If I Were Disney CEO Part 3 - Disney California Adventure

To all who believe in the power of dreams...Welcome!  Disney's California Adventure opens its golden gates to you.

Dedication read by Michael Eisner February 8, 2001

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Disney California Adventure definitely gets the award for most improved park in the Disney family of resorts.  This second gate opened in 2001 in the old Disneyland parking lot, offering a more modest creation than the previously proposed WestCOT or Port Disney plans.  The park at opening was almost a complete opposite of Disneyland.  Expansive pathways, hip and "edgy" attractions, filled with puns, and a much higher shopping and dining to attraction ratio.  When the expected crowds didn't materialize, management began adding variety of options to try and lure people out of Disneyland and into this new venture, including a bug's land, the Tower of Terror, the Electrical Parade, and the X-Games (some more successful than others).  

Finally, in 2007, Disney announced a five-year, billion dollar renovation of the park, overhauling several sections of the park and adding the immersive Cars Land expansion.  And with this renovation, Disney California Adventure quickly rose in caliber, making it truly Disney quality.  

Having visited the park in both incarnations, the difference in the appeal of the park is striking.  While there are pieces of the previous version that were memorable (the C A L I F O R N I A letters at the entrance and the monorail over the Golden Gate Bridge), the park is much stronger and much more charming now.  And while there have been a few missteps in the subsequent years, reverting to some bad theme park habits, there is definitely a solid foundation for the future and a greater framework for expansion.

Primary goals:

• While the renovation greatly improved much of the park, there are still sections that are waiting for their renovation to be finalized.  Hollywoodland requires a near complete reworking, Paradise/Pixar Pier requires finalization of the chosen theme, and the Grizzly Peak area could use a few final touches to truly cement the Disney experience.
• Avengers Campus is missing its E ticket and it really shows.  It has better life than Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, but it's missing the main draw.
• With the removal of a bug's land, expansion should be carefully considered so that there are greater draws for all ages and heights.  As it stands, there are large stretches of the park with no options for the full family.  Accordingly, new additions must focus on rounding out attractions for all ages.

With these goals in mind, I'll walk through each land in the park and discuss the updates.  I'll be walking through the park clockwise from Buena Vista Street, heading through Hollywoodland first and working around to Grizzly Peak.

Buena Vista Street:

One of the most amazing components of the revitalization of California Adventure is Buena Vista Street.  Disney took an "entrance plaza" nearly completely devoid of charm and transformed it into a very attractive and inviting version of 1920s Los Angeles.  Truthfully, the area is completely realized.  There is no room for expansion here and very little I would change.  The primary thing I can think of is improving the window displays in the shops.  They started with time period appropriate displays and quickly devolved into random collections of plush.  I would either go back to the time period appropriate displays or create something similar to the Enchanted Window displays on Main Street.  Changing them from vehicles for merchandise advertisement into little dioramas.  Preferably, these would all be from early Silly Symphony cartoons to have a greater tie to the time period.

If I were shooting for the moon, I would re-theme the turnstiles and entrance from the current Pan Pacific architecture to a Spanish Revival style, similar to the walkways and skybridge at the Historic Mission Inn and Spa Hotel in Riverside.

Particularly interested in the bells in the foreground here.

Another example of the roof work and passage style.

While I do not mind the current Pan Pacific entrance at all, I would prefer that each Disney park have its own unique style.  With the Pan Pacific entrance already also used at Disney Hollywood Studios and well established there, I would prefer a change here at California Adventure.  The Spanish Revival style well suites the overall California theme and has a greater tie to the broader Buena Vista street.

It's also a shame that there is no attraction on Buena Vista Street, not even a walk through.  I would love to find a small space for a standing room theater to show something like a small Golden Dreams, California history film, along with Blue Sky previews around the room.

Hollywoodland:
Hollywoodland is the section of the park most in need of revision, as it did not receive any attention in the renovation.  Accordingly, nearly every corner of this section of the park will be touched in some way.

This area of the park unfortunately still carries the "trying to hard to be hip" vibe from version 1.0 of the park and the backlot's attempts at theming believe a false-front building is sufficient to carry the Hollywood theme.

The focus here then is establishing a time frame to refocus this area on a unified or at least cohesive sense of time and place.  To me, I would focus on the Golden Age of Hollywood, highlighting in particular Walt's Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1960s.  If Buena Vista Street is Walt arriving in 1920s Los Angeles, Hollywoodland becomes the progression of Walt's achievements in Hollywood, with the Red Car Trolley acting as our vehicle to transition through time.   This also allows for the incorporation of 20th Century Fox into the space, as one of the major studios of the time.

I would look to have the Red Car Trolley turn left at the Hyperion now, so that the trolley stays in Hollywood (and is not going into the Marvel expansion).  The trolley storage would be combined with a linked attraction to be discussed later.  And the trolley could potentially make a slight loop around the new center, removing the need for trolleys passing on the center of the street.

Overview of revision of entire land

For the land overall, I envision a soundtrack of popular film music of the time.  This is an area that could get a little meta, as it can include Disney's own product and 20th Century Fox soundtracks.  Hopefully, it would include very deep cuts from the Disney music libraries.  Additionally, I envision a Disney Walk of Fame on the sidewalks, allowing the company to recognize significant contributions to Disney film, perhaps with Mickey-ear plaques in the sidewalk instead of stars.  This would be continued at Disney Hollywood Studios in Florida and be very similar to the Main Street Window recognition.  It could even start with the current Disney Legends.

I would start first with the area including Gone Hollywood, Award Wieners, and the Sunset Showcase Theater (formerly MuppetVision*3D).    For this space, I would currently revamp the theater to be able to hold Donald's Philharmagic (yes, Donald's Philharmagic here instead of Mickey's), likely absorbing the seating for Award Wieners.  The goal for the building will be to build a fully enclosed and designed theater space including the queue.  Going for an exterior like the Crest Theatre. The great thing about a show like Philharmagic is that show scenes can be swapped out; what's needed is just new animation and programming for the theater effects.  This version of Philharmagic would focus on Walt-era films and cartoons.  So it could keep the Sorcerer's Apprentice and the brief Peter Pan segment, but add options like Heigh Ho, Pink Elephants on Parade, I Wanna Be Like You, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Bumble Boogie, Blame it on the Samba, and the Mickey Mouse Club March.  Creating a new specific version would let the Walt Disney World version be showcased later and promoted.  Other versions could be created like a villain song Halloween version or a Christmas show.

The Award Wieners facade would be changed to either the Tail O' the Pup or Schwab's Pharmacy, with the appropriate menu.  It's seating would be moved to tables surrounding the new center fountain.  Gone Hollywood would remain as one of the two primary store locations for the land.

