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Disneyland Donates California Zephyr Locomotive to Western Pacific Railroad Museum

Despite having California right in the title, the park known as California Adventure has never had a coherent theme. Was it a movie studio? A fantasy-take on the golden state? or a wistful glance at the history of seaside amusement parks? There was no one theme, but it was trying to capture the gestalt of California. The new ‘theme’ is even less coherent (but that’s a different article) and it requires the removal of everything that greeted guests and set up the park’s original story.

The new story (about Walt’s arrival in California) doesn’t need railroads (despite the very important role they played in the early life of Walt Disney, including his arrival). So that means it’s time for the California Zephyr to hit the road. But some good will come of it, the Disneyland Resort has donated the California Zephyr train previously located at the entrance to Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, CA.

The train and related artifacts, which were part of the entrance to the theme park, arrived at their new home August 6 and will become part of the museum’s Zephyr Project collection. Plans for a gallery dedicated to sharing the legacy of the California Zephyr are underway.

“Walt Disney’s love of trains made this donation perfectly fitting,” said Disneyland Resort President George A. Kalogridis. “The expansion of Disney California Adventure park provided the opportunity for us to make this meaningful donation and we are thrilled the train will offer museum visitors and train enthusiasts an immersive experience, much like it did here.”

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New video from California Adventure Promotes The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s UnderSea Adventure

A new video from Disney Parks provides a longer introduction to the resorts newest attraction The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. That was a tight package, as they say in the biz. Would you like to see more like this from Disney?

Behind the scenes of Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid at Magic Kingdom

Disney has released a new video hosted by Imagineer Chris Beatty who gives us a sneak peek at the making of Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid. The video includes some never-before-seen sketches, artist renderings, attraction maps and more, and shares some details on Prince Eric’s castle and the attraction’s creative queue.

Also included is a brief talk by Imagineer Eric Miller with some behind the scenes glimpses of rock work from a few weeks ago.

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Inside California Adventure’s Corn Dog Castle

Although I’m not 100 percent pleased with the expansion of the Paradise Pier theme of California Adventure, I am happy they managed to save the Corn Dog Castle. Corn Dogs from the Little Red Wagon inside Disneyland have always been one of my real pleasures… Read More »Inside California Adventure’s Corn Dog Castle

Goofy’s Flight School Open at California Adventure

One part of the renovation of California Adventure’s Paradise Pier is now open. Disney has released this short promotional video for Goofy’s Flight School tying it into one of the short animated films that stars our lovable Goofy. What do you think? Have you been… Read More »Goofy’s Flight School Open at California Adventure

How Long Will You Wait in Line?

The crowds were out in full force at Disneyland this weekend. Of course this is to be expected. School is out and two new rides have just opened.

Tomorrowland could be best described as very very crowded. If you do not need to approach Tomorrowland from Main Street at the moment just don’t even go there. Access Space Mountain from the other side of the park and avoid the Jedi crowds.

I had a plan of action to get the most possible rides on Star Tours. I booked a room in one of the Disneyland Resort hotels so that we could get the Soundsational Summer Package. Not only does this give you early entry into the parks on certain days it will give you something even more valuable. 2 Fast Passes per guest. This is a huge deal if you want to avoid standing in the line for Star Tours.

The early entry hours this Sunday meant that Disney resort guests could enter Disneyland at 7am which is one hour ahead of the rest of the park guests. This should have got us a head start but of course after leaving the park at midnight the night before things didn’t quite work out as planned. So we were a little late reaching the Fast Pass kiosk at 8:15am.

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Behind the Mural at The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure

Here’s a short interview with Imagineer Larry Nikolai who created the mural found in the loading and unloading area of The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. Nikolai designed the beautiful mural located at the entrance himself by creating a scaled rendering in his garage.… Read More »Behind the Mural at The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure

Cars Land Set to Open Summer 2012

We just learned that coming in Summer of 2012 will be the new Cars Land themed area of California Adventure. Cars Land recreates the Radiator Springs, the town in which the original animated feature Cars was set. It encompasses 12 acres and will include 3… Read More »Cars Land Set to Open Summer 2012