Disney California Adventure

Disney California Adventure is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and run by the Walt Disney Company and covers 72 acres. The park is themed around California's culture, using popular Disney, Pixar, and Marvel stories and characters.

The park opened on February 8, 2001, as the second theme park at the Disneyland Resort. Before it was built, Disney executives decided to create a park celebrating California after a planned park called WestCOT was canceled. Building started in 1998 and finished in early 2001.

When the park first opened, it did not attract as many visitors as Disney expected. Over the next few years, Disney added new rides, shows, and attractions to draw more people. In 2007, Disney announced big changes to the park. This included rebuilding parts of the park and adding new areas. These changes took five years and finished in 2012 with the opening of Buena Vista Street and Cars Land.

By 2024, the park welcomed about 10 million visitors, making it the 11th most visited theme park in the world that year.

History

See also: Disneyland Resort § History, and List of Disney attractions that were never built

Concept and creation

The land where Disney California Adventure now stands was bought by Walt Disney in the 1950s. It was used as a parking lot for Disneyland for over 40 years. After making successful theme parks at Walt Disney World in Florida, Disney wanted to add another park to the Disneyland Resort. The original plan was to build a park called WestCOT, but it was too expensive and Disney faced money problems. They decided instead to build a park about California’s history and culture.

The new park, designed to keep visitors at the resort, started building in 1998. It opened on February 8, 2001, with four areas, 22 shows and attractions, and 15 restaurants.

Opening and initial criticism

When Disney California Adventure opened, it was expected to be very busy. However, it had far fewer visitors than expected. Many people thought the park was too grown-up and didn’t have enough for families. In its first year, it had only about 5 million visitors, while Disneyland had over 12 million.

Early changes and expansions

To improve the park, Disney added more kid-friendly attractions and shows. They brought back a popular parade and added new rides and areas, like A Bug's Land and The Twilight Zone_ Tower of Terror.

Major redesign and expansion

By 2007, Disney decided to make big changes to the park. They spent over $1 billion to change the park’s look and add new areas. The main entrance was redesigned to look like old Los Angeles, and new lands like Cars Land were added. These changes helped bring more visitors back to the park.

Subsequent updates

Over the years, Disney California Adventure kept changing and adding new attractions. Areas like Grizzly Peak and Pixar Pier were updated, and new lands like Avengers Campus opened.

COVID-19 pandemic closure in 2020, partial and full reopening in 2021

Disney California Adventure closed in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened in April 2021 with limits on how many people could visit at once. Rules about wearing masks and keeping distance were in place to keep everyone safe.

Park layout and attractions

See also: List of Disney California Adventure attractions and List of former Disney California Adventure attractions

Disney California Adventure is divided into nine themed lands: Buena Vista Street, Hollywood Land, Avengers Campus, Cars Land, San Fransokyo Square, Performance Corridor, Pixar Pier, Paradise Gardens Park, and Grizzly Peak.

Buena Vista Street is the first area you see when entering the park. It looks like Los Angeles from the 1920s, when Walt Disney first arrived there. It has shops and restaurants, similar to Main Street, USA in Disneyland Park. In the center, there is a replica of the Carthay Circle Theater, where Disney Animation’s first feature film _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs debuted in 1937.

Hollywood Land is inspired by the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s. It includes attractions based on film, television, and theater, with a subsection called Hollywood Studios that looks like an active studio backlot. The land is also home to the Hyperion Theater.

Avengers Campus is inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, featuring attractions based on characters from Marvel Comics. The area includes attractions like Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!, Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure, and Pym Test Kitchen.

Cars Land is a tribute to Route 66 and recreates the town of Radiator Springs from Pixar’s Cars franchise. The largest attraction is Radiator Springs Racers, a dark ride.

San Fransokyo Square is a waterfront neighborhood inspired by California’s fishing wharfs, combining San Francisco and Tokyo. The area’s restaurants and shops reflect this theme.

Performance Corridor hosts the park’s parades and cavalcades, and is the site of many seasonal and cultural celebrations throughout the year.

Pixar Pier is inspired by Victorian boardwalks and themed after films from Pixar Animation Studios. Its attractions include the Pixar Pal-A-Round, Incredicoaster, and Toy Story Midway Mania.

