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Park News - (7/29/10) The DisneyGeek crew has posted some great new pics of the construction over at Cars Land and the Little Mermaid ride. At cars, they’ve now got a section of side-by-side track installed at last for the Radiator Springs Racers.
    (7/28/10) Disney has released an incredible video showing off what their new World of Color show looks like when viewed up 1,800 feet in the air from an airplane.  Incredible stuff! Check it out below!
    Speaking of World of Color… wondering just what happened a few weeks ago when the stage broke and they had to cancel some shows? Check out today’s new update to Westcoaster to see some great shots of the park’s construction projects, including a shot of the fountains in the lake where there is now a section that seems to be missing.

    (7/22/10) A fun update from California Adventure can be found at Westcoaster today.
    (7/14/10) All new photos from World of Color can be seen over at Amusement Insider this week.
    (7/9/10) Bad news from California Adventure, as it seems the World of Color show is having a bit of difficulty and was forced to cancel shows. I’ve heard that the problem isn’t with the fountains and other electrical systems… but rather with the huge stage platform that sits below the surface. Apparently it was already a rather sensitive issue as some problems came up with it during the install, and a temporary fix was found at the time, but now issues with the stage have resurfaced (get it?).
    (7/6/10) A small rehab update has been added below showing off a several week closure coming up for Midway Mania.
    (6/30/10) A great guide to seeing Disney’s new World of Color show at California Adventure can be found this week at O-Meon. The crowds for the show are huge… so huge that despite the fact that the park often closes at 10pm, they are staffing employees to handle an additional 3rd showing after 11pm almost nightly at this point. Also… as they point out, don’t assume you can just walk up to the water’s edge and see the show… they are reserving most viewing areas with a new FastPass system. The reports coming in claim those FP’s for all three showings are often running out by Noon. You’ve been forewarned…
    (6/28/10) I’ve got a few great new pictures to share (see sidebar) with everyone of the Little Mermaid and Cars Land construction, thanks to the guys at Disney Geek. Meanwhile a review of the Glow Fest event can be found at the LA Times.
    (6/24/10) The official Screamscape review and photos from the premier of World of Color can now be found here.
    (6/23/10) It seems that the new World of Color show is indeed what the California Adventure park needed. Since the launch the park has been holding three performances a night of the ultra-popular show just to keep up with demand and as a result, for the first time ever the park is seeing record turnstile clicks.
    (6/16/10) Westcoaster shows us the Carnivale of Color… which is essentially an unofficial pre-show for World Of Color.
    (6/14/10) While the premier of World of Color seems to have been the show stopper that Disney wanted, lots of other news bit about the next wave of new attractions was also sent out. The Disney Geek crew sent in several new pictures (see sidebar) taken at the revised Blue Sky Gallery showing off the layout of the Little Mermaid dark ride, the new Red Car Trolley line, Radiator Springs Racers and more!
    (6/8/10) Westcoaster has posted a new update from Disney’s California Adventure this week, as new construction is still ongoing at Mermaid, Cars Land and more.
    (6/4/10) DLRToday has a new update about something called Glow Fest that will take place this summer from the Sunshine Plaza to Hollywood Backlot section of the park. Glow Fest will be a mix of live entertainment additions along with special use of black lit sets, digital projection and LED lighting effects.
    (5/31/10) Apparently Disney’s California Adventure has a new logo… (added above) and perhaps even more interesting, a very slight name change to go along with it. According to Stitch Kingdom they dropped the possessive from the name, now calling it simply Disney California Adventure. Seems this dropping of the apostrophe “S” has been a trend of late.
    (5/26/10) A new official website preview for Disney’s World of Color show has gone live and has some great video footage of the show’s effects. Wonderful colors everywhere… but did you expect anything less? Meanwhile the large construction walls have come down from the Silly Symphony Swings so you can see the main entrance to the ride now in two new photos posted to the sidebar.
    (5/18/10) A fun update from California Adventure this week over at Westcoaster with construction pictures of Little Mermaid, World of Color and some testing going on at the Radiator Springs Racers.
    (5/13/10) Disney’s California Adventure has a surprise to share today… that the popular Aladdin – A Music Spectacular show at the Hyperion Theater will remain at the park for now.  Previously plans were announced to close the show at the end of the summer to get ready for a new Toy Story musical show, but it seems those plans have been dropped entirely. As far as I know, Aladdin’s run has been extended… indefinitely. Disney’s post says it best… for fans of the show, it was like the Genie granted someone a wish. Poof!
    (5/4/10) According to Blue Sky Disney a slew of minor changes have been made to the Grizzly River Run attraction over the past couple of months. Many of the more modern, X-treme sports elements and themeing are slowly being removed and replaced with new elements from the middle of the last century in an effort to give it a more 50’s era National Park feel to it.
    Westcoaster has also posted a nice construction update from California Adventure this week. Lots of new stuff to see… like a ton of structural steel now in place that will eventually become the rocky walls of Radiator Springs. Meanwhile the Little Mermaid ride building now also seems to be almost entirely up, from a framework point of view. Before you know it, they’ll have it walled up away from prying eyes and we wont know what’s going on inside for months. Plus a good look at World of Color’s floating island of twisted metal, pumps and hoses… wow…
    (5/2/10) If you’ve never seen the Aladdin musical show at Disney’s California Adventure, check out this video version of the entire show online here. The real show will come to a close after August 15th, 2010.
    (4/29/10) Disney has confirmed that a new themed game featuring Toy Story 3 characters will be added into the Toy Story Mania ride this summer. The new game will be called Rex & Trixie’s Dino Darts and it will replace Bo Peeps Baaa-loon Pop game in May. Also new in the parks on May 9th will be a chance to meet Lotso from Toy Story 3 as a new in park character at Disney’s California Adventure and WDW’s Hollywood Studios.
    (4/20/10) Westcoaster has posted a new update from California Adventure, taking a look at all the various construction projects in progress right now. Right off the bat we get a peek at the new Trolley track and brick laden street now in place in on the main drag in Hollywood. Meanwhile The Voyage of the Little Mermaid is quickly going vertical, with steel sections going up all over the place for the large show building. All this, plus a ton of World of Color shots and a ton of Radiator Springs Racers track shots.
    (3/31/10) Don’t say we didn’t warn you months ago, but according to the latest update at MiceAge, you’ve got until Labor Day this year to ride the Maliboomer one last time before they begin the process of tearing it down.

Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Toy Story Midway Mania – 8/30/10 through 10/10/10
Pizza Oom Mow Mow – 9/7/10 to become Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta in May 2011

2010 - Silly Symphony Swings - Now Open - (7/4/08) We’ve got a little more information to share today about the new Silly Symphony Swings restoration plans. According to our sources the remodeled attraction will have a Band Conductor Mickey on top of the tower who will move around to the music. The center pole will be remodeled to allow for the painting of scenes from the Silly Symphonies.
    (6/17/08) According to the LA Times, The Orange Stinger will be rethemed to better match the new Victorian themeing that is now set to take over Paradise Pier, as seen on the new Toy Story Mania buildings. The giant orange peel will be removed along with the bumble bees, and if the rumors are true, it will be given a Silly Symponies theme tied to the short film, The Band Concert, complete with a tornado theme applied to the central shaft, smoke effects and a “Conductor Mickey” standing on top.

2010 - Disney’s World of Color - (6/24/10) The official Screamscape review and photos from the premier of World of Color can now be found here.
    (6/17/10) Some new footage from World of Color can now be found at Westcoaster this week.
    (6/14/10) Lots of reviews and photos are pouring in for Disney’s new World of Color show at California Adventure and the bottom line is that the show does not disappoint. Everyone I’ve heard from has been completely wowed by the new massive production.
    You can see new pictures of the show posted to Theme Park Review, Stitch’s Kingdom and Westcoaster. Want to see it again yourself? Check out the podcast that was recorded live at the premier over at DLR Today.
    (6/11/10) Disney will premier the World of Color show tonight but you can catch a fun preview video from Disney for the show embedded below. Disney is also said to be streaming the show tonight on Ustream at 8:30 pm EST / 11:30 pm PST. You can also catch an early review on the show at the LA Times.
    For those who just can’t wait… I’ve also embedded a three-part YouTube video of the show shot the previous not during a radio station preview performance.




