It’s Always Blue Skies For Disney Imagineers

Disneyland Park opened on July 17, 1955 and as it was opening, Walt Disney declared, “Disneyland will never be completed.  It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination in the world.”

In the fall of 2007, Disney Imagineers  announced exciting plans for the coming attractions and a multi-year park expansion at Disneyland Resort (map).  Years later, with the opening of the amazing special effects show, World of Color, one by one these attractions are being completed and crossed off the “to-do list”.

As the Imagineers have turned their attention to Little Mermaid-Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, Buena Vista Street and the highly anticipated Cars Land, the remaining upcoming attractions to Disney’s California Adventure park (map) , fans have two ways to keep up with the progress, online and in person.

DisneysCaliforniaAdventure.com is an interactive web site that allows visitors to go behind the scenes with videos, photos, renderings and online updates of the individual attractions.  Guests can click on The Big Picture that lays out the plans, attraction by attraction.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the Pictures and Video section is for you, with video interviews with people in the know to keep you up to date.

At the Golden Vine Winery at Disney’s California Adventure, guests can physically enter Blue Sky Cellar to get a preview of the enhancements as they immerse themselves in to the world of the Imagineering workspace.

In a whimsical setting it appears that the Imagineers have taken over the wine cellar and set up shop – wine barrels are now work stations and the tasting room is now a screening room, showing footage of the entire creative process.

Guests feel as if they have been dropped into a creative development meeting, where the sky is the limit as far as ideas. With this philosophy in place, visitors see how “blue sky” ideas are refined into characteristic Disney theme park attractions and adventures.

With the new Little Mermaid attraction on the worktable, guests can observe a display to learn more about Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.  An omni-mover attraction (think Haunted Mansion), guests will ride in clam-mobiles, or the wheelchair accessible, King Triton’s Chariot.  Both Disneyland and Walt Disney World will have a version of this ride by 2012.

Blue Sky Cellar reminds me of The Magic of Disney Animation attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (map) at Walt Disney World Resort (map).  Here guests see a glimpse of the everyday world of the animator and often a sneak peek at an upcoming Disney animated film.  This is one of our families favorite attractions at the Studios theme park, for that reason.  I am sure my family would love Blue Sky Cellars, too.

Photo Selection: Disneyland News