Guests enter the newly expanded Disney California Adventure Park through a completely redesigned entrance that brings the spirit of Walt Disney into the park like never before. Immersed in a locale reminiscent of Los Angeles in the 1920s, when Disney first arrived in California, guests encounter the Red Car Trolley, one of four new attractions opening June 15 at Disney California Adventure.

• The Red Car Trolleys are inspired by Los Angeles’ historic Pacific Electric Red Cars from the 1920s and ’30s.
• Two Red Car Trolley cars operate daily, traveling from Buena Vista Street through Hollywood Land and on to the Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror. The trolleys traverse back and forth, making several stops along the way
• The Red Car Trolley route passes the new icon of Disney California Adventure, the Carthay Circle Theatre, inspired by the site where Walt Disney premiered “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1937.
• Two conductors operate each Red Car Trolley, engaging riders with fun details about Disney California Adventure, including architectural, design and historical facts about the Red Car Trolleys and Carthay Circle Theatre.
• The trolley interiors showcase the soft green and cream colors of the time period. Guests also find vintage-looking ads highlighting food locations and shops in the park.
• Each Red Car Trolley has a bell and a whistle, adding to the melodic sounds of the street.
• The “Red Car News Boys” roll into town on one of the Red Car Trolleys singing “California Here I Come!” and other fun songs inspired by the spirit and style of Disney’s Broadway show, “Newsies.” Even Mickey Mouse joins the show.
• From the Red Car Trolley, guests can wave to “citizens” of Buena Vista Street, resplendent in their period attire and filled with the optimism of the era.
• The Red Car Trolleys are 26 feet long, 8 feet wide and 11 feet tall. They seat 20 passengers with an additional space for a wheelchair.
• Each Red Car Trolley has a number. The 623 car, with “23″ as a nod to the year 1923 when Walt Disney arrived in California, is based on the 600 series of trolleys built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1922. The 717 car is inspired by the 700-750 series manufactured by the J.G. Brill Company in 1925 (7-17 also refers to the birthday of Disneyland Park, July 17, 1955).
• Catenary lines – the classic above-vehicle electric cabling ­- have been added above the trolleys to enhance authenticity. The trolleys are actually powered by onboard 12-volt batteries and they are fully recharged in the Red Car barn each night.
• The Red Car Trolleys were engineered from the ground up to meet today’s industry standards, operating efficiently with steel wheels on steel rails.
• When necessary, the trolleys recharge at one of the stops using inductive power transfer. This technology is used on Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage and also used to recharge consumer products such as cell phones.

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The Twilight Zone® is a registered trademark of CBS, Inc., and is used with permission pursuant to a license from CBS, Inc.
©Disney/CBS, Inc.

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CARS LAND

JOHN LASSETER, Chief Creative Officer, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios

Q: Why is Cars Land meaningful for you?

“While I love all of the movies we’ve made at Pixar, the ‘Cars’ films are particularly close to my heart, so seeing Radiator Springs come to life at Disney California Adventure is a dream come true. The artistry and attention to detail throughout Cars Land is absolutely incredible, and I couldn’t be more proud of the teams at Pixar and Walt Disney Imagineering who worked side-by-side to make this project a reality.”

Q: How does Cars Land pull guests in the story of the film “Cars”?

“The closer you get to that rockwork, it wraps around you. You look around and you are transported to Ornament Valley … It’s so beautiful, you can take a vacation in Cars Land.”

“To be authentic, I asked the Imagineers to get out and travel Route 66. It’s feeling it, seeing the light and hearing the stories of the people on the road. We were all focused on the storytelling to create the home of Lighting McQueen, of Mater, Doc Hudson, all of the residents of Radiator Springs, and to make it as authentic as we can.”

KATHY MANGUM, Executive Producer and Vice President, Walt Disney Imagineering

Q: How does Cars Land connect with guests at Disney California Adventure Park?

“The magic of our parks is we take you to places you can’t otherwise go to.”

“What Disney does so well is immerse guests in experiences and that’s what Cars Land does so well. As you walk down the street and you walk towards the mountain the real world goes away, and Cars Land reaches out and hugs you. You are surrounded by Radiator Springs and you are in the middle of a movie.”

