List of former Disney California Adventure attractions

Disney California Adventure is the second theme park built at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States. This is a list of attractions – rides, shows, and parades – that have appeared at the park but have permanently closed. Character meets and atmosphere entertainment (e.g., roving musicians) are not listed.

Buena Vista Street

Golden Gate Bridge circa 2002

2001–2011, Sunshine Plaza : Sunshine Plaza, originally Entry Plaza, was one of the park's original four themed areas. Located at the entrance of the park, Sunshine Plaza was a collection of stores and food service locations. It included an abstract theme meant to evoke the feeling of stepping into a giant postcard. Outside the park's entrance gates were three-dimensional sculptures of letters which spelled out "CALIFORNIA". Giant tile mosaic murals resembling scenes from California lined both sides of the park entrance. A replica of the Golden Gate Bridge served as a façade for the Disneyland Monorail track. The south end of the plaza featured a large sun icon sculpture with a fountain beneath it, which splashed water in a manner reminiscent of ocean waves. Reflectors located around the plaza would reflect real sunlight into the sun icon causing it to gleam in the daytime. The west side of the plaza included a non-functioning replica of the California Zephyr which housed two food service locations.^[1] The park's daily parades originally began on the east side of the sun icon.

In 2011, the Sunshine Plaza was closed, renovated, and completely remodeled as part of the park's 2007–2012 redesign and renovation. The California Zephyr locomotive was removed and donated to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California.^[2] The sun icon was donated to the city of Anaheim for future use. The "CALIFORNIA" letters were donated to Friends of the California State Fair, a nonprofit organization, and currently sit at the entrance to the CalExpo fairgrounds.^[3] The area reopened in 2012 as Buena Vista Street, a representation of Los Angeles in the 1930s. The buildings that housed Sunshine Plaza's stores and restaurants still house stores and restaurants under the present theme, while the sun plaza is now the site of a replica of the Carthay Circle Theater, which houses a restaurant.

Hollywood Land

Hollywood Land was known as Hollywood Pictures Backlot from 2001–2012.

• 2001–2002, Superstar Limo: A dark ride in which the rider was treated like a new celebrity en route to his/her first movie premiere. The ride vehicles, which evoked limousines, took riders through a cartoonish version of Hollywood, passing by caricature versions of celebrities such as Regis Philbin, Drew Carey, and Whoopi Goldberg. Superstar Limo closed after less than a year of operation due to low attendance and was the park's first attraction to permanently close. The ride building now houses Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, which uses the same ride vehicles and track.
• 2001–2002, ABC Soap Opera Bistro : A restaurant whose dining areas were replicas of the sets of Port Charles, All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital. The employees would involve visitors in mock scenarios based on the plot of the respective series. The restaurant and its adjacent store closed due to unpopularity and the entire building was converted to a theater. Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! opened in it in 2003, and Disney Junior – Live on Stage! now plays in it.
  
