Disney's California Adventure Goes Back To 1920s

Previewing an estimated $1 billion expansion and remodel (per LOS ANGELES TIMES) of Disney's California Adventure, the Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar will give park guests an idea of what's to come.

Beginning October 20, guests will be able to view working models as well as dozens of concepts and sketches from Disney Imagineers, the creative minds behind the design and construction of Disney theme parks and attractions.

Nestled in the Golden Vine Winery at the base of Grizzly Peak in Disney's California Adventure Park, the Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar, guests will be invited for the first time to preview works in progress at Disneyland Resort by immersing themselves in a facsimile of an Imagineering workspace. Based on the belief that idea gathering is best when "the sky's the limit," the Blue Sky Cellar is designed to resemble an Imagineering "charette," an extended creative idea development meeting. Guests receive an inside-look at how Imagineers take "blue sky" ideas and refine them into the classic storytelling that characterizes Disney Theme Park attractions and adventures.

In this immersive setting, Imagineers have taken over a former wine cellar and set up shop. Wine barrels have turned into work stations and the former wine tasting room has become a screening room where videos showcase the behind-the-scenes magic that goes into the creation of new and upcoming attractions for Disney's California Adventure.

Guests will view several new attraction models, including the newly-envisioned Paradise Pier area with its turn-of-the-20th-Century look, ride vehicle maquettes from TOY STORY MANIA!; and the new character overlays to the Games of the Boardwalk. Special features include updates and character additions to attractions such as MICKEY'S FUN WHEEL (an enhancement of the current SUN WHEEL) and SILLY SYMPHONY SWINGS (a refreshed and rethemed ORANGE STINGER).

Brand new sketches and artwork line the walls including images of the new park entrance area, soon to be known as Buena Vista Street, which will bring to life a nostalgic look at Los Angeles from the 1920s and 30s when Walt Disney first arrived in California; a Red Car trolley, reminiscent of the Pacific Electric Railway; and a new central plaza area including a replica of the Carthay Circle Theatre, where Walt premiered SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS.

The "coming soon" area features images of Disney's WORLD OF COLOR and THE LITTLE MERMAID attraction, and looks even further ahead to Cars Land, a 12-acre expansion of the Park that will bring to life the town of Radiator Springs from the Disney/Pixar animated film CARS, complete with three new attractions.

Additionally, guests in Blue Sky Cellar will have fun testing their knowledge of Disney trivia at one of the interactive workstations.

The screening room features Imagineers describing the approach and vision of the Disney California Adventure expansion. Guests will see footage of model-making, sculpting, blue sky meetings and all the aspects of bringing a Disney concept to life.

Included in the original announcement of the multi-year expansion of the Disneyland Resort in Fall 2007, the Blue Sky Cellar is part of the overall commitment to keep the community and Disneyland Resort guests informed of the exciting new and upcoming plans for the Resort. Future updates will focus on other new areas and attractions, and guests are invited to return periodically for additional exciting information.

The LOS ANGELES TIMES also reports that the expansion is set to be completed in 2012.