    (6/7/10) Some early reviews are in from the preview performances of Disney’s new World of Color show and they all rave about how good it is. According to one person’s claims, Disneyland can just shut down Fantasmic now because WOC is now the best show the Disneyland Resort has ever had. Pretty strong words… now we wait to see how the general public will feel about the show.
    (6/5/10) Still hoping to get into a public soft opening of World of Color? Screamscape sources tell me your out of luck, as none are currently planned. The current schedule rundown, as I’m told, include a WDI preview on Friday night, Disney Execs on Saturday night, then CM previews on Sunday and Monday night followed by a special radio station preview event on June 8th. With the Media event set for June 10th before the grand openeing on June 11th the only day where nothing is scheduled is June 9th… so while there is a hole available, they may be using it to make any last second technical adjustments and tweaks before the big media event the next day.
    (6/4/10) Disney has announced that they will offer a very limited number of FastPass tickets to reserve a spot in one of a few specific viewing areas for the new World of Color show. Disney is also offering several dining package options that will also include a reserved spot for the show. You can also see the new official TV commercial for World of Color posted over at DLR Today. They’ve also got some of the show’s audio track posted to their Podcast.
    (8/14/09) A couple of weeks  back Disney uncovered some of the hardware facts about the new World of Color show that I had somehow missed. It was nice to see that most of the items I had previously heard about as rumors have come true, with the exception being the number of fountains in the show. All said and  done the show will feature 1,200 fountains, not the rumored 2,200… but that’s still a lot of fountains no matter how you slice it, each hooked up to an LED light ring able to create virtually any color in the spectrum. The fountains come in different sizes of course, able to shoot water anywhere from 30 to 200 feet in the air.
    The Water Whips are in… 187 of them to be exact, able to spin, tilt, point and shoot water virtually anywhere in any direction. The Fire Whips are also in the show… 12 of them mounted to the same kind of device as the Water Whips. There will also be 24 more non-moving flame throwers as well.
    An army of 29 digital HD video projectors will also be placed to cover the lake area as needed to allow for the creation of the world’s largest water/mist screen that will be 380 feet wide and 50 feet tall. With the projectors they will bring animated features like Alice in Wonderland, Lion Kingd, Toy Story, WALL-E and Pocahontas to life in all new ways. The show will also feature a good mix of other special effects such as lasers, fog machines, scenic elements up to 80 feet tall, and an impressive surround sound system to surround you for the entire 25 minute experience.
    (4/17/09) Today we received a micro-burst transmission from one of our deep undercover spies which contained some juicy new information about Disney’s Wonderful World of Color show. All along we’ve heard the goal for this show was to make it the “Fantasmic Killer”… the much needed “Killer App” for DCA to lure in and keep the crowds after dark. Up front they knew that to do this, the show was going to need cutting edge technology, something that would “Wow” people today the same way that Fantasmic did in the ‘90s. They also knew, from past experience with Pyro on the lake, that the show simply couldn’t rely on adding more pyro to make it flashy due to all the smoke problems. Lets go over briefly some of the technology I’m told we’ll see put to use in the show.
    First up is a little something they called the Water Whip, which is a moving water fountain unit that is able to rotate and tilt up to 55º in any direction. I’m going to guess that this is the water equivalent of a theatrical “moving light” fixture. From what I understand the show will use somewhere near 2,200 water fountains total in the lake, with each hooked up to a “LED light ring” to create extremely bright vivid colors in the water. If that wasn’t cool enough, I understand that they have also created a little something called a Flame Whip, which will work in much the same fashion as the Water Whips, but with a flame thrower unit. I’ve also been led to believe that these flame units may also be able to create different color flames through the injection of specific chemicals into the mix.
    Now anyone who has seen the construction pictures lately has got to be wondering just what that huge stage-like structure is they are building in the middle of the lake. From my basic understanding, the various show elements will be mounted to this surface, which will be divided up into over 170 different “table” units, each able to rise to the surface and lower again as needed on an individual basis.
    Now while we’ve covered all the “next gen” technology to be used for the water and fire effects, lets talk a bit about the video side of things. Like Fantasmic this show will feature projections onto several large water screens, but that’s where the similarities end. The largest water screen in this show will shoot water an amazing 100 feet into the air, and fan out to form a surface approximately 280 feet wide. For a quick mental visual comparison, remember that Mickey’s Fun Wheel is approximately 150 feet tall and wide. If that wasn’t big enough, I’m told that this massive central screen will link up with two smaller water screens on either side, to increase the overall size of the screen space to 400 feet wide.
    To ensure the bright crisp images, I’m told that they will use a pair of video projectors for each section of the screen, with a total of 6 of the double-stacked rigs put to use at once to be housed inside some kind of lighthouse themed structure. In addition to these, though the use of some of the moving water fountains, they will be able to create a moving “screen” of water that will be projected upon by some separate projectors that will move in sync with the screen. I’ve also heard something about how they will use a 50 foot tall Chernabog figure, where the entire head area will be created with a mist screen. Overall, this show seems set to do just what they planned and become DCA’s much needed Killer App.

