LA's Times blog about travel, vacation and theme parks, Below are a couple of entries on the $1,000,000,000+ improvements to ; Dinsey's ; California Adventure Disney’s Toy Story Mania takes dark ride to next level Toy Story Mania at Disney's California Adventure: Disney’s California Adventure Reimagined: First in a series As Disney’s California Adventure begins an ambitious yet overdue $1.1-billion makeover, the first signs of progress will appear in the Anaheim theme park’s Paradise Pier area. Opening in summer 2008 and currently under construction, Toy Story Mania will take riders through a carnival midway hosted by the movie’s animated characters — Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Rex and Hamm. Wearing 3-D glasses, riders on the 5-minute-long interactive, dark ride will compete against one another by firing virtual darts, pies and eggs during virtual games of chance. Similar to Disneyland’s Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, the D-ticket Toy Story ride will employ 18-foot-long, custom-made vehicles with riders facing in two directions. Outside, the Toy Story Mania queue will wind through a gingerbread-trimmed, Victorian-themed ride building, a design aesthetic that will be carried throughout the currently generic-looking Paradise Pier area that has drawn scorn from Disney fans who dub the much-maligned park Mickey’s Magic Mountain and Disney’s Berry Farm. The current real-world midway games throughout Paradise Pier with gimmicky California place names like Cowhuenga Pass and New Haul Fishery will be re-themed to represent Disney or Pixar characters. They include: * Dumbo’s Bucket Brigade * Bullseye’s Stallion Stampede * Goofy About Fishin’ Other changes coming to Paradise Pier over the five-year renovation: * Re-theming of the Mulholland Madness coaster to Goofy’s Sky School coaster by late 2010 or early 2011, according to Blue Sky Disney * Removal of the Maliboomer thrill ride by late 2010 or early 2011 You can find all the blog entries in our California Adventure Reimagined series on the theme park page. — Brady MacDonald / Los Angeles Times Staff Write ; ; This entry was posted on Friday, November 2, 2007 at 12:07 pm by Brady MacDonald Disney’s World of Color water show promises to amaze Disney's World of ColorDisney’s California Adventure Reimagined: Second in a series It’s nearly impossible to imagine Disney’s World of Color water show without drawing comparisons to two obvious forerunners: Disneyland’s Fantasmic and the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas. What’s enticing is Disney’s boast that the new California Adventure nighttime spectacle will blow away both predecessors. Opening in 2009 as part of California Adventure’s $1.1-billion makeover, the 18-minute World of Color will feature an array of dancing fountains, movie projections and lighting effects all tied to the original Sherman Brothers musical score from the 1960s television show that included “Wonderful” in the title. The Bellagio comparison is no coincidence, since the same water wizards who created the Las Vegas Strip sensation have been drafted to surpass their accomplishment in Anaheim (lest Disney fans call World of Color a second-rate Fantasmic). Unlike Fantasmic, World of Color will feature no boats, performers or — most important — fireworks (lest visitors recall the ill-fated LuminAria water show whose smoke and ash choked and irritated the eyes of viewers along the shores of Paradise Pier in 2001). What viewers will see promises to impress: walls of water that take the shape of virtually every recognizable Disney character and sky-rocketing fountains that shoot so high they’ll obscure the 16-story Ferris Wheel (set to receive a Mickey Mouse makeover by then). To accommodate the expected crowds, a 9,000-person shoreline amphitheater will be built into Paradise Bay that will also host live music concerts and movie premieres, according to Blue Sky Disney. A rooftop viewing platform also will be added to the adjacent Grand Californian Hotel for VIP guests, according to MiceAge. Diners will be able to watch the show from the waterside Ariel’s Grotto restaurant, which will be re-themed as the meet-and-greet Princess Palace, according to Disney artist concept sketches. You can find all the blog entries in the California Adventure Reimagined series on the theme park page. — Brady MacDonald / Los Angeles Times Staff Writer This entry was posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 12:20 pm by Brady MacDonald
