3. Soarin’ Over California

Image: Jeremy Thompson, Flickr (license)

It’s no secret that Disney loves to play on the nostalgia of its previously-shuttered attractions, shows, and parades—particularly those that were immensely popular in their heyday. Take the Main Street Electrical Parade, for example: after its initial closing in 1996, it was revived at the Disneyland Resort for two separate limited-time engagements in 2017 and 2019 (the latter run expected from August through September).

Given the anticipated popularity of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disney has been equally transparent about their need to pull guests over to Disney California Adventure. In addition to the slate of new attractions and overlays at Pixar Pier, Hollywood Land, and Paradise Gardens Park, they’ve also decided to revert Soarin’ Around the World to the original Soarin’ Over California film for a limited time.

To some, this may feel like a step back. Soarin’ Around the World may not have flooded riders’ senses with the signature scent of artificial California-grown oranges and Jerry Goldsmith’s heart-lifting score, but it made more narrative sense for the installations in Epcot and Shanghai Disneyland. Perhaps more to the point, its captivating views of the Matterhorn, the Great Wall of China, and the Eiffel Tower far eclipsed those of Redwood Creek, the PGA West Palmer Course, and L.A. traffic jams.

On the other hand, it’s nice to see Disney switch things up every now and then… even if they’re only incentivized to do so in order to balance out peak summer crowds between the two parks. Whether they might create additional films for the space remains to be seen, but the flexibility to do so certainly seems to be there, as does the audience demand.

4. Tale of the Lion King

Image: Disney

Disney California Adventure has tried a lot of different tacks to compensate for heavy blackout dates and Star Wars hype over at Disneyland: repurposing old ride vehicles, rebooting fan favorites, and transplanting less-popular attractions from other Disney Parks. With the Tale of the Lion King, however, they created something brand-new for the park.

Outside of its obvious promotional tie to The Lion King (2019), though, this is an odd choice for Disney California Adventure. More of an interactive musical revue than straightforward theatre, the new show combines familiar songs like “Circle of Life,” “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” and “Hakuna Matata” with choreographed dances, live instrumentation, and occasional bits of narration. There are no costumes or illustrations reminiscent of the 1994 film; if anything, it hews closer to the puppet-heavy Broadway staging or that of Animal Kingdom’s Festival of the Lion King. (And there’s no question that the beautiful, tree-framed stage seems more suited to the landscaping of Animal Kingdom than Paradise Gardens Park.)

Despite the mismatch in theming, Tale of the Lion King is a nice change of pace for the park. There’s a noticeable lack of live entertainment in the back half of the property; aside from Operation Playtime! – featuring the Green Army Patrol, the bulk of its street shows (Red Car Trolley News Boys Show, Five & Dime, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Dance Off!) perform exclusively on Buena Vista Street and Hollywood Land.

On some level, it may be difficult to look at Disney’s promotional ploys without feeling a little jaded, but for what it’s worth, Tale of the Lion King has been exquisitely produced and performed given its relatively limited staging and run. Even if it’s doomed to close at summer’s end, there’s still some hope that Disney can bring that level of high-quality pageantry to their next production—whatever it may be.

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Now that Black Spire Outpost is open for business, what features and attractions keep you coming back to Disney California Adventure? What would you like to see Disney add in the months to come?