News Coco Boat Ride Coming to Disney California Adventure

[Disney Irish]

I don't think your understanding of the early history is quite accurate here. Boat rides in the dark came first, couples then took advantage of them for some unchaperoned time where they became colloquially known as Tunnel of Love, and finally parks responded by adding the hearts and pink/red color scheme or overtly branding the ride as a "Tunnel of Love." In the early 1900s a tunnel of love ride and an old mill ride were one and the same.

In popular media the tunnel of love trope has been done to death so a lot of people have misconceptions about the period, but in a lot of places parks would have "no kissing" signs or even employees posted with plastic bats to interrupt any untoward canoodling so it's not always the case these boat rides were "meant" for romance

Yes I'm aware of this history that regular dark boat rides came first, I never intended to indicate otherwise, I'm sorry if it made it seem like I'm saying they came first. I've been fond of amusement park history for a very long time, since the early 80s, its why I worked at one for years during high school. The point, and you also make it with your statement on the trope being done to death, is that when the term "Tunnel of Love" is used it evokes a certain kind of ride because of its use as a romantic couple ride, right or wrong.

You want to use the term to mean a certain era of the ride, ok, but just know that myself and maybe others are going to see a certain type of the ride that has a romantic theming. So maybe better to just say an old mill ride or just simply a turn of century boat ride to its more clear.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I’ve been using Tunnel of Love simply as a way to describe how the conceit could fit on the pier. Specifically when it was more specifically themed to a generic pier of a specific time period.

Now that it’s Pixar Pier, it doesn’t matter as much, but would still be fun for the facade / marquee to harken back to that era / style.

 

[MistaDee]

Yes I'm aware of this history that regular dark boat rides came first, I never intended to indicate otherwise, I'm sorry if it made it seem like I'm saying they came first. I've been fond of amusement park history for a very long time, since the early 80s, its why I worked at one for years during high school. The point, and you also make it with your statement on the trope being done to death, is that when the term "Tunnel of Love" is used it evokes a certain kind of ride because of its use as a romantic couple ride, right or wrong.

You want to use the term to mean a certain era of the ride, ok, but just know that myself and maybe others are going to see a certain type of the ride that has a romantic theming. So maybe better to just say an old mill ride or just simply a turn of century boat ride to its more clear.

Gotcha, that makes total sense. When trying to describe the Coco news to my (less Disney obsessive) friends I just call it a Tunnel of Love since they aren't familiar with an old mill or turn of the century boat ride.

As for what little nods Disney could do to tie Coco back to that Victorian amusement pier era, I'd love to see a Coco-ified version of Coney Island's dark boat ride: "Hell Gate" which could reclaim the afterlife from scary/demonic to friendly/dia de los muertos

If that's too ambitious maybe they could do a Coco Luna Park facade:

In the same way that Tokyo Disneysea did for their Midway Mania:

 

[Disney Irish]

Gotcha, that makes total sense. When trying to describe the Coco news to my (less Disney obsessive) friends I just call it a Tunnel of Love since they aren't familiar with an old mill or turn of the century boat ride.

As for what little nods Disney could do to tie Coco back to that Victorian amusement pier era, I'd love to see a Coco-ified version of Coney Island's dark boat ride: "Hell Gate" which could reclaim the afterlife from scary/demonic to friendly/dia de los muertos

View attachment 810899


If that's too ambitious maybe they could do a Coco Luna Park facade:

View attachment 810898

In the same way that Tokyo Disneysea did for their Midway Mania:
View attachment 810900

Question though, why do they even need to do all that, when they can just reuse the previous theme for the Pixar Pier Theater announcement prior to it being turned into the Pixar Promenade -

Or if they want to just go real cheap, they don't have to retheme it at all as the Promenade is already themed, even at night -

They just have to cut through and open the middle and add a queue. Disney pretty much ditched the Victorian theme when they themed it to Pixar Pier, so I don't see them retheming it back.

 

[Phroobar]

Gotcha, that makes total sense. When trying to describe the Coco news to my (less Disney obsessive) friends I just call it a Tunnel of Love since they aren't familiar with an old mill or turn of the century boat ride.