The area north of the monorail track would be completely reworked, removing Stage 17 and Monster's Inc. Mike and Sulley to the Rescue.  This area would become a noir-ish Roger Rabbit area, moving Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin from the renovated Toon Town to the Stage 17 side of this area.  The ride facade here would take on the Maroon Studios look from the movie.

Our Roger Rabbit building

 On the east side, I would build a single building to hold the Red Car Trolley barn and the long developed but never realized Toontown Trolley ride.  This was a ride originally proposed for the "Disney Decade" for Disney Hollywood Studios that would have had Roger Rabbit driving a simulated trolley ride through Toontown.  The windows on the trolley would be screens, which would have allowed an wrap-around cartoon view.  Here, I would suggest our conductor be the ever-popular Goofy, balancing out the character attractions.  This facade would take on the appearance of the Pacific Electric Railway building from the movie.  If there is room between the buildings, I would also love to add the connected Terminal Bar. (The End of the Line bar stand would be absorbed by this building).

No need for Cloverleaf here.

The goal with both Roger and the Trolley Building would be to build entrance and partial facades in front of the monorail track, passing under the track internally to the actual attractions behind the beams.

Continuing the classic Hollywood vibe, the Hollywood & Dine building would become the Hollywood Canteen, re-purposed from a food court into a dinner and a show, a la the Golden Horseshoe. I envision partnering with the USO to put on a classic USO show, with Andrew's Sisters style singers, a Bing Crosby-like crooner, a swing band, and swing dancers.  The great thing is that entertainment could be experimented with until a show formalized, bringing in comedy and music acts, etc.  It would not be hard to re-theme the outer facade into the Hollywood Canteen building.

Add the distinct sign on the door and the billboard up top

The Hyperion works internally, it is just stuck in an unfortunate facade for a theater.  The structure needs to become a fully realized theater with internal lobby/queue, restrooms (and potentially concessions).  The current setup makes a full entry lobby difficult, so the suggestion would be to have a narrower entry in the front, with a more expansive lobby area down on the south side of the building, toward the Mission Breakout ride.

The inspiration for the new exterior would be Disney's own El Capitan Theater, particularly because the design with the theater and marquee low on an otherwise tall office building allows imagineers to play with the forced perspective for the view from the entrance to Hollywoodland. In particular, including the modern marquee excites me, as it would allow for opportunities to interplay the screens on the marquee with projection mapping, turning this section of the park into a very fun space at night.

A Disney grand theater to inspire the prime theater in Hollywoodland.

For the new production inside the theater, Frozen would be replaced by a shortened theatrical version of Mary Poppins.  The show includes many of the things that made Aladdin exciting (flying over the audience, recognizable music, magic character), but it is the tie to Walt that makes it exciting.  This makes the progression on the Red Car hit perhaps Walt's crowning achievement in film before turning to the storage facility.

The Animation Academy facility likewise works.  An external refurbishment should be included to remove the post-modern exterior touches.  While the design reflects a bit of the magic that is bursting forth from the building, something closer to the artist's concept included in the Blue Sky Cellar at the time of the park-wide revamp, would be much appreciated.  If nothing else, more appropriate signage for the Animation Academy and Off The Page would good a great way in assisting the aesthetic appeal of this section of the park.

This view is much better.

Internally, it again works; I would make just a couple of adjustments.  First, Anna & Elsa's Royal Welcome would be evicted from the space, restoring both the Ursula section of the Sorcerer's Workshop and the Character Close-Up nook.  The Character Close-Up nook would be filled with artifacts from the archives similar to One Man's Dream in Florida (but the Pixar Zoetrope would not go back here).  The Animation Academy and the Sorcerer's Workshop would remain the same.  Turtle Talk with Crush would be moved to the pier, and that space would be carved up to create a small room playing the One Man's Dream film on loop and the rest used for a dedicated Meet & Greet space (largely turned over to promotions for whatever film is currently gearing up).

Disney Jr. Live on Stage would be replaced by Walt Disney Presents - a dedicated preview theater for upcoming theatrical presentations for Walt Disney Theatrical Animation and Walt Disney Pictures (the main Disney company, not Pixar, not Marvel, not Lucasfilm, etc as these should be in their appropriate land.).  It only makes sense to me that Hollywood themed parks or lands should have a space to promote the newest Disney picture.  Again this space can be largely turned over to promotions to prep accordingly for each film.  It is a smaller theater space, so it will not be as big of an issue dedicating the space to this purpose.  In between promotions, the theater can be used to show classic Fab Five and Silly Symphony cartoon shorts.

The center of the land currently containing the Hollywood Backlot Stage, Fairfax Market, Schmoozies, and current Superhero Picture areas would all be replaced with a water feature.  I would remove this all for a recreation of the Mulholland Fountain.  This de-clutters the area, giving a nice open view in the space.  The fountain provides an option with visual appeal and historic context, while also allowing for that clear view from side to side, which can also come into play in the desired night activities.  A mix of cafe tables and chairs and outdoor vending carts would surround the fountain.  This can also make the turn in Paint the Night for the Mack truck a little easier.

The centerpiece.

For nightlife, I envision this area to be a lot like the Small World Mall area. It's an area that the parades will travel through and can be a good alternative area to World of Color.  This has already been displayed with Glow Fest, Electronica, and the Mad T Party.  If we are comparing parks, to me, this would be the place for a Fantasmic! like night time event (compared to the main draw in World of Color/Fireworks and the minor draw at the Cars Land Neon/it's a small world projection show).  For an area themed to Hollywood with a lot of outdoor screen marquees, this area would benefit greatly from a more elaborate projection show on the buildings. They could be busting out of the marquees and running loose on the buildings.  I could see this entire space becoming the equivalent of an outdoor 4D show, complete with water, fire, bubble, and snow effects, confetti cannons, inflatables on the roof, and projections.  The center fountain could even take part with color changing lights and the timing of the spray.   Essentially everything but the fireworks.

Otherwise, every night should be like a movie premier where the red carpet has been rolled out and the search lights are going.  A real amazing place to just hang out for the night.

Marvel Land:
With a bug's land going away, that opens up a large section of the park for the upcoming Marvel expansion, as it can include the entire bug's land area including It's Tough to Be a Bug and the true expansion area behind Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout and bordering Cars Land.

Rumors have an included Spider-man ride, an Avengers or Captain America mega-coaster, and roaming character interactions.  Hopefully, at least one attraction will not have a height restriction or will have a very low height restriction so that even the youngest Marvel Zombies can enjoy what the land has to offer.

Most likely Marvel Land

The only issue with this particular land will be the eventual name, since Marvel cannot be used due to the existing contract with Universal.  Most likely will be Super Hero City, but if I were to through out a complete nerdy suggestion, I would go with "Sector 616."

