When I bought my first digital camera in 1996, I was the only person I knew that had a digital camera. I had to explain it as a “computer camera” when folks asked what it was. No one knew the term “digital camera” yet.
Even when I’d visit Disneyland, no one had them. You’d see the occasional camcorder or film camera, but no one was snapping away digital … yet. That changed quickly.
Later, I took a 3-D camcorder attachment on a trip, recording interlaced 3-D to Digital8 video tapes.
Around 2005, I took a “one shot panorama” camera gadget to the parks. You would point the camera up, where it would take a photo of the bottom of a half mirror ball. Software would later turn that in to a panorama with limited up/down viewing. This was the predecessor to the 360 cameras we have today.
When I “returned” to Disneyland in 2017, I took my RICOH Theta VR360 camera with me. I have never shared any of these photos before (there really wasn’t an easy way to share them back then), but I have started uploading them to my “Park Hopping in VR” YouTube group:
In the early days of the public Internet, even before the World Wide Web, I felt very plugged in to what was going on with Disney theme parks. I followed usenet newsgroups like alt.disney.disneyland and rec.arts.disneyparks. I was on the GEnie online service hanging out in the Destination Florida RoundTable (which also featured a Disneyland area for some reason). Folks routinely posted about their recent visit to the parks. It was because of discussions there about the building of the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland that I made a goal to return to Disneyland once that ride opened. I had not been there since Space Mountain/Big Thunder were new.
Over the 1990s, fan sites, web message forums and all kinds of new resources replaced the old newsgroups and pay services. If something was known, it was shared. I felt completely plugged in, and on top of every tidbit happeningâfrom the change of a cup size or altering of paper napkins, to more major things like ride refurbishments.
It was a great time. But now I have regrets.
I became disconnected, though not because I wanted to be. I had financial struggles for nearly a decade. If I couldnât go, I didnât need to follow a dozen websites daily to see the latest news about Disneyland of Walt Disney World.
In those years, money was so tight I took no vacations. I had no home phone, no cell phone and no home internet. The only contact I had with cybespace was through an iPad or taking my laptop down to a place with free WiFi.
I was only able to return to Disneyland thanks to a friend offering me free lodging in his vacation home, and after getting a different job that had slightly higher pay.
That trip, my friends, was probably the best Disney trip Iâve ever had since my first ones as a kid in the 1970s. I was aware that Cars Land had been added but did not know any details. One of my local SoCal friends, Steve (R.I.P.), escorted me through Disney California Adventure park where I saw the new entrance area and many other changes since my last visit in 2009. He walked me past the main Cars Land entrance, distracting me with details on the other side. He wanted me to walk through the backside arch in to the land and see the âmountain range.â
We did.
Cars Land (2017)
And it was epic.
Riding Radiator Springs Racers spoiler-free was also an absolute pleasure. I had read no reviews, seen no ride through videos, or even read comments about it.
Best. Ride. Ever.
Because of that, I continued to try to avoid spoilers. This made the Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout a fantastic new experience when that ride opened.
The magic was back.
I have not had a Disney annual pass since the pre-Covid era. I did, however, taken advantage of a low cost (âthree months freeâ) passes to Universal Studios Orlando, which turned out to be a gateway back in to regular theme park trips — just not to Disney.
And since I had not been following Universal at all, ever, I did not even know there was a new mega King Kong ride there. I remember walking from Jurassic Park and seeing this “mountain” looming in the distance. “What is that!?” I thought.
Reign of Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Approaching it that first time was thrilling.
Between the time I started writing this article, many months ago, and the time I finish it today, I have become a bit more plugged in with Universal Orlando — watching YouTube video “news” about the park from time to time. But, no where near the level of plugged-in-ness I was in the 1990s-2000s with Disney.
And I think I prefer it like this.
If you ever feel burnt out or jaded, try unplugging for awhile. It might just give your next visit a boost!
At the Sonoma Terrace at Disney California Adventure is a $16 (as of 10/2022) pineapple rum cocktail. It’s 10% alcohol, and packs more of a punch for the money than any other drink in the park (beyond something the real bars at Lamplight Lounge or Carthay Circle could make, of course).
And, it’s a bit unique — from Hawaii and not available many states. If you are looking for it, here it is:
In February 2001, I got to visit the just-opened Disney’s California Adventure Park. It seems the first thing we did was get breakfast at the ABC Soap Opera Bistro. Here’s a few minutes of video from that brand new restaurant.
