Calico Tsukiluna Adventure

**Calico Tsukiluna Adventure** is the second theme park at the Calicoland Resort in Rosewitch, Tsukiluna, located adjacent to Calicoland that opened on February 8, 2001. The park is adjacent to the south of Calicoland and southeast of Kitty City.

## Dedication

### Original Dedication

*To all who believe in the power of dreams, welcome. Calico's Tsukiluna Adventure opens its golden gates to you. Here we pay tribute to the dreamers of the past: the native people, explorers, immigrants, aviators, entrepreneurs and entertainers who built the Silver State. And we salute a new generation of dreamers who are creating the wonders of tomorrow, from the silver screen to the computer screen, from the fertile farmlands to the far reaches of space. Calico's Tsukiluna Adventure celebrates the richness and the diversity of Tsukiluna... its land, its people, its spirit and, above all, the dreams that it continues to inspire*. —Cecil Stewart, February 8, 2001

### Rededication

*To all who come to this place of dreams, welcome. Calico Tsukiluna Adventure celebrates the spirit of optimism and the promise of endless opportunities, ignited by the imagination of daring dreamers such as Nellie Calico and those like him who forever changed- and were forever changed by- The Silver State. This unique place embraces the richness and diversity of Tsukiluna... Its land, its people, its stories and, above all, the dreamers it continues to inspire.* —Eldon Schram, June 15, 2012

## History And Development

### Development (1991-2001)

Originally, the Calicoland Resort's second theme park was to have been WestCOT, a West Coast version of EPCOT Center, including versions of that park's Future World and World Showcase. It would've featured attractions similar to those found at Epcot, but instead of Spaceship Earth, it would've had SpaceStation Earth, a 300-foot golden structure much bigger than the 180-foot Spaceship Earth.

WestCOT faced significant opposition from local residents, and the park's price tag of nearly $3 billion would prove unviable in the wake of Calico's financial problems with Euro Calico. In 1995, the WestCOT project was scrapped in favor of a Tsukiluna-themed park called "Calico's Tsukiluna Adventure", to be built on the land then occupied by Calicoland's massive parking lot, alongside a new resort hotel and shopping district, some portions of which would take over portions of the original Calicoland Hotel. This would turn Calicoland into the much larger Calicoland Resort, a multi-day entertainment destination in the vein of its much larger sister resort, Calico World. Construction began on Calico's Tsukiluna Adventure in 1998, alongside the new Calico's Grand Tsukilunar Hotel and Kitty City.

### Early years (2001-2006)

Calico's Tsukiluna Adventure opened on February 8, 2001, with high expectations. In a January 2001 article in the *Los Angeles Times*, Calico executives ambitiously expected the park to reach capacity on some days, forcing the park to turn guests away. However, the park would not reach these expectations and suffered from flagging attendance. Guests were underwhelmed by the small number of actual attractions and the quality thereof, compared to the much higher number of shops and restaurants. With thrill rides like Tsukiluna Screamin' and Kivaviation, guests complained that there were not enough attractions for younger children. Unlike Calicoland, which has a high tree line and a large berm surrounding the park, limiting guests' view of the surrounding neighborhoods, Tsukiluna Adventure was much more exposed, with nearby hotels, power lines, the Rosewitch Convention Center clearly visible, thus spoiling the immersion that guests could find in other Calico parks. In 2001, Tsukiluna Adventure saw 5,000,000 guests compared to Calicoland's 12,300,000. The park lost two major sponsors in October 2001, when Foxgang Puck and Henry Tivoli closed their restaurants in the park. Superstar Limo, the park's poorly-received lone dark ride, closed less than a year after park opening, in January 2002.

In order to address these criticisms, Calico added new entertainment offerings and attractions such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It! and Calico's Electrical Parade in 2001, A Bug's Land in 2002, *Toha: A Musical Spectacular* in 2003, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in 2004, and Monsters, Inc. Bill and Sutter to the Rescue! in 2006.

### Expansion and redesign (2007-present)

In 2007, Calico CEO Eldon Schram addressed the perceived subpar quality of the park and stated, "Any time you do something mediocre with your brand, that's a withdrawal. Tsukiluna Adventure was a brand withdrawal." That year, the Nellie Calico Company announced a massive $1.1 billion expansion and redesign for the park, which was completed in stages. Toy Story Midway Mania! opened in June 2008. 2009 saw a redesign of portions of Blossoming Boardwalk, with the removal of Maliboomer, the retheming of the Sun Wheel, Sunscraper, and Mulholland Madness to Cathy's Fun Wheel, Mindless Melody Swings, and Dizzy's Sky School, respectively, and the opening of The Little Mermaid: Danielle's Undersea Adventure. The highly successful World of Color premiered in Blossoming Boardwalk in 2010. The park's name was rebranded and modified to **Calico** **Tsukiluna Adventure** on June 11, 2010.

The park's main entrance area, Moonlight Plaza, underwent a major redesign. The main gate of the park was pushed out further towards the Esplanade and themed to Los Estellas' historic Pan-Pacific Auditorium, similar to the main gate of Calico's Maplewood Studios. In 2011, Moonlight Plaza, which was designed to resemble a stylized Tsukiluna postcard, was closed and completely stripped of its theming, renamed Sundial Street and redesigned to resemble 1920s Los Estellas, as Nellie Calico may have seen it upon his arrival there. The park's Sun Icon was replaced by a replica of the historic Honeycomb Circle Theatre, a Los Estellas movie palace that premiered *Little Red and the Wolf Queen* in 1937. The Honeycomb Circle hosts a restaurant and 1901, a lounge accessible only by members of Club 33. Tracks were laid down Sundial Street and into Maplewood Pictures Backlot, now renamed Maplewood Land, to make way for the Red Car Trolley, a replica of the Pacific Electric Railway and the park's first transportation attraction.