Cars Land:
Cars Land is a fully realized version of Radiator Springs that is truly the greatest asset of the revitalized California Adventure.  It is an amazing recreation of the town from the movie, especially with the Cadillac Range in the background.  There is a charm to this section of the park that is achieved in the best Disney lands. 

With the Marvel Land expansion, it is unlikely there will be any room to add anything, apart from potentially adding an exhibit in the courthouse in front of Radiator Springs Racers.  If some space could be carved out from the Marvel Land expansion, I would love to see the Cars version of the Sci-Fi Dine-In.

This would be perfect for an additional dining option.

Imagine sitting in the cars with the Cars-style faces and watching Cars-inspired movie versions like Toy Car Story, a (VW) bug's life, Monster Trucks, Inc., etc.  It would truly cap off a great land and provide another dining option outside of Flo's.

Pacific Wharf:
Again a land that really does not need much revision.  While it would be great if there could be an attraction added to the space beyond the bakery tour, the land serves its purpose by providing great dining and dessert options.  The revamp of this land into San Fransyoko is a bit unnecessary, but also inoffensive, so it remains.

Pixar Pier and Paradise Gardens:
The former Paradise Pier area received a lot of attention in the renovation, removing a few eyesores (goodbye Maliboomer), converting odd choices into charming ones (Orange Stinger to Silly Symphony Swings) and overall starting a specific time period aesthetic that was a great improvement from the original version.  The focus became turn of the century to 1920s sea side pier amusement parks, of which there were several classic examples in California.

The main problem was that the renovation was not completed.  There were still sections of the land that were waiting for the architectural change to bring it in line with the rest of the land. In particular, the California Screamin' queue, King Triton's Carousel, and Mickey's Fun Wheel queue all needed attention to remove their more modern skins and put them in a more visually appealing form.

This section of the park is currently undergoing another transformation, moving away from the classic sea side pier into a collection of neighborhoods for different collections of Pixar characters.  These neighborhoods are only loosely tied together in theme only (here Pixar), not in aesthetic.  I'm extremely torn on this approach.  While I have no qualms with using the Pixar characters in this area and there will be a couple of attractions that seem to be an upgrade from their previous incarnations, generally this seems to be an aesthetic down-grade with some very odd choices.

In the spirit of this series, I'm going to move forward from the current setup that exists for the land and that means working from the Pixar Pier choice.  I will be recommending a couple of changes to what they are implementing, in order to create a cohesive Pixar Pier approach - one land unified in aesthetic (i.e. no more specific neighborhoods).  I will have a post later this week that offers a second take which goes in a wildly different direction.

Overview

With that preface, I will work from a continuation of the early 1900s seaside amusement pier theme.  Every structure will be brought into that architectural style.  The emphasis will be more on a classic pier where you can encounter the characters rather than stepping into their neighborhood.  Accordingly, the result should be something more like Toyville Trolley Park in Tokyo DisneySea, a highly detailed Victorian/Micktorian land that incorporates the Pixar characters.

Will be a great place to be at night.

The soundtrack of the land should be ragtime and player piano versions of Pixar themes. Accordingly, a lot of the music from UP will fit already.

Starting from the entrance next to the wharf, the exterior of the former Treasures in Paradise and Ariel's Grotto restaurant are getting exterior upgrades in their transformations to Knick's Knacks and the Lamplighter Lounge, respectively.  The cupolas and lights match the exact design elements that should be highlighted in this approach.

The new entrance - an aesthetic upgrade.

For the interior, they are displaying a far too modern design, with Knick's Knacks looking more like a current Disney Store you would find in the local upscale malls and Lamplighter looking more like a new gatropub.  The interiors would be changed back to period appropriate design.  Lamplighter would further add a Pixar character breakfast (as it would be the only character meal in the park).

The Paradise Pier Ice Cream stand would simply change in name to the Pixar Pier Ice Cream Stand and add the Adorable Sno-Cone to its menu.  It would not get the cardboard flat overlay that has been proposed.  (I'm sparing you a visual on that design).

California Screamin' still changes to the Incredicoaster (which to me is a better name).  The scream tunnels are still enclosed and painted red, though it would be nice if they were more covered bridge style or like the tops below in the Luna Park picture.  I can live with the red tubes, though. It does receive a larger Victorian load platform and covered queue, instead of the current shade structures and opposed to the planned mid-century modern house design.  The new, longer covered queue could incorporate fun-house aspects in the lead up to the loading platform and could help sell the new storyline of the Incredible family visiting the pier and trying to chase down Jack-Jack.

Looking to the past for inspiration.

Inside the eastern helix of the Incredicoaster, I would add a new flat ride.  It has been long rumored this is an expansion spot for a new ride and with the Incredibles area, it has been rumored for an Omnidroid octopus style ride.  I think this would be a very good addition and give some kinetics to this otherwise dead section of the ride, which still fit in well with its overall theme.  I've included a picture of an Omnidroid from the parade for reference.

Imagine spinning round on those arms.

King Triton's Carousel shall still be rethemed away from the Disney picture to a Pixar one.  Critter Carousel is a fine design choice, but it will be getting an appropriate covering structure and will not be getting a giant Jesse.  My goal though would be to represent as many Pixar films as possible, so I would want to change from the Critter Carousel to a Coco inspired Alebrije carousel.  The colors would benefit this ride greatly and would still work under the Victorian-like canopy.

Toy Story Midway Mania stays as is.  This is truly the inspiration for the rest of the expansion and one of the rides implemented very well in the expansion.  I will note, though, that since this ride is supposed to be a collection of midway games, I am less inclined to keep the row of actual midway games that are next to the ride.  That space is prime space for another attraction.  I would not mind scattering the midway games around various sections of the pier and have indicated them in blue on the overview image of the land.  I can see games for La Luna, Boundin', Brave, and the Good Dinosaur.

With that in mind, the section of the pier up to the midway games (the section under the area where the Incredicoaster crosses over and location of long closed additional midway games) would be replaced with Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies with an appropriate Victorian structure.  This section is limited in what could be added due to the roller coaster, but it would seem that bumper cars would be easily implemented.  Bumper cars are a staple of seaside amusement piers and would be something more exciting for people to look at while in the Toy Story Mania overflow queue.

Where the current midway games are there are two attractions added in: a Pixar Shorts Nickelodeon and the entrance to a Monsters Inc. Spook House ride.  Again, taking two classic amusement attractions and bringing the correct fit from the Pixar stable.  The Nickelodeon would be the perfect place to come in and take a load off in the AC.  I would rotate through Pixar shorts, but Presto would be a must as it would be the perfect fit.  This space would also be valuable for promoting upcoming Pixar film releases.  It does not have to be a large theater.  Between the overview above and the image below, I'm envisioning something shallow but wider to enclose the space.  The image below is crude and could be redivided as needed to accomplish the goal, but illustrates the point.

