Disney California Adventure Grand Reopening

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A 5-year, $1.5+ billion expansion finished June 15, 2012 when Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort opened Cars Land and Buena Vista Street as part of the park’s grand reopening celebration. This reopening began on the evening of June 13, 2012 for the Cars Land Red Carpet and Grand Opening Party, and continued June 14, 2012 with other media events, and finally concluded on June 15, 2012, when Disney CEO, Bob Iger rededicated the park. We were on hand for the media previews June 13 and 14, and for the Grand Opening weekend June 15 through June 17, 2012.

Read my review of Disney California Adventure “2.0.”

Between Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, there ar four new attractions (Radiator Springs Racers, Luigi’s Flying Tires, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and the Red Car Trolley), new dining (Flo’s V8 Café, Carthay Circle Restaurant, Cozy Cones, etc.) and shopping locations (Ramone’s House of Body Art, Radiator Springs Curios, Elias and Co.) in two new incredibly detailed lands for guests to explore, making Disney California Adventure a bona fide companion park to Disneyland.

Read our historical retrospective of the original Disney California Adventure.

Quit simply, we were blown away by the new Disney California Adventure. Cars Land is one of the most detailed and immersive lands that Walt Disney Imagineering has ever created, rivaling areas of Tokyo DisneySea, and Buena Vista Street is a beautiful tribute to the Los Angeles that Walt Disney arrived to in the 1920s. These two lands, plus a variety of improvements to other lands, including the opening of the first Disney Starbucks and the Mad T Party, make Summer 2012 an exciting time to visit Disneyland!

Make sure you check out our Disneyland trip planning tips & tricks when planning your trip to see Cars Land and the rest of “new” Disney California Adventure!

 

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“New” Disney California Adventure Photos

All photos below taken during the Media Previews June 13 and June 14, 2012, and on Grand Reopening Weekend:

Photo Pages:
Radiator Springs Racers Photos (78 photos)
Luigi’s Flying Tires Photos (41 photos)
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree Photos (18 photos)
Buena Vista Street Photos (90 photos)
Cars Land Photos (86 photos)
World of Color “Glow with the Show” and Brave Photos (40 photos)
Instant Concert – Just Add Water! Photos (10 photos) 

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Grand Reopening Countdown: NOW OPEN!

In celebration of the Grand Reopening, we posted Disney California Adventure blog posts every day in June 2012 until the Grand Reopening festivities started on June 13th. These posts covered everything we love about DCA, such as additions from the past few years, including The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, Goofy’s Sky School, World of Color, Silly Symphony Swings, Mickey’s Fun Wheel, Toy Story Midway Mania, and Pixar Play Parade, have truly reinvented Disney California Adventure, and make it an awesome vacation destination and high-quality companion park to Disneyland. You can find all of those posts here:

Posts:
June 2, 2012 – “Always Dream in Wonderful Color” Photo
June 3, 2012 – The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure Dark Ride Photo Tour
June 4, 2012 – Disney California Adventure Historical Retrospective
June 5, 2012 – Original Paradise Pier Panoramic Photo
June 6, 2012 – Current Paradise Pier Panoramic Photo
June 7, 2012 – World of Color Photo Gallery
June 8, 2012 – Best Disney California Adventure Attractions
June 9, 2012 – World of Color Timeline Covers
June 10, 2012 – Avoid the Crowds at Disney California Adventure!
June 11, 2012 – 50 Beautiful Disney California Adventure Photos
June 12, 2012 – Disneyland Resort Spring 2012 Trip Report (Part II)
June 13, 2012 – See Ya Real Soon!

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You can see awesome photos from Grand Opening weekend of the “new” Disney California Adventure at the links above, but here are a few of our favorite photos of Disney California Adventure from years past!

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Check out some of our best Disney California Adventure posts from our archives:

Disney California Adventure Facebook Covers
World of Color Guide & Photos
Disneyland Christmas Time Lapse Video
Disneyland Resort Christmas 2011 Report
Disneyland Resort Spring 2011 Report
Disneyland Resort Summer 2010 Report
Disneyland Bar Crawl Guide

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4 Responses to “Disney California Adventure Grand Reopening”

1. Sereina says:

   June 1, 2012 at 1:31 pm

   It’s so close! My family and I have talked about how different it will be vising DCA next year, since so much has changed since our last trip in 2009. It’s gonna be almost like a whole new park, which will be so much fun to explore. I’ll be reading all your DCA posts the next couple weeks.

   Reply
   • Tom Bricker says:

     June 2, 2012 at 9:24 am

     Heck, it has changed so much since 2011 or even early 2012. The work that has been done in that park is absolutely amazing. Kudos to Disney for investing the money needed to fix that park!

     Reply
2. John B says:

   June 2, 2012 at 10:10 am

   I can’t wait to see all this in person. I’m actually more excited for Buena Vista Street than Cars Land. How strange am I? My hope is to go in early January of next year. Hopefully by then most of the crowds will subside a bit, they’ll work out any kincks in the system, AND I get to see the Christmas decorations. The only downside is I have to wait another 7 months!

   Reply
3. TommyPix says:

   June 7, 2012 at 1:52 pm

   Good overview of DCA 2.0.

   Reply