Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [195]
FRONTIERLAND
Arrgh matey! In a bold nod to blatant commercialism, Captain Jack Sparrow and his pirate crew have hijacked an American classic. Frontierland’s Tom Sawyer Island – the only attraction in the park personally designed by Uncle Walt – was recently re-imagined in wake of the successful Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Reopening in 2007 as Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, the island now honors Tom in name only. After a raft ride to the island, wander among roving pirates, cannibal cages, ghostly apparitions and buried treasure. Somewhere, Injun Joe is smiling. The rest of Frontierland gives a nod to the rip-roarin’ Old West.
ADVENTURELAND
Dedicated to exploration and adventure, Adventureland loosely derives its style from Southeast Asia and Africa. The hands-down highlight is the jungle-themed Indiana Jones Adventure. Enormous Humvee-type vehicles lurch and jerk through the wild for spine-tingling encounters with creepy crawlies and scary skulls in re-creations of stunts from the famous film series. (Look closely at Indie during the ride: is he real or animatronic?) Nearby, little ones love climbing the stairways of Tarzan’s Treehouse and imagining what it would be like to live in the trees.
NEW ORLEANS SQUARE
Adjacent to Adventureland, New Orleans Square has all the charm of the French Quarter but none of the marauding drunks. New Orleans was Walt’s and his wife Lilian’s favorite city, and Walt paid tribute to it by building this stunning square. Pirates of the Caribbean, the longest ride in Disneyland (17 minutes) and ‘inspiration’ for the movies, opened in 1967 and was the first addition to the original park. You’ll float through the subterranean haunts of tawdry pirates, where buccaneers’ skeletons perch atop their mounds of booty. At the Haunted Mansion 999 ‘happy haunts’ – spirits, goblins, shades and ghosts – appear and evanesce while you ride in a cocoonlike ‘Doom Buggy’ through web-covered graveyards of dancing skeletons.
CRITTER COUNTRY
Tucked behind the Haunted Mansion, Critter Country’s main attraction is Splash Mountain, a flume ride which tranports you through the story of Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear, based on the controversial film Song of the South. Just past Splash Mountain, hop in a mobile beehive on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
SHOWS & PARADES
Verify all shows and times once you arrive in the park; they are subject to change. See opposite for events at DCA.
In summer look for fireworks above the park, nightly around 9:30pm. (In winter, snow falls after the fireworks; check schedules for locations.) The Parade of Dreams, starring famous Disney characters, takes place twice daily in high season.
Fantasmic!, an outdoor extravaganza on Rivers of America across from New Orleans Square, may be the best show of all, using lasers, pyrotechnics (at one point the water catches fire), full-size ships and over-the-top production values. Arrive early to scope a spot – the best are down the front by the water – or splurge and reserve balcony seating upstairs in New Orleans Square. Premium seating tickets ( 714-781-4400; adult/child $59/49) can be reserved up to 30 days in advance. Ordinary seats are included in the price of park admission.
At the new Princess Fantasy Faire in Fantasyland, your little princesses and knights can join the Royal Court and meet some of the Disney Princesses.
Disney’s California Adventure
Across the plaza from Disneyland’s monument to fantasy and make-believe is Disney’s California Adventure (DCA),