Keep finding myself thinking about what DCA could have been, so I wanted to keep going on this. In this vision the park would be expanded to cover the Simba Lot and Paradise Pier Hotel with Disneyland Drive running in a tunnel underneath to accommodate all of these concepts.
First, I'm bringing back Sunshine Plaza, but rather than tacky puns and gaudy colors, it'll be reminiscent of Balboa Park with Churrigueresque architecture. As much as I like Buena Vista Street, I find it unnecessary to have it alongside Hollywood Land. We'll also return the C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A letters and mosaics to the front of the park. Instead of Carthay Circle Theater serving as the park icon, I'm envisioning a California Palace with towers and flags. Inside would be a fully realized
Golden Dreams with an animatronic cast like American Dreams, as it was meant to be.
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Let's head west from the hub and enter Hollywood Land, which has been mirrored. Guests will enter through a studio gate, such as Paramount's, which will blend the land well with Sunshine Plaza. We will retain Hollywood Blvd. with its
Red Car Trolley, but rather than a mural at the end of the road we will have Carthay Circle Theater, inside which will be the
Great Movie Ride. Along the rest of the street with be restaurants, shops, and
Muppet Vision 3D housed inside the Pan Pacific Theater as well as
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. Going north along Hollywood Blvd. you will go down the palm street-lined Sunset Blvd. with
Tower of Terror looming over the end of its winding path. Along this route are two other attractions, the
Animation Academy, housed inside of recreation of the old Hyperion Studios, and
Superstar Limo. Unlike its original horrifying version, this iteration would have the same premise of getting to a movie premiere on time, but rather than being a dark ride it is an indoor coaster that takes you through the Hollywood Hills, Mulholand Drive, and the other crazy roadways of Los Angeles; also it'll be, like the rest of the land, set in the Golden Age instead of 2001 and there will be no cheap movie star cameos throughout.
Moving further west, we enter in Bear Flag Square. This will be the Mexican inspired section of the park, blending in nicely behind Carthay Circle Theater and Tower of Terror. Spanish pueblos will create a mid 19th century Alto California town with a fountain and a sit down restaurant. Here there will be the
Coco boat ride, a
Zorro stunt show, the
Mission Tortilla experience housed inside a pueblo mission building. Here we will also find Dia de los Muertos festivals within the park.
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Venturing south and serving as a break from Hollywood Land and Bear Flag Square, is Bountiful Valley Farm. Helping to ease the transition will be the presence of Wine Country Trattoria with its Mediteranean architecture. Here there will be
It's Tough to be a Bug, a
petting zoo, a
tractor pull (think Mater's), an attraction similar to
Living with the Land showcasing California's impressive produce, and lastly
Soarin' over California.
Bountiful Valley Farm helps mark the transition into Grizzly Peak, which will be on the old Simba Lot. Creating the berm will be the Grand Californian, the entrance of which will be off the current Paradise Way, renamed California Way. In the center of the land will be a
Grizzly River Run heavily populated with wildlife. Running through the mountain will featured a
mine train. The mountain will also be layered on top of a show building for a
Gold Rush boat ride in the style of Western River Expedition to make use of space. Also in the land will be a
Museum of the Weird, inspired by the road side attractions found near the Redwoods. We will also maintain
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail with the addition of a section panning for gold like was once found at Knott's. We will also give the land a small tourist trap town like those outside of Yosemite where we'll find gift shops, restaurants, and
Country Bear Jamboree.
Traveling back east, we will enter Car Land, stripped of its specific Radiator Springs theming. There we will still find
Radiator Springs Racers within a midcentury California desert town with diners, neon, and Joshua Trees. In this new Car Land there will also be a
Road Trip attraction in which guests drive electric vehicles through show scenes and gags along America's interstate system. We will also give the land a drive-in movie theater restaurant like that found in Hollywood Studios, which will help smooth the transition between Hollywood Land and Car Land.
Now there are two lands left. Jettisoning off from the east of the hub is a San Francisco land. It will share a bay with Paradise Pier which will be in the park's southeastern corner. Full of Queen Anne architecture, the land will feature several attractions, including a
Cable Car coaster through the city's hilly streets, the
Boudin Bakery Tour, and near the bay,
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. In the northern corner of the land where the current transportation plaza sits will be a China Town subland with a
Mulan dark ride and
Fireworks Factory shooting exposition like what was once planned in Discovery Bay. This area will also play host to Lunar New Year Celebrations within the park. The portion of San Francisco along the bay will be reminiscent of Pacific Wharf and feature a set of animatronic sea lions in the water and on the rocks.
At last we come to Paradise Pier, which I have preserved despite the haters. Much of this land maintains its original offerings, including
California Screamin,
Mickey's Fun Wheel,
Golden Zephyrs,
Silly Symphony Swings,
Games of the Boardwalk,
Toy Story Midway Mania,
World of Color, and
King Triton's Carousel. We will omit The Little Mermaid and instead use that space for a
Mary Poppins dark ride along the boardwalk that hones in on the Jolly Holiday aesthetic. Further development of the beach's theme will be made so that there is a
Tide Pool area where kids can play in the sand, splash in the water, and scavenge for starfish and other life. Space permitted, we shall also include a second hotel within the park berm, this being the Paradise Pier hotel, which will mimic the style of Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.
In all, this version of the park there are nearly forty attractions, almost all of which are family accessible. Every aspect of this park embraces its California theme unapologetically and, more importantly, creates environments that people enjoy spending their time in. This would easily be a full day park worth visiting without missing Disneyland.