As for what little nods Disney could do to tie Coco back to that Victorian amusement pier era, I'd love to see a Coco-ified version of Coney Island's dark boat ride: "Hell Gate" which could reclaim the afterlife from scary/demonic to friendly/dia de los muertos

View attachment 810899


If that's too ambitious maybe they could do a Coco Luna Park facade:

View attachment 810898

In the same way that Tokyo Disneysea did for their Midway Mania:
View attachment 810900

I don't think this hole is going to change outside of ride name.

 

[chadwpalm]

Ironically enough, I was just watching The Three Caballeros ride because someone mentioned this can be a fusion of that ride and Pirates.....and because I'd never seen it before......and the finale stage scene has the same type of tiered archway that the Pixar Promenade has (without the lights).

 

[Professortango1]

Gotcha, that makes total sense. When trying to describe the Coco news to my (less Disney obsessive) friends I just call it a Tunnel of Love since they aren't familiar with an old mill or turn of the century boat ride.

As for what little nods Disney could do to tie Coco back to that Victorian amusement pier era, I'd love to see a Coco-ified version of Coney Island's dark boat ride: "Hell Gate" which could reclaim the afterlife from scary/demonic to friendly/dia de los muertos

View attachment 810899


If that's too ambitious maybe they could do a Coco Luna Park facade:

View attachment 810898

In the same way that Tokyo Disneysea did for their Midway Mania:
View attachment 810900

I'd love to see Pixar Pier become more akin to Tokyo Disney Seas' pier section with the Victorian Pier. One clear consistent nostalgic theme for the land rather than a hodgepodge and feeling like the LA County Faire.

 

[DLR92]

I kinda like look of the Pixar Promenade. Maybe leading into a simple indoor subtle queue line all the way inside into the loading station. Kinda like what they did with the Little Mermaid.

 

[mickEblu]

I kinda like look of the Pixar Promenade. Maybe leading into a simple indoor subtle queue line all the way inside into the loading station. Kinda like what they did with the Little Mermaid.

I wonder if they’d get rid of some of the Boardwalk Games for a Coco themed snack stand, shop and or queue? I'd say Bing Bongs becomes a Coco themed gift shop but Inside Out 2 just made a billion dollars. Maybe they keep it themed as Bing Bongs but put some Coco Merch in there. It's filled with generic merch anyway if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Gusey]

Do we think this will be a book report ride? If so, how do you think they'll do the transformation from our world to the land of the dead?

 

[mickEblu]

If so, how do you think they'll do the transformation from our world to the land of the dead?

 

[coffeefan]

Do we think this will be a book report ride? If so, how do you think they'll do the transformation from our world to the land of the dead?

That's what it looks like from the concept art. But hopefully it's not, and they just haven't finalized the ride's narrative. There's rumors Coco 2 is in development so hopefully that allows a standalone story for the ride.

I also don't think the Pier setting will influence the ride too much. For one, they said this would be the "first Coco ride," which made me think there's plans to copy the ride to other parks if it's received well, since Coco was a popular movie in China too. That's another reason I think Disney will be willing to invest in making it a quality ride.

 

[chadwpalm]

I would prefer if the ride didn't follow any story from the movie(s) and was just a tour of the Land of the Dead. Then its placement in the park becomes irrelevant because you can enter the Land of the Dead from anywhere. You just need some sort of portal or as @mickEblu mentioned, a drop to get you there and an accent to get you back.

 

[mickEblu]

I would prefer if the ride didn't follow any story from the movie(s) and was just a tour of the Land of the Dead. Then its placement in the park becomes irrelevant because you can enter the Land of the Dead from anywhere. You just need some sort of portal or as @mickEblu mentioned, a drop to get you there and an accent to get you back.

A tour of the Land of the Dead sounds great. I’d like to see the characters and hear the songs from the movie as well as have an encounter with Ernesto but I don’t want a passive, linear retelling of the movie.

