Theme Parking: D23 2019 Parks & Resorts Presentation Wrap-Up

• I woke up Sunday morning, made breakfast for the family, and tuned into whoever could get a stream up of the D23 Parks & Resorts Presentation. The biggest Disneyland rumors leading up to today revolved around a refresh of Tomorrowland. That did not happen, but there was still several things to announce.


• Chairman Bob Chepak officially announced the new daytime parade, Magic Happens, a name that has been posted all over the message boards because of an amazingly dishy leak over on MiceChat.

All images gleefully stolen from Disney Parks Blog and Twitter

• He also showed the new entrance to Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad in Mickey's Toontown. Called The El Capitoon Theater, the queue will feature an historical (hysterical) exhibit of costumes and props from film history. This seems to be located where Toontown City Hall sits now. Since that part of the land is just a large outdoor seating area for a set of food vendors that I never remember exist. (Heck, the most recent park map just lists the three windows as Toontown Dining.)

• We also got so see a little more of Rise of the Resistance, the ride the Galaxy's Edge really needs to open right now to keep the nerds happy. All of the new footage looks a little too much like CGI trickery, but we'll know for certain in about four months. Maybe.

• Over in Disney California Adventure, all talk was about the coming Avengers Campus. The primary new attraction in the land (not the first though because Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout will be moved to Avengers Campus when the land opens, Matterhorn-style), will be the currently unnamed Spider-Man ride. Rumors of it being yet another shooter ride seem to be founded.

• Chapek also officially announced the long-rumored Avengers ride. It's described as a QuinJet ride to Wakanda that (say it with me) goes terribly wrong. The rumors have been that TDA (Team Disney Anaheim) sent the Imagineers back to the drawing board for this ride due to capacity issues, thus causing it to fall into Phase II of the expansion. Considering WDI's track record, this is the easier rumor to believe.

• And that was it for Disneyland. Considering that we just came off the Galaxy's Edge launch and with Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad and Marvel Land already to announced, it really was too much to expect a new-new-new Tomorrowland. And since all of the most exciting expansions are taking place elsewhere, Disneyland still has plenty to finish before needing something new.


• The rest of presentation focused on the other parks. We heard about Hong Kong's two Frozen rides, as well as the name of their redesigned castle. We got more info about Shanghai's new Zootopia land. They also announced what should be a pretty cool new Cirque du Soleil show opening at WDW's Disney Springs. And we heard more about the Star Wars hotel.


• While they were at it, Chapek announced the name of the new Disney Cruise ship, Disney Wish. And it what was the most excruciating announcement of the day, they announced a new collaboration with Target.


• But the best announcements were saved for Epcot, a park that has lost its way in recent years. The all-but-forgotten Future World will now be divided into three lands, World Celebration, World Discovery, and World Nature, seemingly to compliment the already strong World Showcase. They announced the names of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Space 220 Restaurant. They announced a refresh of Spaceship Earth as well as the release of new shows, Awesome Planet, Canada Far and Wide, a Beauty and the Beast sing-along, and Wondrous China. They discussed the upcoming opening of Remy's Ratatouille Adventure and announced a new Mary Poppins ride. We also got a very nice new logo treatment for the park.

• D23 might not have been everything that us Disneyland fans might have wanted, but there is a lot for others to be excited about. Now we wait for 2021.

Theme Parking: Disneyland Resort Trip Report - 26 November 2015

• It's time for another trip report, but I just want to hit highlights and impressions. Sure, I could run down the itinerary (actually I can't since I lost it), but this get boring pretty fast. Instead, here is what stood out about our Thanksgiving visit to Disneyland.


• We ended up parking in the Simba lot that morning and had to walk to the park through Downtown Disney. Instead of making the full walk, we decided to ride the monorail into Tomorrowland. Since we arrived just after the last train left, I decided to show off to the family and asked if we could ride in the front. It was quite fun to share a very different view of the ride.


• Once inside the park, I got the idea to get Fastpasses for Hyperspace Mountain, which had recently opened. By the time I was able to get tickets, the window conflicted with our dining reservations over in California Adventure. We would have to postpone our first ride on Space Mountain in years until our next visit. I still have those Fastpasses in my memorabilia folder for that visit.


