, Colorado (his hometown) into those he designed for Disneyland.  Fort Collins was a colorful, prosperous town with buildings that have a lot of "gingerbread" detail, with turrets and cupolas you see at Disneyland. Walt's Marceline was far more modest, with much simpler brick buildings.   

Looking down Main Street, U.S.A from Town Square, DISNEYLAND, California.  Note size of Castle and this is from Town Square.

Looking down Main Street, U.S.A. from in front of The Emporium, Magic Kingdom, WALT DISNEY WORLD, Florida. Note the size of the Castle and this is from just past Town Square.  Also note how much more architectural trim and detail there is, more turrets & cupolas, and flagpoles.

  
  At very quick glance the Main Streets at Disneyland and Walt Disney World seem the same.   While they both try to portray an idealized turn of the century "Anywhere, U.S.A." environment, the scale, character, and detail are very different.

"Main Street, U.S.A." at Disneyland

  At Disneyland, Main Street is a small town, the buildings while charming and detailed are not particularly grand.  It evokes middle America with liberal doses of Victorian (Second Empire) Architecture.  Second Empire architecture has mansard rooflines(those sloping upper floors with roof surfaces but still with windows) and turrets or towers. A very popular style in the late 1800's.

Main Street Train Station from entry plaza("Esplanade"), DISNEYLAND, California.  Note tall clock tower at right, subtle wood trim details and dormers.

Main Street Station from Town Square, DISNEYLAND, California.  Note clocktower to the east, stairs leading up to station, window dormers.

  There is a simple but elegantly composed railroad depot at the head of the street. The depot is my favorite building on Disneyland's Main Street. It has an asymmetrical composition with the tower situated on the East side of the building.

Opera House, Main Street, U.S.A., DISNEYLAND, California

 There is a handsome opera house on one side of a Town Square and on the opposite side is a handsome Town Hall with a charming fire station where Walt Disney kept a second floor apartment.

Disneyland City Hall, Main Street, U.S.A., DISNEYLAND, California

Fire Station, Main Street U.S.A., DISNEYLAND, California.  The second floor of this building housed a small private apartment for Walt Disney and his family.

  The street continues towards Sleeping Beauty Castle in the distance past The Emporium on the West and the Main Street Hotel on the East.  Along both sides of the street are various storefronts of different composition but still in various Victorian Styles.

The Emporium, Main Street, U.S.A., DISNEYLAND, California.  Note the stone detailing, awnings, third floor mansard roof and the tower. 

  These buildings are famously built using "Forced Perspective" in that the first floor is built nearly full scale, and each floor above is slightly smaller in scale so that the building seems taller than it really is because the smaller windows higher up make you think they are farther away.  The overall effect is that you think you are surrounded by 3 story(and taller) buildings but they are really only 2 stories tall.  The Castle uses the same trick to look like it is 100's of feet high while only being about 77 feet tall.  At Disneyland the Castle looks small, or to put it another way it looks really far away.  

"Main Street, U.S.A." at Walt Disney World(Magic Kingdom)

  The "Main Street, U.S.A." at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World is like the entire resort; much, much bigger.  The time setting is still the same but we are no longer in a small, modest town. Magic Kingdom Main Street is a large, prosperous, East Coast resort town.  It is horse country meets seaside resort (Upstate New York, Cape May, New Jersey) and every building is larger and more ornately detailed. The designers came from 20th Century Fox where they had done the amazing production design for the "Hello, Dolly!" film musical.

  In a previous post I detailed the extraordinary arrival sequence to the gates of the Magic Kingdom. Since Magic Kingdom is on the shore of a large lagoon and lake and arrival is by ferry boat or monorail the buildings were scaled to be seen from a distance.  Cinderella Castle is enormous and is visible from across the water, but as you get closer and closer it somehow manages to disappear!

Main Street Station from entry plaza, Magic Kingdom, WALT DISNEY WORLD, Florida.  Note the central clocktower with much more elaborate and formal "gingerbread" detailing.  

   At the head of Magic Kingdom Main Street is the handsome and imposing Main Street Station...it shares the same colors and overall effect of the Disneyland station but here you will find a symmetrical composition.

Main Street Station as seen from Town Square, Magic Kingdom, WALT DISNEY WORLD, Florida.  Note: Stop counting the Dwarfs and note the elaborate metal structure in place of California's open staircase.  All of the detailing is much richer and elaborate which suggests that WALT DISNEY WORLD Main Street, U.S.A. is a larger city, a "sophisticated" East Coast Resort and not a perfectly respectable middle American hamlet.

Same view seen from night, with the Seven Dwarfs out of the way we can now see that Main Street Station has both covered and exterior stairs(needed for the harsher Florida climate and because this is meant to be a more substantial station for a more prosperous town than the one represented at DISNEYLAND.)

  There is a highly detailed tower at the center of the building. The station is based on a real depot that was in Saratoga Springs, New York; a horse racing resort town.  I believe the centered/symmetrical design gives the station the size and presence that allows the Castle to be obscured. You lose sight of it enough to be surprised by it later.

Magic Kingdom City Hall, WALT DISNEY WORLD, Florida. This is a much more imposing structure than the one found at DISNEYLAND.  The columns are beefier, and there is more stonework detail just about everywhere.  The directive at WALT DISNEY WORLD was more, more, more.

 
  Town Square is flanked by a grander City Hall and Fire Station, and in place of the Disneyland Opera House is an extremely elegant and ornate "Town Square Theater".  It has a dramatic 2 story porch and is modeled on resort hotels from the time period.

Town Square Theater, Main Street, U.S.A., Magic Kingdom, WALT DISNEY WORLD, Florida.  This is modeled on a hotel, which is why you see balconies along the second and third floors.  While the architectural detailing is heavily Victorian with curlicues and gingerbread the massing of the building and the double height porch recall the riverside elevation of George Washington's Mount Vernon.

  This is probably my favorite building at Magic Kingdom Main Street, it has lots of gingerbread decor but it also recalls the grand piazza of George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate.

The Emporium seen from in front of City Hall, Main Street, U.S.A. Town Square, Magic Kingdom, WALT DISNEY WORLD, Florida.  Note again the use of a a double height("2-story") porch with paired columns and gingerbread detailing.  This style is often associated with great seaside resorts of the late nineteenth century and is not the sort of architecture you would find in your average American town.  

  The Emporium at Magic Kingdom is also noticeably more spectacular than it's Disneyland counterpart, it also having a dramatic 2 story corner tower and arcade.  Many of the buildings at this Main Street have these giant 2 story porches.

The Emporium, Main Street, U.S.A., Magic Kingdom, WALT DISNEY WORLD, Florida.  Note again the 2-story porch, complete with giant gazeebo corner entrance. Compare with the handsome but far less ornate DISNEYLAND Emporium.

 
  Once you clear the Town Square you immediately notice the magnificent Cinderella Castle. Cinderella Castle is almost 200' feet tall, but it looks and feels like it is 1000' tall thanks again to the use of Forced Perspective.  The Castle at Disney World is over 100' feet taller than the castle at Disneyland, it's even taller than the Matterhorn.

Cinderella Castle as seen from about 2/3rd the way down Main Street.  Magic Kingdom, WALT DISNEY WORLD, Florida. This is approximately from the same spot on  DISNEYLAND's Main Street as the second picture on this post.  

   None of this is to suggest that Disney World is better than Disneyland but just to illustrate how it is different and not as many assume simply an East Coast Disneyland. I have found that I love them both!