California Dreamin’: An Armchair-Imagineered, Master-Planned Build-Out of Disney California Adventure Park

Discovery Bay

Background

In the 1970s, a brand new land was officially announced for Disneyland. Discovery Bay was meant to be a literary enclave built on the northern shore of the Rivers of America, right at the confluence of Frontierland and Fantasyland. That’s fitting, because as we explored in our in-depth Possibilityland: Discovery Bay feature, this retro-futuristic land would’ve answered the question, “What happened to all those miners who struck it rich in the Gold Rush of Big Thunder Mountain?”

The answer is simple: they would’ve continued West, traveling to the young port of San Francisco. There, they would’ve applied their newfound wealth toward the development of a nautical port of inventors, artists, adventurers, and immigrants from around the globe. Discovery Bay was meant to be a steampunk-stylized, turn-of-the-century seaport where you might find hot air balloons, submarines, and sailing ships all parked together at the dock. Discovery Bay never came to be (and in fact, the land remained unused until Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019)… But that should change…!

Build-Out

After all, California Adventure is the perfect place for this adventurous, steampunk San Francisco – a sort of “Frontierland” for the park, filled with literary heroes and nautical adventures. Fantastic and otherworldly, yet grounded, historic, and real, this immersive land of coastal treasures would be a great fit for the park and for this space. You can see that I added a lot of water here, and that’s on purpose.

Entering from the park’s “spine”, guests would cross a boardwalk over the water (fed by Grizzly Peak’s waterfall) and enter a street of multi-story facades. I picture this land (and particularly its Wharf area) as borrowing from Diagon Alley – whimsical, slanted buildings painted in earthy purples and greens and oranges; weather-worn and whimsical, advertising seance parlors and inventors and candy shops that may or may not exist behind each doorway.)

And on the left upon entering would reside the SEA MAIDEN – a sailing ship docked in a narrow inlet set against facades of whimsical pier-front storefronts. The area in front of the ship would be a small playground of climbable crates, cargo nets, slides, and more. A gangplank onto the ship itself would lead to multiple levels for guests to discover, including references to the legendary Society of Explorers and Adventurers.

That narrow streetscape would also include the ramshackle workshop of PROFESSOR MARVEL’S GALLERY OF WONDERS. At last giving California Adventure its own Tiki-Room-style Audio-Animatronic show, this concept (extrapolated from plans for the initial Discovery Bay back in the ’70s) would see a whimsical, musical, magical traveler named Professor Marvel welcome guests into his gallery of singing mechanical marvels, enchanted plants, and more, all aided by his sidekick – a fanciful green dragon. (Yes, this concept eventually evolved into the Lost Legend: Journey into Imagination.)

Here, I also included a reborn version of the Lost Legend: The Adventurers Club – a sort of mix of walkthrough, restaurant, bar, and theater that was once found in Walt Disney World’s Downtown Disney. A “living theater” experience, the Adventurers Club earned a legion of fans who still miss the improv-inspired attraction, know its creed by heart, and would love to interact with its cast of original characters… Discovery Bay feels like the place to do it!

The Adventurers Club also serves as a stop on the Red Car Trolley. Yes, the Trolley would make its way through Buena Vista Street, on to Hollywoodland, finally end its route in Discovery Bay, where a trolley would actually make sense! Its entry from Hollywoodland would also be where you would find the two major attractions of the Wharf area.

The first would of course be TOWER OF TERROR: CURSE OF THE HIGHTOWER HOTEL. If you know your international Disney Parks, you’ll recognize this as recasting California Adventure’s existing tower to take on the appearance and story of Tokyo DisneySea’s Modern Marvel: Tower of Terror. Without using Hollywood or The Twilight Zone, Imagineers concocted this adventurous, nautical, mysterious ride that instead sees guests come face-to-face with a stolen idol whose curse dooms any who step into the long-abandoned Hightower Hotel…

While The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror’s story and setting are a more obvious fit for California Adventure, I think positioning this version of the ride as an anchor of Discovery Bay makes perfect sense, and would also create a lovely-looking tower to preside over the park… much nicer than, say, the lightning-scarred Hollywood variation or the pipes-and-satellite-dishes of Mission: Breakout!

The Wharf area would also make use of the very, very large showbuilding that currently houses the Animation building. While I saved the Animation Academy and made it an attraction along Hollywood Blvd., the Sorcerer’s Workshop (very cool) and Turtle Talk with Crush just don’t fit this version of the park, and that space is better utilized as THE FIREWORKS FACTORY – an exciting, colorful, musical, kinetic, interactive family dark ride. Like Tokyo’s Monsters Inc. ride, no scores! Just a joyful tour of the warehouse, setting off sparklers, pinwheels, and lights, all to the tune of a Sherman Brothers-esque song.

Leaving the more grounded Wharf and walking around a coastal lighthouse, guests would arrive in the second, more fantastical “half” of the land, Hyperion Harbor. Wrapped in rockwork, a rising boardwalk overlooks the bay and its literary vehicles, gaining in elevation until it reaches an airship dock…

Accessed via a descending spiral staircase, guests could enter the NAUTILUS GRAND SALON – a new full-service restaurant seemingly set aboard the Nautilus submarine that’s docked in the bay. (In reality, the descending staircase and underwater ‘bridge’ would truly connect to a hidden showbuilding containing the restaurant. This is a trick stolen from Disneyland Paris, where a similarly-disorienting entry experience appears to lead into the park’s Mysteries of the Nautilus walkthrough.)