• Those plans involved an early Thanksgiving dinner at Ariel's Grotto. It was a crazy idea, made even crazier in that I just lost my job, but we intended to make the best of it. Our little four year old gave us all the usual food problems we had come to expect, but she was delighted to be visited by the princesses who came to visit our table. Ours was the second table on the princess rotation, the first with a child, so she did not have to wait long after each announcement. Our grown-up dishes were much better than I expected given my low opinion of theme park food. The whole experience will stand out as one of my favorite holiday meals.


• Disneyland after dark is a magic of a different kind and DCA captures that feeling in similar ways. After the sun set, we found our way to Paradise Pier and the Jumpin' Jellyfish. Our daughter likes this simple ride and, even though I have a small fear of heights, it is mild enough for me to chaperon her. As we stood in line, we heard the music for an oncoming parade. DCA's parades aren't nearly as popular as Disneyland's Paint The Night, so there were no crowds to warn us it was coming. The parade reached us just as we ascended the tower. It was a fun perch to watch from even if I wouldn't want to spend the entire parade up there.


• Our night ended with a trip to Olaf's Snow Fest. It is a poor substitute for snow play, but it is as close as our Southern Californian little girl has ever come to the real thing. She had a ball. And that is what Disneyland is all about for me.

Theme Parking: Disneyland Resort Trip Report - 9-11 September 2015

• As opposed to the spontaneity of our August trip to Disneyland, this trip has been planned for a long time. We wanted to spend a couple days in the park in celebration of my wife's birthday. Instead of making hard decisions about what to ride and what to skip between the two parks, visiting multiple days in a row would finally allow us to relax and see everything we would want to see. There was just one small, but growing, monkey wrench that changed our plans.

Even the turnstiles are festive.

• Wednesday was devoted to Disneyland. The park was already decorated for Halloween when we arrived. It was fun seeing the blue anniversary bunting replaced with orange. And of course, there were jack o' lanterns up and down Main Street. After a quick stop at City Hall for a birthday button for my bride, we made our way to Carnation Café for a birthday breakfast. (Aside: I am now addicted to making dining reservations online. That's how we ended up with Thanksgiving reservations in the park.) During breakfast, I noticed on the Disneyland app that the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters had a ten minute wait. The wait times for the ride are usually so long that I mentally wrote it off months ago. But with miniscule line and because Midway Mania was such a hit last visit, I convinced my family to give it a try. It ended up being a big hit.

I haven't seen this in a long time.

• After the ride, we found ourselves in Tomorrowland, trying to figure out where to go next. Across the way, we saw Star Tours and decided to give it a try. We walked over to the entrance and asked the cast members there if we could measure our daughter. It was a near thing, but she could finally clear forty inches. In that instant, all of our usual plans went out the window and a whole new world of possibilities had opened. That first day we could finally returned to a couple of our favorite rides, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Star Tours. I can't even remember that last time I rode them. While we were trying new rides, we even hopped on Gadget's Go Coaster for the first time. It may be small, but it was a lot of fun.

The lights. So pretty.

• With our first day winding down, I volunteered to camp a spot on the parade route while my wife and daughter visited the princesses in Fantasy Faire. They has so much time that they also rode on the Mad Tea Party and Alice In Wonderland. When they returned, it was time for Paint The Night and the Disneyland Forever fireworks. We ended the night with a stop at Wetzel's Pretzels and opening birthday presents in our hotel room.

I'm not sure what I was going for with this shot, but I like it. DCA is a weird place.

• Thursday was our California Adventure day, for the most part. I wore my new We Wants The Redhead shirt and we walked to the park for our second day. Now that our daughter was the appropriate height, we could finally ride Radiator Springs Racers. Our first stop for the day was the Fastpass station. Even picking up passes soon after opening, we still received an afternoon return window. We also picked up passes for World Of Color, a show we have never stayed late enough to see. After finishing our scheduling, we could finally make our way to the rides. Our daughter's first choice was Ariel's Undersea Adventure. Afterward, it was time to visit the princesses again. You read that right. So that our daughter could see some of the other princesses, we crossed the esplanade long enough to visit Fantasy Faire.