Envisioning the new space.

The Monster's Inc. Spook House ride would primarily from this point be an entrance leading the rider to the ride behind the Incredicoaster.  This would provide ample space for the queue and allow for a much larger ride area.  The idea would be the same as Midway Mania in that here the Monsters Inc. characters are running a traditional spook house to collect screams.  It could be Disney-spooky or could be even changed to where they are now trying to collect laughs.  Either way, it would be a more traditional dark ride in the space, with physical sets and animatronics (as opposed to Midway Manias screens), though it would include projection mapping to fill out the space.

The shops at the end of the building line would be changed to include Bing Bong's Sweet Stuff as planned.  This looks like it fits the area and having saltwater taffy on the pier is a no-brainer.

The Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind works, so no issues there. 

On the lagoon side of the pier, the Fun Wheel would become the Pixar Fun Wheel, but I would complete the transition and replace the Mickey face with the Pixar ball.  If the land is going to be rethemed, I'm going to commit fully to it.  The various characters on the cars will continue to be implemented.  There would be a reworking of the queue to remove the cloth sun shades and implement again a Victorian style throughout.

I would seek to build a small-ish "aquarium" building next to the Fun Wheel to house Turtle Talk with Crush in a more themed location, like that in Tokyo DisneySea.  Ideally this aquarium would have you travel down to the theater, so you are traveling under the water line and looking out a window that Crush can swim up to.  I think this can be achieved as I know the Fun Wheel dips below the water line.  It would likely require draining the lagoon, but this would likely benefit the Fun Wheel and World of Color, allowing the reworking of the Fun Wheel queue and maintenance on the World of Color platforms.

The remaining vendor carts would keep their current architecture styles but receive updates on characters as needed.  For example, Don Tomas turkey legs could go to Senor Buzz (if necessary).  I do not believe that character theming is 100% necessary on these and would rather see them be typical pier vendor carts.  I would love, though, to see a version of the Disneyland Little Red Wagon truck re-painted and themed to the Pizza Planet truck, serving pizza by the slice.  This would be a great improvement over the Happy Meal style box for the chicken stand (that belongs in Toy Story Land in DHS).

Just imagine a Pizza Planet truck version of this.

The rest of the land is currently being left alone and renamed as Paradise Park.  I would as stated fully commit to the Pixar theme and wrap it completely around to the Little Mermaid.  The Silly Symphony Swings gets rethemed, Jumpin' Jellyfish now recreates the scene in Finding Nemo, and the Golden Zephyr could either be the Toy Story Aliens or Wall-E.  Goofy's Sky School changes from a wild mouse roller coaster to a wild rat roller coaster with a Ratatouille redesign.   The Pixarharmonic Orchestra would continue to play in the Paradise Garden Gazebo.

Little Mermaid could move to the Wharf area with the Painted Ladies to create a little larger San Francisco area or get the rumored Coco ride.  If desired, the Winery area and Blue Sky Cellar could be completely reworked into a San Francisco/Wharf attraction.  And the use of the Blue Sky Cellar as the Disney Vacation Club lounge is a great utilization of space.

Grizzly Peak:
The Grizzly Peak area has benefited greatly from the combining of the Golden State and the Condor Flats area into a singular national park themed area.   My goal with the area will be to solidify this theme and particularly focus on a 1950s national park, as well as a greater utilization of the space.  The two attractions that are in the land take up so much space and are both height restricted.  The goal is to add a couple of secondary, small-form attractions with no height limitation, to maximize the appeal of the land itself.

Grizzly Peak Overview

Everything currently in the land works.  I would want to strengthen the 1950s feel on Grizzly River Rapids, removing the last vestiges of the extreme sports decor.  I would add at least minimal movement animatronics to the ride (like those on the Rivers of America) to give visual appeal and add sight gags along the way.

J. Audobon Woodlore and Humphrey Bear would be added as walk-around characters, particularly in the Redwood Challenge area.  They would be the representative characters for the land.

I would seek to add a single theater version of the Country Bear Jamboree to a Country Bear Hall Theater squeezed into the area behind the winery.  Hopefully a single theater and queue could be made to fit in this space. The Country Bears could be seen as characters similar to the bears in the Humphrey cartoons and would bring a lot of classic Disney into the area.  This version of the Country Bear show would have four versions: the classic show in spring, Vacation Hoedown in Summer, Campfire Ghost Tales in Halloween, and the Country Bear Christmas in November/December.  It would add an attraction type that is missing (animatronic show) and would bring a heavy nostalgia factor.  It's also a perfect fit for an area that is themed to a bear filled national park.

I would also seek to add a Dumbo-like spinner themed to Planes added to the space between Soarin and the Grand Californian.

Finally, I would restore Soarin' back to Soarin' Over California. Soarin' Over the World and any other versions developed (like Soarin' Over the Land) can always be brought back as special runs, but the default should be Soarin' Over California for the park.

Seaonal Overlays:
Like Disneyland, California Adventure has recently gotten into the spirit with seasonal overlays and stepping up their celebrations.  Both Mater's and Luigi's in Cars Land have Halloween and Christmas versions of the ride. And the decorations have truly been stepped up in this park for both seasons.  This park even has a leg up with the Festival of the Holidays food and entertainment offerings.  I believe there is a little more that can still be accomplished.  First, the preview theaters can offer appropriate seasonal offerings, both in Hollywoodland and the Nickelodeon in Pixar Pier.  Likewise, the predominantly screen based attractions can more easily have seasonal versions developed.  Midway Mania and even the Toontown Trolley ride can have appropriate seasonal animation developed.  Even Soarin' Over California can have the appropriate seasonal ending added (general castle and fireworks for spring, 4th of July fireworks and bunting for summer, Halloween Screams for Halloween and the current version with the Christmas tree for the holidays).  Adding the Country Bears will come with already developed seasonal overlays.  And finally, the USO show in the Hollywood Canteen will provide appropriate entertainment (like the Golden Horseshoe).

Parades and Nighttime Spectaculars:
I know the Pixar Play Parade is getting a little long in the tooth, but ideally the day time parade for Disney California Adventure would be something in this mold.  An update, energetic parade that has a lot of focus on the Pixar Characters.  After all, the Pixar characters are primarily housed in this park.   This is also why Paint the Night works so well in California Adventure.

Like Disneyland and the Main Street Electrical Parade, I view Paint the Night to be the perfect fit for California Adventure.  It's a little more pop, the characters represented in the parade have a significant presence in the park, and the expanded pathways and longer parade route can absorb the scope of the parade better.  Paint the Night to me would be the default night parade, the one that is gone back to time and time again after tinkering and plussing, changing out particular float units as needed.

