Introduction to Disney's California Adventure - Part One, Paradise Pier 3

Introduction to Disney's California Adventure - Part One
Page 8 of 8

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Dinosaur Jack's Sunglass Shack and Souvenir 66

Perhaps the oddest site in all of Paradise Pier is the 33-foot tall sunglass-wearing, pink dinosaur with yellow spots. Like Burger Invasion this is a throw back to the Route 66 "California Crazy" architecture of the 50s. Inside the dinosaur is Dinosaur Jack's Sunglass Shack. Also prominent in the area is Souvenir 66, a quintessential California roadside souvenir stand with a yellow roof and blue signal tower with rotating light.

On the Paradise Pier midway you'll find three more shops - Man Hat 'n' Beach featuring hats and caps, Sideshow Shirts featuring t-shirts, beachwear and Paradise Pier souvenirs and Point Magoo Tattoo, a "temporary tattoo" parlor. And speaking of midways, Paradise Pier's midway features another controversial aspect of the new park - midways games. Known as Games of the Boardwalk, the area will feature seven classic midway games including Boardwalk Bowl, a skeeball like game, Shore Shot, a basketball game and Cowhuenga Pass where you toss softballs into milk cans. An eighth game, also a basketball game, will be located next to Pizza Oom Mow Mow, with surfboards as backboards..

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The S. S. Rustworthy

One last attraction in Paradise Pier is the S. S. Rustworthy. Located near Burger Invasion and Pizza Oom Mow Mow, the S. S. Rustworthy is a kids play area aboard an interactive boat complete with water cannons.

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(l-r) California Screamin', The Sun Wheel, the Maliboomer
(c) Disney

It's well known that Walt Disney built Disneyland, in part, because he disliked the carnival-type amusements parks that he had visited. That's why he built Disneyland to be something else entirely. Paradise Pier then, some claim, is a step backwards towards something Walt Disney himself opposed. But what Walt disliked about those places was the dirtiness, the dishonesty and the hucksters, not the attractions themselves. In fact, in the model of Progress City, an ideal city Walt envisioned, the amusement park's most prominent features are a parachute drop and a double Ferris Wheel. Whether or not Walt would've approved of a park (or part of a park) themed to those places but kept up to Disney's standards is anyone's guess. But what really matters is whether or not Disney's guests now will approve and that will be decided once the park opens.

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A nighttime look at Paradise Pier from across Paradise Bay
(c) Disney

Coming Up
Next week we'll present the second half of this article where we'll discuss the following:

  • The Golden State district of DCA
  • Downtown Disney
  • Disney's Grand California Hotel
  • Other changes for the expansion including the new parking structure, touch-ups on the existing Disney hotels, the esplanades

Note: Part Two of this series has now been published. Click here to read it.


-- Posted November 14, 2000
-- Last Updated November 24, 2000
-- Story by Doobie Moseley
-- Pictures by Jonathan Kaplan, Rebekah Moseley, John Frost, Dave Mastanich, Bob Barber, Doobie Moseley
-- All concept art, logos and publicity pictures are (c) The Walt Disney Company