Condor Flats becoming Grizzly Peak Airfield

[kibia16]

The work has started in Condor Flats to begin the process of remaking it in to an extension of Grizzly Peak to be know as Grizzly Peak Airfield. The land was walled off at Carthay Circle with signage announcing the changes to come in Summer of 2015.

All Photos Courtesy of Jason Sasaki via @SasakiTime on Twitter:

Walls up at entrance to land at Carthay Circle:

Sign announcing new name with date of completion:

Old concept art that may provide insight as to what the changes might be:

What the building currently look like:

 

[Sage of Time]

VERY exciting stuff. Grizzly Peak has a lot of charm and seclusion to it... that would be nice in Condor Flats.

Maybe they'll bring back Minnie's Fly Girls.

 

[TP2000]

Great idea for a thread @kibia16! This little project slid in under the radar, and if it weren't for the recent Miceage mentions of it, we'd all be scratching our heads at that "Grizzly Peak Airfield" sign right now.

Condor Flats was one of the most successful themed areas of DCA 1.0 when it opened in 2001 for two reasons; Soarin' Over California was an excellent ride, and so much of DCA 1.0 was rather cheap and dreary so Condor Flats looked brilliant in comparison. But those photos show how the signage still had the infamous Hip N' Edgy contemporary 2001 vibe, and the overall environment really isn't that engaging now compared to Buena Vista Street, Cars Land, etc.

And with Cars Land now offering a much grander and more impressive version of "Desert Theme", Condor Flats can go away in my opinion. DCA doesn't need two desert areas.

I can't wait to see how this turns out! But judging by those construction walls, we'll have to rely on Disneyland Monorail trips to get any photos during this four month transformation.

 

[Figments Friend]

Wonderful to see that DCA is getting more tweaking.
This can only be a good thing.

The Grizzly Peak area is one of the more appealing parts of the Park for me, so seeing the theme of that area get extended is nice to hear.

Looking forward to the upcoming changes, and the new digital projection system for *Soarin Over California*.

 

[villagehau5]

I cant wait for this, Condor Flats/Grizzly Peak are definitely the parts of DCA that are in the most need of expansion or change (except for maybe A Bug's Land).

I am excited about the decision of expanding Grizzly Peak, it's one of the best lands at DCA in my opinion because of how well it fits into the California theme of the park, and how perfectly its main attraction fits into it's theme. Expanding it into Condor Flats is definitely the best thing to do. Although it's a good theme and makes Soarin' fit perfectly, it's such a small area of the a park to be considered it's own land.

The choice to expand the Grizzly Peak theme while maintaining the airplane theme will make not only that corner of the mark flow better thematically, but will make the DCA hub represent California even better. Grizzly Peak perfectly represents the forests and geography of Northern California. Now guests at the Carthay hub are given the choice of choosing the forests of Northern California or the light covered streets of Hollywood (Southern California) with both directions leading to the theme of California seaside Piers and a classic desert Route 66 small town. It adds on to finally giving justice to the original California theme intended for DCA that was so poorly executed originally.

I know I'm thinking way ahead, but I think the next DCA land to work on would be Hollywoodland. Its a great theme that fits perfectly, but as a land it doesn't have much to offer. Muppet Vision 3D and Mike and Sulley to the Rescue are decent enough rides, and the Aladdin show seems to bring in enough crowds (though I think a new show within a year or so would be awesome), but the actual streets of Hollywood are a bit dull and outdated, and pale in comparison to Hollywood Studio's streets in WDW. DCA is looking better and better as each year goes by, but I think this is giving Hollywoodland at least a refresh is the best way to keep the ball rolling.

 

[Max Fan]

i wish that it's finish for the 60th anniversary (technically launched for the 23th of may)

 

[Sage of Time]

i wish that it's finish for the 60th anniversary (technically launched for the 23th of may)

I think the aim is to be opened by May 15th.

 

[TP2000]

So, if they paint the big Soarin' Over California hangar green to match the forest theme, what happens to the interior queue and theater areas?
And what about that circa 2000 contemporary logo on the side of the building? That won't work in the new land either.

The interior featured a nice, but rather modestly budgeted, hall of aviation pioneers. The interior queue wasn't that lavish, but it worked because of the industrial feel of an airfield and airplane hangars.

I imagine this new Grizzly Peak Airfield and 4K digital upgrade to the Soarin' theaters is going to bring more change than any of us imagined it would. I can't wait to see how this turns out in May!