As discussed in the Hollywoodland section, I truly feel the Cars Land neon is the equivalent in this park of the it's a small world clock projection show.  It's a short event that really adds character to the land and park as a whole and encourages guests to linger.

Also, as discussed, I would make Hollywoodland contain the equivalent of the Fantasmic! experience in Disneyland with the addition of the longer projection show which transforms that land into a magical outdoor 4D theater experience.  Playing with the land as a whole through building projections, water/bubble/fire/snow effects, confetti cannons, lasers and inflatables to truly immerse the guests in a show occurring all around them.  A Gala Premier or Red Carpet Revue. Fantasmic works in Disneyland because it transforms a section of the park you have experienced in one way in the day, into a new version at night.  It seems like it comes into existence magically.  Hollywoodland could offer this similar magical transformation.

World of Color has cemented itself as a permanent fixture in the park.  The show provides a truly unique experience for this park that offers a lot of flexibility in implementation and design for the future.  I would focus on developing a Halloween themed show to go with the new seasonal Halloween offerings that have been developed.  And while World of Color: Season of Light is the far superior holiday show, I would like to add back in the Christmas World of Color Television intro from Winter Dreams to solidify the brand (plus that is a really great intro piece of music).

Cartoon Mascot:
For the cartoon mascot of this park, I have chosen Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.  I feel there are a lot of parallels to Oswald's story in the park.  Oswald was a lost cartoon creation of Walt's that was re-acquired in 2006, the year before the announcement of the California Adventure transformation.  Similarly, California Adventure was almost the forgotten park prior to its transformation.  With the re-acquisition, Oswald became an integral part of Buena Vista street and almost synonymous with the land.  The Oswald Rabbit ears were hugely popular here.  And it's kind of fitting to have Walt's two primary creations in the parks opposite each other.  Mickey in Disneyland and Oswald in California Adventure.

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Again, I hope you have enjoyed this exploration.  Next in the series will be the Disneyland Resort, focusing on hotels, Downtown Disney and future expansion.  In the interim, look for a second take on Tomorrowland, Hollywoodland, and Paradise Pier coming later in the week.

Just say no to "school prayer"

Now that I have your attention, let me explain.

I've seen a lot of posts and memes going around that blame the rise in gun violence in our schools and the overall declining state of our schools on the removal of "school prayer."  To be clear, "school prayer" here refers to a verbal, communal, mandatory prayer led by the teacher or administration to open the school day, either in person in the classroom or over the intercom system.  In the past, this time has included a scripture reading as well as prayer.

It's this form of prayer in schools that I am staunchly opposed to, for a multitude of reasons.

It's unconstitutional - Between Engel v. Vitale (1962), Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), and Murray v. Curlett (1963) the Supreme Court has thoroughly established official state-school prayer, state-school Bible readings, and other public school-sponsored religious activities violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...").   It's important to note that First Amendment religious cases are a balancing act.  It's a weighing of the prohibition against the establishment of religion and the free exercise of religion.  That is why we have the Lemon test to evaluate religious First Amendment questions.  The Lemon test has three parts: 1) there must be a secular purpose, 2) the primary effect must not advance or inhibit religion, and 3) it must not result in "excessive government entanglement" with religion.

The use of school prayer as previously outlined clearly represented a preference in the public schools for one particular form of religion with a purely religious purpose. The prayers at issue are always Christian and most often Protestant.  They provide no opportunity for the exercise of an individual's particular religious freedom.  Put another way, there is not an opt-out option for an individual student or faculty member.

It's inherently problematic - Even setting aside Constitutional issues, school prayer is fraught with problems.  How do you decide what kind of prayer should be permitted?  If the school population is predominantly Baptist, but the principal who is praying over the intercom is Catholic, is it a problem if he invokes the Blessed Virgin Mary?  Could someone Jewish pray, though he would not invoke Jesus Christ?  How about a Mormon? Or a Muslim invoking Allah?

Do you let someone truly pray out their faith?  Or must it be watered down to the lowest common denominator of belief?  Is there a right way to pray, and conversely, a wrong way to pray?

How do you deal with people of different faiths?  Or with atheists or agnostics in the school?  Do you allow for any accommodations?

In the public school system which takes all students and can often have a very diverse population, these issues outline how difficult even broaching the subject can be.

It's potentially un-biblical - Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.  Matthew 6:1 (NASB)

When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men.  Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.  But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.  Matthew 6:5-6 (NASB)

Now Jesus in this passage is focusing on motivation, on the heart issue, which is at so much of his ministry.  Getting the religious to look beyond the "right" actions and look inward to the right motivations and the correct spirit. This is not a prohibition on all public prayer or group prayer, as it would depend on the motivation and effect there. We can see this play out in different scenarios.  For instance, prayer over a worship service serves a different purpose than prayer over a football game.  For one, the congregants in a worship service come with the understanding of religious activities and practice during the worship time.  Observers of a football game may not be expecting or agreed to it.   Further, what Christ is saying is that even during a worship service, a person's public prayer may be hypocritical.  That person's motivation may be to elevate themselves as a speaker, to show how "religious" they are, etc.  That prayer does not serve its intended purpose.  Conversely, the prayer at a game may be the most humble and faithful action a person could undertake.  But is it something that needs be voiced to everyone in attendance?

To me, that raises the question regarding why school prayer need be mandatory, participatory, or audible.  What is the goal with such a prayer in the school?  Who is it designed to glorify?  And is there a more effective alternative?

Returning to the posts and memes, the rationale given for why our schools are currently deteriorating is that God is either banned from entering the schools or that He is a gentleman and refuses to enter given the removal of school prayer (condensed, but essentially).  Both are inherently flawed.  First, it is impossible to ban an omnipresent God from anywhere. The second assumption ignores the way God operates.  Yes, we have evidence of God turning an unrepentant people over to themselves.  But this viewpoint also requires us to assume that God will abandon His faithful and not be with the believers that continue to roam the halls of public schools across this nation.

I do not believe that God is angered by a secular government stopping school prayer as defined here; after all Jesus did not rail against Caesar, but instead against the leading Jews of the time.  I do imagine God will be far angrier at his followers who abrogated their responsibilities when the easy path was removed.  Against those whose only acknowledgment of their faith on school property was the daily mandatory prayer.

In reality, prayer is still perfectly acceptable in school.  Prayer that is personal and voluntary, a reflection of the individual student or faculty members personal faith.  That reflects that deep and personal communication with our Lord and Savior.  Prayer that can be exercised as needed.

Imagine if that kind of prayer took hold in our schools.  Imagine a school where the principal arrived at school early every day to walk the halls and pray over the coming day before anyone else ever arrived.  Imagine a school where every believing teacher arrived to close themselves off in their room to pray for each class as the day starts, naming students by name and praying for their days.  Imagine a school where every believing student arrived and said a quick silent prayer at their locker for the day and their fellow students.  Or where believing students gathered at the pole every day to start each school day with prayer.