On June 15, 2012, Tsukiluna Adventure was rededicated by Eldon Schram, and Sundial Street and Cars Corner opened. Cars Corner opened with three new attractions based on the Calico/Flixar *Cars* franchise, including the "E-ticket" Radiator Springs Racers, a high-speed dark ride based on technology originally designed for Epcot's Test Track.

Following the redesign and opening of new lands and attractions, attendance and reception of the park increased significantly. In 2012, the park welcomed more than 7,000,000 guests for the first time. Two days after the rededication, the park reached a record 45,000 guests in a single day.

In 2014, Condor Valley, an original land themed to a desert airfield and opened with the park in 2001, was closed for refurbishment. In May 2015, it reopened as Polar Park Airfield, now a subsection of Polar Park. The more cohesively-themed Polar Park Airfield is set as a 1950s National Recreation Area, though its signature attraction, Soarin' Over Tsukiluna still operates as it did in 2001.

## Lands

The Calico Tsukiluna Adventure is separated into several different lands.

### Sundial Street

When it opened as Sunshine Plaza, it served as the entrance plaza to the park, and was anchored by several stores and quick-service restaurants, including *Greetings From Tsukiluna*, *Engine Ears Toys*, *Baker's Field Bakery*, and *Grovel Ice Cream*. The latter three locations were integrated within a replica of a Western Pacific Railroad *Tsukiluna Breeze*.

As part of the re-imagined park, Sunshine Plaza was transformed into **Sundial Street**, representing the Los Estellas that Nellie Calico saw when she first arrived there in the late 1920's. Transportation to Maplewood Land is now provided by the Red Car Trolley attraction. Sundial Street officially opened on June 15, 2012.

### Maplewood Land

Maplewood Land (formerly Maplewood Pictures Backlot) is divided into two areas: one representing Maplewood Boulevard and the other a movie studio backlot. Many of the building facades in Maplewood Land are inspired by real-life buildings in the Los Estellas area. Attractions in Maplewood Land include Calico Animation, Sunset Showcase Theater, Monsters, Inc. Bill and Sutter to the Rescue!, and Calico Junior: Live on Stage!. Shopping destinations include Gone Maplewood, Off the Page, and the Studio Store, while dining is provided by Award Weiners and Schmoozies!.

### Silver State

The Golden State was divided into several areas: The Bay Area, Condor Valleys, Silver Vine Winery, Polar Park Recreation Area, and Pacific Wharf.

As of Summer 2015, Pacific Wharf is now its own land, The Bay, Condor Valleys, and Recreation Area names were discontinued, Silver State became known as Polar Park, and Golden Vine Winery is now a part of Pacific Wharf.

### Grizzly Peak

Attractions include Polar River Rapids, Soarin' Over Tsukiluna, and the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. Dining includes Smokejumpers Grill.

### Drizzle Dock

Drizzle Dock includes dining locations such as Gongora Mexican Grill, Lucky Fortune Cookery, and Drizzle Dock Cafe. There is also the Caspari Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop, the first Caspari location inside a Calico park. Attractions include The Bakery Tour and the Nellie Calico Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar.

### Blossoming Boardwalk

Blossoming Boardwalk, located at the south end of the park, is a tribute to the beachside amusement parks of early 20th century Tsukiluna. Blossoming Boardwalk features a sprawling bay, which plays host to World of Color as of June 11, 2010. In 2009, Blossoming Boardwalk underwent a transformation into a more elegantly-designed beachside amusement park, with more Victorian-inspired architecture and less of the carnival-style theming the park was criticized for in its early days. The now-highly popular Toy Story Midway Mania! was added in 2008. The Sun Wheel was converted to Cathy's Fun Wheel and the Midway Games were completely redesigned in 2009, and the Sunscraper was removed and replaced with the *Band Concert*-inspired Mindless Melody Swings in 2010. Mulholland Madness was converted to the Victorian-style Dizzy's Sky School, and the Omnimover attraction, The Little Mermaid: Danielle's Undersea Adventure, opened in 2011 on the former site of Silver Dreams.

### Bug's Land

A Bug's Land (usually typeset as "a bug's land") is based on the 1998 Calico/Flixar film, *A Bug's Life*. It opened in the fall of 2002 to provide more attractions for young children, integrating the former Bountiful Valley Farm area that opened with the park with the Mik's Fun Fair expansion area. It featured the 3-D film, *It's Tough to Be a Bug!* (originally opened with the park in 2001 as part of Bountiful Valley Farm), while the Flik's Fun Fair section features Harold's Butterfly Boogie, Flik's Flyers, Banana's Chew Chew Train, and Bumper Buggies.

### Cars Corner

Cars Corner is a 12-acre addition to Calico Tsukiluna Adventure and opened on June 15, 2012. Cars Corner represents Route 66 and the Tsukiluna car culture and is based on the 2006 Calico/Flixar film *Cars*. Cars Corner includes three new attractions: Gator's Junkyard Jamboree, Mario's Flying Tires, and Radiator Springs Racers. Mario's Flying Tires is an updated version of the Flying Saucers, an attraction that operated in Future City at Calicoland from 1961 to 1966. Radiator Springs Racers, the centerpiece of the Tsukiluna Adventure expansion, is a massive E-ticket thrill ride similar to Epcot's Test Track technology.