I'm so happy that Condor Flats was merged into Grizzly Peak. It looks so good now.

• Upon returning to DCA, we had two goals. First, we wanted to try new rides that we hadn't tried before. We ended up on Monster's Inc., Radiator Springs Racers (finally!), Soarin' Over California, and Jumping Jellyfish. Second, we wanted to see several shows. I think it was the announcement the prior night that the Aladdin musical would be replaced by Frozen that prodded us in this direction. We saw Aladdin, the Frozen Sing-a-long, and World of Color. Again, I was stunned by how much we could do in the park that we had not before.

What did they do to my Haunted Mansion?

• Our original plans for this trip called for one day at Disneyland, one day at California Adventure, and then off to home. As we woke up Friday morning, we did a quick calculation and decided to head back to Disneyland for the opening of Haunted Mansion Holiday. It was our first time seeing the overlay. While it was well done, I have no affection for The Nightmare Before Christmas and it felt disorienting to see the ride that way. On the way out of the park, I picked up The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering A Disney Classic by Jason Surrell and we all chose treats from Candy Palace. All in all, it was a great mini-vacation that left us all exhausted and happy.

Theme Parking: Giving In To The Fantasy

• Coincident with my rejuvenated affinity for all things Disneyland has been the launch of Dismaland. The temporary art installation coordinated by British street artist Banksy has been discussed quite a lot over the last month. What it's really about is open to some debate. But a recent link crossed my Twitter feed that tried to do so in some detail.


• Heather Havrilesky's article, "Burning Down the Mouse", describes her family's visit to Disneyland at the behest of her children and, through that that lens, the larger corruption of culture through capitalism. Her argument seems to be that corporate-driven consumerism has made the world a bad place. In her personal anecdote, she was almost tricked into enjoying herself at Disneyland. It was only upon examining the consumerist sheep around her that snapped her out of the capitalist illusion.


• I don't bring this up specifically to attack Havrilesky's (or Banksy's) critique of the pitfalls of capitalism. In many ways, I agree with them. The drive for money over all other considerations is dehumanizing. Conversely, there are people who occasionally can turn the vast corporate power at their disposal toward doing a real good. I think that, despite whatever other the company's intentions, Disneyland is one of those good works.


• In the article, Havrilesky can't help but belittle the type of people she imagines would enjoy the theme park. She describes watching a parade and wondering why everyone she saw took in the entertainment so passively or with such disinterest. Instead of clapping and dancing along to the music, the crowd sat and watched the parade go by. Some were even so distracted that they were checking their cell phones instead.


• I had a similar experience recently that this article made me rethink. While celebrating my wife's birthday at the Disneyland Resort, we took our daughter to the Frozen sing-along show. She loves to belt out the songs, which my wife and I find to be adorable. And I admit that I am a fan of the songs as well. As we sat in the theater, singing along with "Love Is An Open Door" (my wife and I singing a duet), I looked around the theater. Almost every face was blank, each person staring blankly at the screen. I turned to my wife and asked, "Do you think everyone else knows that this is a sing-along?" Even the wildly popular "Let It Go" was greeted with silence from the crowd. As we walked out of the theater, I wondered why all of those people went to watch a not-so-great stage show if they weren't there for the singing.


• But thinking back, I wonder why I felt so judgmental about how those people watched the show. Maybe they really did want to watch the show. Maybe they were shy about singing in public, but still wanted to experience it. Maybe they were hot (and it was really hot that day) and they were just looking for respite. Why did I need to say that they were doing it wrong?


• When I see people in the park who may not be enjoying themselves in the moment, there could be any number of reasons why. There are crowds, weather, closures, queues, money, and family pressures to deal with. Those things don't magically go away just because you've entered The Happiest Place On Earth. People find themselves under pressure to have fun and sometimes they just can't. We should not judge them for not living up to our expectations.


• Finally, we should not be judging people for finding enjoyment where they can. People are not sheep just because they want to watch a parade go by. People are not sheep because they want to experience a thrilling but perfectly safe ride. People are not sheep because they want to ride through an elaborately told story. We understand that there is a capitalistic side to everything in the park. But there is also the thought and hard work that goes into everything we might see and do.