Spring 2011 - The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure - (7/17/10) A reader has sent in some photos of the Little Mermaid artwork and models set up in the Blue Sky preview room at the park. You can see the overall ride layout, or at least an early version, as well as a couple of detailed scenes. This was followed by another reader sending some construction shots of the building taken in early July.
    (7/16/10) A great scene by scene preview of the new Little Mermaid dark ride has been posted to the LA Times.  
    (7/9/10) A new construction update from DCA, with a good look at the progress on Little Mermaid and Cars Land can be found this week at Westcoaster.
    (2/12/08) According to the latest entry at Blue Sky Disney, they have confirmed that not only with the SF area bathrooms be move across the street to give Little Mermaid more room to grow, but that once the new dark ride is finished, there wont be a trace of the San Francisco theme in this area at all. Instead there may be long term plans set aside for a future project to turn the Wharf area into a new San Francisco themed zone, but don’t look for that to happen anytime soon. They also mention that the new ride likely wont open until 2011 now, a year later than I had previously thought.
    (10/29/07) I’ve heard that just because the concept art released so far features an Omni-Mover style ride system, the final decision has not yet been made between that and a more traditional dark ride system.
    (10/17/07) Disney has confirmed the new Little Mermaid dark ride that will be added to Paradise Pier. Guests will enter various scenes and hear the songs from the hit film in the dark ride, which looks like it will use an Omnimover style ride system in the artwork. A new Mermaid Grotto play area with a fountain and sand castle will also be added for children to play in.

2011- Goofy’s Sky School - In Development - (7/9/10) New artwork and details all about Goofy’s Sky School, the new name for the soon to be rethemed Mulholland Madness coaster, can be found at the LA Times.
    (10/20/08) The LA Times has posted an article about the transformation of Mulholland Madness into Goofy’s Sky Skool along with a new piece of artwork I’ve never seen before.  I’m a bit confused however, as they mention as how this transformation is supposed to add new themeing and remove the current tacky theme, but looking at the artwork, I still an even more unthemed coaster with a couple of red flags on towers here and there. Unless part of Goofy’s training is to blindfold the riders before the test flight, I’m not sure how this minimalist concept will be any different than what is there now. I’m thinking that the money may be better spent elsewhere until they are ready to just replace the entire ride with something better.
    (7/7/08) According to another source Disney will use the Goofy’s Sky School name and not “Flite School” as we had heard last week.
    (7/4/08) We’ve heard that plans for Goofy’s Flite School are moving forward, and yes that is the correct spelling. From the sound of things it may take on a similar look to Goofy’s Barnstormer in Florida as it will now look like an old giant barn has been converted by Goofy into a make-shift airplane hanger… while apparently leaving all the old chicken coops intact.

