Disney California Adventure

**Disney California Adventure** is a theme-park at Disneyland Resort. It held the California incarnation of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror up until 2017 when it was replaced by *Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!*.

## History

### Backstory

Each part of Disney California Adventure is themed to being a different fictionalized region of California.

### Development history

Disney California Adventure was made as a scheme by then Disney CEO Michael Eisner to take over California's tourism industry by recreating all of California's main sights in one park. The decision had to be made between California Adventure and, "WestCot", a West Coast version of EPCOT with a golden Spaceship Earth. Eisner's plan did not succeed and California Adventure was a large failure for Disney.

In 2007, California Adventure went through large over-hauls to make it of a competent quality. Throughout 2010s, this meant heavier integrations of Disney franchises such as Cars, Toy Story and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

## Summary

### Lands

* **Avengers Campus**: Avengers Campus is themed to being a militarized outpost for the superheroes, "The Avengers" in the city of Orange, California.
* **Buena Vista Street**: Buena Vista Street is set in the neighbourhood of Buena Vista Street, Los Angeles around the 1920s/1930s and is based around a romanticized LA which a young Walt Disney entered show-business from.
* **Cars Land**: Cars Land is is set in the fictional Arizona town of Radiator Springs along Route 66 in the Cars universe where everyone is a sentient vehicle.
* **Grizzly Peak**: Grizzly Peak is a fictional 1950s national-park and airfield around the bear-shaped California mountain, "Grizzly Peak" which is connected to the spirituality of the land's Indigenous peoples.
* **Hollywood Land**: Hollywood Land is a glamorized portrayal of Hollywood, namely around Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard.
* **Pacific Wharf**: Pacific Wharf is themed towards being an old, California fishing port.
* **Paradise Gardens Park**: Paradise Gardens Park part of Paradise Pier, a part of the fictional seaside carnival from the victorian era, owned by one Gustav Tinkershmidt.
* **Pixar Pier**: Pixar Pier is a victorian style boardwalk themed around the many properties of Pixar Studios; divided into, "Neighbourhoods" based on The Incredibles (2004), Toy Story (1995), Inside Out (2015), and assorted.

## Tower of Terror attractions

### Avengers Campus

#### Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!

The attraction replaced California's Tower of Terror while also reusing its basic architecture and ride-system. In the Collector's office is the hat of one of the bellhops and two bookmarks from the Hollywood Tower Hotel, both of which are adorned with the hotel's logo. The Collector's Fortress also contains assorted reused props from the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror such as books and a portrait of Napoleon III.

### Buena Vista Street

#### The Buena Vista Bugle

Three editions of the newspaper have featured stories on the Hollywood Tower Hotel. The first was "Lightning Strikes the Hollywood Tower Hotel" which detailed the investigation of the hotel after it was struck by lightning and five people disappeared. Another story was , "Ghost Hunters Materialize at the Hollywood Tower Hotel" which featured a picture of the hotel's ghosts Sally Shine, Dewey Todd, Emeline Partridge, Carolyn Crosson and Gilbert London. Other stories were, "Fall's Top Fall", and, "Top Four Fall Favourites"; all of which stories were set after the Halloween incident of 1939.

#### Citizens of Buena Vista Street

Citizens of Buena Vista Street character Officer Calvin Blue is mentioned as having investigated a disappearance at the Hollywood Tower Hotel in The Buena Vista Bugle.

#### Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe

The Silver Lake Sisters are characters connected to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and have portraits in their café, commemorating performances at the Hollywood Tower Hotel.

#### Red Car Trolley

The Hollywood Tower Hotel was a stop and advertised inside of the trolly.

### Paradise Gardens

A flyer in Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe mentions a Friday night dance marathon at the, "Paradise Gardens Ballroom". A billboard for Paradise Per is visible in Disney's Hollywood Studios on Sunset Boulevard, the land based around the Hollywood Tower Hotel.

#### Silly Symphony Swings

A flyer on the board of Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe mentions a *William Tell* overture band performance at Paradise Gardens park. This is a tribute to the attraction *Silly Symphony Swings* in the *Paradise Gardens* area of Disney California Adventure which is based on the Mickey Mouse cartoon *The Band Concert* (1935).

### Other connections

#### Sunset Boulevard

Both parks contained representations of Sunset Boulevard, the Hollywood Tower Hotel, the Pacific Electric Railway, and the Carthay Circle Theatre. A billboard for Paradise Pier is visible on Sunset Boulevard in Disney's Hollywood Studios. Citizens of Hollywood character Officer Percival Peabody's mailbox is on Buena Vista Street.

## Trivia

* The two main park-icons for DCA are the Pixar Pal-A-Round ferris-wheel and Grizzly Peak.

## References

1. ↑ https://insidethemagic.net/2017/05/photos-guardians-galaxy-mission-breakout-queue-pays-tribute-tower-terror/
2. ↑ https://www.slashfilm.com/551270/guardians-of-the-galaxy-mission-breakout-easter-eggs/
3. ↑ https://disneylandmaps.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/vol-1-iss-1.pdf
4. ↑ https://disneylandmaps.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/vol-1-iss-4.pdf
5. ↑ https://disneylandmaps.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/vol-3-iss-4.pdf
6. ↑ https://disneylandmaps.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/vol-4-iss-4.pdf
7. ↑ https://disneylandmaps.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/vol-1-iss-1.pdf
8. ↑ https://blogmickey.com/2017/10/photo-paradise-pier-billboard-appears-sunset-boulevard/
9. ↑ https://duchessofdisneyland.com/california-adventure/buena-vista-street-mailboxes/