I visited Disney’s California Adventure about a week after it first opened. I intentionally planned my visit to avoid the “opening crowds.” Looking back, I wish I had been there for opening day. I was lucky enough to see a few things during my first visit that were gone a week later, and never returned, like the “bee bodies” at the Orange Stinger:
DCA bee bodies at the Orange Stinger on February 18, 2001.
But I digress.
One of the (unsubstantiated) rumors about DCA during its early planning was that it would not have Disney characters in it. Really? Disney already tried that with EPCOT Center, which opened without Mickey and gang, but added them soon after because, apparently, people expect to see Disney characters at a Disney park.
True or not, the park certainly opened with characters. Here’s a look of some of them I saw during my first visit to the brand new park.
Over in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, characters were on the street…
Kuzco (Emporer’s New Groove) and (maybe?) Cruela de Vil on February 18, 2018.Mushu (Hercules) on February 21, 2001.Esmerelda (Hunchback of Notre Dame) on February 21, 2001.
Inside the Animation Building, I was surprised when Mickey and Minnie came over to hang out with us. It was a great, air conditioned way to get some mouse time without a long line. (And notice their costumes… They are dressed as if they are on vacation. They live at Disneyland, but visit DCA.)
Mickey and Minnie hanging out in the Animation Building on February 18, 2018.
Over at Bountiful Valley Farm, Flik from Bug’s Life was making appearancs. This made sense since It’s Tough to be a Bug was located there, and featured him.
Flik in Bountiful Valley Farm on February 18, 2018.
Near the entrance of the park, at Sunshine Plaza, you could find some of the classic Disney characters — also dressed as if they were on vacation. Here’s Goofy.
Goofy on vacation at DCA on February 21, 2001.
And Max! (I will admit I’ve never seen anything featuring Max. I think I aged out of cartoons before The Goofy Movie and things like Disney Afternoon, so there is a large collection of Disney characters I just don’t recognize or connect with.)
Max on vacation at DCA on February 21, 2001.Donald on vacation at DCA on February 21, 2001.Mickey and Minnie on vacation at DCA on February 21, 2001.
Since there wasn’t any specific meet and greet area for characters, you could find them pretty much all over the park. Even in San Francisco. (I’m the goofy one on the left, with camera bags galore.)
Me meeting Pluto in the San Francisco area on February 21, 2001.
When I visited later that year, I ran into him over in the Paradise Pier area with some duck. It’s interesting seeing how outfits change the “look” of a character.
Pluto in Paradise Pier on December 17, 2001.
Hey! A duck. December 17, 2001.
And there was even a street show featuring many of your favorite Disney characters…
Character show on February 14, 2001.
So IF the rumors of “DCA won’t have characters” were ever true, it’s clear that they went the opposite direction and made sure the park was packed with them, even on opening week.
Yes, Virginia. In 2000, Disneyland did announce intentions to build a third theme park with initial construction beginning in 2003 and completion by 2010.
They even had a website about it… here is what it looked like in 2000:
It has some before and after images of the area around the resort that are stunningly different. This is what was going on leading to Disney’s California Adventure opening.
Several things they mentioned did make it to the resort, but not into a third theme park.
I think I will make this the final part (at least for now) since it has become clear I could spend a month just writing about what was going on during the construction years of Disney’s California Adventure. And I get bored easily.
There is one other significant preview item from 2000 – the other DCA preview center that was open inside Disneyland at the Opera House exit:
August 6, 2000.
Unlike the original preview center in the esplanade, this one allowed photos. It also had far, far less on display than the other one.
Unfortunately, the low resolution of my digital photos makes this sign hard to read, but I found it interesting that it says “Beginning early in 2001” rather than a specific opening date. And look! There’s that Walt Disney quote about “Disneyland will never be completed” too.
August 6, 2000.
Inside were some concept photos around a large map of the new resort area. Disneyland (blue/purple blob) was at the top, and the “districts” of Disney’s California Adventure were shown below it. Instead of “lands” like other Disney parks, DCA was going to have areas that groups together sub-areas in a way that certainly made sense to someone.
In this map, I think the red was the Grand Californian hotel, and yellow/orange represents Downtown Disney.
August 6, 2000.
I have the very first press package for Disney’s California Adventure, and what was eventually built was a bit different. These concept drawings, however, were much closer to reality since this was just a year from opening.
