Was There for the 50th and Now for the 60th

     Yes our trip to Disney Resort in Anaheim is near. Only 12 more days and we are on our way.  It is hard to believe another year has passed and the magical time is near. I will soon soar on Soarin, fall on Splash Montian, Drop on Tower, splash on Grizzly River run and scream on Screamin. All in one day most times too. I will also get to travel to the future on Star Tours, go swashbuckling on Pirates and meet those 999 haunts at the mansion.

     This year is a special year. It is Disney's 60th birthday, it is hte diamond celebration. Wow how completely exciting. We were there for the 50th gold and it was amazing so I am sure this celebration will be just as wonderful.

     Disney's California Adventure Park has under gone some changes and while I am sad to see some things leave, I am excited for the changes too.  I am also so excited to see the Mad T Party Band play again. I will let everyone know if the music has changed outside Soarin and how the changes are in the old Taste Pilot Grill and Fly N Buy.

     Disneyland has done some imgaineering to Peter Pan which will be truly enthralling. Alice was amazing so I know Peter Pan will be as well.

     There are new window stories too which I can't wait to see. The fireworks will be amazing and then there's the new Electrical Parade. Wow it will be amazing and I will have a lot to tell.

     I will take a lot of pictures, video and have many new memories to share.

The Final Change, Saddest of All

     Soarin Over California is one of our favorite rides. It is a part of Condor Flats which no longer exists. This year Soarin has a new theme and will look different inside. We were told to take pictures of it last year since it was the last year it would look like it does. The attraction did need updating because the film was getting worn out. I am not sure that they needed to get rid of Condor Flats and the aviation theme though. Time will tell, I will write about it when we expeience it ourselves.

     We loved the music and theme of Soarin as it was. Change is hard and this is the hardest change of all.


Outside Soarin in Condor Flats

Soarin inside, going to miss this shot. I will miss being cleared for take-off.

    Soon we will be introduced to the new Soarin, but I must say farewell to the old Soarin Over California and Condor Flats. We will miss you.

Farewell to Taste Pilot Grill

     One of our favorite places to eat is Taste Pilot Grill. Not just because they have wonderful food but we also loved the ambiance of the establishment. The aviation theme and music while inside the restaurant were special for us.

     We have seen the appearance of the restaurant change and this year when we go to DCA it will no longer be called Taste Pilot Grill. It is now Smoke Jumpers Grill or something of that nature. We do not know what to expect and I am sure it will still be an excellent place to eat but we will miss the aviation theme and music.

 This is what the outside of the TPG looked like when we first started going to DCA in 2003. We loved the plane.










After a few years they changed it and took the plane away.
We miss the plane.

This is the inside of the TPG, I am sad that it will not look this way anymore. 

I am sure the food will be great and I will write about the new restaurant but I am still sad that the Grill has changed and will miss the Taste Pilot Grill.

More Things We Miss at DCA

     There are more things we miss at DCA, one of those are the letters in the central plaza area. We loved the letters, they were not only interesting, pretty and unique but they were great photo op spots. Over the years we have taken many pictures near and in the letters. My kids loved to just sit in the letters. We truly miss them.

     My sons having fun posing in the letters.

      A family shot inside the letters back in 2004 when my grandma went with us.

 Oldest son as he was getting almost too big to sit inside the A.

  
     Youngest posing in the C

     Another huge change that took place was the removal of the replica of the San Francisco bridge. We loved the bridge, it was fun watching the Monorail travel over it and just as fun riding over it as we were on the Monorail. We took a lot of photo's in front of the bridge too. Here are a couple shots of the bridge that is now a part of history. 

     The entrance to the park is completely different and the letters are gone, the after you enter the park the bridge is gone, we do like the changes but in honestly not as well as we did these pieces of history. Thankfully we will always have our memories and pictures.

 

More Disney California Adventure Park Memories

     Many of our favorite attractions, landmarks and places to hang out are now a part of the DCA memory book. We love some of the new attractions and hang outs but miss the old places we loved. It is hard to say goodbye to something to love and relegate it to a memory.

     One thing that we absolutely loved to do was to get ice cream at Brr Bank Ice Cream, sit and watch the Beach Boys cover band play while enjoying our ice cream.  We loved the old Zephyr and was sad to see it leave.

   We spend many hours sitting at these tables people watching and listening to the music played by the Beach Boys cover band. We also enjoyed just sitting there to listen to the overhead music too. It was all California beach music and made us happy. It is something that my family and I miss a lot.
    The new building is nice but just not the same. The music overhead is not some we enjoy and we do not like the entertainment that is played over by Carthay Circle. I wonder if anyone really likes that old twenties style music. It is loud and makes it very hard to visit as we sit to have ice cream. We now have our ice cream over at Ghirdelli's on the Warf.

     We also loved the Titanium Sun, it was beautiful and had such an amazing water show if you took the time to watch. We also watched the Electrical Parade from that spot because it was not crowded and the best spot where you could see the entire parade. It was sad to see it go. The Carathay Circle building is pretty but just not the same. The prices are not affordable for families and well, I just think it is not something Walt would have placed in his park, maybe the building but not the high priced restaurant.

     Not only was the Titanium Sun a great place to watch the Elecrical parade and a beautiful landmark, it was also an excellent place for photo ops. We spent a lot of time there. 

      The old Woody is the car the Beach Boys cover band drove around. I really miss that show.

     Another attraction that we missed a lot disappeared before we even know it. I don't even know when it disappeared, I think it was in 2012 but long before that the things we loved about it were gone. You could have a water fight and my kids loved to pretend to surf. We went to see it one year and it was gone. It wasn't a place we visited a lot but we did enjoy it.

DCA is still one of our favorite places and we do love most all of the new attractions but I think a farewell to the ones that will forever live in our memories had to be done.  Next post I will remember more of our favorite attractions/landmark/memories.