“Making cars as audio-animatronics was something we had never done before. There we some challenges there. They are just so big, and how you engineer their mouths with bumpers acting as lips is part of making them look realistic. We are delivering a really linear story and being able to see and hear the actors with authenticity is really important to us.”

KEVIN RAFFERTY - Senior Concept Writer and Director, Walt Disney Imagineering

Q: Why are you so excited for guests to experience the Radiator Springs Racers attraction in Cars Land?

“Radiator Springs Racers is going to be one of the greatest attractions Disney has ever designed and built. A great attraction takes you somewhere, it takes you to another place, and that’s what Radiator Springs Racers does.”

Q: What would you like guests to take away from their visits to Cars Land?

“When our guests step into this land and they see the spectacle and the panorama of the landscape, I want them to feel like this is the greatest road trip they’ve ever been on.”

BUENA VISTA STREET

LISA GIROLAMI - Director, Senior Show Producer, Walt Disney Imagineering

Q: Sometimes it’s the things guests don’t really “see” that tell the story. How have you created an emotional connection for guests on Buena Vista Street?

“Every piece has to be there when you walk into a story, to know where you are, what time it is, what’s happening and to really be able to take in the music, the colors and the ornamentation on the architecture. The whole street coming alive is meant to put you right there in the steps of Walt when he first stepped off the train in California and all the optimism and opportunity he felt was there for him at the time.”

“The sense of optimism will be very obvious on Buena Vista Street, and that story is told at the highest level of detail. Then there are many more levels of details, which our Disney fans will recognize and discover. I think we accommodate everybody as deep as they want to go, and the more you want to know, the more you’ll get out of it. I think we’ve covered it, too, for people who may be visiting a Disney park for the first time.”

Q: What are some favorite aspects?

“I love Los Angeles and there are so many details I could say are my favorites … I think it’s going to be the feel of that street and how different it’s going to appear to everyone as they just enjoy being in the moment.”

RAY SPENCER – Creative Director Buena Vista Street, Walt Disney Imagineering

Q: What’s the Disney history behind the shop names and other items along Buena Vista Street?

“At the front of the park, we have the gas station, which is called Oswald’s, and Oswald was an early Disney character … Then we have Los Feliz Five & Dime, a merchandise store that features everyday consumer products. The names of the shops, and the names of the restaurants, are all based on Disney history — and especially the history that surrounded Walt Disney and the Disney brothers’ arrival in the 1920s. We have Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe, which is named after the Three Little Pigs from the Academy Award-winning animated short. We also have a merchandise location called Atwater Ink & Paint. It refers to the Atwater Village district of Los Angeles where Disney and the animators from Disney Studios spent a lot of time.”

“We have a new Walt and Mickey statue, called ‘Storytellers.’ We made a conscious decision to put the statue down on street level with the rest of our guests, rather than up in a monumental planter, like at Disneyland. Set in this time period, Walt Disney could have been you or I, or anybody at that time, out on the street. It’s part of the story of the street, a story of humble beginnings. It’s a story of a wonderful, inspirational time period with a wonderful, inspirational, gifted man who created what we can now enjoy as The Walt Disney Company.”

COULTER WINN – Principal Concept Architect, Director, Walt Disney Imagineering

Q: Will this be just like a street in Los Angeles?

“You can’t go to Los Angeles and see a building that exists like you’re going to see on Buena Vista Street. The buildings that we referenced have been torn down so we found them through historical photographs and began to design from there. Transporting our guests to another place and time like this, in the traditional Disney storytelling way, gives Disney California Adventure a much more enriched environment to start the day for our guests.”

ANDREW SUTTON – Executive Chef, Carthay Circle Restaurant and Lounge

Q: Tell us about this beautiful restaurant serving Southern California cuisine, and who will be drawn to this experience.

“Carthay Circle Restaurant and Lounge is serious Disney, and that means serious fun for the whole family. It’s casual, friendly and the food will feel like old Santa Barbara with all the ethnic flavors. At the Lounge, families will get one of these tapas and try one of those, and there will be a lot of sharing and interaction.”