August 6, 2000.
There is so much “Yester-DCA” in this photo. You can see the original Paradise Pier with the Mickey ears on the roller coaster loop. The Orange Stinger is shown, as well as the Maliboomer space shot ride. The Sun Wheel has its original face.
Basically, nothing in that drawing still exists, at least not in that form.
August 6, 2000.
Do you remember this preview center?
At some point, I need to dig out my original press packet and go through it and do a series on “what was planned” versus “what we got.” If you know of a site that already did this work, please let me know and I’ll just link to that instead.
Unless I come up with a part 5, this concludes this series. For now.
As the year 2000 rolled around, and we all survived the “Y2K Bug,” things were really happening. Disney’s California Adventure was less than a year away from opening.
Grizzly Peak had appeared…
Grizzly Peak construction on May 3, 2000.
California Screamin’ had appeared…
California Screamin’ on May 3, 2000.
A beautiful new tram area for the Pinnochio lot was in use, with the Grand Californian Hotel across from it…
New tram loading area and Grand Californian Hotel on May 5, 2000.
The old ticket booths in front of Disneyland were gone, and new ones had been built on each side…
New ticket booths on May 3, 2000.New ticket booths on November 2, 2000.Ticket prices on May 4, 2000.
It was $41 per day to get in, or $199 for a Premium Annual Pass? Geez, Disney. Who has that kind of money for an amusement park? At least the Southern California pass was “only” $79. Man, ridiculous pricing.
The construction wall had been moved up closer, and now had large windows in it so you could see the new park’s entrance.
Construction wall with windows on August 5, 2000.
Let’s take a peek through those windows.
Peeking through the windows on May 5, 2000.
Oh. In May it wasn’t very interesting. I’ll keep jumping around 2000 until I find something that is.
Peeking through the windows on August 5, 2000.
By August, we had a much better look at the new post card entrance, the Golden Gate bridge, and the huge letters that would spell “CALIFORNIA.” The park is supposed to open just five months after this photo was taken. Can they possibly make it? Let’s see how they were doing a few months later…
DCA entrance progress on November 2, 2000.
By November, the mural painting was going up and things were looking much more like a theme park entrance. Disney might just pull this off after all (take that, highly inaccurate and wildly speculating Disfan rumor sites of the day).
I also remember how excited folks where to see the Hollywood backdrop lit up for the first time:
Hollywood area backdrop at night on October 9, 2000.
And, of course, Disney had already began selling merchandise earlier in the year. They had a little cart set up outside of Disneyland in the esplanade area.
DCA merchandise cart on May 3, 2000.DCA pre-opening merchandise on May 3, 2000.
Look at all the stuff! Shirts, buttons, pens, mouse pads, and more! I wonder how much these things would go for on eBay these days?
This is also when the fancy new outdoor picnic area first appeared, with its special lockers.
Fancy new outdoor picnic area on August 5, 2000.
And, of course, Downtown Disney construction was in full swing.
Downtown Disney construction on August 6, 2000.
Also, this was the year the parking structure would open. In May, it was still blocked off:
Parking structure construction on May 7, 2000.
But in August, it was open for business!
Parking structure now open on August 5, 2000.
Though there was still work going on. The escalators had opened without any roof, so temporary coverings were added.
Temporary escalator coverings on August 5, 2000.
I could probably do a few more pages about what was going on with the parking structure. The original traffic routing and layout was quite different than what it is today. Instead, I’ll put in one more photo showing the new parking structure tram loading area, along with construction on one of the other escalators.
Parking structure tram loading area on August 5, 2000.
There was so much going on. One of the hardest things to remember is that the area surrounding Disneyland used to be quite … rough. Liquor stores, run down convenience stores, crappy motels… These things were what drove Walt Disney to buy so much land in Florida so he could control what was built next to his projects.
But during the Disneyland Resort project, the entire surrounding area got a facelift. I wish I had photos of “before” to share, but I never thought to take pictures of run down motels and scary looking liquor stores.
Previously, I showed you a bit about the state of parking in 1998 as construction on the upcoming Disney’s California Adventure began. Let’s jump ahead to the next year now.
My visit in 1999 began with me parking at the Lion King lot.
Lion King parking lot on March 23, 1999.
A tram would take guests to the “Christmas tree lot” at the front of the park. Notice the copper color scheme on Space Mountain back then, from the “new” New Tomorrowland that had recently opened.
