AllEars Reader Jeanine Yamanaka visited the new Blue Sky Cellar at Disney’s California Adventure last week. She shares her photos and thoughts about the new preview center in this guest blog.

October 16th, Blue Sky Cellar opened its doors to Annual Passholders and Cast Members in Disney’s California Adventure, taking the place of the old Seasons of the Vine attraction. It is, in essence, a preview center for the new changes planned to update the oft-dissed park into something more suitable for Disneyland’s second gate.

On entering, we were held in a pen outside (despite the fact that there was no one else around) so that a cast member (CM) could come and orient us in a group. Apparently they are expecting bigger crowds than were there while I was there. The CM eventually explained the “Blue Sky” concept, and seemed to make a point of emphasizing that not everything shown within would necessarily come to fruition.

Once inside, the decor seems fairly unchanged from its origins as the Golden Vine Winery, with a heavy emphasis on barrels and crates. The idea is supposed to be that the Imagineers were using this empty space as a spare office, and you’re touring their papers and diagrams just as they left them on their desks or bulletin boards.

One of the first boards you come to is that of Concept Development, which is covered with drawings and notes on the new overlay that will come to the current Orange Stinger swing ride. It will be refashioned into the Silly Symphony Swings and themed around the animated short “The Band Concert.” It is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2010.

Interspersed between a lot of the development art, is an abundance of Toy Story Midway Mania concept art – possibly to give the onlooker hope for the completion of all the projects, since this one was actually finished.

Under Show Ideas, they have a great deal of art and planning for the proposed lagoon show World of Color, which looks to be the next generation of Fantasmic! It will utilize some of the same water projection technology, along with light/fire/pyro effects showcasing scenes from Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Pocahontas, etc. To accommodate viewers, a lot of landscaping changes will have to be made to the surrounding area, including more foliage and giving it more of a park-like feel. This is also predicted to open in the Spring of 2010, and the CMs said they might start draining the lagoon to work on it any day now.

Another small board shows the beginning drawings for the Little Mermaid ride, currently planned to go into the now-vacant Golden Dreams theater, and the new overlay for Mulholland Madness, Goofy’s Sky Skool. It doesn’t seem as though it would take that long to just change out the billboards on the tiny roller coaster, so it’s almost encouraging that they’re taking their time with the overlay. Perhaps the changes will be more substantive.

On another side of the room, two large casks have been converted into makeshift desks displaying mostly art and sketches of the cosmetic changes coming to the Paradise Pier area, always the sparsest in the way of theming. The pictures on the wall above show how the current carnival-style games will get retooled with various animated characters – Casey at the Bat, Dumbo Bucket Brigade, Goofy About Fishin’, and Bullseye Stallion Stampede are all scheduled to reopen in the Spring of 2009. One change already taking effect is the replacement of the Sun face in the middle of the Sun Wheel with that of the pie-eyed Mickey face, bringing it more into the time frame of the rest of the area.

In the middle of the room are various display cases with maquettes of the current Toy Story Midway Mania ride vehicles showing the wheelchair accessibility available, and also of the entire Paradise Pier area, as they envision it when finished.

Another case shows miniature models of the carnival games with their new 1920’s exterior, and mock-ups of the inside character theming.

Another wall is covered with wine barrels and a few computer displays which allow you to take a quiz on various aspects of Disney Imagineering and California history. They give you five multiple-choice questions which change with repeated testing.

Anyone can get over 400,000 in Toy Story Mania – but just try getting 5 out of 5 on the quiz!

The back half of the room is arranged with a video screen that shows a short film on all the projects displayed in the room, with an enthusiastic John Lasseter describing some of the new attractions. There isn’t much seating – about the size of 3 large couches, so it’s a good thing the film is as brief as it is, to allow for frequent audience turnover.

On the wall adjacent to the video screen is a large map of the projected new Disney’s California Adventure. The new entrance with the Studios-esque Pan Pacific Auditorium facade and the central hub transformed by the Carthay Circle Theater and matching 1920’s architecture can all be seen.

The big addition is of course, Cars Land, which will ironically signal the end of the last remaining bit of parking lot on the same side of the street as the parks. The representation of Radiator Springs is planned to include three new rides: Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, Luigi’s Flying Tires (modeled after the old Flying Saucer ride in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland of yore,) and Radiator Springs Racers, which is described as the “E-ticket ride of the land.” There are also spaces designated for both quick service and table service eating, and possibly live entertainment. Cars Land is scheduled to open in 2012 as the last part of the planned rehab.

There’s also a small glass building off in the upper right corner – although it’s not mentioned anywhere, the CMs believe it may be intended to be a fancy dining establishment, but that’s subject to change. Interestingly enough, the map is not even printed, but is a projection on a screen – proof of its impermanence.

The last display before the exit is that of the Red Car Trolley, a throwback to the Pacific Electric Red Car. It is planned to run from the entrance hub up to the Tower of Terror-the only change predicted for the Hollywood area of the park.

Blue Sky Cellar is planned to evolve as the plans for the Disney’s California Adventure rehab grow, with updates every six months or so. It’s a nice display and one worth checking out if you have any interest in the upcoming construction, or just while you’re waiting for that Soarin’ fast pass to come through for you. It opened to the public on October 20th.

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