DISNEYLAND RESORT EXPANSION

GEORGE A. KALOGRIDIS – President, Disneyland Resort

Q: What does the expansion of Disney California Adventure park mean to Disneyland Resort and regional tourism?

“Every component of our expansion – from attractions, merchandise and dining locations, to new entertainment and re-imagined hotels – have been crafted to add exciting, new pages to our 57-year-old story. Now, more than ever, the Disneyland Resort makes the Anaheim/Orange County region a multi-day, family vacation destination second to none.

“The completion of this expansion does not mark the end of our California Adventure journey, but rather, a new beginning. Walt Disney once said, ‘We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.’ Our “new path” is built firmly on Walt’s legacy, enriched with traditions that could only be found in the park that felt his footsteps.”

Media Contacts:
Disneyland Resort Public Relations
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www.disneylandnews.com
www.disneyparksblog.com

ANAHEIM, Calif., June 6, 2012 – When guests walk into a Disney theme park, they find themselves in a place apart from the everyday world they leave behind. At Disneyland Park, the adventure begins on turn-of-the-century Main Street, U.S.A.  At the newly expanded Disney California Adventure Park, it now begins on Buena Vista Street, a nostalgic look at Los Angeles as it may have appeared to Walt Disney in the 1920s and ’30s when he first arrived in California.

Buena Vista Street welcomes guests to a very specific “Disney California Adventure,” the adventure of a young Walt Disney stepping off the train from Kansas City and into 1920s Los Angeles, the beginning of a wonderful, inspirational period of his life. The dynamic themed environment transports guests to another era, along this boulevard of dreams.

“One of the main things we’re trying to do with Buena Vista Street is create an emotional connection for guests when they walk in,” explained Lisa Girolami, senior show producer and director, Walt Disney Imagineering. “We want people to take in the architecture and the color and the ornamentation, to know where they are and what time it is. The whole street comes alive to put you right there in the steps of Walt when he first stepped off the train in California, with all the optimism and opportunity he felt was there for him at the time.”

On Buena Vista Street, guests board the Red Car Trolley to take a tour and clang-clang-clang their way into Hollywood Land. The tour includes Carthay Circle Theatre, a striking, new Disney California Adventure landmark that stands at the hub of the park, with a beautiful fountain and avenues that lead to the eight themed lands of Disney California Adventure. It’s also home to one of the premier dining locations at Disneyland Resort, the Carthay Circle Restaurant and Lounge. Guests may stroll around a Buena Vista Street “downtown” featuring vintage architecture and a dozen shops and restaurants.

Buena Vista Street Landmarks

• The new entry turnstiles of Disney California Adventure are inspired by the Pan-Pacific Auditorium. The Pan-Pacific was designed by architect Welton Becket. Disney is said to have consulted his friend Becket when he was planning Disneyland in the 1950s. Becket told Walt he already had all the talent he needed at the Disney Studios. That talent was the creative team that became Walt Disney Imagineering.
• Entering the turnstiles, guests find themselves in Buena Vista Plaza, a town square with a flag pole, a stop for the Red Car Trolley, and Oswald’s gas station. Passing through the town square, guests walk under Hyperion Bridge (the Disneyland Resort Monorail track), modeled on the concrete Glendale-Hyperion Avenue bridge near Walt Disney’s early Hyperion Animation Studios.
• Past Hyperion Bridge and into the central entry plaza, which leads into the eight themed lands of Disney California Adventure, guests will find Carthay Circle Theatre, inspired by the motion picture palace where “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” premiered in 1937. It’s the home of the Carthay Circle Restaurant and Lounge.
• The Carthay Circle Theatre stands 89 feet 6 inches to the top of the cupola spire. It is approximately a ¾ scale to the original Carthay Circle Theatre building. In comparison, Sleeping Beauty Castle stands 77-feet high, with a design that makes it appear taller through forced perspective.
• The central plaza is also home to “Storytellers,” a statue of Walt Disney with Mickey Mouse. Placed at street level and less monumental than the “Partners” statue in Disneyland, “Storytellers” depicts Walt Disney as a humble, optimistic young man, dreaming of achievements to come, standing alongside Mickey Mouse.

