Greetings and Salutations!
It's been just a bit over a month since my last photo update, and I wanted to take a nice long stroll around
"The Other Park" at the resort, "Disney's California Adventure". As I mentioned previously this park is going to
be undergoing some MAJOR changes over the next few years, and I kinda' wanted to get a chance to get some
pictures for the archives of stuff that may very well not be around in 3 years

Concerning the length of time between updates, well VisionsFantastic had a sort of
"Amazing Race" challenge at "DCA" on the 15th of March, and I was concerned that a number of the shots that
you'll find in this update might spoil some of the fun for that game. Indeed, I know of several shots now that
would have made parts of the challenge perhaps just a little TOO easy. "The Amazing Race" is a CBS television reality show.

If you're interested in our "DCA Dash" game, and how it all played out, be sure to check out the
DCA Dash Page
on the site, or you can look around VF's discussion boards for topics concerning "the dash". It was a GREAT time,
and considering that this is the first time that this event was put together, went off reasonably well.

If you're interested in our NEXT in-park challenge, then you want to know about the
VisionsFantastic Scavenger Hunt that happens the Second Saturday of September. There will be
more announcements regarding this event in the coming months. Almost all of the money for entrance
fees for the teams go directly to the prizes involved (indeed, much more money is involved in the prizes
since more than a few of them are donated).

That all out of the way, let's take a gander around the younger park, shall we?

Lovely "Million Dreams Banners" flittering in the breeze...

It's a beautiful blue sky day in Anaheim. "June Gloom" where the skies are a consistent overcast gray
day after day after day is still several months away. I'm trying to enjoy the healthful sunshine as much
as I can.

The Disneyland on-line community was somewhat intrigued by the construction wall so close to the
CALIFORNIA sign. There has been talk that the giant letters are going to be removed for the big
"Extreme Makeover", and some thought the construction wall encompassed the first few towering
letters of our state's name.

It was not to be, as this picture shows. Disney was replacing some of the ground tiles in the esplanade with the
fancy ones that visitors can purchase with their names engraved on them.

That's all.

Walking thru the turnstiles, and just past the "Guest Services" opening in the wall, is this part of the
mural. My brother-in-law has been an avid surfer most of his life, and so this is sort of in honor of him
(not that he reads these updates or anything, but hey, I was thinking of ya, Mark!)

For those of you who read this and DO surf, or enjoy the Southern California stereotype that we're a
huge beach community and all our streets look like Venice beach... well this is a desktop just for you!

Here's California's second Golden Gate Bridge. One of my favorite things to photograph at DCA

The sun was in a really good place for some interesting photos.

Long time readers know that if I'm photographing the bridge, I'm going to include a shot of the monorail
going across it. In this case, it's the "Year of a Million Dreams" wrapped "cloud monorail".

This bridge is rumored to be one of the things that will be torn down in the near future.

Just outside "Engineer Toys"

The fake Los Angeles train station, circa 1940's.

I wish I had ridden the real "California Zephyr".

The "Hotel California" inspired (okay, California Mission Architecture inspired) scenery.

For you structural engineering geeks out there, a nice close up of the rigging for the bridge.

Ample seating this day in front of the restaurant and "Burrr-bank Ice Cream".

What's this area called again?
My maps are all packed away to look this up easily.

I'm hoping it will be gone in the rehab, but I don't know for sure.

ah yes, INSIDE the "Burr-bank Ice Cream" shop. My favorite is the "Steamin Chocolate" sundae.

Hee-hee... I think I was a little distracted or something when I took these shots. I was kinda' all over
the place.

I'm not a fan of the sculpture, but I appreciate the metal work, and how shiny Disney keeps it.
This makes for a really interesting desktop wallpaper.

As does this!
Yes, that's the giant sun thing shining behind this grass.
I'm pretty happy with how this shot turned out.

This is a good shot too, but the flash kind of made the shot a little fake. It seems like the stalk of grass
is a little too well lit.

In case you're wondering how I got this weird shot, it's actually a reflection in a hubcap nailed to the wall
over in the (now unused) Mater and Lightening McQueen "Cars" meet and greet area.

Ever notice the model planes hanging in the "Fly and Buy" shop across from "Soarin' Over California" building?
I love them!