“Christmas tree lot” tram area on March 23, 1999.
The same lots (Lion King and Pinnochio) were still being used, but this directional sign was new. Notice something added?
Parking lot sign on March 23, 1999.
A Disneyland Resort Preview Center had been opened to give guests a glimpse of things to come — specifically, Disney’s California Adventure, the Grand Californian hotel, and Downtown Disney.
The Preview Center was set up along the construction wall across from the Disneyland entrance.
Disneyland Resort Preview Center on March 23, 1999.
It was basically just a tent with some potted plants (er, potted trees?) around it, and lots of scaffolding. Because scaffolding is magic.
Disneyland Resort Preview Center tent on March 23, 1999.Disneyland Resort Preview Center entrance on May 23, 1999.
I’d love to show you what was inside (such as all the concept art that was on the walls), but there was a strict “no photography allowed” policy — and a cast member enforcing it! (Somewhere I have a picture of the sign that says I can’t take pictures there, but I couldn’t find it at the time of this writing.)
You could, however, climb up to the top of the observation deck and take pictures of the construction progress.
Preview Center observation deck on March 23, 1999.
There wasn’t much going on at this point.
DCA construction on May 23, 1999.
They did have a panoramic photo of the view with an artist rendering overplayed on it so you could better picture what they were working on.
Hey, look! This hole is going to become Soarin’ Over California!
Soarin’ Over California construction on March 23, 1999.
This was also when they were building the new cast member costuming building.
Cast member costuming building construction on March 23, 1999.
And it went up much faster than DCA! Two months later and…
Cast member costuming building construction on May 12, 1999.
If you parked in the Pinnochio lot, you could see the parking structure construction:
Parking structure construction on May 11, 1999.
Although the construction made getting in and out of the park a bit inconvenient, it was a very exciting time to be visiting. In just three years the resort would more than double in size with a new theme park, high end resort hotel, and shopping complex.
But, there was still more previewing yet to be done.
Happy Anniversary to Disney’s/Disney California Adventure (February 8, 2001).
Yes, Virginia, there used to be a time when you could park in front of Disneyland and walk to the entrance. The construction of Disney’s California Adventure (today known as Disney California Adventure) changed all that. Let’s take a peek back to the pre-DCA days. We’ll begin in the year 1997.
The Disneyland parking lot was still in use in 1997.
Disneyland parking lot on May 17, 1997.
By my visit in May of 1998, it was not. They were using the Pinnochio lot near the Disneyland Hotel, and the Lion King lot (Simba and Timon) at the corner of the old parking lot.
Parking sign on May 23, 1998.
I am not sure which lot this is (Pinnochio, I think?), but the entrance area was far less dramatic than the old Disneyland entrance:
New parking entrance on May 24, 1998.
$7 to park? Are you kidding me? Geez, Disney.
This was also the time when the tram would have to wait for traffic and cross a public road!
Why did the tram cross the road on May 23, 1998?To get to the other side on May 26, 1998.
Of course, this required Disney to staff the “open” tram entrance with a guard.
Disneyland guard guarding the tram entrance on May 23, 1998.
This was also when the new tram drop-off spot for the Lion King lot opened up. Disfans were calling it the “Christmas tree lot.” It had color-coded light posts (red, blue and yellow) and those odd oversized concrete traffic cones. If you look in the right of this photo, you can barely make out the old Disneyland sign, too:
The “Christmas tree lot” tram area on May 24, 1998.
There was quite a bit of a barren walk from the tram drop-off to the park entrance back then. (It’s just as far today, but you pass ticket booths and such now.)
Walking to the entrance on May 23, 1998.
Construction walls were up across from the entrance to Disneyland. In this photo, you can see the transition between the older, smaller yellow and blue trams, and the new mega trams (called “Tramzilla” by Disfans back then).
Construction walls on May 22, 1998.
But in the “public” area where guests could walk, much nicer construction walls were used, and they had concept art. The tree lined walkway in the left of this next photo is the one I showed in an earlier post.
And that’s what 1998 was like. The former Disneyland parking lot (which I believe was larger than all of Disneyland itself) was turned into a construction zone with only a corner left for parking. The rest of parking was across the way (the side where Downtown Disney extends to the Disneyland Hotel today).
The parking structure was under construction, but it was still two years away from completion.