Imagine how the schools would be used for God's purpose.

And here's the great part - there is nothing to stop this from happening right now outside the choices of God's people.  This form is perfectly Constitutional and has been repeatedly upheld as such.

I know there are many teachers, faculty, and students that do this every day.  To the teachers and faculty, thank you for your faithfulness and dedication to a true calling on your life placed by God.  To the students, thank you for your example, for being willing to be salt and light to your peers.

If you are not, I pray you would consider doing so.  And I would pray that all of us, in whatever profession or setting we find ourselves in are doing the same.  There is no need to limit this to the schoolhouse.  We should be bathing our days in prayer regardless of our surroundings.  I know I need to be better at this.  For this is the start of how we change the world - through prayer and supplication to the one who holds it in His hands.

and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14 (NASB)

Living in Ephesus

Sorry for the delay on the blog; had a change of topics and wanted to put this up today as it would be more timely.

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We visited Buna this weekend to see the family.  As part of this trip, we were able to spend Sunday morning in worship at First Baptist.  The message from Brother Paul was a wonderful exploration of the effects of Paul's work in Ephesus recorded in Acts, chapter 19, verses 11-20.

God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirts went out.  But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”  Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.  And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”  And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.  This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.  Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.  And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.  So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. 

Acts 19:11-20 (NASB)

We start this passage with the successes and blessings of Paul's work in Ephesus, the power of God being displayed mightily in this city.  So much so, that as Brother Paul mentioned, you can see it is truly the work of God and nothing Paul could do.  It's such the power of God pouring out of Paul, even into handkerchiefs and aprons that he is carrying, transferring that healing power of God to those in need.

And what we see next are the hangers on.  The profiteers.  The schemers that are finding ways to bring benefit to themselves from the real, genuine miracles that they are observing around them. Here, they are Jewish healers or exorcists who believe they can use the magic words "in the name of Jesus" to their own gain, despite having no belief in Jesus themselves.  They are copying Paul's actions without having the personal faith and relationship that he has.  And we see how it turns out for them.

This message got me ruminating on the ways that we try to use Jesus for our own personal gain, instead of following Him for the purpose of His glory.  Put another way, how often do we treat our faith as rabbit's foot or bargaining chip for our personal development?

We still see "faith" healers today.  You can find many places on television and the internet to find many, many different spiritual leaders who will provide divine healing or the removal of evil spirits for a "slight" monetary fee.  I believe much of the appeal, as it is, to Scientology is found in this idea. Followers pay for audits or continuing mental health and emotional health treatments.

But the idea of using Jesus for personal gain goes far beyond this long lived example.

How many politicians are using Jesus and their "faith" as a badge for political gain, to get that set of voters?

How many "religious leaders" are using Jesus for pure monetary gain?  Does Creflo Dollar's ministry really need a Gulfstream Jet?  How much wealth accumulation is enough?

How many of us wear our faith when it is beneficial for us or can bring us something?  We only communicate with God when we are asking Him for things, but at no other times. "Slot-machine" prayers.    We only share our faith when it makes us look good or lets us voice our opinion and insight.  We attend a particular church to "network" or for the services that it offers us.

This passage provides us a warning for this misuse of Jesus' name.  These sons of Sceva are swept out battered and bloodied by the evil spirits they are trying to drive out, along with the most scathing response to their attempts "who are you."

But we also see that God's purpose will not be frustrated by this misuse.  In fact, the passage ends with the word of the Lord growing mightily and prevailing.

It's up to us to determine where we fall.  Will we be the ones attempt to use Jesus for our personal gain to our own destruction, or will be the ones used by God for His glory?  Lord help me be the latter and turn me from any attempt at the former.  May the glory be yours.

Timshel

Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord." Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel.  And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.  And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard.  So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.  Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry?  And why has your countenance fallen?  If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?  And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."  Cain told Abel his brother.  And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

Genesis 4:1-8 (NASB)

Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the Land of Nod, east of Eden.

Genesis 4:16 (NASB)

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The story of Cain and Abel is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible.  Within it, we have the first murder in humanities existence and the second and third recorded sins in the Bible:  envy and wrath.  It’s a story of two brothers that are positioned as two opposites.  Though their story is short, we have a picture of two brothers caught in opposites.  One a shepherd and one a farmer; one “good” son and one “bad” son.  We see a representation of the fight within us all, to do well and right before the Lord or to fall. 

A few years back, I began reading through the great American novels that I had never read before.  The books that I was not required to read in school and had never picked up previously.  Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, various essays by Mark Twain.  And my favorite discovery in this time was John Steinbeck’s East of Eden.  Steinbeck’s epic tale of family struggle and guilt and freedom, of predestination and forgiveness resonated in a way that few books can.   It quickly rose to be my favorite book of everything I have ever read.

Steinbeck himself considered it his magnum opus.  After completing the manuscript, he wrote “I finished my book a week ago […] Much the longest and surely the most difficult work I have ever done… I have put all the things I have wanted to write all my life.  This is ‘the book.’  If it is not good I have fooled myself all the time.  I don’t mean I will stop but this is a definite milestone and I feel released.”  It was highly based on his experiences in the Salinas Valley and influenced by his Episcopalian upbringing.  Reflecting on this work, Steinbeck said “I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one . . . . Humans are caught—in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, and in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of good and evil... and it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue is immortal.”

And Steinbeck covered this, in particular, through the midrash-like exploration of the story of Cain and Abel and the word timshel in verse seven.

Midrash refers to the exegesis or process of interpreting and explaining the biblical text developed by rabbis of the Talmud.  When capitalized, it also refers to a specific compilation of these writings, which are still used for instruction today.  Steinbeck devotes an impactful portion of the book and its themes to the exploration and exegesis of God’s instruction to Cain in verse 7.

“Do you remember when you read us the sixteen verses of the fourth chapter of Genesis and we argued about them?”

“I do indeed. And that’s a long time ago.”

“Ten years nearly,” said Lee. “Well, the story bit deeply into me and I went into it word for word. The more I thought about the story, the more profound it became to me. Then I compared the translations we have—and they were fairly close. There was only one place that bothered me. The King James version says this—it is when Jehovah has asked Cain why he is angry. Jehovah says, ‘If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.’ It was the ‘thou shalt’ that struck me, because it was a promise that Cain would conquer sin.”

Samuel nodded. “And his children didn’t do it entirely,” he said.

Lee sipped his coffee. “Then I got a copy of the American Standard Bible. It was very new then. And it was different in this passage. It says, ‘Do thou rule over him.’ Now this is very different. This is not a promise, it is an order. And I began to stew about it. I wondered what the original word of the original writer had been that these very different translations could be made.”