• Fantasy is not a bad thing. Authenticity is not automatically some universal virtue to judge everything else against. We seek out fantasy because we want to experience something more than mundanity. It is not weakness to share in the imaginative. Fantasy can be used as an escape, certainly. But people deserve to be reminded that not everything is terrible in the world. We deserve to enjoy life, no matter how we might choose to do so.

Theme Parking: Out With The Old

• A couple of very interesting news items dropped during our vacation last week to the Disneyland Resort (trip report coming soon). Of course I was nowhere near a computer, so I'm writing about them today.


• First up, the Orange County Register reported that a very optimistic Tom Scaggs, COO of Walt Disney Company, announced a groundbreaking timeframe for the new Star Wars Land. According to Scaggs, both he and CEO Bob Iger are pushing to start development in 2016. A lot of the scuttlebutt online assumed a 2017 start date. Those estimates were based on the assumption either that at least two years of planning would be necessary post-announcement or that Disney would delay until 2017 to meet the letter of their agreement with the City of Anaheim. Considering the competition that Disneyland is expecting from Universal's Harry Potter land, Star Wars Land can't open soon enough. Of course, I initially estimated an open date of June 15, 2018, so a 2016 groundbreaking is way too late for my taste, but I suppose Disney knows what they are doing.


• The other big news of the week was more bittersweet (or just bitter) for some. The long running musical, Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular, will finally draw to a close January 10, 2016. Taking its place will be a new musical based on the massive hit movie, Frozen. Several people online were losing their minds over the announcement. Some will genuinely miss the show, or, more likely, the Genie. Others seem to loathe Frozen so thoroughly that they decry any further incursion of the property into the parks. I agree in the sense that running three separate shows plus a meet-and-greet at the same time would be insane. So insane in fact that there is no way Disney is actually going to do that. My hope is that Disneyland will sunset the other, smaller shows to focus more on their new musical, while freeing up the other theaters for new productions. That would be the smart thing to do, right?


• Right, Disneyland?

Theme Parking: Disneyland Resort Trip Report - 9 August 2015

• Sometime on the Friday prior to our visit, I decided that it had been too long since we had been to Disneyland. I sprung the idea on my wife and she agreed. Sunday morning, we packed the car and headed off to the Magic Kingdom.


• Leaving the decision to our four year old daughter, we started the day in California Adventure, heading to Ariel's Undersea Adventure. She knows that Ariel's ride is Daddy's favorite in the park. After the ride and several snapshots, I noticed that the line for Toy Story Midway Mania was under an hour. I had previously been hesitant to wait so long for a ride that I knew little about, but forty minutes seemed manageable. I'm happy that we waited because, 3D glasses notwithstanding, we had a great time. I was worried that our daughter would have trouble with the cannons, but she had a blast.

• When the ride was over, I acquiesced to a request for Mickey Mouse suckers (a perennial favorite), but I did not want to ride Mickey's Fun Wheel again. I have a terrible fear of heights and the extended trip around that wheel freaks me out. Luckily, my wife suggested that I finally indulge in a Disney corn dog (probably so that I would stop talking about it so often) while she chaperoned our daughter on the ride. The corn dog was a much better experience, though I will forgo the potato chips next time. When we joined up again, it was time for lunch.

• We rounded out our adventures in DCA with a round on King Triton's Carousel, Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, and Flik's Flyers. I finally assented to our daughter's request to ride the bumper cars. However after making it all the way through the queue, we were informed that the ride was down due to a PA system malfunction. We would have to save the bumper cars for another day.


• After having our fill of California Adventure, we crossed the esplanade to finish our day in Disneyland. It was then that I developed a splitting headache.

• While I'm usually tolerable when I'm feeling well, I understand that I am unbearable when I have a headache. Unfortunately, the heat that day was not helping to make me feel any better. I took some medicine and hoped it would pass soon. As such, our next four rides, It's a Small World, Alice in Wonderland, Mark Twain, and Winnie the Pooh, were less than pleasant experiences. It wasn't until we reached the queue for the Haunted Mansion that I started to feel like myself. Just in time for that ride to break down too.