But the rising path toward the rocky cliffs of Discovery Bay would also lead to two starring attractions…

… First, 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA would bring this sensational, suspended, “underwater” dark ride from DisneySea to California, also paying homage to Disneyland’s own, original Submarine Voyage.

… Second, the park would gain a new starring E-Ticket with VOYAGE TO THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. Using the rotating boat ride system behind Shanghai’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure, this dark ride would see guests take to the seas and explore the trials that await in search of Captain Nemo’s secret lair on Vulcania. A unique, thrilling ride that balances projection and physical sets, the headlining journey would be an anchor for the park.

Discovery Bay would be a compelling retro-futuristic mix of Frontier and Fantasy, all wrapped up in wood and bronze and bubbling lagoons. Despite being a favorite never-built concept from Imagineering’s archives, a highly theme-park-able place, and a genuine California-set concept, the chances of the modern Walt Disney Company green-lighting this project are slim to none. That’s a shame because this is a land that would transcend flavor-of-the-week film tie-ins and become a timeless, beloved space with its own mythology and merchandising if it were given a chance.

Also levied against the chances of Discovery Bay: the project (as I’ve designed it) would be among the largest theme park lands at the resort, on par with the 14-acre Galaxy’s Edge – a massive space to dedicate to a project without a baked-in blockbuster franchise. Which also makes Discovery Bay a stark contrast to its equally ambitious and spectacular neighbor…

Radiator Springs

Background

When Cars Land was announced as the $500 million anchor of Disney California Adventure’s rebirth, fans balked at the idea. In complaints practically identical to those that would later plague the development of Pandora: The World of Avatar, discussion boards were alight with criticism that Pixar’s Cars was unworthy of a permanent land, didn’t fit in Disney California Adventure, and was a downright dumb, flavor-of-the-week choice for Disney’s first imitation of the Wizarding World’s immersive, plucked-from-the-screen, “Living Land” formula.

Also like Pandora, that changed when the land actually opened on June 15, 2012 as the highlight and cornerstone of the “new” California Adventure. Sure, the desert town of Radiator Springs is somewhere along Route 66 – but decidedly not in California. But as we explored in our Modern Marvels: Radiator Springs Racers story, Cars Land was an absolute game-changer and exactly what California Adventure needed. Arguably, it remains the best of Disney’s “Living Lands” to this day. Which means there really isn’t too much to change…

Build-Out

The first thing I did with the land is to rename it. I get the purpose of the name “Cars Land.” I do. In terms of guest experience, conciseness and search engine optimization, we will probably always see these IP-focused lands explicitly name their franchise. Cars Land would’ve been called Cars Land by guests even if it weren’t called Cars Land. But California Adventure, in particular suffered from a glut of “Lands” (Hollywood Land, A Bug’s Land, and Cars Land) in a park where no such naming convention was really required. So in my park, it’s “Radiator Springs.”

Little else is worth changing in this spectacular space, but there is a never-built aspect of the land that would be wonderful to see revived…

Believe it or not, at one time, “Car Land” had nothing to do with Pixar’s Cars. (Weirdly, it seems to largely be a coincidence that Disney’s early designs of a desert Route 66 town celebrating Californian car culture happened to coincide with development of a Pixar film with the same setting.)

Even back then, one obvious idea for the land was to import a version of Hollywood Studios’ Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant – a fan-favorite eatery wherein guests dine in permanently parked cars beneath a perpetual night sky while watching sci-fi B-movie trailers and drive-in interstitials. Concept art for the “Car Land” version of the concept (above) proves that the project was earmarked for California Adventure. And in fact, a Radiator Springs Drive-In is included in early models of the finished, Pixarified Cars Land, too…

If a Drive-In Restaurant was ever planned for a “Phase II” of Cars Land, it never came to be. The real estate it would’ve occupied is taken in the real world by Avengers Campus, and in my park by the streets of Discovery Bay.

So to include the RADIATOR SPRINGS DINE-IN THEATER, I constructed a new walk through the “Taillight Caverns” carrying guests to an auxiliary showbuilding. (A false “screen” pop-up on the roof would give guests a hint of the restaurant’s existence and theme from the main street.) A table-service restaurant is just about the final touch Cars Land needs to be a perfectly well-rounded land.

Obviously, it would be fun to see trailers of great Hollywood classics, sci-fi B-movies, and Disney animated classics as they would exist in the Cars universe (with cars in every role). Would the main character in The Little Mermaid be half-car, half-submarine?

Otherwise, there’s not much to change about Radiator Springs, nor much room with which to change it. Leaving JUNKYARD JAMBOREE and ROLLICKIN’ ROADSTERS in tact preserves the land’s spectacular spread of uniquely supersized and perfectly-themed family flat rides, and the mix of retail and dining in the land is pretty much perfect otherwise.