I'll also look forward to bloggers riding the Monorail each week to get blurry images of the construction as they speed by overhead on the way to Downtown Disney!

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Adding more foliage and eliminating the rocks are positive changes. Condor Flats is just a relatively small corridor where they pump out John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith music, have a restaurant with a killer toppings bar, people pee and dump, and oh yeah, it contains Soarin' Over California, one of Disney's best modern attractions and one of the only things from Disney's California Adventure circa 2001 that didn't suck. Plus, it's where I usually enter the park since it has a convenient entrance from Grand Californian a short walk from the Hearthstone Lounge, where they serve Napa Smith Hopageddon Imperial IPA. I'm not sure this area needed the attention, but whatever.

Frankly, I still think Paradise Pier and the whole Mad T/Frozenland/Monsters Inc. area are completely awful.

 

[TP2000]

Frankly, I still think Paradise Pier and the whole Mad T/Frozenland/Monsters Inc. area are completely awful.

Agreed. But this suddenly major Condor Flats refurbi... er... removal makes me think there's a similarly big, or bigger, long term plan to address the two other weak corners of DCA; HollywoodLand Backlot, and the California Screamin' corner of Paradise Pier.

 

[Sage of Time]

Agreed. But this suddenly major Condor Flats refurbi... er... removal makes me think there's a similarly big, or bigger, long term plan to address the two other weak corners of DCA; HollywoodLand Backlot, and the California Screamin' corner of Paradise Pier.

AKA, Phase II of the DCA 2.0 project. You know, what they didn't do in 2012, when they were supposed to.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Well it looks like part of Phase 2 is actually happening, but it's a shame the train ride was cut.

 

[orlando678-]

Is there something new coming to the area besides refurb of area and the soarin ride?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Frankly, I still think Paradise Pier and the whole Mad T/Frozenland/Monsters Inc. area are completely awful.

Paradise Pier could be better, but it's not as bad as Hollywood Land. ToT, Aladdin, and the Animation building are the reasons why I don't completely hate it. The corner where Monsters and the club/party resides is beyond terrible.

 

[orlando678-]

I love the monsters inc ride but it doesn't fit

 

[rle4lunch]

Yay. I'm glad it's getting re-themed. Feels too Universal Studios late 90's vibe as it sits today. Cheesy and plastic. Needs to be on the quality level of Carsland.

 

[TP2000]

Yay. I'm glad it's getting re-themed. Feels too Universal Studios late 90's vibe as it sits today. Cheesy and plastic. Needs to be on the quality level of Carsland.

Good Universal Studios Circa '99 analogy. It feels that way to you because that was the level of work WDI was doing in the late 90's/early '00's here in the USA. Things were very, very different at that time as they built the new DisneySea park in Tokyo, but here in America we had Paul Pressler in charge of things and it was bad. Very bad.

It shows you how far we've come (or at least how far Anaheim has come) that one of the brightest hits of DCA 2001 - Soarin' Over California and Condor Flats, can now be considered tired and a weak link in a park that has suddenly become one of the strongest Second Gates in the global Disney Empire.

The removal of Condor Flats and huge refurbishment of Soarin' Over California is a very, very good sign that things are still moving in the right direction for Anaheim and WDI, even after a breakout hit like Cars Land opens and they could rest on their laurels for a decade or so.

And then there's that pesky rumor from Miceage that Luigi's Flying Tires is closing next month to be remade into an entirely new ride.

Very interesting times in Anaheim heading into the 60th Anniversary. And here I thought it would be a boring winter as we all sat twiddling our thumbs waiting for that new night parade and new fireworks in May.

 

[Figments Friend]

Condor Flats is just a relatively small corridor where they pump out John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith music, have a restaurant with a killer toppings bar, people pee and dump, and oh yeah, it contains Soarin' Over California, one of Disney's best modern attractions and one of the only things from Disney's California Adventure circa 2001 that didn't suck.

Wow....
Talk about a honest description...!

 

[Sage of Time]

Very interesting times in Anaheim heading into the 60th Anniversary. And here I thought it would be a boring winter as we all sat twiddling our thumbs waiting for that new night parade and new fireworks in May.

This is especially valid. I'm happy that there's something physical happening over at DLR to follow.. and to get hyped up about.

 

[Suspirian]

nothing much yet...from Mint Crocodile