When Disney’s California Adventure Park was first constructed, the entrance was fashioned after a giant 3D postcard. The idea was guests would walk into the type California that was depicted on postcards and the hope was it would make for an “iconic” entrance to the new park. As part of the giant re-construction (More Information Here), the large CALIFORNIA letters at the entrance to the park will be removed. The removal of the letters will start on January 4, 2011, just after the Holiday Season at the resort comes to a close.
Disney said on Thursday in a blog post that they plan to keep the well known and much photographed letters for “possible future use”. One rumor floating around was that the City of Anaheim may receive the letters, although it is also known that Disney is keeping removed sections of the murals that were also part of the entrance to California Adventure. (More Information Here) Even though the park was not loved by all on the same level as Disneyland, these pieces are still historical to the area and were part of the park for 10 years, it will be interesting to see how Disney plans to memorialize them in the future expansion of the park.
Concept Art For The New Entrance. ©Disney
Concept Art For The New Entrance To Disney California Adventure Park
The removal of the letters should not effect the entrance to the park. (Updated January 4, 2011: The current setup restricts access of the West turnstiles and is currently only allowing access though 4 East side turnstiles. We expect this to change many times as the project moves forward in phases.) However, in the coming weeks we are expecting construction to impact the entrance directly as it begins it’s transformation fashioned after the Pan Pacific Auditorium. When this happens park guests will be directed though a maze of walls behind the Soarin’ Over California attraction and will enter the park between the attraction and the vintage airplane. This will be the first time that a Disney park’s entrance will be reconstructed while remaining open to guests.
As more information is made available we will let you know. You can get information on the California Adventure Re-Construction at DCA.dlandlive.com or by following us on Twitter and Facebook.
