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THE BIG ORANGE Anaheim/Orange County has done it again. Believing
it faced further competition as a new century dawned, this Mecca
of family fun gave itself a whopping make-over. And the verdict?
There isn't any competition. Anaheim remains the top tourist attraction
west of the Rockies. |
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Florida has Disney World. New York State may have
the Big Apple. But California has the Big Orange and teenagers are
gonna go crazy. Not the little ones. They'll still prefer Disneyland
-- and Knott's Berry Farm, but Disney is aware the new park, California
Adventure, needs further work for preschoolers and, guess what, the
company still has a few acres left for future expansion. You won't
often see Disneyland characters in the new park and, if you do, they
won't be dressed routinely; they will be in casual clothes because
if they're in the new park, they're on vacation too. Cool! Meantime
those older kids who cut their teeth on the rides of Magic Mountain
to the north are having a ball in Anaheim on one of the fastest roller
coasters in America. |
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Just as you sometimes have to ask for directions in
Disneyland - and the Mad Hatter might just be the guy to tell you
where to go, so you may need to stop a policeman in the all-new Disney
California Adventure and get help to find your way. It's all so new
you really should spend a moment with a map. Disney created its California
Adventure from its 55 acre car park. |
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(Disneyland itself covers 85 acres.) It took four years and a special partnership with Anaheim to make the deal work. Anaheim got favorable rates when Disney co-signed its bank loan for convention center expansion and Disney got city help for a new multilevel 10,000 parking space structure. It was the largest development partnership in Californian history and a win-win for everyone including visitors. Anaheim put its utilities underground losing its honky-tonk look and, with 15,000 trees and shrubs and 1,000 palm trees, landscaped an area the size of 34 football fields. anaheimoc.org. Disney California Adventure (already called DCA) has three components. The first, Paradise Pier, is based on the boardwalk fun parks that were so popular on California's coast in the early days of the 20th century.
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