$1.4-Billion Theme Park Is Detailed by Disney

By MARLA DICKERSON

July 18, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM —

Forty-one years after Walt Disney opened Disneyland and enshrined California as a destination for fun, the company he founded took the wraps off plans Wednesday for a long-awaited second theme park here that will celebrate and sometimes satirize the wonders of the Golden State.

The $1.4-billion project, dubbed Disney’s California Adventure, will condense the California mystique into three themed lands centered on Hollywood, the beach and California’s wilderness areas.

Visitors to the new park can choose from a white-water rafting adventure, a hang-gliding “flight” over the Golden Gate Bridge, a turn-of-the-century boardwalk area and an irreverent, chauffeur’s-eye view of Hollywood.

“Disney’s California Adventure is really a celebration of the fun, the beauty, the people and the accomplishments of this magical state,” said Paul Pressler, president of the Disneyland Resort. “We really have set out to try to capture a bit of what that California dream is all about.”

The new park, which will be constructed on two-thirds of the Disneyland parking lot, will also be home to the Grand Californian luxury hotel. The 750-room California Craftsman-style structure will be linked with the Disneyland monorail and will be the first hotel constructed completely within the walls of a Disney theme park.

Outside the gates, Disney plans to construct a vast public promenade larger than St. Peter’s square in Rome, as well as a 200,000-square-foot shopping, dining and entertainment complex called the Disneyland Center to attract more adult revelers.

Slated for groundbreaking next year and opening in 2001, Disney’s California Adventure is expected to attract 7 million visitors a year, which would put it among the half-dozen most popular theme parks in the country.

Disney officials estimate that the new theme park, hotel and entertainment district will create 14,500 jobs, 8,100 of those in Anaheim. The company projects annual revenue from the expansion at $25 million for the city of Anaheim, $10 million for Orange County and $35 million for the state of California.

Wednesday’s unveiling coincided with Disneyland’s 41st birthday celebration and represents the largest expansion of Disney’s Anaheim empire. The new California-themed project supersedes Westcot, a massive 460-acre, $3-billion world’s fair resort Disney announced with great fanfare in 1991 and scrapped last year as too ambitious.

Exuberant Disney officials appeared eager to put the Westcot debacle behind them Wednesday, pulling out all the stops at a press conference inside the “Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln” theater at Disneyland. A crush of local dignitaries, business leaders and reporters swarmed a buffet table in search of morning coffee while a Hawaiian-shirted band belted out Beach Boys hits amid balloons and streamers.

The eager crowd was treated to a blueprint of the slimmed down, 55-acre Disney park and surrounding developments, which represent Disney’s latest effort to meld its Anaheim holdings into a full-fledged vacation resort. Although the Walt Disney Imagineering creative team has yet to work out the details or even the names of some attractions, it did provide a broad overview of the three themed lands of Disney’s California Adventure.

The Hollywood Studio District pays homage to the fun and excesses of the movie industry with an architectural mix of Hollywood kitsch, over-the-top grandeur and other Disney twists on Tinseltown glitz and glamour.

“This Hollywood doesn’t exist in a fixed time period,” said Barry Braverman, executive producer of Walt Disney Imagineering, who headed the design team for the new park. “It’s the Hollywood of your mind.”

As planned, this Hollywood will feature:

* Disney Animation Attraction--A fantasy building, crowned with a replica of the sorcerer’s cap worn by Mickey Mouse in Fantasia, showcasing animated films, exhibits and demonstrations by Disney animators.

* Superstar Limousine--A satirical swing at Hollywood’s beautiful people. Patrons become the stars, cruising a wacky Tinseltown with their sycophantic chauffeur to landmarks such as Sunset Boulevard, a studio back lot, Malibu, movie star homes and more.

“It’s outrageous and pure fun and pokes some holes in Hollywood icons,” said Marty Sklar, vice chairman of Walt Disney Imagineering. “We’re going to enjoy making fun of that whole culture.”

* ABC Studio Tour--Similar tours are offered at Disney-MGM Studios, but unlike the working studios in Orlando, these will only simulate movie and television production. Visitors will get to play around behind and in front of the cameras.

* Theater--Disney plans to construct a 2,000-seat, Broadway-style theater inside the park to host major theatrical productions, such as Disney’s recent “Beauty and the Beast.”

* Movie-themed restaurants, shops and memorabilia.