• 2001–2004, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!: An interactive version of the TV game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, except with points awarded instead of dollars. Including the ten players in the "Ring of Fire" seats (which included video screens) down on the stage, the entire audience could play the Fastest Finger qualifying game, in which players had to put answers in a specific order, such as "Put these American cities in order from east to west." The show building, known as Stage 17, is now used for special events.
• 2007, Muppet Mobile Lab: A free-roving, audio-animatronic entertainment attraction that has been tested at Disney's California Adventure park in Anaheim, California and at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida; it is currently deployed at Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong. Implemented on a Segway platform, the Muppet Mobile Lab is a two-wheeled science-lab vehicle that resembles a small rocket ship. Two Muppet characters, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant, Beaker, pilot the vehicle through the park, interacting with guests and deploying special effects such as foggers, flashing lights, moving signs, confetti cannons and spray jets. The two animatronics characters and the special effects aboard the vehicle are controlled remotely by puppeteers, thanks to an advanced control system that allows the controllers to be located up to several miles away from the show location. On-board cameras, microphones and speakers allow the puppeteers to see and hear guests and interact with them. The project began as a continuation of Disney’s “Living Character Initiative,” a program that has generated other interactive shows at Disney theme parks including Lucky the Dinosaur, Turtle Talk with Crush, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, and Stitch Encounter. In 2009, the attraction was honored with the Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement (Technical) from the Themed Entertainment Association.
• 2003–2010, Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage! : A show featuring puppets and live actors based on programs from the Playhouse Disney programming block on Disney Channel. The show changed over the years as various programs came and went from the Playhouse Disney block. After Disney Channel replaced Playhouse Disney with Disney Junior, Disney retired the show and replaced it with Disney Junior – Live on Stage!.
• 2009–2010, Glow Fest : A nighttime dance party entertainment element. Closed in 2010 and was replaced by ElecTRONica.
• 2010–2012, ElecTRONica: A nighttime dance party entertainment element based on the Tron franchise. Closed on April 15, 2012, was replaced by Mad T Party.
• 2012–2016, Mad T Party: A nighttime dance party entertainment element based on Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Closed on March 16, 2016.
• 2001–2014, Muppet*Vision 3D: 3D film attraction featuring the Muppets. The attraction officially went on hiatus in November 2014, has not returned since then, and has been removed from the Disneyland website. The site is now home to the Sunset Showcase Theater.^[4]
• 2004–2017, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: Accelerated drop tower dark ride that was inspired by Rod Serling's anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, and took place in the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel in Hollywood, California. Closed on January 3, 2017 and was transformed into Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!, which opened on May 27, 2017.^[5]
• 2011–2017, Disney Junior – Live on Stage!: A show featuring puppets and live actors based on programs from Disney Junior, a channel on cable TV. The show changed over the years as various programs came and went from Disney Junior. Disney retired the show in April 2017 and replaced it with Disney Junior Dance Party, which modernized the show, reinventing it for a new generation. ^[6]

A Bug's Land

• 2001–2010, Bountiful Valley Farm : Section featuring water play area and educational exhibits about agriculture in California. It was sponsored by Caterpillar Inc. from its opening until 2006; during their sponsorship the area also featured displays of Caterpillar products. It was originally part of the Golden State area and became part of A Bug's Land when Flik's Fun Fair opened in 2002. It closed on September 7, 2010 and is now the site of Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, part of Cars Land.
• 2001-2018, It's Tough to Be a Bug!: 9-minute long 3D film based on A Bug's Life using theater lighting, 3D filming techniques, audio-animatronics and special effects. It closed on March 19, 2018. The space will now be used in a Marvel themed land, set to open in 2020.
• 2002-2018, Flik's Fun Fair, closed on September 5, 2018. The space will now be used in a Marvel themed land, set to open in 2020.

Golden State

• 2001–2012, Golden State  : Golden State was one of the park's original four themed areas, or districts. The sprawling area was divided into six sub-areas, which were themed around several aspects of California and its history: its aviation history (Condor Flats), its national parks (Grizzly Peak Recreational Area), its agricultural industry (Bountiful Valley Farm), its wine industry (Golden Vine Winery), San Francisco (The Bay Area), and Monterey's Cannery Row (Pacific Wharf). Parts of the area were transferred to other lands over the years, and the name was retired in 2012. The original area of Golden State included all of present-day Grizzly Peak, Pacific Wharf, and portions of present-day Paradise Pier, A Bug's Land, and Cars Land.

Attractions closed while part of Golden State include:

• 2001–2008, Golden Dreams: A film presentation hosted by Whoopi Goldberg about the history of the state of California, with a focus on the contributions of individuals and particular ethnic groups. As a result of declining attendance, it had its last public performance on September 7, 2008 and the theater building was demolished in July 2009. The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure was built on its site and opened on June 3, 2011; the current attraction is part of Paradise Pier. The replica of the Palace of Fine Arts rotunda that stood at the entrance was repainted and still stands at the entrance to the present-day attraction.
• 2001–2008, Seasons of the Vine: A film presentation which took viewers through the journey of wine production in California. It was originally part of the "Golden Vine Winery" section of the "Golden State" area. It closed due to low attendance and is now the site of Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar, which is listed as being part of the "Pacific Wharf" area on current park maps.
• 2001–2011, Mission Tortilla Factory : A tour sponsored by Mission Foods consisting of short videos on the history of tortillas, followed by a walkthrough of a working tortilla manufacturing facility and a cooking demonstration. Tortillas manufactured in the facility were served in restaurants in the park, and workers would often distribute free samples to visitors. The tour closed on May 31, 2011 due to Mission Foods declining to renew their contract with Disney. It was replaced in June 2012 by the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop,^[7] hosted by Ghirardelli. The current restaurant is part of Pacific Wharf.