 

[MistaDee]

Question though, why do they even need to do all that, when they can just reuse the previous theme for the Pixar Pier Theater announcement prior to it being turned into the Pixar Promenade -

Or if they want to just go real cheap, they don't have to retheme it at all as the Promenade is already themed, even at night -

They just have to cut through and open the middle and add a queue. Disney pretty much ditched the Victorian theme when they themed it to Pixar Pier, so I don't see them retheming it back.

They certainly wouldn't need to, I just think Coco is a particularly perfect IP that threads the thematic needle between Pixar and California so I'd love to see it have a larger footprint within the Pier: a little Coco plaza. Plus it presents excellent opportunities for Walt's "flywheel" with food, merchandise and seasonal events.

I wonder if they’d get rid of some of the Boardwalk Games for a Coco themed snack stand, shop and or queue? I'd say Bing Bongs becomes a Coco themed gift shop but Inside Out 2 just made a billion dollars. Maybe they keep it themed as Bing Bongs but put some Coco Merch in there. It's filled with generic merch anyway if I'm not mistaken.

Maybe it becomes a little Olvera Street esque artisan's workshop with an emphasis on Coco but also Inside Out + any other Pixar merch as needed.

I'd love to see Pixar Pier become more akin to Tokyo Disney Seas' pier section with the Victorian Pier. One clear consistent nostalgic theme for the land rather than a hodgepodge and feeling like the LA County Faire.

Absolutely agree. Ironically, the Pixar Promenade portion is one of the better remnants of this architectural style.

Do we think this will be a book report ride? If so, how do you think they'll do the transformation from our world to the land of the dead?

I would prefer if the ride didn't follow any story from the movie(s) and was just a tour of the Land of the Dead. Then its placement in the park becomes irrelevant because you can enter the Land of the Dead from anywhere. You just need some sort of portal or as @mickEblu mentioned, a drop to get you there and an accent to get you back.

I'd love to see a somewhat original ride concept that's primarily focused a journey through the Land of the Dead. Hopefully they can strike an appropriate balance between being a rote, book report style rehash and an overly contrived original concept like Tiana's Bayou Adventure. Tangled, Mystic Manor, Pirates/HM and even Runaway Railway should be the inspiration to follow most closely for a narrative IMO.

 

[Disney Irish]

They certainly wouldn't need to, I just think Coco is a particularly perfect IP that threads the thematic needle between Pixar and California so I'd love to see it have a larger footprint within the Pier: a little Coco plaza. Plus it presents excellent opportunities for Walt's "flywheel" with food, merchandise and seasonal events.

I'm not opposed to a large area of Coco in the Pier. I just don't think it needs to go back to the pre-Pixar Victorian pier theming to do it, which I've always felt was heavily influenced by European architecture with some touches of Oriental of the time. As it never really felt "California" to me back then anyways, rather more East Coast piers, at least in my opinion. To me if you're really going to theme it to Coco, then they really need to lean into the Mexican architecture of the time, which is also much of what early California also reflected at the time, so it fits.

Outside of that, I'm fine if they reuse the original concept of the Pixar Theater entrance, or if they even just kept the Promenade as is for the entrance.

And now thinking about it, Coco has Miguel looking up to a famous actor/musician and literally goes to find him in the Land of the Dead. So the whole entering a theater from the Pier as the entrance to the attraction makes perfect sense, it ties in nicely. So I think this is how they would theme it, just reuse the Pixar Theater concept.

 

[MistaDee]

I'm not opposed to a large area of Coco in the Pier. I just don't think it needs to go back to the pre-Pixar Victorian pier theming to do it,

Yeah they certainly don't need to, especially with the Incredicoaster bringing in that mid-century modern aesthetic it feels like they've moved away from trying to evoke that turn of the century feeling.

Personally, I really loved how the Victorian architecture helped make Paradise Pier 1.0 into a more immersive land that gave me more of that transportative feeling to a different time and place that I really want from Disney's themed lands.
In my opinion, continuing to use Victorian architecture for Pixar Pier would help make the land have a stronger sense of place anchored in a specific time. Plus I love the idea of these Pixar stories from the last few decades being re-contextualized to a time before CGI to sorta be more timeless and magical rather than just a glorified mall with Pixar IP.

which I've always felt was heavily influenced by European architecture with some touches of Oriental of the time. As it never really felt "California" to me back then anyways, rather more East Coast piers, at least in my opinion. To me if you're really going to theme it to Coco, then they really need to lean into the Mexican architecture of the time, which is also much of what early California also reflected at the time, so it fits.