I wonder how many times I passed this area without realizing what was in this alcove?
It makes a nice desktop, too! Some of the most ardent DCA fans will be wondering where this shot came from!

I went up the the Golden Gate to meet my friend Don (aka CavemanDon on VF's site) and grabbed this shot!
the colors really pop right off your screen when you view this as a desktop.

I had this shot on my computer for several days straight. That's saying something from me. You can imagine
I have quite a collection of desktops, and I flit from one to the other with all the attention span of a gnat.
This one caught my eye for some time.

Dino Jack's sunglass hut
Always fun to take this picture.

You won't find McDonald's anything inside the park by the end of the year, as I hear it.
I won't promise, but this facade may well be gone then, too.

The Orange Stinger is on the books to be removed as well.
This is perhaps the one removal that I disagree with most.
I LOVE the sensation of flying when I'm in that ride.

A nice combination of shot of the Gigantic Sun Wheel (Which can be surprisingly thrilling if you are
in one of the movable cars) and DCA's top "E-Ticket", "California Screamin".

Here's a nice desktop for folks who contribute to the site thru the PayPal box right below:

Folks who donate to VF thru the PayPal donations
boxes on this page will receive as a special
"thank you", the desktop shown above
to download for their wallpaper image.

After donating, you will receive a "Thank You" email from me with the link to the download page

Another shot of the "Orange Stinger"

MidWay Mania should be opening in the next month or so. Hopefully VF will be invited to the
grand opening festivities. I bet Tim Allen and Don Rickles will be there.

When I was a kid, this was my dream ride... BUMPER CARS!!!!
The ones at Old Orchard Beach, Maine were just like this, I swear!

Strolling over to the Monterey Cannery area, I was once again struck at the waste of space that continues
to this day in the park. This chinese eatery has been closed since... well, I've NEVER seen it open as a
Chinese restaurant. I've only seen it open once as a location to purchase other food during the DCA Food
and wine festival.

I was thinking that the sign SHOULD look like this:

I mean, come on. You want to tell me that Disney couldn't operate a profitable Chinese kitchen in this location?
If anything, they're afraid it would take away from the profits of the other eateries in this wharf area, I think.

This sign just reminds me of Seattle's Fish Market every time I see it.

...aaaaand into "Flick's Fun Fair" to check out what's going on there.

not too much.

Francis' Lady Bug Boogie is operating, which can be a rare thing.
It seems prone to break downs.

Some flower shots from the area.

I thought that flower looked a lot like a firework going off, or perhaps a splash of purple food coloring
hitting a glass of milk.

Stunning, nonetheless.

This is just a riot of yellow on your desktop.

Kermie and his girlfriend.

Hollywood and Sunset

It's the 70th anniversary of Disney's Snow White having been released to theaters.
Disney's first animated feature film that took both almost broke the company during it's creation and later
made the company upon it's release.

This is what you see when you enter the Animation Building:

I appreciate that Disney replaced all of the images on all of the screens around the room with ONLY shots
of the creation of Snow White.

The exhibit inside the area is quite extensive, too.
But in particular I wanted to get shots of each of the artist conception drawing that ring the outside of the exhibit.

These would make nice desktops, but I am somewhat opposed to using art like this as a desktop
to download.

so let's just enjoy the shots as they are, ok?

Look at this in the entry to the exhibit!
visually stunning. I gained such an appreciation for the artistry of this early example of animation.
Imagine a 8x10 hand drawn shot being blown up more than 6 feet high and the details are still so crisp!

This was a framed picture. Again, you can just see the brilliant artistry of the animators in every square inch
of the frame.

Well, it was time to say good bye to the park, and so it's time for me to say goodbye for
now to all of you, my kind readers and contributors. Thanks so much for the encouraging words. I love getting
emails and PM's from all of you. They really help motivate me to keep doing this! It takes a LOT of work and time
on the computer to get these things together, and your encouragement helps SO much!

a quick glimpse of today's "Other Park"... and I say goodbye!

Love uP!
DaddyB

thanks for anything you can give to help support these updates!

I use an 8 megapixel Canon EOS Rebel XT with the superb Canon 580EX flashgun
and an assortment of fine Canon (and ONLY Canon!) lenses.

(I'm getting my Olympus camera back this week!)