Expanded California Adventure Announced

After much speculation as to the date of the opening of Carsland, Disney CEO Bob Iger recently got us a little closer to an official date, by announcing that Carsland will be opening in June. So now we have a month, just need a date.

Also, the Disney Parks Blog has announced the new lands the expanded California Adventure will have:

• a Bug's Land
• Buena Vista Street
• Carsland
• Condor Flats
• Grizzly Peak
• Hollywood Land
• Pacific Wharf
• Paradise Pier

This is a change from the current:

• a Bug's Land
• Golden State
• Hollywood Pictures Backlot
• Paradise Pier

The obvious additions of Buena Vista Street and Carsland come along with the knowledge that Buena Vista Street will indeed be considered its own land, Hollywood Pictures Backlot will change to Hollywood Land, and the current Golden State will be split up into Condor Flats, Grizzly Peak, and Pacific Wharf.

The former Golden State encompassed  what was known already as Condor Flats, Grizzly Peak, and the Pacific Wharf areas, so it just makes sense, that will name changes going around, they would simply reconfigure these areas into their own lands as well.

In the old California Adventure, the entrance wasn't much to look at past the turnstiles, so no surprise it wasn't named. The new entrance, Buena Vista Street, will be much more styled, bringing it up a little closer to the level of Main Street USA in Disneyland Park. It will also have its own attraction, like the Main Street vehicles, the Red Car Trolley, so it makes sense to make Buena Vista Street its own land.

So by changing Hollywood Pictures Backlot into Hollywood Land, are they getting away from the backlot theming all together? It appears they already have. There really are no more allusions to a backlot set anymore. While one could say the lighting rigs for ElecTRONica imply a backlot set, they will not be there for much longer. ElecTRONica will be ending in April and Mad T Party will be starting in what seems to be a more compact area in front of and next to Monsters Inc, not down the main street. So when all this opens in a few months, it will simply be a a street out of the old Hollywoodland era. So its fitting to rename it Hollywood Land.

I, for one, cannot wait until all the construction is complete and the walls are removed to reveal this new DCA 2.0 to the world.