Giveaway: Set of Lil Oishi Mini Buttons to Celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Disney California Adventure!

Celebrate Disney California Adventure's 15th Anniversary with a mini button set of Lil Oishi as his favorite attractions CMs! As many of you know, Lil Oishi is not only my mascot of my blog but was created by the awesomely talented Jerrod Maruyama! The mini buttons were made by Raptor Button Company and you can find them on Instagram and on ETSY. I will be giving away 5 sets!

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From Condor Flats to Grizzly Peak Airfield - Before and After Photos

On Friday May 15th, the Condor Flats area in Disney California Adventure faded into yesterland as the Grizzly Peak airfield opened. The time period has moved from present day to the 1950s to better theme in with the rest of the Grizzly Peak Recreational Area. Let's take a look around the re-themed area and great extension to the Grizzly Peak Recreational Area.

Taking a look at the above photo you can see that some of the rockwork has been removed and re-colored. Gone are the palm trees and pine trees have replaced them.

Gone is the industrial steel look of Taste Pilots' Grill and welcome the forest greens and browns for Smokejumpers Grill. There is a much friendlier vibe and the addition of trees and the smell of pine really add to the forest feel here!

The forest greens and browns continue as the Fly N Buy has become Humphrey's, named after one of my favorite Disney bears. Sadly, there was no Humphrey merchandise to be found! I do like the retro Coca-Cola coolers and that they kept the Condor Gas fuel pumps as a tribute to Condor Flats.

The restrooms have improved and look like there is a lot more upkeep in the area than the previous abandoned airfield. I love the quotes by John Muir on the building.

The billboard advertising Grizzly Peak has gotten rid of the bad pun and looks like it came out of a page from Sunset Magazine. The airplane has changed it's colors and is now part of the Grizzly Peak Park Service. Also, all the palm trees have been removed.

The rocket engine has been replaced with a lookout tower and pine trees. I love the natural look and that there is now a great seating area.

At last we have a look at the hanger. Gone is the Soarin' Over California sign on the building and replaced with a more National Park looking sign. The tan color is the original hanger has replaced with a forest green. The palm trees and the tall lightpoles have all been replaced with pine trees and more natural looking wood lightpoles. Even the asphalt has been replaced with a more natural looking pavement.

As far as the actual attraction is concerned, the switch to digital has finally happened. You get a 4K quality experience. You have never seen the film look this good. All the scratches and other imperfections are gone and you are left with pristine colors. The projection system now utilizes four different projectors utilizing digital projection mapping to stitch the four images together into one seamless film.

Hope you enjoyed your look back at the original Condor Flats and the newly re-themed Grizzly Peak Airfield.

Hope you get a chance to visit as this is one of the many new offerings during the Disneyland 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration!

Taking A Closer Look at The Grizzly Peak Airfield replacing Condor Flats in Disney California Adventure

Now that we know that Condor Flats in Disney California Adventure is getting re-themed into an extension of the Grizzly Peak Recreational Area, let's take a closer look at the changes we will see.

This conceptual art can be found in The Disney Mountains: Imagineering at Its Peak by Jason Surrell.

This was the entrance way into Condor Flats from the Carthay Circle. A very non-descript entrance into this desert airfield. With the opening of Cars Land, I did not see the reason why the park needed two desert themed areas. It makes sense to get rid of one of the desert areas and Condor Flats lost out. This re-theming was suppose to occur with the massive 5 year re-do of Disney California Adventure that concluded with the opening of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street in 2012.

Here is the entrance way according to the conceptual art. I would love to see this Grizzly Peak sign clearly indicating the entrance to this area. It reminds me of the signage one would see at our National Parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite.

The old Taste Pilots' Grill. I was sad when they took down the model of the Bell X-1, That was the first sign that change was eventually on its way.



The new Taste Pilots' Grill would get an olive green paint job along with the addition theming to make it look like a high mountain restaurant.

