When I moved to Long Beach and realized that Disneyland was only a short drive away, I decided to take advantage of my close proximity and buy myself a season pass. I couldn’t wait to have the opportunity to go to Disneyland whenever I wanted to ride my favorite rides.
However, after the novelty of having the pass wore off, I started to realize that Disneyland isn’t as endlessly fun as I had remembered. First of all, it is hard to find time in my school schedule to go during the weekdays when the park is least crowded, and during the weekends, the park is overrun with children and tourists who make it impossible to ride any of the attractions without a lengthy wait in line.
After a while, I got bored of going on the same rides over and over again, so I decided to try out Disney’s California Adventure. I had never really given this park a chance before, mainly because I am already a California resident and a fake Golden Gate Bridge does not impress me when I have seen the real thing. But when I entered the park I noticed some new attractions that I had never seen before.
First of all, the Hollywood Backlot has been completely transformed into a “Tron” Legacy themed dance party, called ElecTRONica. Starting at 6 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, guests can be transported into the world of “Tron,” complete with lasers, light bikes and DJs dressed in “Tron” costumes in fulfillment to the attraction’s given name, “ElecTRONica.” It all sounds “rave” enough for me. Way to accomodate to our generation, Disney.
Another interesting thing about ElecTRONica is that they sell alcoholic drinks there, which you are allowed to drink anywhere in the park. The beverages are extremely overpriced, but getting a little bit tipsy and going on the California Screamin’ rollercoaster is always a great time, as long as you keep your drunk somewhat PG.
Inside ElecTRONica, they have recreated the 80’s themed Flynn’s arcade from the original “Tron” film. Inside the arcade you can play a vast array of classic arcade games such as Pac Man, Donkey Kong and Dig Dug.
It was a lot of fun to see all of these vintage game machines in an arcade environment again. Plus, a lot of the FastPass machines around the park will dispense coupons at random for free game tokens.
Another fun addition to California Adventure is the new World of Color show. World of Color is a water-based laser light show in the Paradise Pier section of the park. The show uses a mixture of water jets, mist, projections, lasers and even fire to recreate scenes from Disney classics like “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Wall-E.” They have also added a “Tron” segment at the end of the show to advertise their new movie. This is a spectacle that is definitely worth seeing if you haven’t before.
Half of California Adventure is currently closed off due to construction. One of the anticipated works in progress is CarsLand, which is based on the Pixar film “Cars.” Apparently this new land is going to include a “Cars” rollercoaster that is one of the most expensive rides they have ever built. This is exciting because if there’s one thing California Adventure needs in order to compete with Disneyland, is new exhilarating rides.
If you are like me, and you have a Disneyland pass that you don’t have the urge to use anymore, head over to California Adventure, buy yourself a glowing “Tron” drink ― if you’re legal, of course ― and check out some of the new shows and attractions. Hopefully that will put your annual Disneyland pass back into action once again.
Matt Grippi is a junior journalism student and a contributing writer for the Daily 49er.
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.