Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
serious about a second California park, the price tag—not to mention the complexity
of integrating such a development into a mature city—was mind-boggling.
Westcot had been billed as a $2- to $3-billion, 100-plus-acre project, so that was
what the Disney faithful were expecting when Disney California Adventure was an-
nounced. What they got was a park that cost $1.4 billion (slashed from an original
budget of about $2.1 billion), built on 55 acres, including a sizable piece carved out
for the Grand Californian Hotel. It's quite a small park by modern theme park stand-
ards, but $1.4 billion, when lavished on 55 acres, ought to buy a pretty good park.
Then there's the park's theme. Although flexible, California Adventure came off
like a default setting, lacking in imagination, weak in concept, and without intrins-
ic appeal, especially when you stop to consider that two-thirds of Disneyland guests
come from Southern California. As further grist for the mill, before the arrival of Cars
Land, there was precious little new technology at work in Disney's newest theme
park. Of the headliner attractions, only two—Soarin' Over California, a simulator
ride, and Toy Story Midway Mania!, a “virtual dark ride”—broke new ground. All
the rest are recycled, albeit popular, attractions from the Animal Kingdom and Dis-
ney's Hollywood Studios. When you move to the smaller-statured second half of the