The old Fly 'n' Buy store.

The old restrooms.

The concept art shows and updated paint job and additional theming to the area. It would be cool to keep the Condor Gas on the gas pumps as a tribute to the Condor Flats area.

The original color scheme and entrance to Soarin' Over California.

Here you can see the olive green color of Taste Pilots' Grill extends to the hangar as well. The screens in both theatres are being replaced and say goodbye to the old film projectors, this film will now be in crystal clear digital after being cleaned up and restored by the folks at the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Expect new speakers and I'm hoping a few other surprises such as show elements that were left out of the attraction before it opened back in 2001.

Say goodbye to the rocket jet out in front of Soarin' Over California.

As you can see in the concept art it looks like a water tower. I'm sure it will still spray down water or do something similar when it's warm.

And the great Bear Left sign and the plane look like they will remain as well.

As you can see the construction walls are already up!

We will welcome the Grizzly Peak Airfield in May of this year! I cannot wait to see the changes! How do you feel about the upcoming changes? Leave your comments in the comment section below!

The Future of Disney California Adventure: Soarin' Over The World! (RUMORED)

As we celebrate the one year anniversary of the relaunch of Disney California Adventure, let's take some time to look at a possible future direction for this park. This is pure speculation of course!

One of the longest standing rumors in the park is that Condor Flats would go away in theme only and become part of The Grizzly Peak Recreational Area. Now with the vast desert area that is Cars Land, there doesn't seem to be a need for two desert areas in the park.

With the theming change, it would also seem to be a perfect time to change out the film with a new one. Supposedly Shanghai gets the Soarin' Over The World film first in 2015 and then the film will make its way over to Florida and here in California in 2016. 

Taste Pilot's may not change it's name but the color scheme of the tans and grays would make way to a more olive green color.

Say goodbye to the palm trees and to the color of the hangar.

Say goodbye to the exhaust jet that fired blasts of cool refreshing mist to the folks standing below it.

It almost looks as if the Fly 'n' Buy store does not need to change it's color scheme.

I see the restrooms changing it's color scheme.

Look for all the desert theming to say goodbye and make way for more forest trees and plants.

Take a look at the concept art shown in "The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At Its Peak" book. I am a huge fan of this piece of concept art.

What do you think? Is this a change you would be excited about?

High Levels of Happiness- Disney California Adventure Park

Follow Buzz Lightyear reporting back to "Star Command" as he explores the Disneyland® California Adventure® Park detecting high levels of happiness at the Park.

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DCA Construction: Soarin' Over California 1998-1999

As Disney California Adventure Park nears the end of a $1 billion plus expansion, I thought it would a great time to take a look back as the park was being built! Here is a look at the building of Soarin' Over California!

 One of the first pieces of concept art for California Soarin'. That's right, it was going to be called California Soarin'. I'm sure with California Screamin' that no one wanted two similar sounding attractions in the same park.

Starting with the very last day of the year in 1998, the big hole in the ground to the right of the monorail is the start of Soarin' Over California!

Jumping ahead by nearly four months, it doesn't look like too much has been done. Near the center of the photo you can see part of the support structure for Soarin' Over California. It is the black support beam on the ground in the center of the photo.

A month later, you can see part of the Grand Californian coming up. It is the structure to the top right of the photo next to the Soarin' Over California hole in the ground.

A week later you can now see the support structure is starting to go up!

Moving ahead by 4 months you can see that now familiar shape of the Soarin' Over California building is really taking shape!

And to wrap things up, here is a great photo I took in March on 2012! How fitting to take a photo of Soarin' Over California from the air!

I hope you enjoyed this quick look back! There will be more photos in the very near future!

DCA Construction Sneak Peek: Soarin' Over California 1999

Here is another teaser photo of some construction photos I took between 1998 and 1999 from the DCA Preview Center viewing deck. Look for a timeline photo collection in a few weeks!

Disney Concept Art: Soarin' Over California