Totally agree that the Victorian era, seaside pier is far from a uniquely California aesthetic. That said, you got me thinking and on reflection I think I find it to be very appropriate for the California theme, especially compared to Disney's apparent move towards a more abstract, less specifically "California" theme for a "Disney Adventure" park in
California. Avenger's Campus, Carsland, Lil Mermaid, and Avatar land in particular are all vague enough they could be plopped down in Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom or even the Magic Kingdom *cough.*

Compared to those, an early 1900s seaside pleasure pier does feel very appropriate for the original, more specific California theme. Apologies for what has turned into quite a long exploration of the history and myth-making of the "California Dream" as related to Pixar Pier's thematic place in DCA.

California's American identity was really forged between 1848 and 1920: a population of 93,000 in 1850 exploded to 2.4 million by 1910, about 25 times over. In the same way Disneyland evokes an almost mythical (and sanitized) interpretation of the "American Dream:"

"Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world."

Eisner echoes this golden "California Dream" in his dedication for DCA:

"To all who believe in the power of dreams…Welcome! Disney’s California Adventure opens its golden gates to you. Here we pay tribute to the dreamers of the past…the native people, explorers, immigrants, aviators, entrepreneurs and entertainers who built the Golden State. And we salute a new generation of dreamers who are creating the wonders of tomorrow…from the silver screen to the computer screen…from the fertile farmlands to the far reaches of space. Disney’s California Adventure celebrates the richness and the diversity of California…its land, its people, its spirit and above all, the dreams that it continues to inspire."


The decades from 1890 to 1920 were especially relevant as San Francisco in particular, and California in general sought to establish itself on the world's stage and attract migrants + investment. Real estate boosters like Michael de Young (also publisher of the SF Chronicle) and many more really crystallized and articulated what the "California Dream" meant for the post-Gold Rush period.

World's Fairs and International Expos were one very visible way these boosters sought to define the California Dream, starting with the first world's fair west of the Mississippi: the 1894 California International Expo, coming on the heels of Chicago's 1893 World Colombian Exposition.

Interestingly, you're right on the money with the Orientalism: De young sought to "avoid “the architectural reminiscences of Chicago” would be to “make their studies from the Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Moorish, and old Mission buildings.”

One of the few remnants you can still visit in Golden Gate park is the Japanese Tea Garden:

California boosters were trying to position San Francisco as the "Gateway to the Pacific" where Manifest Destiny met the cultures and markets of the East.

In 1915, to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal, and also to showcase its revival after the devestation of the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco held the Pan Pacific International Exposition, of which only the Palace of Fine Arts survives.

San Diego, which hosted the competing "Panama-California Exposition" used a Spanish-revival style, much of which is still there at Balboa Park which I love exploring.

These two panama expos were praised for being architectural departures from the Chicago 1893 Columbian Expo, which was criticized for being an imitation of neoclassical European styles.


It's not just the big expos that are great inspiration for crafting a historic, quintessentially "California" aesthetic, but all sorts of attractions at the end of tram lines.

Interestingly, Golden Gate Park, where the 1894 expo was held, was originally conceived of as an attraction to help sell homes in western San Francisco's "Outside lands" in much the same way that Trolley Parks across the country were built at the end of tram lines to anchor these new neighborhoods, and eventually turning into the amusement parks and piers that went on to inspire Walt Disney and eventually serve as the basis for Paradise Pier.

California, with all its new land in this period, had tons of these attractions, many by the seaside:

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 1907

2nd Cliff House, SF 1900

Chutes Park, downtown LA, opened 1887, photo from 1900

Outside of that, I'm fine if they reuse the original concept of the Pixar Theater entrance, or if they even just kept the Promenade as is for the entrance.

And now thinking about it, Coco has Miguel looking up to a famous actor/musician and literally goes to find him in the Land of the Dead. So the whole entering a theater from the Pier as the entrance to the attraction makes perfect sense, it ties in nicely. So I think this is how they would theme it, just reuse the Pixar Theater concept.

