Disney California Adventure (then known as Disney’s California Adventure) opened February 8, 2001 – 14 years ago. I was there, covering it for LaughingPlace.com, and I remember it fondly. After watching the park grow from a parking lot to dirt to a grand opening, the excitement of seeing it officially open (via a unique, Stephen Davison created ceremony, no less) was immeasurable. And unlike many, I was actually a fan of the original park. Soon I hope to do a look back on my favorite aspects of the original park that are gone, but that’s for another time.
Right now, let’s go back to February 7, 2008. The park is opening tomorrow morning. Eager Disney fans are waiting in the Mickey and Friends parking structure for Disneyland Park to close so they can be led over to spend the night inside Disneyland and ultimately be among the first to experience…
Disney’s California Adventure
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Of course, things did not go as Disney planned. The DCA crowds never materialized and the original park is now generally considered, at best, a disappointment. Many of the executives and original Imagineers (Michael Eisner, Paul Pressler, Cynthia Harriss, Barry Braverman, Timur Galen) are now gone – though not necessarily due to DCA. Several years later DCA had an extensive makeover – and a slight name change – and is now consider by most a worthy companion to Disneyland Park. But me … I always felt that way!
Note: If you’d like to view the Grand Opening ceremony, we’ve just uploaded our original digital footage to YouTube. But this is digital circa 2001, so the quality is, to be kind, very bad.