…

“My old gentlemen felt that these words were very important too—‘Thou shalt’ and ‘Do thou.’ And this was the gold from our mining: ‘Thou mayest.’ ‘Thou mayest rule over sin.’ The old gentlemen smiled and nodded and felt the years were well spent. It brought them out of their Chinese shells too, and right now they are studying Greek.”

Samuel said, “It’s a fantastic story. And I’ve tried to follow and maybe I’ve missed somewhere. Why is this word so important?”

Lee’s hand shook as he filled the delicate cups. He drank his down in one gulp. “Don’t you see?” he cried. “The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in ‘Thou shalt,’ meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.’ Don’t you see?”

“Yes, I see. I do see. But you do not believe this is divine law. Why do you feel its importance?”

“Ah!” said Lee. “I’ve wanted to tell you this for a long time. I even anticipated your questions and I am well prepared. Any writing which has influenced the thinking and the lives of innumerable people is important. Now, there are many millions in their sects and churches who feel the order, ‘Do thou,’ and throw their weight into obedience. And there are millions more who feel predestination in ‘Thou shalt.’ Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But ‘Thou mayest’! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win.” Lee’s voice was a chant of triumph.  

Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. The Viking Press. 1952.

Steinbeck truly mined gold with this exploration of the translation of timshel from the Hebrew.  When it stands alone, it is pronounced timshol, with a long “o” in the final, accented syllable.  But in this passage, as often happens in Hebrew, the word is connected to the word that follows, and therefore loses its accent.  So, instead of a long “o” the vowel is reduced, and the word is most correctly pronounced timsh’l.  Steinbeck chose to render this sound with an “e” and the word is usually pronounced timshel.

Steinbeck was not so much interested in the pronunciation as he was in the meaning of the particular grammatical form.  It is second person imperfect, referring to an act that has not yet occurred.  Something of possibilities.  The capacity for good and evil in all of us.

Here is the choice each of the characters in East of Eden face, as do we all. No matter how deep-rooted the sin, there is always a chance for redemption. In the Orthodox Jewish translation from The Chumash: The Stone Edition the passage reads: "Surely if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin rests at the door. Its desire is toward you, yet you can conquer it."

And conquer it we can, through the power that strengthens all things we do.

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:37-39 (NASB)

It’s a series of choices to follow, to take up our cross daily and obey, which leads to conquering, which leads to the victory, just as it is a series of choices to ignore the call, to walk away, and to try to live this life divorced from God.  Every choice is an opportunity.

Thou Mayest.

Disneyland v. Disney World

For Disney fans, this becomes one of the long-standing debates: Disneyland versus Walt Disney World.  And while they may couch the debate as regarding "which one is better," it truly boils down to which one they prefer.

Being roughly halfway between the two, it makes it easy to go either way for a vacation.  Instead of trying to focus on a list of pros and cons for each resort, trying to crown one superior, hopefully this post will help those people who are trying to decide which one would be a better vacation for them.  I'm going to focus on the pros of each resort, trying to outline those factors that will help you decide in favor of either location.

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Disneyland:
A Sense of History - Disneyland will be celebrating its 63 birthday this year.  It is the original theme park and a pioneer in this industry.  You can still ride many of the opening day attractions.  Walking through the park, you can still see Walt's footsteps.   There is a greater sense of history that can be truly appreciated in the park, from opening day attractions to 1964 World's Fair marvels, to modern classics.  The park was well restored for its 50th anniversary and well maintained since then.


Walking Distance - The Disneyland Resort is an extremely walk-able resort.  There are only two parks, with their gates directly across from each other.  Three Disney owned hotels that are closely grouped together and a Downtown Disney shopping area with shopping and dining between the hotels and the parks.  If you step outside the Disney property, there are many additional (cheaper) hotels within a five to ten minute walk from the park gates.  This is a very important point for us, because with two small children, it makes it much easier to pop out of the park at nap time and then pop back in when they are awake without it turning into a several hour ordeal.


A Great Long Weekend -  Because of the smaller size for the resort, it makes the Disneyland Resort a great long weekend trip.  At Disney World, you always feel you need more time to see everything. At Disneyland, you can see both parks and enjoy Downtown Disney all in three to four leisurely days (and even possible in two full days).  If you are time-crunched for a trip, Disneyland becomes a great option.


An Amazing Attraction Count - Despite the smaller park count and overall footprint, the Disneyland Resort still packs a wallop in terms of attraction count.  Though the Disneyland Resort only has two parks to Walt Disney World's four parks, Disneyland and California Adventure only come up around four to five attractions shy of the four parks at the Walt Disney World Resort.  Because of its space limitations, Disneyland has very unique utilization and small form attractions, which have the added bonus of keeping most attraction wait times very reasonable.


Unique Experiences - Disneyland has several unique attractions when compared to Walt Disney World.  First in the Disneyland Park proper, there are the following Disneyland specific attractions:

• Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
• The Main Street Cinema
• Indiana Jones Adventure
• Tarzan's Treehouse (though similar to the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse)
• The Sailing Ship Columbia
• Pinocchio's Daring Adventure
• Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Storybookland Canal Boats
• Casey Jr.
• Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (similar to the Seas with Nemo and Friends ride, but vastly differnt in ride mechanism)

In addition to the completely unique theme for a park in California Adventure, it contains the following specific attractions:

• The Red Car Trolley
• Mike and Sulley to the Rescue
• Frozen (the theatrical show in the Hyperion)
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout
• Heimlich's Chew Chew Train (currently; closing soon)
• Flik's Fun Flyers (currently; closing soon)
• Francis' Lady Bug Boogie (currently; closing soon)
• Tuck and Roll's Drive'Em Buggies (currently; closing soon)
• Mater's Junkyard Jamboree
• Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters
• Radiator Springs Racers
• Boudin Bakery Tour
• The Incredi-Coaster
• Inside Out Mood Swings (opening soon)
• Mickey's Fun Wheel
• Silly Symphony Swings
• Goofy's Sky School
• Jumpin' Jellyfish
• Redwood Challenge Area
• Grizzly River Run

That is an impressive line up of unique attractions to experience if you have never been to Disneyland.


Seasonal Overlays - Finally, one of my favorite extras at the Disneyland Resort are the seasonal overlays that are applied in the Halloween and Christmas celebrations.  While Walt Disney World does decorate the parks to celebrate the season and offers appropriate parades and shows during their celebrations, Disneyland takes it up a notch by also adding seasonal overlays to favorite attractions, often completely transforming them into a unique new experience.  During Halloween, the Haunted Mansion gets a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay, becoming the Haunted Mansion Holiday.  Space Mountain gets a new story line of being chased by a rogue galaxy in Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy.  California Adventure joined in the fun this past year with Mater's JamBOOree and Luigi's Honkin' Haul-O-Ween.

