To celebrate Disney California Adventure’s 20th anniversary, we decided to talk about our favorite memories of the park. It’s been 20 years filled with change whether it’s Cars Land, Fun Wheel names, retheming of attractions, or Avengers Campus. Here are some of ours…
Rebekah
When someone says Disney California Adventure my first and I’ll have to admit my most fond memory is the dynamic nature of its earliest years. After intensely following its development and construction it opened to a lackluster attendance and audience reaction. In an effort to boost attendance, Disney kept making adjustments and adding new offerings. Whether it was the transformation of Steps in Time between initial previews and park opening day, the closure of the highly touted Wolfgang Puck in-park restaurant before the first year, the addition of Mickey and friends through various shows after months of messaging that characters would not be prominent there and even bringing back the Electrical Parade after it glowed away forever. And now as DCA celebrates 20 years with the main entrance completely redesigned, nearly all of its marquee attractions redesigned, we await yet another adaptation with the opening of Avengers Campus.
Doobie
LaughingPlace started in 1999 as Disney California Adventure construction was going in full force. Construction of DCA was unlike any other park before or since. We were able to get regular construction progress pictures from the Paradise Pier Hotel (then called the Disneyland Pacific Hotel), the Monorail, the Preview Center and even the portion of the Disneyland parking lot that still existed. We watched every building go up and in Paradise Pier, with its outdoor attractions, saw the testing of California Screamin’, the Sun Wheel, Mulholland Madness and the rest. We read everything we could – official and unofficial – and went to presentations on a regular basis. We felt like we knew the park inside-out long before we stepped foot inside. But my favorite memory came on January 7, 2001 when I did finally get to step inside for the first time during a Cast Member preview. Seeing up close all the things we’d watch go up for years was incredible. Finally seeing the parts of the park we weren’t able to watch but had only heard about, what we got right and what we got wrong, was incredible. The unique Steps in Time (the short-lived original version) and Eureka! Parade were my favorites, though sadly neither lasted very long. The whole day was a blur of excitement, discovery and photographs – 398 pictures to be exact, which is laughably low now, but back then we had to use floppy disks! Here are the first and last pictures I took in the park on that memorable first time to DCA.
Alex
The memory that stands out the most for me was my first visit to the park after Buena Vista Street opened. Having grown up with visits to the Walt Disney World Resort, Disney California Adventure didn’t impress me much. While the new main entrance looks so similar to that of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, once inside, the first sight of Oswald’s with its neon lights and the charming feel of 1920’s Hollywood really sets the tone for a much better experience. I’ve grown to love the park over the years and a big part of that is the way the Imagineers recreated Walt Disney’s arrival in the state the park pays homage to.
Cole
My most prominent memory of the park actually did not start out great. I was at Disney California Adventure as a kid, maybe 12 or so, and I got sick with a fever. (Different times am I right?) I was having a pretty miserable day when the Disney Electrical Parade started and took so many of those negative feelings away. I already had a lot of affection for the parade, but that day was the day I truly fell in love with it. I have had the pleasure of seeing it in three different parks across the country and without it coming in to help save California Adventure I never would have had the chance. So for that, I will always hold a soft spot for DCA in my heart.
Mike
I did not spend a lot of time in DCA during its first five years. I hadn’t heard great things about it and whenever I made my way down to Anaheim I would always prefer to just go to Disneyland. But around 2007 I became an Annual Passholder again and started enjoying the park. It grew on me significantly over the years but I didn’t really love it until after the park-wide overhaul and rededication in 2012. Then in 2015 I began my current career as a Disney-focused entertainment journalist and visits to DCA became a near-weekly tradition. I love Cars Land the most (especially Radiator Springs Racers) and am just in awe of the effort that went into bringing my least-favorite Pixar franchise to life in such a stunning, dare-I-say immersive way that appeals to even non-fans like myself.
But one of my absolute favorite memories is attending the grand opening event for Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! This is admittedly one of those privileged media-only experiences but it really sticks out in my brain so I’m going to use it anyway. We were given unfettered access to the ride for several days straight and I ended up pretty much just riding it over and over again, wanting to see/hear all six different storylines and songs associated with the attraction. At one point a Cast Member let me stay on for I think ten cycles in a row without leaving the ride vehicle. I started that marathon with a handful of other reporters but by the end I was all by myself. On the tenth ride I finally heard the last of the songs I was “collecting” and on my way out I had to purchase the above on-ride photo as a memento of this unforgettable occasion. The framed photo hangs above my work desk to this day.
Lee
I haven’t been going to DCA for very long, only starting to go to the Disneyland Resort in 2008, but I do love the park very much. I have a few memories that stand out, the first one being my first trip in 2008. We decided to go to the resort at that time to see DCA before all the refurbishments were to take place making it the DCA we know today. It was fun seeing a DCA that had already gone through some changes with more to come, my favorite attraction being California Screamin’, what a great coaster.
I’d go to the Disneyland Resort pretty much every other year since then, timing it up with the D23 Expos. The first time, and literally every time after that I get to see World of Color becomes my favorite memory. I was in awe the first time and still get a big grin on my face every time I get to see it. The music, the films shown, the water jets, and fire, they become this perfect harmony of amazement and remind me of the first time I ever saw it and what a blessing it is to even be at Disneyland and DCA.
I almost forgot, but the first time I ever saw Sh-boom happen at Cars Land is another one of those wow moments at the park. Cars Land in general is absolutely incredible at night and being able to walk around after the sun goes down is a treat I will never get tired of doing.
Tony
I don’t think I could ever just name ONE favorite memory of mine at DCA, there are far too many. Immediately I think back to the first year when Superstar Limo was there and the on-ride photo at the end that showed my stupefied expression, along with that of my family’s (and really every other guest for that matter) that captures the “What is this?!” of that attraction. Then I flash back to the present day when I felt my girlfriend’s fingers embrace mine when the Wall-E portion of World of Color began. Who reached for who we still don’t know. Or several years prior when I was forced into the then Mickey’s “Fun” Wheel while my friends were making fun of my screams as I endured the most terrifying attraction that Disney has ever created. Alien Encounter has nothing on that ferris wheel.
I guess it also comes down to the fact that, growing up in California/The West Coast and doing the annual or semi-annual trips to the park, DCA was the first Disney park I was present for the construction of, the opening of, and the evolution of. I know many park fans who have a lot to say about the place, but I’ve always liked it, and grew to love it as the park found itself as it aged like a fine California wine. Which makes me remember one family member looking at the map upon our first trip 20 years ago…”Wine and Boudin! This place is great!”
Kyle
Don’t ask me why but one of the top things that comes to mind when I think about Disney’s California Adventure is Candy Corn Acres. While this annual fall display is just one of many examples of the park throwing things against the wall to see what stuck, this one actually did (for a bit). While the props and contraptions in the area weren’t all that advanced, I still found them to be clever and fun — plus, the occasional visit from Heimlich inside the largest candy corn was just an added bonus.
More importantly, however, the existence of Candy Corn Acres corresponds with the era when my Disney Parks fandom was truly flourishing as I purchased my first Annual Passport and began making solo trips from Arizona. Thus, it’s also when I stopped regarding DCA as a disappointing alternative to Disneyland and started seeing the appeal of some of its offbeat offerings. Because of these circumstances, of all things, Candy Corn Acres retains a special place in my DCA 1.0-loving heart.