2012 - Cars Land - (5/11/10) The Disneyland Blog has revealed the first sneak peek look at the prototype race car being put on the test track at the Radiator Springs Racers. Very cool looking… with real looking headlights too.
    (1/14/10) Want to see the blueprints for the Cars themed Radiator Springs Racers ride?  Sure you do… and it seems that Disney themselves published these as a background graphic for video they put on line. Check out the screen captures posted to Park Thoughts.
    (5/19/09) It’s amazing how much confusion and fuss has come up about the Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree ride. Several of you have pointed out that it can’t be that simple Figure-8 style kiddie flat because Disney has already used it at the nearby Ladybug Boogie ride.  By contrast, I’ve also heard that the Mater version may be a bigger and more complex version, where the cars will move in the same figure-8 style pattern, but around 4 large circle platforms instead of just two.
    Adding to the mystery of that Whip style concept ride is semi-blurry photo floating around showing off what is said to be John Lassiter being pulled around a parking lot somewhere by a tractor, riding in what looks like a two-seater mock-up ride car that appears to be built to slide around corners Whip style. Meanwhile another source also backs up that story, claiming that the ride experience will be almost ‘Whip’ like. I’ve got to admit, I’m leaning towards the Whip style ride myself, especially after going back to take another look at the old article on the LA Times. You’ll see artwork that fits the basic concept I described… a two-seat car being pulled by a tractor.
    (5/3/09) One of our readers made a very interesting observation that I failed to make myself. Upon seeing the new concept artwork posted in Saturday’s update of the new MegaWhip ride, it’s amazing what a similarity there is to it and the concept artwork posted for the Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree ride for CarsLand. While it would work as a great ride concept for it, I have to wonder how it will work, as Whip rides (and eve this new concept, from the look of things) don’t have independently powered cars, but rather all of the cars move at the same time to maintain their proper distance from each other. The Cars’ themed ride looks more like a dark ride experience, but built outside, where each car would be loaded and unloaded one at a time, instead of all of them at once.
    (10/16/08) It’s been months since we’ve heard any kind of update about Cars Land, but the latest rumor sent in this week is a doozy. One of the big assumptions about the Radiator Springs Racers ride, based on the concept artwork, is that the ride was assumed to be using a new version of the same ride system Disney first put to use on Test Track in Epcot years ago. That alone was enough to make some people cringe because the Test Track ride system was far from perfect and caused the opening of the ride to be delayed for many months. Even when it did open, the system was flawed and the ride was well known for frequent and prolonged breakdowns. California natives also introduced to a stripped down even more troublesome branch-off of the same general concept that was used to great Disneyland’s biggest attraction failure, Rocket Rods. To be fair Disney Imagineers did use the Test Track ride system again, and fixed the problem, to create the Journey To The Center of the Earth attraction at Tokyo DisneySea.
    (7/8/08) We’ve got some new rumored details about the whole Cars Land area of the park, though keep in mind that as the last of the big projects set to go in, lots of changes can still be made before it opens. From what info is being leaked right now, there is a plan to make Flo’s V8 Café a functional quick service restaurant for the land and Fillmore’s Organic Fuels will likely end up being a drink and smoothie stand. While not much else has come to the front about the main Radiator Springs Racers ride, we did hear that Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree may be themed to fit the whole tractor tipping theme, so I’ve got to wonder if Frank will be involved somehow. I’m also not certain exactly what kind of ride this will be as some believe it will be another spinning flat ride while others thing it could be some kind of custom track ride.
    (11/2/07) If you’ve been wondering about how Cars Land will fit into the park, we can tell you that the current plan is that pathway in front of Tower of Terror will continue on into Cars Land on that side, filling up most of the parking lot in that area and eventually lead you back into the existing section of the park though a gate next to the Mission Tortilla Factory building. Sources are not sure if there will be a way to access Cars Land from A Bug’s Land or not.
    (10/17/07) Cars Land is now official and will be realized in the form of a huge 12 acre expansion of the park as they bring Radiator Springs to life, complete with three new Cars themed attractions. This will include a major E-Ticket attraction (Radiator Springs Racers) where guests will receive a quick briefing from Doc and Lightning before heading off into their own race around hairpin turns and steep banks. The ride experience will feature a race finale between two cars where the riders wont know until the very end which car will win. The other two rides were described as family rides, one themed to Mater and the other to Luigi: Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi’s Roamin’ Tires.