• We knew from experience that if we waited long enough, the happy haunts would stop their meddling and get things moving again. We were again rewarded for our patience and enjoyed our jaunt through the darkness. I rewarded my wife and daughter for putting up with me with ice cream from Gibson Girl, as well as their choice of candy from the Candy Arcade. Our daughter chose candy-covered crispy treat. My wife selected a peanut butter sandwich (that I almost chose as well). I picked the English toffee. We dutifully packed up our treats and took them home with us, ending the day.

• The lesson I took from the day was to remember my limits. Disneyland can be a great time, but only when you are feeling well. Our next trip to the parks is scheduled for early September. Hopefully the weather will be more cooperative, as well as my head.

Theme Parking: The Attraction Poster Calendar Returns for 2016

• The Disney Parks blog announced that a new version of the Attraction Poster Calendar for 2016. This year's calendar includes posters from around the world instead of focusing on Disneyland alone.

• Several of these posters I'm only aware of from the Poster Art Of The Disney Parks book (which I'll getting around to reviewing some day). It is quite a wild and varied collection this year, covering a number of styles and eras.


• As happy as I am to see a new calendar, they need to use some of those beautiful California Adventure posters in the future if Disney really wants to hook me.

Theme Parking: Yesterland

• When we returned to Disney California Adventure for the first time ten years, we found a wildly different park than the one I remembered. The entrance and opening thoroughfare were amazing, entirely unlike what I could recall. The airfield zone was closed for refurbishment, but I could not recall its name. There was a Cars Land out of nowhere. I remembered a movie theater, but it seemed to be long gone. The new park was magical, but in comparison to what? It has been so long since I last visit that I could no longer remember the park that I was comparing it to. Luckily, those old lands and attractions were just a short trip away on the internet.


• Yesterland is a website curated by Werner Weiss. Opened in 1995, the site was one of the earliest bookmarks I ever set in a browser. Over the years, Weiss has written extensively about lands, attractions, shops, parades, and even signs that no longer exist at Disneyland and several Disney other parks. He published each Friday, either with a new addition or to spruce up an older article. Several photographs illustrate his articles, letting readers gaze into a past that no longer exists. It would take several days to get through the entire archive. I speak from experience.


• Upon returning home from DCA, I looked up the Yester California Adventure articles. Amazingly, it is already two thirds the size of Yesterland. I had a lot of reading ahead of me. It took several late nights of reading to get through everything. I came out the other side with a much greater appreciation for what Disney had to work with when they redesigned the park.


• Walt Disney famously said, "Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world." Neither, it seems, will Yesterland. Yesterland will be there to welcome those attractions from yesteryear that no longer find a home in our world. I could not be more grateful for it.

Theme Parking: Almost Forty Inches

• During our recent trip to Legoland California, we were once again confronted with the minimum height requirement for several rides. I dutifully walked my daughter over to a sign post and asked her to stand under the height marker. Although her hair brushed the bar, she was still able to stand comfortably under the 40" mark. I looked at my wife and shook my head. We were almost there.


• No matter which park you go to, forty inches seems to be the threshold for the good rides. I don't know for certain why that number was chosen. Someone must have decided that, once some has reached that height, a person is less likely to flop out of a vehicle.


• We've been going to Disneyland for a couple of years now, each time with a tiny person in tow. As such, there are several rides that I have not been able to ride since our pre-child visit in 2005. Here is the list of rides that require that the rider be forty inches tall to ride (at least, the good ones):


• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Radiator Springs Racers
• Soarin' Over California
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Star Tours - The Adventures Continue


• That is several of the best rides in the parks that I haven't ridden in ten years. But did you notice Radiatior Springs Racers on there? That's right. It's the hottest ride in DCA and I don't even know what that ride is. Evidently there's a dark ride portion? I have no idea what to expect!


• For as long as I've held that little girl, I've wished that she wouldn't grow up quite so fast. But in this one instance, if she really wants to ride on the "Big Girl" rides, I'd be willing to let her grow up a little more.

Theme Parking: What Should Disney Do With One Billion Dollars? Ban Selfie Sticks!