The second major themed land is tentatively named Golden California. This area will pay homage to the state’s outdoor wonders and pioneer past. Marked by a snow-capped mountain with a grizzly bear carved on its face, Golden California will focus on adventure attractions:

* California Soarin’--A hang-gliding tour of Golden Gate Bridge, Yosemite Valley and other California landmarks. A specially designed glider will suspend riders in front of a huge projection screen to give them the feeling of soaring.

* White-water Rafting--Riders plunge through rapids and the wild rivers of the West.

* Eureka Adventures--Five acres of trails through artificial geyser fields, caves, forest areas and other nature-like areas.

“It’s like every car vacation you ever took as a kid through California,” Braverman said.

* Waterfront Village/California Workplace--Disney’s tribute to the immigrants and artisans of California. It will feature a village of working factories and farms whose craftsmen will demonstrate bread baking, chocolate making and other crafts.

* Historical show--Devoted to working men and women of all races, ethnicities and religions who helped build the state.

“It’s going to be a very emotional experience,” Braverman said. “People are going to be moved by these stories.”

The third land is the beach-themed California Boardwalk, with a massive artificial lagoon and lighthouse.

The boardwalk itself will re-create the look and feel of an old-fashioned seaside promenade with nostalgic entertainment, food, shops, etc.

* Rides: No details were given, but Braverman said the company is looking at a number of attractions, including a carousel and a wooden-style roller coaster.

“There will be thrill attractions,” he said. “They will be classic rides, reinterpreted with a fun Disney twist.”

* Surfing Demonstration/Extreme Sports: Miles from the beach, Disney Imagineers plan to create a wave technology for the artificial lagoon so cast members can hang 10.

In addition to unveiling the creative elements of Disney’s California Adventure, Disney officials also outlined a parking and traffic circulation program being developed with Anaheim officials.

It is designed allow visitors to exit from the Santa Ana Freeway into new parking facilities and to relieve traffic congestion. Disney will construct new surface parking and one large parking garage to accompany the new development. The project will contain 140 acres of total parking when it opens in 2001.

When a widening of the freeway is complete, it will be possible for cars to exit the freeway southbound at West Street, which will feature a ramp leading over Ball Road and directly into a new parking structure.

The second offramp will feature a northbound exit at Freedman Way and lead directly into parking next to the new theme park.

Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Greg Hernandez.

* WALT’S WORLD: The company’s late founder shunned the familiar for the new. He probably wouldn’t work for the firm today. A26

* BALANCE SHEET: Analysts say Disney has sound financial reasons to protect and build on its flagship enterprise with a second park. D1

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Disney’s Big Adventure

The Disneyland Resort expansion will include Disney’s California Adventure, a new hotel, a shopping and entertainment area and a public plaza. Three main themes will make up the companion park: beaches, California and Hollywood. Construction will begin in early 1997.

Disneyland Center: shopping, dining and entertainment complex

Grand California Hotel: 750 rooms, inspired by Craftsman architecture

Disney’s California Adventure: 55 acres

Disneyland Resort Plaza: gateway to both parks

Boardwalk Area: Palm-lined boardwalks with classic rides and performers. Surfing demonstrations will be given in man-made lagoon.

Scenic California Area: Features forest and cave exploration, white-water rafting ride and scenic hang-glider rides. The state’s pioneers will be saluted.

Hollywood Area: A Celebration of movie-making and animation. Tinseltown glitz will be viewed from the Superstar Limousine.

Source: Walt Disney Co.

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Anaheim’s Role

The city will provide $395.9 million in improvements to the area, including streetscapes and infrastructure. Financing will come from bonds, hotel bed taxes and existing funds. Details on improvements and city expenditures:

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Improvements

* Landscaping: Expanded parkways southwest of the Santa Ana Freeway and between Ball Road and Orangewood Avenue. This 1,100-acre area is designated as the Anaheim Resort Area.

* Unified signage: For all businesses along Harbor Boulevard, Katella Avenue and West Street.

* Landscaped entryways: Transformation of Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue.

* Anaheim Convention Center: Expansion of facility.

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Expenditures (Totals in millions)

Parking: $90.0

Transportation (includes street improvements and walkways): $96.8

Electrical: $49.4

Fire/paramedics/police: $7.7

Sewer/wastewater/storm drains: $40.5

Domestic water system: $11.0

Landscaping: $28.9