Stepping outside of the loose, turn of the century era - I'd love to see some of the "specially created architectural style called 'Pacifica', a streamlined mix of Art Deco incorporating various Asian and Latin American (such as Maya or Inca, but also Spanish Colonial) architectural elements from the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, held to celebrate the construction of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.

To make an incredibly long story short, as a huge history nerd, I'd love to see Pixar Pier utilize all of the above to give it that transportative feeling of being immersed in California's rich architectural past, this time with CoCo!

 

[Disney Irish]

Yeah they certainly don't need to, especially with the Incredicoaster bringing in that mid-century modern aesthetic it feels like they've moved away from trying to evoke that turn of the century feeling.

Personally, I really loved how the Victorian architecture helped make Paradise Pier 1.0 into a more immersive land that gave me more of that transportative feeling to a different time and place that I really want from Disney's themed lands.
In my opinion, continuing to use Victorian architecture for Pixar Pier would help make the land have a stronger sense of place anchored in a specific time. Plus I love the idea of these Pixar stories from the last few decades being re-contextualized to a time before CGI to sorta be more timeless and magical rather than just a glorified mall with Pixar IP.



Totally agree that the Victorian era, seaside pier is far from a uniquely California aesthetic. That said, you got me thinking and on reflection I think I find it to be very appropriate for the California theme, especially compared to Disney's apparent move towards a more abstract, less specifically "California" theme for a "Disney Adventure" park in
California. Avenger's Campus, Carsland, Lil Mermaid, and Avatar land in particular are all vague enough they could be plopped down in Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom or even the Magic Kingdom *cough.*

Compared to those, an early 1900s seaside pleasure pier does feel very appropriate for the original, more specific California theme. Apologies for what has turned into quite a long exploration of the history and myth-making of the "California Dream" as related to Pixar Pier's thematic place in DCA.

California's American identity was really forged between 1848 and 1920: a population of 93,000 in 1850 exploded to 2.4 million by 1910, about 25 times over. In the same way Disneyland evokes an almost mythical (and sanitized) interpretation of the "American Dream:"

"Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world."

Eisner echoes this golden "California Dream" in his dedication for DCA:

"To all who believe in the power of dreams…Welcome! Disney’s California Adventure opens its golden gates to you. Here we pay tribute to the dreamers of the past…the native people, explorers, immigrants, aviators, entrepreneurs and entertainers who built the Golden State. And we salute a new generation of dreamers who are creating the wonders of tomorrow…from the silver screen to the computer screen…from the fertile farmlands to the far reaches of space. Disney’s California Adventure celebrates the richness and the diversity of California…its land, its people, its spirit and above all, the dreams that it continues to inspire."


The decades from 1890 to 1920 were especially relevant as San Francisco in particular, and California in general sought to establish itself on the world's stage and attract migrants + investment. Real estate boosters like Michael de Young (also publisher of the SF Chronicle) and many more really crystallized and articulated what the "California Dream" meant for the post-Gold Rush period.

World's Fairs and International Expos were one very visible way these boosters sought to define the California Dream, starting with the first world's fair west of the Mississippi: the 1894 California International Expo, coming on the heels of Chicago's 1893 World Colombian Exposition.

View attachment 811953
Interestingly, you're right on the money with the Orientalism: De young sought to "avoid “the architectural reminiscences of Chicago” would be to “make their studies from the Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Moorish, and old Mission buildings.”

One of the few remnants you can still visit in Golden Gate park is the Japanese Tea Garden:
View attachment 811956

California boosters were trying to position San Francisco as the "Gateway to the Pacific" where Manifest Destiny met the cultures and markets of the East.

In 1915, to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal, and also to showcase its revival after the devestation of the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco held the Pan Pacific International Exposition, of which only the Palace of Fine Arts survives.

View attachment 811960
View attachment 811962
San Diego, which hosted the competing "Panama-California Exposition" used a Spanish-revival style, much of which is still there at Balboa Park which I love exploring.
View attachment 811963
These two panama expos were praised for being architectural departures from the Chicago 1893 Columbian Expo, which was criticized for being an imitation of neoclassical European styles.