Paradise Gardens Park is the main viewing area for the World of Color water show. Its attractions include Goofy’s Sky School and The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.

Grizzly Peak is themed around California’s wilderness and national parks, with particular references to Yosemite. Its main attraction is Grizzly River Run, a river rapids ride. The area also includes the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, a playground.

Upcoming attractions

The park will get two new attractions for Avengers Campus: Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab. There will also be a ride based on Pixar's 2017 film Coco near Pixar Pier and Paradise Gardens Park. Plus, a new area inspired by 20th Century Studios’s 2022 film Avatar: The Way of Water, its 2025 film Avatar: Fire and Ash, and future Avatar films will be built in part of the park’s Hollywood Backlot.

Former areas

Sunshine Plaza

Sunshine Plaza was the first area guests would see after entering Disney California Adventure. It had two shops, Engine Ears Toys and Greetings from California, with a large "Sun Icon" in the middle. The area closed in 2010 and was replaced by Buena Vista Street in 2012.

Bountiful Valley Farm

Bountiful Valley Farm was a themed area showing farm equipment and crops. It was presented by Caterpillar. When A Bug's Land opened in 2002, this area became part of it. Caterpillar stopped sponsoring the area in 2007, and it closed in 2010, later replaced by Cars Land.

Paradise Pier

Paradise Pier opened when the park opened in 2001. It had rides like California Screamin', Maliboomer, The Sun Wheel, and King Triton's Carousel of the Sea. The area closed in 2018 and reopened as Pixar Pier.

A Bug's Land

Main article: A Bug's Land

A Bug's Land was inspired by Pixar's 1998 film A Bug's Life. It included fun family rides like Flik's Flyers, Francis' Ladybug Boogie, and Tuck & Roll's Drive 'em Buggies, along with Heimlich's Chew Chew Train and Dot's Puddle Park. It opened in 2002 and was built around the attraction _It's Tough to Be a Bug!, a 3D film that opened with the park in 2001.

It's Tough to Be a Bug! closed on March 19, 2018, and the rest of A Bug's Land closed on September 4, 2018, to make way for Avengers Campus. When A Bug's Land closed, Flik's Flyers was changed to Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind, inspired by Pixar's 2015 film Inside Out, and moved to Pixar Pier.

Pacific Wharf

Pacific Wharf was located between Cars Land and Pixar Pier. It looked like an old waterfront in Monterey, California, celebrating its fishing history. Its main attractions were The Bakery Tour and the Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar. This area was mostly an outdoor food court.

In September 2022, it was announced that Pacific Wharf would become San Fransokyo, a mix of San Francisco and Tokyo, inspired by Disney Animation's 2014 film _Big Hero 6. In February 2023, the new name was revealed to be San Fransokyo Square, and the area opened on August 31, 2023.

Alcohol policy

Unlike Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure offers beer, wine, and cocktails in its restaurants, stands, and food kiosks. The park also holds the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival each year. This festival includes special food and drinks that show different tastes of California food.

Live entertainment

Five and Dime is a fun street show with Dime and her five band friends. You can watch them drive through Hollywood Land in a cool car from the 1920s and perform on a stage in Buena Vista Street near the Carthay Circle Restaurant. There’s also a special nighttime show called World of Color on Paradise Bay, where lights and water create amazing displays. During the holidays, they even have a special version of the show! You can also meet many favorite characters from Disney Animation, Pixar, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe who are happy to say hello to visitors.

Annual events

Disney California Adventure holds special festivals throughout the year. The Lunar New Year Celebration started in 2013 and honors Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean cultures in January and February. The Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival, which began in 2006, showcases California’s cuisine, wine, and beer each spring.

Another event is the Oogie Boogie Bash, a special Halloween night event that started in 2019 and happens on selected nights in September and October. It is named after the character Oogie Boogie from the film The Nightmare Before Christmas. The Disney Festival of Holidays began in 2016 and takes place in winter, celebrating many traditions such as Christmas, Navidad, Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, and Three Kings Day.

Attendance

Notes

^† Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the park was only open from the start of the year until March 14 in 2020.

^‡ Because of the worldwide effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on park visits, no rankings were made for that year.