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.
Very cool build out! I know this is a late comment some ideas to consider:
1. With so much animation-themed stuff already on Hollywood Blvd., if they do want to replace the Hyperion Theater (not advocating that, but it’s not being used…) I would love to see a recreation of Disney’s original Hyperion Studio, with the Mickey Mouse billboard on the roof and beautiful Spanish style. What a great Disney-specific “weeinie” that would be. Then that street would also be made less “generic Hollywood” and be re-named “Disney’s Animation Avenue.” It would celebrate Disney’s animation heritage and art form. What would go inside the Hyperion Theater? Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (an indoor, special-effects-filled version)…it was the money-making movie that was made at that studio (and premiered at the Carthay Circle, creating logical bookends to the street). The queue would go through the studio: animators offices, ink and paint, camera dept. and then to the screening room where we’d see the movie on the screen as we switchback down to the ride vehicle loading.
2. I love the idea of resurrecting Discovery Bay. Given we now have Avenger’s Campus there, maybe Pixar Pier could be made into Discovery Bay? Steampunk, whimsical, mysterious San Francisco? Sign me up! But they need to put a skyline flat or mountain range behind it to block out the outside world (power lines, etc.). I don’t love the exposed roller coaster but if it got a steampunk overlay, it could be cool.
3. I’d love to see Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters attraction given the drive-in theater re-theme. They could put a drive-in screen on the building behind the attraction. During the day, the attraction would be the same as it is, but at night the Cars-versions of movie would be projected on the screen (a great visual as you walk to Avenger’s Campus) and the ride vehicles would move in synchronicity to action on the screen, whether a car chase or a Busby Berkeley dance sequence.
These are all great points!
As I hoped you’d see (and now see that you have via comments there!) I actually did use the historic Hyperion Studio in my build-out of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. My only reason not using it here (even as the facade of the retained Animation Academy) is because I don’t think it’s scaled right to be at the end of the Hollywood Blvd. stretch. The flat front of the theater – while it certainly could be more beautifully decorated – is used partially to screen out views of Harbor Blvd., so I used the faux Hollywood Hills to do the same in my build-out, concealing the Runaway Railway showbuilding. But I like the idea of a purely animation-themed street a lot!
For Discovery Bay, I actually did this build-out after Avengers Campus has debuted, but still wanted to reorganize it more thoughtfully. Avengers Campus feels like a land that would work well in the bus loops (where now Avatar is going) because it would be “okay” that entering pedestrians can look down into it from the descending pedestrian pass planned to be there in the initial Eastern Gateway. Likewise, I wanted Discovery Bay to absorb Tower of Terror, and to continue Cars Land’s tradition of using faux mountains to create a berm. Seemed like a good way to activate that last expansion pad (where now the Avengers dark ride is going) to expand the park’s pedestrian footprint. I shied away from going that route with the Pier because I know several people have already done armchair Imagineered redesigns that make it more steampunk, industrial, etc. But also, it felt to me like a waste of a concept as strong as Discovery Bay to apply it to what would basically be a reskin of carnival rides along a boardwalk. Pop-Up Pier was my solution to letting the Pier be what it is, but in a “distinctly Disney” way!
For your Luigi’s idea, this is great! I love it! I used the “Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater” concept instead, but cars “acting out” the action on screen with randomized clips would be very funny.
Thanks so much for checking this out and for your thoughtful reflections on it! I love this project, and it means a lot that you read it, thought about it, and replied!
Such a small thing, but I feel the entrance of Grizzly Peak is incomplete without a small, log cabin with a traffic arm that is up representing the typical ranger staffed entry to a national park. We all get excited when we reach that spot. Maybe a few vintage cars lined up. T-shirts for sale.
I love this idea so much! Brilliant!
Okay, two more things I’d add:
1) The adding Runaway Railway took away the 2,000 person Hyperion Theater. I don’t remember seeing another equivalent elsewhere in the park (correct me if I missed it, please). It’s hard to mention determine where it could go in the build-out you described, but it’s something that should definitely be part of a final DCA design. LA is home to so many actors, singers and performers that it’d be a shame not to have a theater space worthy of showing that off.
2) Ever since Carlsland was announced, I’ve wanted to see Autopia moved over from Disneyland and rechristened Carstopia, or some such. Not only is DCA is a more fitting home to celebrate California’s car culture, but it frees up a HUGE portion of space between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland; the last space for such a large expansion pad at Walt’s original park.