It's not just the big expos that are great inspiration for crafting a historic, quintessentially "California" aesthetic, but all sorts of attractions at the end of tram lines.

Interestingly, Golden Gate Park, where the 1894 expo was held, was originally conceived of as an attraction to help sell homes in western San Francisco's "Outside lands" in much the same way that Trolley Parks across the country were built at the end of tram lines to anchor these new neighborhoods, and eventually turning into the amusement parks and piers that went on to inspire Walt Disney and eventually serve as the basis for Paradise Pier.

California, with all its new land in this period, had tons of these attractions, many by the seaside:

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 1907
View attachment 811919
2nd Cliff House, SF 1900
View attachment 811957

Chutes Park, downtown LA, opened 1887, photo from 1900
View attachment 811958



Stepping outside of the loose, turn of the century era - I'd love to see some of the "specially created architectural style called 'Pacifica', a streamlined mix of Art Deco incorporating various Asian and Latin American (such as Maya or Inca, but also Spanish Colonial) architectural elements from the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, held to celebrate the construction of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.

View attachment 811959

To make an incredibly long story short, as a huge history nerd, I'd love to see Pixar Pier utilize all of the above to give it that transportative feeling of being immersed in California's rich architectural past, this time with CoCo!

Thank you for the long post. And while I see that you're passionate about this, as a California and specifically a Bay Area native that visited a lot of those places growing up (spent many summers at the Cliff House at the penny arcade) I don't need that in my Disney Park. I've long said that the Disneyfied version of California was not a good theme in my opinion for a Disney Park located in California, especially when one can just take a short drive to see the real thing. Obviously others, including you, have other options on that.

With all that said we are where we are with the Park, and to me I rather them lean into Mexican architecture given the IP rather than trying to bring it back to some Victorian era pier setting for Coco. Especially since a lot of California architecture was influenced by Mexican architecture of the era.

We'll see what they give us with this project in the coming years.

 

[Architectural Guinea Pig]

Thank you for the long post. And while I see that you're passionate about this, as a California and specifically a Bay Area native that visited a lot of those places growing up (spent many summers at the Cliff House at the penny arcade) I don't need that in my Disney Park.

Ayyyyyyy fellow Bay Arean!

Yeah they certainly don't need to, especially with the Incredicoaster bringing in that mid-century modern aesthetic it feels like they've moved away from trying to evoke that turn of the century feeling.

Personally, I really loved how the Victorian architecture helped make Paradise Pier 1.0 into a more immersive land that gave me more of that transportative feeling to a different time and place that I really want from Disney's themed lands.
In my opinion, continuing to use Victorian architecture for Pixar Pier would help make the land have a stronger sense of place anchored in a specific time. Plus I love the idea of these Pixar stories from the last few decades being re-contextualized to a time before CGI to sorta be more timeless and magical rather than just a glorified mall with Pixar IP.



Totally agree that the Victorian era, seaside pier is far from a uniquely California aesthetic. That said, you got me thinking and on reflection I think I find it to be very appropriate for the California theme, especially compared to Disney's apparent move towards a more abstract, less specifically "California" theme for a "Disney Adventure" park in
California. Avenger's Campus, Carsland, Lil Mermaid, and Avatar land in particular are all vague enough they could be plopped down in Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom or even the Magic Kingdom *cough.*

Compared to those, an early 1900s seaside pleasure pier does feel very appropriate for the original, more specific California theme. Apologies for what has turned into quite a long exploration of the history and myth-making of the "California Dream" as related to Pixar Pier's thematic place in DCA.

California's American identity was really forged between 1848 and 1920: a population of 93,000 in 1850 exploded to 2.4 million by 1910, about 25 times over. In the same way Disneyland evokes an almost mythical (and sanitized) interpretation of the "American Dream:"

"Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world."