A New Attraction – Red Car Trolley 

• Inspired by, and lovingly modeled on the historic Pacific Electric Railway system which operated in Southern California from 1901 through 1961, the Red Car Trolley runs through Buena Vista Street and into Hollywood Land, making multiple stops until it arrives at the Hollywood Tower Hotel, aka The Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror.
• The red cars of the Red Car Trolley are modeled on two Pacific Electric Railway designs, representing different eras of the system’s history. The attraction evokes the original Red Car line with large windows all the way around the cars, a distinctive single headlight in the center of the front panel, and even overhead “catenary” electrical lines (all part of the show).
• The Red Car Trolley makes four stops. Trolley car conductors, in uniforms evoking the ’20s time period, call the stops, toot the trolley whistle and entertain guests with historical tales of Buena Vista Street.

Shopping On Buena Vista Street

• Oswald’s stands in Buena Vista Plaza, just inside the Disney California Adventure turnstiles. The name might have prompted a young Walt Disney to name his early cartoon success, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald’s is actually a shop selling sundry “road trip” vacation necessities: travel mugs, sunscreen, hats and more.
• On the east side of the central plaza is Los Feliz Five & Dime, themed to a vintage five-and-dime or variety store. The Los Feliz area of Los Angeles is near the site where Walt Disney’s Hyperion studios were built. Los Feliz Five & Dime offers t-shirts, fleece, hats, figurines, souvenirs and more.
• Big Top Toys features innovative and interactive toys, games and plush inspired by such Disney characters as Tinker Bell, Disney Princesses, Phineas & Ferb and Duffy the Bear. The shop is a nod to the Disney animated film “Dumbo,” which provides much of the inspiration and the background music.
• Elias & Co. is the largest shopping location on Buena Vista Street and pays tribute to the opulent art deco style department stores of yesteryear, selling apparel, watches, handbags, accessories and more. The Canadian-born Elias Disney was Walt Disney’s father, and Elias was Walt Disney’s middle name.
• Kingswell Camera Shop, on the west side of Buena Vista Plaza, is headquarters for Disney’s PhotoPass, where guests can pick up their photos taken by Disney’s roving photographers. The shop also sells memory cards, cameras, film, batteries, frames and photo albums. Kingswell Avenue was the site of an early Disney animation studio.
• Julius Katz & Sons carries a variety of home décor and seasonal merchandise including kitchen gadgets, dinnerware, hand towels and aprons. “Julius Katz” was inspired by Julius the Cat, an animated cat who joined the live-action Alice in Disney’s silent “Alice in Cartoonland” shorts of the 1920s.
• Atwater Ink & Paint is a Hollywood-style market house selling coffee, tea and other delectable treats to enjoy or take home. The name refers to the Atwater Village district of Los Angeles, a regular haunt of animators in the early days of the Disney Studio.
• Trolley Treats offers packaged candy as well as signature items from the Disney candy kitchen: hand-pulled taffy, gourmet marshmallows, caramel apples, toffee, dipped strawberries and more. Some are made on the spot by Disney candy makers. Another treat is in the window – a display of Rock Candy Mountain, an attraction designed for Disneyland park but never built.

Dining Along Buena Vista Street

Upstairs at Carthay Circle Theatre is the Carthay Circle Restaurant, one of the premiere dining locations at the Disneyland Resort, with a menu of hors d’oeuvres, salads, soups, California specialty entrees and desserts. Downstairs is the Carthay Circle Lounge, which serves appetizers, wine, craft beer and specialty drinks.

• Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café is a diner-style, quick-service restaurant serving soups, salads, sandwiches and beverages, including Starbucks coffee. Guests enjoy a pleasant view of Carthay Circle from the picture window. The café name references the names of the Three Little Pigs in the award-winning Silly Symphonies cartoon.
• Clarabelle’s Hand-Scooped Ice Cream is a soda fountain and ice cream shop whose name might have inspired the name of one of Mickey Mouse’s friends, Clarabelle Cow.
• Mortimer’s Market offers whole and cut fruits, bottled water, juices and soft drinks. (Mortimer is the name Walt Disney originally gave his new creation in 1928; he later changed it to Mickey.)

