The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (187 page)

Beautiful resort hotels sprang up in places like Brighton, England, and Coney Island, New York, back when Coney really was an island
, and well before Steeplechase, Luna Park, or Dreamland opened.  There were long, deep porches, expansive lawns, and promenades.  Visitors who stayed at these Victorian seaside resorts enjoyed an atmosphere of comfort and elegance.

The importance of an elegant landscape can’t be overstated.  An associate once asked
Walt
why he was spending so much on fancy light fixtures for a
Disneyland
restaurant.  The associate argued that most Guests wouldn’t even know how expensive the fixtures were.

Walt
disagreed.  To paraphrase
Walt
, it didn’t matter whether Guests knew the specific manufacturer or the cost of the fixtures; Guests would instinctively sense the objects’
quality
, they would feel that they were in an elegant space, and know that
Disney
valued them.

The original
Paradise Pier
, though gorgeous from a distance, had an on-the-cheap flavor when you were immersed in it.

The new
Paradise Pier
, with its period music, popcorn lights, elegant architecture, and Victorian motifs, finally gives Guests that feeling of being special and pampered that
Walt
wanted them to experience whenever they visited
Disneyland
.

By 2011, when
The Little Mermaid
adventure opened its doors,
Paradise Pier
was completely transformed from its unappealing origins to a lovely
Disney
vision of imaginative seaside delights.

As
Walt
himself often said, that’s the beauty of theme parks.  If something at
Disneyland
doesn’t work, you can always change it, start fresh,
plus
the experience. 
Disney Theme Parks
were always intended to be living organisms that evolved with technology, Guests’ wishes, and the
Imagineers
’ limitless imaginations. 
Did You Know?
 
Walt
wasn’t a fan of run-of-the-mill amusement parks or carnivals, but he
did
have a fondness for circuses and quality midway attractions.
Dumbo
,
Disney
’s 1941 animated classic, is set at a circus and inspired two
Fantasyland
attractions that still flourish today: 
Casey Jr. Circus Train
and
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
.  One of
Disneyland
’s early attractions was the
Mickey Mouse Club Circus
, which opened in
Fantasyland
on November 24, 1955 with a parade and a lot of fanfare. 
Walt
was enthusiastic about it, but Guests weren’t.  The
Mickey Mouse Club Circus
was charming, but Guests were too busy visiting
Disneyland
’s unique attractions to give the relatively traditional circus the time of day. 
Walt
always listened to Guests.  The
Mickey Mouse Club Circus
closed on January 8, 1956, less than two months after it opened.  (The
Mickey Mouse Club
TV program, on the other hand, flourished and in various incarnations over the decades continued to entertain viewers and mint superstars from
Annette Funicello
to
Christina Aguilera
and
Justin Timberlake
.)  In 1960,
Walt
treated audiences to an entertaining vision of a small-time circus when
Disney
released the live-action film
Toby Tyler
, the amiable, episodic tale of a runaway and a clever monkey named
Mr. Stubbs
. 
Night Vision:
 
Paradise Pier
has always been lovely at night, the moreso since
World of Color
debuted. 
Paradise Pier
’s electric and neon lights twinkle across
Paradise Bay
and are reflected on the water and on the whirling, racing metal surfaces of the roller coasters, the Ferris wheel, and the gleaming rockets.

Paradise Pier Attractions

California Screamin’
(FP) (S) 
Must be 48” or 122 cm tall to ride.

[
FastView:
 
One of the resort’s fastest, steepest, and most thrilling attractions,
California Screamin’
somehow retains the charm of an old-timey roller coaster by the sea.  Stop by the
ScreamCam
shop at ride’s end for a souvenir that’s a scream.
]

Crafted to look like a classic wooden roller coaster from the early 20
th
century (considered by many to be the golden age of coasters),
California Screamin’
is actually made of nearly six million pounds of steel painstakingly wrenched and twisted into tortuous configurations that no wooden coaster could possibly achieve.

A
lofty 120 feet tall at its peak,
California Screamin’
begins with a startling 55-mph launch.  The steepest drop is a stomach-flipping 108 feet at a 50-degree angle and at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour.  Numerous lesser drops, sharp turns, and a single tight, inverted loop give this coaster its name; Guests scream, and scream, and then scream some more all the way through this two-and-a-half-minute ride.

California Screamin’
was one of
DCA
’s opening day attractions, and has always been
Paradise Pier
’s
E-ticket
thriller, even though it has no obvious connection to
Disney
.  Despite the original attempt to make the loop look like
Mickey’s
face by including adjacent “ears,”
California Screamin’
clearly had nothing to do with
Walt
or with any
Disney
character.

