Disney's California Adventure Then, Now, and In The Future Part Two

Golden State

The Golden State is the largest land in Disney's California Adventure. The land is made up of six sub-lands to let guest feel how the state of California really is. The sub-lands are Sunshine Plaza (already talked about in part one), Condor Flats, Grizzly Peak Recreation Area, The Bay Area, Golden Vine Winery, and Pacific Wharf.

Condor Flats

Condor Flats was made to celebrate the aviation history of California. The E-ticket ride in this sub-land is Soarin’ Over California. There is also a restaurant called Taste Pilot's Grill located next to Soarin'.

Soarin' Over California below is a simulation type ride that gives guest the impression of hang gliding over famous places in California. The attraction can hold 87 guest and can make the smells of oranges and pine trees when you fly over them.

Below is a full video ride through of Soarin' Over California

Grizzly Peak Recreation Area

Grizzly Peak Recreation Area is the next sub-land in the Golden State. The land was themed to look like the forest of Yosemite and Redwood National Park. The main attraction here is Grizzly River Run on Grizzly Peak. This sub-land also has the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail which has showings of The Magic of Brother Bear based off the movie Brother Bear. Also there is an entrance to Disney's Grand Californian Hotel which was built inside the parks boundaries.

The top three photos are of Grizzly Peak and Grizzly River Run. Grizzly River Run is a rapid flume type attraction that circles around Grizzly Peak. Grizzly Peak is now the main icon of Disney's California Adventure but will soon be replaced with the Carthay Circle Theater when it is constructed. The photos below are of the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.

Golden Vine Winery

Golden Vine Winery was themed to look like California's Napa Valley. This sub-land is quite small and has the Wine Country Trattoria which is a restaurant that serves Italian food and different wines. This sub-land is also home to Golden Vine Winery which houses Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar which opened in October 2008, also the Golden Vine Winery offers wine tasting. The Blue Sky Cellar replaced the Seasons of the Vine film theater attraction that showed the different seasons of Napa Valley.

Above is the Wine Country Trattoria restuarant and below is the now replaced Seasons of the Vine theater.

Below is what replaced Seasons of the Vine. Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar shows the upcoming changes of Disney's California Adventure. If you want to see more of Blue Sky Cellar I will do a post only about it later.

Pacific Wharf

Pacific Wharf is themed to look like Monterey's Cannery Row and San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. This beautiful subland is filled with retuants and tour like attractions. The restaurants of  this sub-land are the Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill, Pacific Wharf Cafe, The Lucky Fortune Cookery, and a Karl Strauss beer truck whith a margarita stand. The Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill and The Lucky Fortune Cookery changed spots in 2009 after the original Lucky Fortune Cookery closed for years.

There is also two attractions in this sub-land Mission Tortilla Factory that shows guest how tortillas are made and the Boudin Bakery Tour that shows how sour dough bread is made. The Boudin Bakery Tour is lead by Rosie O'Donnell and Colin Mochrie as tour guides.

The Bay Area

The last sub-land in the Golden State is called The Bay Area. This area is themed to look like the bays of San Francisco California. The main attraction in The Bay Area was Golden Dreams staring Whoopi Goldberg. Also around the Golden Dreams theater are Victorian styled townhouses that hold the restrooms for that sub-land. The first photo below is supplied by yesterland.com.

The large archway entrance to the Golden Dreams theater is a replica of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The film was about the history of California and the attraction latter closed and was demolished on September 7, 2008. Below is the whole video of Golden Dreams.

Besides Sunshine Plaza The Bay Area is the only place in the Golden State that is getting a facelift for the expansion. The Golden Dreams Theater was torn down along with a San Francisco townhouse that was next to it to make room for a new E-ticket ride, "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure" which will open in 2011. The Palace of Fine Arts archway is still there and will serve as the new entrance for the attraction. Also The Bay Area is packing up it's bags and leaving the Golden State, the sub-land is now a part of Paradise Pier. Below is a photo of the construction site along with some concept art and models for the new Little Mermaid attraction. Also at the bottom is a video on how the ride could look like when it is finished.