Entertainment on Buena Vista Street

 ”The Red Car News Boys” roll into town on shiny Red Car Trolleys, singing “California, Here I Come!” and other fun tunes from the 1920s and ’30s. The News Boys also deliver the latest “headlines,” in the Buena Vista Daily Bugle.

• The citizens of Buena Vista Street – a cast of L.A./Hollywood “characters” out of the 1920s and ’30s – interact with guests, creating impromptu laughs, smiles and memories.
• The musical group Five & Dime adds all that jazz to Carthay Circle “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” This ensemble of friends and relations, led by a vivacious singer named Dime, has travelled Route 66 all the way from Chicago in hopes of making it big. Like everyone who comes to Buena Vista Street, great things await them just around the corner.

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The Twilight Zone® is a registered trademark of CBS, Inc., and is used with permission pursuant to a license from CBS, Inc.    ©Disney/CBS, Inc.

About the Disneyland Resort
The Disneyland Resort features two spectacular theme parks – Disneyland (the original Disney theme park) and Disney California Adventure Park – plus three hotels and the Downtown Disney District, comprised of unique dining, entertainment and shopping experiences. The Resort’s hotels are the luxurious, 948-room Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, which also features 50 two-bedroom equivalent DVC units; the magical, newly renovated, 969-room Disneyland Hotel – both AAA Four Diamond properties -  and the 481-room Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel with its “day-at-the-beach” fun. For information on attractions and vacations at Disneyland Resort, visit www.disneyland.com, call (866) 43-DISNEY or contact local travel agents.

Media Contact:
Disneyland Resort Public Relations
714/781-4500
www.disneylandnews.com
www.disneyparksblog.com
www.twitter.com/disneyland

 Along Buena Vista Street

Carthay Circle Restaurant and Lounge

• Signature dining at the Carthay Circle Restaurant upstairs (200 seats indoors, 56 seats on the terrace), with a 68-seat lounge downstairs. Hours 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
• Open for lunch and dinner with a market-inspired menu created by Andrew Sutton, executive chef for Napa Rose and the Carthay Circle Restaurant, with Chef de Cuisine Gloria Tae running the kitchen.
• Menu includes five varieties of sustainable fish, both wild and farmed, in dishes such as sushi-grade yellowtail, grilled with jerk spice and topped with tropical salsa, and Sierra Golden trout roasted with couscous, lemon and oil.  Lunch menu includes udon noodle bowl with red Thai curry broth and Angus burger with Tillamook cheddar cheese.
• Features hand-crafted cocktails, California beers from smaller breweries, wines from around the world with a strong focus on California vineyards, and lounge cocktails based on popular drinks from the 1930s including martinis and classic punches.
• Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, inspired by the original Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles where “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” premiered in 1937. Features include custom tiles, custom plaster finishes, ornate woodwork.
• Each guest who orders an entrée and an appetizer, or an entrée and a dessert, will receive a ticket to a center-stage viewing area for the nighttime spectacular, “World of Color.”
• Reservations are recommended: 714-781-DINE.

Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe

• Quick-service and bakery with 134 seats inside, 44 outside with a view of Carthay Circle
• Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast includes cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing, pastries and hot breakfast sandwiches
• Showcases Starbucks coffee drinks, with baristas in 1920s-inspired attire.
• Signature sandwiches with kettle potato chips, including roast beef and cheddar, turkey Reuben, paneer and roasted vegetable, and salami with olive tapenade.
• Two house soups daily, such as vegetarian cream spinach, chicken tortilla, lentil, Portobello barley, hearty meat stew, classic chicken noodle, vegetable minestrone with pasta, and cheesy enchilada

Clarabelle’s Hand-Scooped Ice Cream

• Hand-scooped ice cream in waffle cones, sundaes (hot fudge, mocha, mint, strawberry)
• Chocolate-dipped ice cream bars (milk or dark chocolate)

Mortimers Market

• Fruit and beverage kiosk with whole and cut fresh fruits, bottled water and juices, and soft drinks
• According to Disney legend, Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse on a train trip from New York to Los Angeles in March 1928. He called his creation Mortimer Mouse, but wife Lillian objected, saying Mortimer was too formal. So Walt changed it to Mickey.

