Grizzly Peak
Background
In 2001, California Adventure was divided into four “districts.” One of them – “The Golden State” – contained a half-dozen smaller sub-districts within it, including Grizzly Peak Recreation Area. Frankly, Grizzly Peak was one of the few genuinely wonderful sections of the park, marked by dense evergreens, misty ponds, and spouting geysers.
As you’d expect from “DCA 1.0,” the “story” of this sub-section of the park evidently was that a once-glorious mining operation in a Northern Californian forest had been abandoned decades ago, and an extreme sports company had moved in to salvage the rusted remains and make the wilderness cool again.
By 2012, the clock had been officially turned back. The “extreme sports” aesthetic was exorcised. Artificially-aged buildings were restored to “new.” And now, guests were cast as visitors to a glorious 1950s National Park at its height. That aesthetic was only strengthened when, in 2015, Condor Flats (another “sub-district” of the former Golden State) was absorbed by Grizzly Peak, too, becoming the National Park’s forested airfield.
Today, Grizzly Peak is one of the most gorgeous lands at any Disney Park. (Its evergreens have grown so tall, it’s difficult to even see the 110-foot tall eponymous mountain from the land itself.) A land of surging waterways, lantern-lit trees, and rustic cabins, all bordered by the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (which itself serves “in-universe” as the National Park’s lodge), it’s a wonderful little space. Working with such an incredible environment, my goal was simply to evolve it naturally and improve it how I could…
Build-Out
Entering the land from Buena Vista Street’s Carthay Circle, guests arrive at the Grizzly Peak Airfield, at once surrounded in grey mountain rock and evergreens climbing the hillsides of the valley. I made just one necessary change here, turning the Lost Legend: Soarin’ into SOARIN’ OVER THE GOLDEN STATE – what I picture as a new, National Geographic-led ride film for the beloved simulator, restoring Jerry Goldsmith’s score and the ride’s Californian-focused ride film.
(Transforming the park’s Soarin’ Over California into the pretty agreeably worse Soarin’ Around the World makes practically no sense at California Adventure, so a modern Golden State-focused ride film is an easy fix for the park.)
The first major change to Grizzly Peak in this version of the park would be that – while entering Grizzly Peak National Park proper – guests would cross a bridge over a dry ravine with a roller coaster speeding through backwards, then forwards. Accessed by taking the “dirt” Bypass Road toward the peak itself is GRIZZLY MOUNTAIN RAILWAY – a brand new addition and California Adventure’s first “mountain.”
Though highly modified, I based this coaster’s layout and premise on Big Grizzly Mountain Mine Cars at Hong Kong Disneyland, which weaves through an (unrelated) Grizzly Mountain and the park’s version of Frontierland, Grizzly Gulch. Though the layout and setting would be heavily altered to make their way to California Adventure, the concept is strong… and I think, would be even stronger given California Adventure’s more forested and truly mountainous setting.
Grizzly Mountain Railway would weave through the woods, passing through caverns and tunnels. Then, pulled up alongside a fire watchtower, the train’s lift hill cable would “snap” sending the trains plummeting back down below the treeline, weaving and slaloming backwards down the mountainside, under the path, and into a bear cave. There, curious bears playing with leftover mining equipment would trigger TNT, launching the train back forward into the woods, racing beautifully along the trail and next to geyser pools in a climbing, forested return to the station.
Wedging a full roller coaster into this space wouldn’t be easy. (I initially considered getting rid of the land’s raft ride altogether to have an easier time finding space for the coaster.) But I’m really convinced that this is a perfect “mountain” for the park – a fusion of Big Thunder Mountain, Expedition Everest, Dollywood’s Firechaser Express, all set in a gorgeous evergreen forest. Imagine climbing alongside waterfalls, watchtowers, and geysers, zipping through the dense tree cover a la Kings Island’s The Beast, bobbing and weaving through the woods…
My point being, while it would take substantial effort to make it happen, in my ideal, build-out version of Disney California Adventure, I think this ride makes too much sense to ignore. It also provides the park with a much-needed original E-Ticket, a thrill ride, and a classic Disney “mountain.”
I worked hard to fit Grizzly Mountain Railway in in a way that would salvage the park’s existing white water raft ride. You might be wondering why. Disney has three of these raft rides around the globe (the other two are Kali River Rapids in Orlando and Roaring Rapids in Shanghai). None of them are great, and Grizzly River Run is probably the worst by nature of having almost nothing to specifically look at along the way.
Sure, the setting is beautiful… But the principal of Chekhov’s gun maintains that if you show a gun in Act I, you’ve got to fire it in Act III. And despite the distant “roars” of bears and several caverns that would qualify as their homes, you won’t see any wildlife along the course. Okay, sure, unlike Splash Mountain-style flume rides, these raft rides are for getting soaked, and just aren’t good vehicles for storytelling. But so much can be done here…
So I went ahead and went an unusual route, renaming the ride RAMBLIN’ RIVER RUN. Along the course, I’d insert short-but-sweet visual setups and quick vignettes starring Disney’s 1940s cartoon star Humphrey the Bear (who got a few Easter eggs in the Grizzly Peak Airfield redesign).
Just as when Honda’s ASIMO was added to Disneyland’s Autopia in lightly-animated visual setups, it seems simply enough to turn even the scenes above into simple vignettes with minimal (if any) animation, adding character, humor, and music to the ride’s course. Honestly, these raft rides will probably never be genuine E-Tickets, but at least Humphrey could be used to add character and life in an era-appropriate way. (Neither here nor there, but I wager you could just as effectively introduce vignettes of Russel and Dug from Up as Wilderness Explorers to the same effect, and it would be pleasant and harmless enough that no tears would be shed.)
In any earlier version of my California Adventure build-out, I sadly sacrificed the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail to squeeze a dark ride into this part of the park. I did a little reorganizing in this round in order to salvage it as the REDWOOD CREEK EXPLORATION TRAIL. This incredible multi-acre space contains not just “hiking trails” with scavenger hunt components, but multi-story watchtowers, zip lines, crossable creeks, climbing nets, caves, rock climbing, campfire ceremonies, and more. This is California Adventure’s Tom Sawyer Island and then some – an incredible space.
Redwood Creek is an incredible hidden gem. Seriously. Thanks to a longstanding Up integration (which I personally would make permanent, hence my slight name change to an Exploration Trail), guests can “earn” Wilderness Explorer badges at self-guided activity stations, practicing real tracking, investigating tree rings, learning real indigenous stories, and even discovering their “Spirit Animal” in an odd little tie-in to Brother Bear (which is surely a little insensitive today and could easily be reimagined).
Finally, I wanted to use Grizzly Peak to bring back a popular classic…
In the farthest edge of the land, I used the totally empty (except for restrooms) “San Francisco” row houses to conceal a new COUNTRY BEAR JAMBOREE, accessed from a lodge along the Grizzly Peak Bypass trail. Disneyland actually did have its own copy of the Modern Marvel: The Country Bear Jamboree, but the space was used for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh dark ride in 2002. Since then, fans have been begging for the Bears’ return, and given that they’re often seen meet-and-greeting in Grizzly Peak, it’s a spot too perfect to pass up.
And just like that, we’ve arrived at the last lands of my reimagined California Adventure: the ones situated around the park’s main lagoon. Read on…
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…)