Unlike
all of the
Disney
coasters that preceded it,
California Screamin’
had no plot, no compelling story. 
Disneyland
’s
Big Thunder Mountain
, for example, has a story and mythology about a mine, and the
Matterhorn
,
Space Mountain
, and
Splash Mountain
have stories too. 
Expedition Everest—Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
at the
Walt Disney World Resort
in
Orlando
is the biggest
Disney Theme Park
coaster mountain, and probably has the most intricate storyline and setting.  And when
DCA
’s
Cars Land
opened in 2012, its
Radiator Springs Racers
dashed through
Ornament Valley
and the
Cadillac Mountain Range
in a storyline lifted directly from the
Disney-Pixar
’s
Cars
franchise.

California Screamin’
?  It’s a big white
faux
-classic roller coaster at the seaside.  That’s as far as its “story” goes, and that’s partly what had some Guests seeing red when they visited the original
Paradise Pier
.  Cast Members wished Guests “happy surfing” before they boarded, and unquestionably one can compare the undulations of the coaster to wild waves, but there’s no real story underpinning the attraction.

That said,
however,
California Screamin’
belongs to a very exclusive category, the storyless
Disneyland
attraction that is so fun that, judged strictly on its own merits, it’s a winner. 
California Screamin’
is an exciting and lovely roller coaster, and Guests would be up-in-arms if it left the park.

Due to
Paradise Pier
’s space constraints, the coaster’s “vintage” lines were forced to swoop, dive, and weave along the
Boardwalk
and among other attractions.  It’s quite a thrill to stride along the
Boardwalk
and suddenly hear a string of coaster cars roar past you, then another race alongside you, and then another scream past over your head.  Like strands of nerves, the coaster tracks are inextricably knit throughout the entire
Boardwalk
on the southern shore of
Paradise Bay
.

By day the coaster’s
sinuous tracks gleam against blue California skies.  By night the tracks glow with a blue-lavender light.  Not only gorgeous, the coaster is high-tech, achieving its high-speed launches via Linear Induction Motor (LIM) technology–no chain-pull could match the 55-58-mph-within-4-seconds launch velocity.  With a top cruising speed of 55 mph and a length of over 6,072 feet (1.15 miles!),
California Screamin’
is the big kahuna of coasters at the resort.

Modern technology and brake zones allow more than one coaster vehicle to navigate the coaster at once, which increases load speed and reduces wait times.  There are actually seven strings of coaster cars; five can hold up to 24 Guests, and two can hold up to 23 Guests. 
At any given time, there are no more than six coasters on the tracks.  During
California Screamin’
s existence, there’s only been one significant accident.  In 2005 one train rear-ended another at the unloading zone.  About a third of the riders had minor injuries; no one was seriously hurt.  The culprit?  A problematic brake valve that was immediately replaced.

Like
Space Mountain
,
California Screamin’
has a unique soundtrack specifically composed to synch with every drop, twist, and leap.  Speakers blast it into Guests’ ears throughout the ride, beginning with a traditional, carnival-like calliope tune that morphs into a driving rock score.  Although the music enhances the wild journey, even when the music is turned off (which is rare) it’s an exciting ride; in fact, without the music pumping, you’re even more conscious of the drops!

Guests queue for
California Screamin’
in a tiered area at the southeast edge of
Paradise Bay
.  A large portion of the queue is covered, but not all of it; when lines are particularly long, you could find yourself waiting under a hot sun or a chill winter drizzle, so dress accordingly, and if it’s summer you’ll want to carry a bottle of water so you and your little ones stay hydrated.

You can
avoid the queue as long as you’re willing to return later;
California Screamin’
is the second most popular attraction at
DCA
and is linked to the park’s
FastPass
system.

This is probably the most intense attraction at the resort, so pay special attention to all signs and all recorded and Cast Member instructions
that are delivered when you board your vehicle. 
California Screamin’
is too fast and too wild for mere seatbelts or lap restraints to suffice–especially since it includes an inversion.  Guests are secured with the “over the shoulder” (OTS) restraints common to modern inversion coasters.

Your vehicle launches from bay-level. 
Sit well back against your seat, and make sure your head is positioned properly against your head rest.  Stow your bags and loose possessions in the mesh pouches provided.  How important is this step?  On July 22, 2011, a Guest’s backpack fell out of his coaster car when the coaster looped.  Because of
Disney
’s outstanding safety protocols, no one was injured; the backpack landing on the track below triggered an immediate shut-down of all coasters, and within 25 minutes Guests had been safely evacuated.  But if the backpack had been properly secured, the incident wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

As you wait for your vehicle to launch, r
ecorded messages and a countdown ratchet up the excitement and palm-sweating suspense.  On November 5, 2010, new launch messages were unveiled, recorded by actor and entertainer
Neil Patrick Harris
in the character of a carnival barker.  (From 2001 to 2010,
California Screamin’
s spiel was voiced by
Disney
voice actor
Dee Bradley Baker
.)

When the brief countdown concludes
, your vehicle rushes forward at almost 60 miles per hour, flying up the first hill, the music pounding in your ears, and you’re off on what will be one of the rides of your life!