Cruising through Cars Land

Flo’s V8 Cafe

• Full meals at a quick-service counter, with seats for 300
• Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
• Inspired by vintage roadside restaurants along historic Route 66, specialties include rotisserie pork loin, citrus turkey and New York strip loin. Signature “veggie-tater bake” is Chef Sean Layne’s vegetarian version of classic shepherd’s pie.
• House-made, single-serving pies include apple-cheddar, strawberry-rhubarb, chocolate mud, blueberry-peach and cherry, created by Disneyland Pastry Chef Jean-Marc Viallet.
• Beers served are Racer 5 IPA and Red Rocket Ale from Bear Republic Brewing Co. in Healdsburg, Calif.
• California wines by the glass include Fess Parker Riesling, Silverado Chardonnay, Chappellet Mountain Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon and Eppa Superfruit Red Sangria.
• Boasting “the finest fuel in the 50 states,” Flo’s caters to the growing number of Route 66 visitors and race fans coming to Radiator Springs, with a “showroom” dining area that overlooks the Radiator Springs Racers attraction.
• The cafe also is home to Flo’s personal memorabilia, collected during her glamorous career as a singer with the Motorama Girls.

Cozy Cone Motel

• Quick-service, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, with 56 seats outdoors
• Inspired by vintage “wigwam” hotels along Route 66, each of the five teepees offers cone-themed treats.
• Cone Number 1 offers churro bites with cinnamon-chocolate sauce, cinnamon-spiced hot cocoa and Ramone’s Pear of Dice Soda made with dessert pear syrup, mojito syrup and Sprite.
• Cone Number 2 features soft-serve ice cream and “route” beer floats.
• Cone Number 3 offers savory bites all served in edible bread cones, such as a bacon-scrambled egg cone for breakfast, chicken verde or chili “cone” queso for lunch and dinner. Specialty beverages are Fillmore’s Fuelin’ Groovy Ades, all-natural lemonade with wild berry foam, or pomegranate limeade with lemon-lime foam.
• Cone Number 4 serves pretzel bites with cheesy sauce and Red’s Apple Freeze, a fat-free, frozen concoction with apple juice, toasted marshmallow syrup and passion fruit-mango foam.
• Cone Number 5 features two flavored popcorns daily, such as dill pickle and sweet & spicy.  Other flavors include bacon and cheddar, nacho cheese, salt and vinegar. Specialty drink is Doc’s Wild Grape Tonic (Sprite with wild grape syrup and wild berry foam).
• As the story goes, the Cozy Cone Motel becomes home to Sally’s Snack Cone-anza when all the fans flock to Radiator Springs for the big races.

Fillmore’s Taste-In

• Fruit and beverage kiosk with fresh whole and cut fruits, bottled water and juices, and soft drinks.
• Radiator Springs’ resident hippie, Fillmore, offers a variety of healthy snacks to visitors at his tie-dyed geodesic dome.

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About the Disneyland Resort
The Disneyland Resort features two spectacular theme parks – Disneyland (the original Disney theme park) and Disney California Adventure park – plus three hotels and the Downtown Disney District, comprised of unique dining, entertainment and shopping experiences.  The Resort’s hotels are the luxurious, 948-room Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, which also features 50 two-bedroom equivalent DVC units; the magical, newly renovated, 969-room Disneyland Hotel – both AAA Four Diamond properties -  and the 481-room Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel with its “day-at-the-beach” fun. For information on attractions and vacations at Disneyland Resort, visit www.disneyland.com, call (866) 43-DISNEY or contact local travel agents.

Media Contact:
Disneyland Resort Public Relations
714/781-4500
www.disneylandnews.com
www.disneyparksblog.com
www.twitter.com/disneyland