Blue Sky Cellar – Disney’s California Adventure

Blue Sky Cellar, the preview center for DCA’s expansion, re-opened on July 16 with some updated exhibits.

Most of the content on the Show Ideas and Concept Development is the same, but the bulletin board on Toy Story Midway Mania has been replaced with one showing concept art for two new dining areas: Lucky Fortune Cookery in the Pacific Wharf (in the old Cocina Cucamonga location) and Pardise Garden Grill and Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta in the Paradise Pier area. Pardise Garden Grill replaces the old Burger Invasion restaurant, and Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta will be a re-theming of the current Pizza Oom Mow Mow restaurant. The two will share an expanded dining courtyard and are set to open in spring 2010.

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There’s a display cabinet at the end of the ramp that has miscellaneous items in it, mostly related to Blue Sky Cellar. But there’s what I thought was one very special item down in the lower right corner – a notice about a company retirement party for long-time Imagineer Marty Sklar, who retired on July 17. (His window on Main Street was also dedicated on July 17.)

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The video in the “Screening Room” is completely new, and focuses largely on the World of Color show. Some of the paper models Steven Davison describes are on exhibit in a display case in the middle of Blue Sky Cellar. There’s also a few sneak peeks at Silly Symphony Swings (2010), the Little Mermaid Attraction (2011), the new main entrance plaza (Coming Soon), and Cars Land (2012).

In the center of the room, most of the content of the display cases has been replaced. The model of Paradise Pier is the exception, but it has been updated to show the location of the show platform and fountains for World of Color.

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There is also a second model of the viewing area for World of Color.

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“Disney Imagineers used this model to create new landscaping, determine the best sightlines, and maximize capacity for the World of Color viewing area. This design reflects the formality and detailing typical of turn-of-the-century public parks, seamlessly blended with today’s requirement for effective circulation and spectacular viewing terraces.

“The roses and boxwood in the planters and the two new trellises would have been right at home in parks of the past. Meanwhile, a new state-of-the-art water play area creates a cool zone for daytime activity, while a hidden stage provides maximum flexibility for future events.”

This model is described below:

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“Study model for vault to hide sound and lighting equipment towers. By day they look like natural stone piers around the lagoon. At night they open to allow the towers to rise into place for World of Color.

This model was used to direct the rockwork shapes and to develop the painting scheme.”

As I mentioned above, in a third display case are examples of the paper art created for World of Color.

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“The World of Color creative team employed a variety of animation techniques to create new background and special effects for the production. These delicate paper sculptures were hand-fabricated by a local artist for the Alice in Wonderland sequence.

“Each figure was posed, photographed, and then repositioned in small increments and photographed again. When the series of photos is played as a continuous sequence – known as stop-motion animation – it produces the illusion of movement.”

The Imagineers’ desks have been updated to show work-in-progress for World of Color. On the left side you can see concept art for “Little Squirt” – a character in World of Color – with notes like: “A little squirt of imagination goes a long way”, and “Represents the childlike qualities of mischief and imagination.” (If you’ve seen the Steven Davison videos in this blog entry you’ll hear him talk about “Little Squirt”.) On the right side desk are notes on the programming for the Cheshire Cat: “A) Cheshire Cat’s face proj on rear left mist screen. C) Waterwhips create his body & tail. B) Alice falls into a bottle floating on a psychedelic sea of color. D) Grid fountains rise & fall to mirror the water on B) grids extend the sea forward.”

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Disney has developed a new on-line version of Blue Sky Cellar – the web site www.DisneysCaliforniaAdventure.com went on-line on Thursday, July 16. The web site will be updated periodically, at least as often as Blue Sky Cellar itself (though I hope it will be more frequently than that!).

In the Screening Room there’s a map of what DCA will look like when the expansion is finished – I thought it might be interesting to show you the map and close-ups of the various areas that are changing.

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Laura Gilbreath is a native of San Diego, CA. She has been making the trek up Interstate 5 to Disneyland since she was a small child and terrified of talking tikis and hitchhiking ghosts. She and her husband Lee enjoy trips to Disneyland and Walt Disney World, as well as sailings on the Disney Cruise Line.

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One Reply to “Blue Sky Cellar – Disney’s California Adventure”

  1. I visited Disneyland and CA Adventure for the 50th in November 2005. I hope to visit again in December 2010 (to see holiday happenings) and hope to see most of the additions and changes to the park. I am looking forward to seeing World of Color most. From what I have been reading, December 2010 will be during the middle of all the construction. I hope it does not take away from my experience.