• If you didn't see my update to yesterday's post, it turns out that my predication of a selfie stick ban was exceptionally timely. Within hours of that post¹, Disney announced a ban on all selfie sticks inside their American parks starting June 30 and on their international properties July 1.


• Sorry to every selfie stick user who isn't a terrible person; the terrible people spoiled it for you. My wife and I already offer to take pictures of people awkwardly trying to selfie their families. If you find us in the park, we will be more than happy to do the same for you.


• The other big news from yesterday was the announcement of a potential one billion dollar expansion of the Disneyland Resort and surroundings. Today, The Orange County Register posted an excellent breakdown of expansion options for the parks. It covers both intellectual properties they are likely to build on as well as areas of the property that are available for construction and remodeling. As packed as the Resort is, it is nice to know that the parks still have room to grow.


• Because I get a kick out Disneyland maps, so here's a preview from that article:

• Footnote 1: Four hours to be exact.


• Theme Parking is a new category for posts related to my lifelong obsession with Disneyland.

Theme Parking: A Billion Dollar Expansion, Rising Prices.... and Selfie Sticks?

• As I like to do with gaming news, I wanted to round up a few news items about Disneyland that may not deserve in individual post. Such is the power of the bullet point.


• There is likely no better source for Disneyland News than The Orange County Register.¹ Since the parks sit firmly within its jurisdiction, the newspaper has a vested interest in covering Disneyland as a local concern. So when news breaks, the Register's Disney section is likely to cover it first. Such was the case with the news today. Staff writers Art Marroquin and Joseph Pimentel revealed that Walt Disney Co. is considering a $1 billion dollar expansion to Disneyland and California Adventure. With construction beginning in 2017, those plans include new attractions, a new parking structure, and improvements to the surrounding city streets, but not a third park. However, those plans are contingent on Anaheim extending current tax exemptions on park admissions. Considering how much a billion dollars was able to improve California Adventure, I would love to see what more they can do for the resort.


• Republished on the OC Register site, Drew Harwell's Washington Post story titled "How theme parks like Disney World left the middle class behind" examines the effects of rising prices have on what was once a park for everyone. I know that our family is only able to afford annual passes this year because we have restructured our finances to allow it. I understand that the value I place Disneyland is skewed, but I can't imagine how anyone can manage to take their family without considerable planning and savings. One only has to look at the massive crowds to know that high prices aren't keeping people away. But I wish there was something that could be done to let more people experience Disneyland affordably.


• MousePlanet, my favorite blog for Disney park news, posted a follow up to their study of posted wait times at Walt Disney World, this time focusing on wait time at the Disneyland Resort. In comparison to its sister resort in Florida, wait times at Disneyland and California Adventure are a lot more accurate. Usually, actual wait times will be about 80% of the posted time, though shorter posted times seem to be underestimations. I'm a sucker for fun statistics like this.


• Finally, The OC Register posted an article about a recent stoppage on the California Screamin' rollercoaster. The two hour stop was caused by a passenger extending a selfie stick while the ride was in progress.


• Sigh.


• I get that someone might have a narcissistic need to document their life for all of their Facebook or Instagram friends. I get that a specialized device might be helpful to make those photos seem slightly less unnatural. But what I don't get is this blatant disregard for the safety of their fellow park guests, if not their own safety. I don't know how many times I've heard warnings broadcast by cast members to parents who are too negligent to keep their children seated on what could be a dangerous ride. There are some rides that I have never experienced without at least one warning. Why do people have to be so stupid? Arrgh!


• Anyway, watch here for the inevitable selfie stick ban.


• UPDATE June 25, 2015, 11:00 PM:

  Remember when I said this?

Anyway, watch here for the inevitable selfie stick ban.

• Well, that was fast:

• Footnote 1: Actually, there probably is a better source for Disneyland news out there, but I haven't found it yet.


• Theme Parking is a new category for posts related to my lifelong obsession with Disneyland.

Theme Parking: Ariel's Undersea Adventure

• I was under the mistaken impression that Disney didn't make rides like this any more.


• For several years, it looks like Disney was only interested in thrill rides and more active experiences. Rides like Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, Indiana Jones Adventure, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters showed that Imagineering was interested in building something more than the standard dark ride. The Fantasyland dark rides finally received a modern take in 2003 with the opening of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. But grander rides on the scale of Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion were unique for decades.