Condor Flats

Condor Flats was originally one of the sub-areas of Golden State. It was themed to a desert airfield and testing facility, and it celebrated California's aeronautic history. It became its own land in the park in 2012. It closed in 2015 to become the Grizzly Peak Airfield, a new subarea of Grizzly Peak.

Grizzly Peak

Grizzly Peak was originally one of the sub-areas of Golden State. It became its own land in 2012. In 2015, Condor Flats closed and became the Grizzly Peak Airfield, a sub-area of Grizzly Peak.

• 2001–2016, Soarin' Over California: A flight motion simulator attraction using a mechanical lift system, a 80ft laser projection screen, artificial scents and wind to simulate hang gliding over California. It closed in June 2016 to become Soarin' Around the World.

Cars Land

Cars Land opened in June 2012. Inspired by the 2006 Disney·Pixar film Cars, it is a 12-acre land that recreates the town of Radiator Springs from the film. The land includes rides, shops, and restaurants.

• 2012–2015, Luigi's Flying Tires: Guests rode on tire-shaped bumper car vehicles which floated on a cushion of air, similar to an air hockey table. The ride's concept was based on Disneyland's Flying Saucers attraction from the 1960s. Luigi's Flying Tires closed on February 6, 2015. It was replaced by Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters.^[8]

Pixar Pier and Paradise Gardens Park

As part of the park's $1.1 billion expansion, the land known as Paradise Pier from January 8, 2001 to June 22, 2018 was renovated and rethemed from a modern seaside amusement park reminiscent of the Santa Monica Pier, to a late 1920s Victorian era seaside boardwalk. Many attractions, shops, and restaurants were either removed or rethemed. The original Route 66 section of Paradise Pier was rethemed to fit the new look of the area, with the Route 66 theme being retired. Again, many of the attractions were rethemed when the land became Pixar Pier on June 23, 2018. Part of this Land was renamed Paradise Gardens Park on June 22, 2018.

• 2001–2010, Maliboomer: A Space Shot ride themed to a high striker game which launched riders 180 feet (55 m) in 4 seconds. It closed on September 7, 2010 and was demolished. Its former site (located inside the first helix of California Screamin') will soon be a part of Pixar Pier and will host an Inside Out themed spinner ^[9].
• 2001–2010, S.S. Rustworthy : An outdoor play area themed to a run-down fireboat, which was located in the Route 66 section of Paradise Pier. A portion of the play area adjacent to the Orange Stinger/Silly Symphony Swings was closed and demolished in early 2010 as part of that attraction's renovation. The main play area closed on September 7, 2010 and was demolished; its site is now used as a restaurant seating area.
• 2001–2008, Sun Wheel: Ferris wheel inspired by Coney Island's 1927 Wonder Wheel, which featured swinging and stationary gondolas and a large replica of a sun face in the center. It closed in October 2008 and reopened as Mickey's Fun Wheel on May 8, 2009.
• 2009-2018, Mickey's Fun Wheel: The Ferris wheel closed on January 8, 2018 and reopened as Pixar Pal-A-Round on June 23, 2018.
• 2001–2009, Orange Stinger: Wave swinger ride inside a giant orange peel. It closed in July 2009, the orange peel structure was removed to make an open-air ride, and it reopened as Silly Symphony Swings on May 28, 2010.
• 2001–2010, Mulholland Madness: Wild Mouse roller coaster themed to a ride along Southern California roads. It closed in October 2010 and reopened as Goofy's Sky School on July 1, 2011.
• 2001–2018, California Screamin': a high-speed roller coaster that recalls the great wooden ones of the past. It closed on January 8, 2018 and reopened as Incredicoaster on June 23, 2018.

Shows and parades

See also

• List of Disney California Adventure attractions
• List of Disneyland attractions
• List of former Disneyland attractions

References