The one thing I miss on your design (which would be a dream come true, too bad we got DCA 3.0) is the loss of the Paradise Gardens area. I love your Pacific Point land, but that area is also the defacto “California Hispanic Heritage” area of DCA, with the Dia de los Muertos celebrations and future Coco ride entry point.
I’d love to see such an important heritage group, which accounts for 40% of the state’s population, represented a park celebrating the Golden State. Just my 2 cents. Any suggestions for where that might go in your layout?
-danielc56 🙂
This is a tremendously good point! The Coco ride coming to that area of the park feels like such a natural fit, and I hope its cultural influence really does take over the Gardens area. I really am weirdly proud of the unique context I came up with here to make Mystic Manor feel at home in California Adventure, but you’re exactly right that I’ve also totally ignored something really important in our state’s past, present, and future… let me see what I can come up with when I inevitably revisit this Build-Out in the future!
Thanks for replying personally, Brian. You *definitely* need to keep Pacific Point. It reminds me of Pacific Coast-meets-Hearst Castle-meets-Winchester Mystery House. That’s a great concept to bring a bit of magic and mystery into the park in a very California way. Coco does that as well, so if there’s a way to pair the two in that section of the park, it celebrates some of the more fantastical aspects of the Golden state. Find a way to wrangle in sasquatch into the park too and you’ve got a DCA trifecta!
Looks like, I am very late to commenting – the blogpost is a few years old – but I want to commend the author for this incredible work (and for the other build outs as well, each one is amazing in its own right). This would be an amazing park to visit – and yes, I am a California Adventure apologist/fan.
With that in mind, I think there could be a way to scale it down and incorporate most of these ideas into California Adventure 3.0 – in order to be a bit more realistic. I’d figure:
Buena Vista Street, Grizzly Peak, Pacific Point, and Radiator Springs would all be kept as suggested. Unfortunately, would have to keep the Pier as Pixar Pier – but it could use some polish; perhaps rebrand/refurbish the Incredicoaster to reference the opening scene of Toy Story 3… i.e. Andy’s Great Train Heist.
San Fransokyo Wharf could take over the Central Plaza and Ariel’s Grotto, but as cool as the realignment of the Torii Gate Bridge is, it would unfortunately have to stay where it currently is. Since its relocation and turning Wine Valley into water would be an enormous expense that would be needed to block the main artery of the park for its reconstruction.
As awesome as Discovery Bay is, Avenger’s Campus is already there, but I would like to include some of your suggestions it could be blended with the Incredibles Metroville (taking over the Monsters Inc. wedge and unused space in that area).
Hollywoodland could be kept mostly as suggested, but since Mickey’s Runaway Railway is already in Toontown, I’d move your suggestion for Oswald’s Astounding Adventure into that space. Make it more of an E-Ticket ride, rather than the dark ride you suggested.
Finally, the East Gatewat you designated for Avengers Campus could instead be repurposed for the Plaza de la Familia that you suggested for Magic Kingdom. I think it fits overall with the theme, references California’s mission past and Mexican plazas.
As a child the day after Disneyland we always spent the morning drawing fake maps to our imagined perfect Disneyland. This was a great way to pass the time seeing your ideas and remmebering those days!
Is Nemo’s Seaskimmers another Aquatopia-styled ride?
Do you ever like to think (in a purely fictional and prideful world) that Disney potentially has some similar ideas to you and then says “oh darn, he used them in his rebuild” so they can’t use them?
For better or worse I don’t think I have a large enough following that anyone from WDI would ever even stumble across my stuff! Hahahah. But that isn’t to say it’s not a cool daydream that someone would say to themselves or to me, “This is great stuff stuff and I would love if we could make it real in the parks just as you’ve drawn it.” But again, I know I’m not actually a professional and that countless real world limitations would stop that from happening every single time! Haha
This is probably my favorite build out as a Disneyland regular. I love the call backs to unused lands like Discovery Bay and the addition of Mystic Manor. Pacific Point gives me a Northern California vibe like close to Oregon area. Can’t wait for your next build out!!
The thing about the 2012 redesign is that, while an idealized California appeals to out-of-towners, it also leans into DL’s identity as a local’s park by giving us places that we cannot visit in real life. I especially love the Carthay Circle restaurant and the Pan Pacific Auditorium gates, because they were torn down before I could ever see them.
Which is a long winded way of saying that the Figueroa tunnel does not belong in California Adventure, because I’ve driven there a hundred times. (To a lesser extent I’m not interested in putting the Chinese Theater in the park, because it’s still there, but I have to admit every time I’ve gone to the Chinese Theater I’ve had fun. Pasadena, however…)