Poster by Greg Maletic. Photo courtesy of The Disney Wiki

• Actually, let me stop for a moment to talk about this beautiful poster. I love Disney's attraction posters. We have several hanging in our home. This poster, like many of the DCA posters by artist Greg Maletic, is thoroughly modern while invoking the styles of Disney artists of the past. It is simultaneously reverent and refreshing, much like the park it advertises. I'm so happy that Disney made that choice when commissioning the new posters.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

• From the outside, Ariel's Undersea Adventure resembles an old-fashioned aquarium, one you might visit while on vacation at the seaside. Inside, you climb into a clamshell vehicle and enter the wreck of Prince Eric's ship. This may be my favorite effect of the ride, where the water and bubbles are projected on the vehicle you are facing as you slide underwater. Above, you spy upon Ariel and Flounder swimming above you. The ride continues through Ariel's grotto, then into the large Under The Sea section. Beyond, you enter Ursula's cavern and witness Ariel's transformation from mermaid to human. As you climb back to the surface, you witness Prince Eric and Ariel's romantic rowboat outing. Finally, with Ursula defeated, everyone comes out to celebrate the couple's wedding.

Photo courtesy of Magic Eye

• Sometime in 2012, there was a refurbishment of the ride to improve a number of the effects and models. Although I might have enjoyed witnessing the before and after versions, I'm glad that I got to see the ride in its improved state.

Photo courtesy of Magic Eye

• Any impression I had that Disney lost the ability to work magic was completely banished by Ariel's Undersea Adventure. I left the ride astonished. As I said at the beginning, I thought that Disney didn't make rides like this any more. The ride, like the poster above and the park they represent, honors the Disney tradition even as it grows beyond the constraints of history.


• Rating: D Ticket


• Theme Parking is a new category for posts related to my lifelong obsession with Disneyland.

Theme Parking: Being Wrong About Disney California Adventure

• My mental construction of Disneyland takes a few forms. There is the black-and-white 1955 Disneyland based on all of the books and shows I've consumed about the early days of the park. There is the 1980's Disneyland that I remember from my childhood. And there is the 2005 Disneyland, the last time my wife and I took a trip to the park, until recently. That trip was our one experience with Disney's California Adventure (as it was called at the time). It was then that my expectations of DCA were set for the next decade.

Radiator Springs at night

• At the time we visited DCA, it was still in the weird middle phase of the park. The anticipation of a new park adjoining Disneyland has already passed, leaving a crater where all of our hopes had been. Disney Parks and Resorts was already looking for ways to improve DCA, with additions like A Bug's Land and the Tower Of Terror, but had not yet committed to the massive makeover that made the park what it is today. Thus, although DCA would start its turnaround within a couple of years, the last impression the park left in my mind was of a poor substitute for the Magic Kingdom sitting just a few yards away. Even as we returned to the resort in the last couple of years, that prejudice kept us from entering California Adventure again, fearing it would be a waste of money.


• But then I bought Poster Art Of The Disney Parks (review coming soon), the last chapter of which was dedicated to the posters of Disney California Adventure. I told my wife, upon reading the chapter, that the posters seemed to be a lot better than the park deserved. I didn't realize, at the time, that the posters were actually a sign that DCA had improved so much.


• This year, in possession of annual passes for the first time in fifteen years, we trekked across the esplanade and I fell in love all over again.


• In the nearly ten years between visits, California Adventure had transformed from a cynical and insincere counterfeit of the state into an idealized, nostalgic version of Walt Disney's California. It finally feels like a match to its sister park. Passing through the gates to Buena Vista Street has a different, but complimentary magic to crossing under the berm onto Main Street. It is a magic that says "This is a world full of possibilities." And I fully expect that the Disneyland Resort will fulfill that promise for years to come.


• There is so much more to say, but I feel that there is so much more to discover as well. But first and foremost, I'm glad that I have been proven wrong about Disney California Adventure.

Even Princesses get tired sometimes

• Theme Parking is a new category for posts related to my lifelong obsession with Disneyland.