Eisner echoes this golden "California Dream" in his dedication for DCA:

"To all who believe in the power of dreams…Welcome! Disney’s California Adventure opens its golden gates to you. Here we pay tribute to the dreamers of the past…the native people, explorers, immigrants, aviators, entrepreneurs and entertainers who built the Golden State. And we salute a new generation of dreamers who are creating the wonders of tomorrow…from the silver screen to the computer screen…from the fertile farmlands to the far reaches of space. Disney’s California Adventure celebrates the richness and the diversity of California…its land, its people, its spirit and above all, the dreams that it continues to inspire."


The decades from 1890 to 1920 were especially relevant as San Francisco in particular, and California in general sought to establish itself on the world's stage and attract migrants + investment. Real estate boosters like Michael de Young (also publisher of the SF Chronicle) and many more really crystallized and articulated what the "California Dream" meant for the post-Gold Rush period.

World's Fairs and International Expos were one very visible way these boosters sought to define the California Dream, starting with the first world's fair west of the Mississippi: the 1894 California International Expo, coming on the heels of Chicago's 1893 World Colombian Exposition.

View attachment 811953
Interestingly, you're right on the money with the Orientalism: De young sought to "avoid “the architectural reminiscences of Chicago” would be to “make their studies from the Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Moorish, and old Mission buildings.”

One of the few remnants you can still visit in Golden Gate park is the Japanese Tea Garden:
View attachment 811956

California boosters were trying to position San Francisco as the "Gateway to the Pacific" where Manifest Destiny met the cultures and markets of the East.

In 1915, to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal, and also to showcase its revival after the devestation of the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco held the Pan Pacific International Exposition, of which only the Palace of Fine Arts survives.

View attachment 811960
View attachment 811962
San Diego, which hosted the competing "Panama-California Exposition" used a Spanish-revival style, much of which is still there at Balboa Park which I love exploring.
View attachment 811963
These two panama expos were praised for being architectural departures from the Chicago 1893 Columbian Expo, which was criticized for being an imitation of neoclassical European styles.


It's not just the big expos that are great inspiration for crafting a historic, quintessentially "California" aesthetic, but all sorts of attractions at the end of tram lines.

Interestingly, Golden Gate Park, where the 1894 expo was held, was originally conceived of as an attraction to help sell homes in western San Francisco's "Outside lands" in much the same way that Trolley Parks across the country were built at the end of tram lines to anchor these new neighborhoods, and eventually turning into the amusement parks and piers that went on to inspire Walt Disney and eventually serve as the basis for Paradise Pier.

California, with all its new land in this period, had tons of these attractions, many by the seaside:

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 1907
View attachment 811919
2nd Cliff House, SF 1900
View attachment 811957

Chutes Park, downtown LA, opened 1887, photo from 1900
View attachment 811958



Stepping outside of the loose, turn of the century era - I'd love to see some of the "specially created architectural style called 'Pacifica', a streamlined mix of Art Deco incorporating various Asian and Latin American (such as Maya or Inca, but also Spanish Colonial) architectural elements from the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, held to celebrate the construction of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.

View attachment 811959

To make an incredibly long story short, as a huge history nerd, I'd love to see Pixar Pier utilize all of the above to give it that transportative feeling of being immersed in California's rich architectural past, this time with CoCo!

This is a beautiful post, thank you so much for taking your time to share this with us. I learned a lot of new things, and the last image is jaw-dropping- imagine THAT instead of Buena Vista Street, with a tower visible from all lands and serving as a true icon for the park. I can assume it doesn’t exist anymore?

One of the most underrated ideas of DCA was to bring back lost wonders of California, which was seen slightly in DCA; the Cathay Circle Theater, Pan Pacific Gates, they’re all places we won’t ever get to visit anymore and being able to see them is like stepping back in time. This is definitely a concept that Imagineers should explore more with aid of historians. A Victorian turn of the century boardwalk long destroyed, contemporary buildings from the past in Avengers Campus, and bustling pre-earthquake San Francisco… it’s a romantic California Adventure where you’re truly stepping back in time.

What exactly is that tower? I would love to know

 

[Disney Irish]

Ayyyyyyy fellow Bay Arean!

There are a few of us here.

What exactly is that tower? I would love to know

That was the Tower of the Sun from the Golden Gate International Exposition.