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Today is the 20th Anniversary of Disney California Adventure. And sadly, just like when the park actually opened, it's passing with very little fanfare. Nonetheless, we figured we'd take a look a look back at one of the more interesting and different parks in the Disney family. We hope you enjoy!!! We'll start our look at one of the AP Preview days they held before the park was open, aka, one of the very few days the park was busy during it's first few years. You've come a long-long way baby.  We also did a "Theme Park Retrospective" of the park in 2001 last year. Click on any of the pictures below to see a larger version.  This first set is going WAY back to the earliest days of Disney's California Adventure. How about some DCA 1.0 night shots. The park always did look better at night. As the years went on, they added more seasonal decorations, attractions and shows. Looking back on this now, the "postcard" thing does kind of make sense. Of course, the big change came in 2012, and really continues through this day. Only a few things at the park are in their original 2001 state at this point. Marvel made it's way into the park a few years ago, and an all new Marvel attraction will (hopefully) open this year.   The last big change at the park was Pixar Pier. I do actually miss "Paradise Pier". I've loved most of the changes at the park, but this one was a step back IMO. Still, it doesn't change the fun or excitement of the star attraction in the area.   We hope you enjoyed this look back at Disney California Adventure. We can't wait to visit again, hopefully soon. Related Videos
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Written by Gregg Condon Today news broke that the Disneyland Annual Passholder Program has essentially been cancelled. We will try to outline this, what we know now, and what we think is going to happen in the future for any kind of passholder program. The official statement is below.  So what does mean, and what can we decipher from this statement.
 The words that pop out in that statement are "choice" and especially "flexibility". It's no secret that Disney has been seeking to roll out more Flex passes in recent years, that was our Annual Pass of choice when we got our new AP's in December 2019, after not having AP's for about 7 years. Obviously we don't know, but don't be surprised if the Annual Pass program looks like a Flex Pass program when it returns. And honestly, for me personally, I'm ok with it. We're planners, we live 100 miles away from the parks, so for us it's not that big of a deal. The people this is really going to impact are those who use Disneyland as a "hang out" or "babysitter", and these are the types of Passholders Disney has been trying to weed out for years, and they've finally come up with an excuse to do so. It's also not any accident that this announcement comes approximately 10 months after the parks closed. This is something that's most likely been in the works for some time, but from an "agreement" standpoint, they probably had to wait for a certain timeframe for this to happen. But it was inevitable. So why do we think some sort of Annual Passholder program will come back in the future?
What likely isn't coming back? SoCal passes. Sorry. They're gone. Done for. Kaput. No more lower tier passes that caused the parks to be busier on a Tuesday in October than a Saturday in July. Why does making all Annual Passes "Flex Passes" make sense.
Let's face it. Daily and resort visitors, you know, the people who spend money when they go to the parks, were getting hosed the past few years. Because the park was constantly packed with Annual Passholders who, let's face it, don't spend a whole lot of money. When Universal Studios Hollywood opened Wizarding World, they discovered a few things. One, attendance was not as high as was anticipated during the first summer it was open. And two, guest spending was through the roof during that same time period. Guess word spread that people will be more than happy to spend money on merchandise when they're not fighting through oppressive crowds all day. As we get through the next couple of months, and the vaccine becomes more readily available, and there is a light at the end of this awful tunnel, I'd anticipate we will start to hear about the new program. They already have it, they just aren't saying yet. And that's smart. There is pent-up demand for theme parks, and Disneyland in particular. By controlling the amount of people who will want to go to the parks ASAP they are setting themselves up for a smooth roll-out in a couple of months (we hope). What are your thoughts on these changes? Pro? Against? Let us know in the comments below. Related Videos
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 Today we have a rather large update from Disneyland and Disney California Adventure for you to feast your eyes on. During our visit last weekend we were kind of all over the place, which was a good thing. So this update has a bit of construction stuff, some Galaxy's Edge stuff, and some food and wine stuff (which we WILL get back to soon). Enjoy! Written by Gregg Condon Me: My kids are grown, I avoided ever getting a mini van! Disneyland: Hold our Moof Juice.  Our first stop in the morning was to get the Indy pop. I have to be 100% honest, I didn't realize it was a big one. When we walked into Wunderland Gallery in Downtown Disney to get ours I was shocked, as you can see below.
Before taking Indy back to the car for the day, had to take him around the park a bit.
After getting our Rise boarding group (18 FTW) I had to actually leave to run an errand. We made it to Rise with 5 minutes to spare. I also had to try out my new iPhone 11 Pro, rather impressed with the results. Check out a Rise of the Resistance Slide Show below. Video of the amazing ROTR Pre-Show and "transport" Jake and I also had some fun and did a reverse POV The extensive rehab for The Haunted Mansion is continuing
Apparently some of these scrims have come down since Saturday     Over at DCA we took a quick look at the Food and Wine festival. Didn't try any treats, but we'll be back. Avengers Campus construction is continuing as well.       As well as the admin building next to Luigi's.   They're still claiming "Summer" for this to open. We'll see.     There was some cone'struction going on in Cars Land    Back over at Disneyland, couldn't remember if we had a shot of this during our last update  And there was this thing.  If you've followed our site for any length of time you'll know we are huge fans of single rider lines. That said, not sure it really works for Star Tours. I think our wait was pretty much the same as the stand-by line.  No lie, I don't think I'd ridden "regular" Space Mountain since 2012. So yay!! Wonder if they'll bring back the Dick Dale soundtrack for 90's night? That would be worth the admission alone.     After saying goodbye to Jake (he had woof'ers to take care of) I went and did some other single rider things. Like Indy!!    Look into my eyes    Mark Twain ... Maaaaark Twaaaiiiin  It was a beautiful late afternoon, so decided to do a POV of the Mark Twain Boop  Sunset over Galaxy's Edge    Did single rider on the Falcon. I had only done this once before, as a pilot. I will say, there is definitely a difference between being a pilot and an engineer. The ride itself was still a ton of fun, more a difference in the movement of the cockpit. Another slideshow, because why not. :) What a piece of junk   There was some kind of lightsaber meet in Galaxy's Edge. This was super cool. These photos aren't watermarked so if you participated and want to use any of them, feel free to do so. :) I had never noticed all of the hidden mickey's before  Over in Fantasyland, some work going on with the Carousel and Snow White   It's going to look amazing when it's done   Goodnight sweet Disneyland. We'll be back soon!!  Related Videos
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