During Christmas, even more is updated.  Haunted Mansion Holiday stays.  it's a small world holiday sees millions of Christmas lights and Jingle Bells/Deck the Halls added to the soundtrack (this is actually my favorite version of this ride - it's an amazing transformation).  The Jungle Cruise gets Christmas decorations strung throughout the ride and a lot of fruitcake jokes to become the Jingle Cruise.  Even the Storybookland Canal Boats get miniature wreaths and decorations on their miniature homes.  Mater's and Luigi's became Mater's Jingle Jamboree and Luigi's Joy to the Whirl.

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Walt Disney World:

Size and Scope - Walt described his Florida project as having the "blessing of size."  And at 43 square miles, Walt Disney World definitely has the blessing of size.  This puts the resort at roughly the size of San Francisco and twice the size of Manhattan.  This has allowed Walt Disney World to include four theme parks, two water parks, and thirty-four hotels and resorts, in addition to a wide variety of recreational activities.  And there is still plenty of room for expansion.


A Greater Variety - Just focusing on the theme park experiences for a minute, the four parks allow for a greater exploration of themes and attractions than the two at Disneyland.  In addition to the Magic Kingdom which is similar to Disneyland, you have EPCOT which explores further explores the scientific achievements of today and a variety of world cultures and architecture.  At Disney Hollywood Studios, you have a celebration of entertainment, with a bit of exploration of movie-making magic.  And at Animal Kingdom you have an exploration of man's interaction with the animal world in both hyper-realistic and overly fantastic settings.

The hotels at Disney World also provide a great variety in them and scope.  There are lightly themed motels and there are highly themed, expansive resorts, all providing an almost tailor made option for your particular needs. 

And that's not even beginning to discuss everything beyond the parks and hotels.


Unique Experiences - Disney World has several unique attractions compared to Disneyland.  First, within the Magic Kingdom, there are the following unique rides and attractions:

• Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (though very similar to Tarzan's Treehouse)
• Country Bear Jamboree
• The Hall of Presidents
• Mickey's Philharmagic
• Enchanted Tales with Belle
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover
• Stitch's Great Escape* (seasonal to closed)
• Tron coaster (announced and in construction)

At EPCOT, there are the following unique attractions:

• Spaceship Earth
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends (similar to the Finding Nemo submarine voyage but with a vastly different ride mechanism)
• Living With The Land
• Journey Into Imagination With Figment
• Guardians of the Galaxy Energy attraction (announced and in construction)
• Mission: Space
• Test Track
• Grand Fiesta Tour with the Three Caballeros
• Frozen Ever After
• Reflections of China
• The American Adventure
• Impressions de France
• Ratatouille Kitchen Calamity (announced and in construction)
• O Canada!

At Disney Hollywood Studios, there are the following unique attractions:

• The Tower of Terror
• Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage
• Mickey's Runaway Railway (announced and in construction)
• For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-A-Long Celebration
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
• Muppet*Vision 3D
• Alien Swirling Saucers (opening soon)
• Slinky Dog Dash (opening soon)
• Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Finally, in Animal Kingdom, there are the following unique attractions:

• It's Tough to Be a Bug (now unique, since the Disney California Adventure version has closed)
• Avatar Flight of Passage
• Na'vi River Journey
• Festival of the Lion King
• Kilimanjaro Safaris
• Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
• Rafiki's Planet Watch and Conservation Station
• Wildlife Express Train
• UP! A Great Bird Adventure
• Maharajah Jungle Trek
• Kali River Rapids
• Expedition: Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
• Finding Nemo - The Musical
• Primeval Whirl
• TriceraTop Spin
• The Boneyard
• DINOSAUR
• Along with several animal exhibits.

The Vacation Kingdom of the World - In the early years of Walt Disney World, promotional material referred to the resort as "the vacation kingdom of the world."  This was to emphasize the great number of things to do beyond the theme parks.  There are two water parks. There is a large shopping and dining district with a tethered balloon ride and a new Cirque du Soleil show in development.  There are four golf courses (three 18-hole and one 9-hole) and two miniature golf courses.  There are five spas for massages and relaxation.  There is a campground with opportunities to ride in horse drawn carriages or go horseback riding.  You can see the Braves in spring training.  You can rent bicycles or jog one of the many trails.  You can rent water craft and go water skiing, tubing or parasailing.  You could have an amazing vacation without ever stepping foot in a theme park, all within your interests.

A Planner's Dream - If you like to have your vacation planned out completely, Disney World is a good fit for you.  With advanced dining reservations and the Fast Pass+ system, you can have each day nearly completely planned well before you ever arrive at the resort.  You are able to make dining reservations up to 180 days in advance and are able to make ride and attraction Fast Pass reservations up to 60 days in advance.  For large groups and absolutely cannot miss experiences, these options are incredibly valuable.

Disney World is also utilizing advanced planning and payment in ways that can allow you to have an almost fully pre-paid experience.  You can add a dining plan option to your vacation, allowing for upfront payment of the dining, so that your experience in the parks and resort is completely taken care of.  If you time it right, you can often get the dining package "free" as part of the overall vacation package (in reality it's not free, but absorbed by paying full rack rate for the hotel, instead of the typical hotel discounts).   You can add on Memory Maker for photo downloads including PhotoPass photographer shots and attraction photos.  With your hotel, tickets, dining, and photographs taken care of ahead of time, you would potentially only need souvenir money on the actual vacation (and you can put that on a Disney gift card).

The Disney Bubble - One of the greatest assets of the Walt Disney World resort is the Disney bubble.  In Florida, you can have a complete Disney experience from the moment you arrive to when you leave, without the intrusions of the outside world.  In California, while the parks and resort do amazing work to create the fantasy world they have designed, the reality of being surrounded by the city of Anaheim often becomes very apparent, with anything from visual intrusions in the park of power lines or non-Disney properties, to the reality of stepping right outside the park gate onto Harbor Boulevard.  In Florida, thanks to the blessing of size, you can be completely contained in Disney property from start to finish.

If you arrive by plane, you can take Disney's Magical Express from the airport to the resort, skipping the baggage claim area and letting the service bring luggage right to your hotel room.  You can stay in one of the twenty-eight Disney owned and operated hotels and resorts.  You can travel via Disney bus, boat, or monorail (and soon the Disney Skyliner Gondola) to the Disney parks or Disney Springs shopping area.  If you want to get somewhere on property faster, you can even utilize the Disney Minnie Vans uber-like ride share. You can be as completely immersed in the fantasy as you desire to be.

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I hope this overview of the two properties has been helpful in showing the pros for each resort.  I love talking about this, so if you want any more insight or help with planning, please let me know.  Leave a comment below or send me a message.  I'm adding a contact me option to the home page.