Spring 2012 - Walt Disney Plaza / Red Car Trolleys - Confirmed - (1/8/10) The OC Register reports that construction work has begun in California Adventure to install the new Red Trolley Cars that will run around the entrance and Hollywood area of the park.
    (1/27/09) This week Jim Hill Media takes a look at the changes we can expect to see unfold at the entrance area to California Adventure over the next few years. This includes a few interesting items about how the pencil pushes are really hoping that the changes will drive up business at the gift shops. For example… there is a good reason for those bright red new trolley cars that will run up and down the street, and it’s not just because they are nostalgic. Much like on Main Street at Disneyland, the concept is that the ever present trolleys running down the middle of the street will force guests up onto the sidewalks and the into the shops.
    (7/8/08) We’ve heard a bit more about the Walt Disney Plaza area, confirming that the Carthay Theater building will simply be an empty shell for the time being. However we have heard that the upstairs section may be used as another exclusive Club 33 style VIP Room. It was also mentioned that there may be some kind of Disneyland fireworks viewing area from here as well. We’ve also got a little more information about Hollywood Land, the new name likely to be used for the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. When the renovations are complete this area of the park is supposed to hold the majority of the track for the new Red Car Line trolley system, running guests from here to the new main gate area. The cars are said to hold only about 20 people each.
    (6/22/08) I haven’t heard too much about this yet, but according to an email sent my way, Disney may have canned The Walt Disney Story attraction planned for the Carthay Theater building. The building is still going in as part of the remodeling of the main entrance pathways, but it will instead be used for something else. In other redevelopment news, our same source claims that they may eventually rename the Hollywood Pictures Backlot into something more simple… like Hollywoodland.
    (10/17/07) Earlier this morning Disneyland made a huge announcement about the future of the Disneyland Resort, with a heavy focus on how they will improve California Adventure. For starters guests will enter Walt Disney Plaza,  a new gateway experience that will introduce them to a world of historic California streets just as Walt experienced as a young artist. This area will include a new visual icon in the form of a traditional LA style theater inspired by the design of the Carthay Circle Theater building where Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs premiered back in 1937. Inside the theater will be a n all new version of the Walt Disney Story attraction. Outside in the streets, Red Car trolleys looking much like the old Pacific Electric Railway, will travel up and down the main street. A bevy of new restaurants and shopping opportunities will also be added to Walt Disney Plaza.

2013-2014 - Cars Land Phase 2 - (5/3/10) I missed this at the time, but according to an article posted on Jim Hill Media back in February, a Phase 2 expansion of Cars Land would see a very cool restaurant concept dropped into the park from Walt Disney World. Lifted right from Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater concept would be retooled as the Radiator Springs Drive-In Theater. Just like the Florida counterpart, guests will sit down inside convertible cars, feast on an assortment of 50’s era drive-in dining options (burgers, fries, milkshakes, etc). Your on screen entertainment however will be a little different. While it will still be an assortment of funny Sci-Fi and Horror Film clips and trailers, this batch will have been given the Pixar / Cars world treatment, much like the funny drive-in trailers seen during the credits of the movie, as seen here.

2013-2017 - Future Attraction Concepts - Rumor - (2/12/08) Blue Sky Disney talks quite a bit about many future attractions that have been talked about for the next round of changes and improvements for DCA. In addition to a possible San Francisco theme being added to the Wharf area, they mention the Golden State will be modified to replace the current “Extreme Sports” concept near the Grizzly River Rapids into a more classic Yosemite national park look. The concept would also include a new E-Ticket attraction to replace the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. No one proposal has been locked into place yet, but ideas range from a “natural adventure” style attraction to a locomotive ride concept. The later of which sounds familiar to the idea we had previously heard about adding a train ride to Grizzly Mountain along with an assortment of animatronic animal figures that would be interwoven with the rapids ride. They also mention some possible reworking of the Hollywood area of the park that may focus more on the 1930’s era of Hollywood and at least one unknown new E-Ticket attraction for the area. From there they mention that even Carsland, which will open with three attractions, is being designed to accommodate two additional attractions (a D and C-Ticket) to be added in a future expansion. As for the pier… more new attractions are being talked about as well. One ride may go near the entrance of California Screamin, inside the final helix while room will be made for another at the other end of the ride sometime after the Maliboomer has been removed. Apparently there is also talk of an eventual replacement for Goofy’s Sky School, the new theme in the works for Mulholland Madness. Of course all of this is long term planning and approval will be based on how well received the current set of changes are over the next five years. By then there may be all new ideas for all new project concepts competing for approval, but it’s nice to know the general direction that Disney is thinking about for the future.