Paradise Pier at California Adventure to be rethemed to Pixar Pier

Image copyright Disney. All rights reserved.

At the D23 Expo 2017, Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Bob Chapek was joined by Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios John Lasseter to unveil plans for Pixar Pier at Disney California Adventure, where the pier will take on a brand new look as more favorite Pixar characters and stories come to life, from The Incredibles, to Inside Out to even more Toy Story. Chapek also announced there is more Pixar in store during Pixar Fest at Disneyland Resort. Starting in 2018, this limited-time offering will include a new fireworks spectacular as well as special characters and entertainment moments.

Extraordinary Line-up of Experiences Coming to Disney Parks around the Globe
As part of the celebration, the Pixar Play Parade will return to Disneyland Resort – this time at
Disneyland Park – and the fan favorite Paint the Night Parade will move to Disney California Adventure, one of Disney’s longest parade routes.

Photo Friday: A photographic comparison of Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid

Welcome to another Photo Friday!

This week it's 2 for 1 day!  Well, sort of.

During my May trip to Disneyland, I noted a change to the main cavern portion of the Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid attraction at Disney California Adventure.  The lighting was drastically different than the Magic Kingdom version.  Later, I found out Disney was testing a different lighting level to see if it improved the attraction.  The main reason, as I understand it, was to eliminate guests seeing production elements such as light instruments, projectors, etc.

So see for yourself - which do you like better?

Here is the Magic Kingdom version (this shot is from June, 2013):

click for larger view

and this is a similar shot from the California Adventure version (this shot is from May, 2014):

click for larger view

So which version do you like better?  Post your thoughts in the comments section below!

Tip Tuesday: How to "win" at DCA carnival games

Time for another Tip Tuesday!

This week, let's once again head out to California to Paradise Pier at Disney California Adventure park.  We've all seen those boardwalk-style carnival games where guests plunk down a few dollars to try their hand at winning some sort of plush or other toy.  Those of you who are parents know how kids gravitate to these type of games as if they were a magnet.  I've seen plenty of instances where people (guys mostly) will try round after round after round to win something for their girlfriend or child.

So how can you come away a winner without breaking the bank?

The trick is to know which games to play -- those where everyone wins!  This is especially key when dealing with children.  There is one game at Paradise Pier, Goofy About Fishing, where no matter what you do, the player always wins.  This is a great game for smaller children because it's very easy for them to play.  Players use a small fishing pole with a magnet on the end to "catch" a fish.  Keep in mind that this game, like so many others, have different levels of winners.  It all depends on the color of the dot on the underside of the fish you catch.  The vast majority of fish have the lowest level color, while only a handful have the middle level color and only one or two have the top level color.  In any case, the player always wins, that's the key part to stress here.  In the photo above, the farmer Mickey was a middle-level prize.

Besides, if you win one of those huge plush figures, how in the world are you getting it home, especially if you're flying?  You just might not want to win big when you think about it.

Keep playing and good luck!

Photo Friday: The civic groups of Radiator Springs

Welcome back to another Photo Friday!

This week, I'll share another photo from my May 2014 trip to Disneyland/California Adventure.

I've said many times before that Cars Land may be the best Imagineered space in any Disney park.  Here is just one more reason why.  This is the welcome sign to Radiator Springs.  You see these as you drive into just about any town across the nation.  Take a look at the different signs promoting the various civic groups - any sound somewhat familiar? 

Click on the image for a larger view and enjoy all those little Disney details!

Photo Friday: Zoom into Flo's V8 Cafe

 

It's time for another Photo Friday!

Here's one of the thousands of photos I took back in July during my inaugural visit to Disneyland.  This is from the new Cars Land at Disney California Adventure.  The neon signs all through Cars Land is simply fantastic.  I thought I'd try a bit of show shutter photography to create the neat zoom trails with the neon.

Enjoy!

Tip Tuesday: Single rider line

Welcome back for another Tip Tuesday!

This week, I want to begin sharing a few tips I picked up from my trip out west to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure over the July 4 weekend -- and I'm starting with the biggest tip of all - the single rider line (which is much more used in DL/DCA than at WDW).

Theme park experts know about the benefits of the single rider line, but for those of you who might not be aware, several (not all) Disney attractions offer a special line for single riders.  Often this line will move much faster than the regular standby line, though, of course, not as fast as a FastPass line (if available).

The purpose of the single rider line is to fill up ride vehicles when a group doesn't have enough people to fill the ride vehicle, particularly those with higher capacities.  So, for instance, a group of four comes up to Radiator Springs Racers.  The ride vehicle can hold six, so the group of four boards the vehicle, then (assuming a party of two isn't readily available), two single riders are sent to fill up the remaining seats.

Most people like to ride with their party and that's the major drawback of the single rider line.  As the name implies, you're riding on your own, most likely without your party.  On the (big) plus side, the wait times can be a mere fraction of the standby line time.  Case in point:  during the busy July 4 weekend at Disney California Adventure, I took the single rider line while the standby line was at a whopping 150 minutes (Fastpasses were long gone).  My total wait?  Somewhere around 35 minutes, and that was with a 5-8 minute complete ride stoppage.

Sometimes the single rider line can be hard to find.  For a couple of attractions at Disneyland, the single rider entrance actually was the exit, so if you're not sure if an attraction has a single rider line, just ask a cast member.

I wouldn't recommend the single rider line for young children because of some of the obvious safety concerns, but for teens and older, the single rider line can be a great way to quickly experience your favorite attractions again and again.  I was able to ride Radiator Springs Racers three times - all on a busy day where the standby wait was at least 60 minutes and sometimes much longer and Fastpasses were already gone.

So if you're ok with splitting up - go single rider!!  You'll get to do a lot more that you think!