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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Paradise Pier mural |
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Who says that Mickey Mouse doesn’t have a big enough presence at this park? Just look at just how big this Mickey Mouse is. Along with the giant sun on the nearby Sun Wheel, the giant Mickey head dominates the view across the lagoon. These are the two main icons of Paradise Pier. Would you like to take a roller coaster ride with a loop around this silhouette of Mickey Mouse’s head? |
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Don’t worry. It’s a single loop. You don’t loop around Mickey’s ears too. (Now that would be a jarring ride!) Befitting the Golden State, the Mickey head silhouette is golden. It’s simple, clean, and industrial. Paradise Pier represents “the heyday of the great seaside amusement park piers.” Judging by the contemporary design of the Mickey head silhouette, that heyday must have been quite recent. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2002 Upside down |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2003 The pier in front of the ride |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2002 A calm day at Paradise Bay Lagoon |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2003 A windy day at Paradise Bay Lagoon |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Sign curves one way; track curves the other way |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Track in front of, not within, the silhouette of Mickey’s head |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2002 View across the lagoon |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2008 Souvenir t-shirt |
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You can buy a t-shirt with the Mickey head silhouette on the tallest roller coaster hill. It also has Mickey and his pals. All of them (except Pluto) are terrified by the ride. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Blue light special |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Better at night |
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At night, the golden Mickey head silhouette fades into the darkness, replaced by lights forming the same shape. Most things here at the original Paradise Pier look better at night. |
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When Disney’s California Adventure opened in February 2001, the new park’s big thrill ride was California Screamin’—an “‘E’ ticket” attraction (except that California Adventure opened long after the Disneyland ticket system was retired). From a distance, it appeared to be a wooden roller coaster. The Mickey head silhouette on the coaster’s highest hill called attention to a 360-degree loop—but as coaster loops and other inversions became popular in the 1970s, they have been associated with steel coasters, not wooden coasters. (A rare exception at the time California Adventure opened was Son of Beast at Kings Island in Ohio.) A closer look would reveal that California Screamin’ was a steel roller coaster designed to look like a “woodie.” |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 1999 Mickey head silhouette being built (beginning with the ears), September 18, 1999 |
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Here’s how the official website described the ride: Imagine a roller coaster modeled after the traditional wooden coasters of the 1920’s. Now add a launch that takes you from 0 to 55 miles per hour in under five seconds, a loop-de-loop around a glimmering silhouette of Mickey Mouse’s head, over a mile of track reaching heights of 120 feet, and a 108-foot drop at 50 degrees—and you’ve got California Screamin’, the adrenaline rush of the century! In a park initially criticized for having too few worthwhile attractions, California Screamin’ was one of the high points—at least for guests who enjoy thrill rides. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2009 Mickey head silhouette being removed (beginning with the ears), March 3, 2009 |
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As a popular, major attraction, California Screamin’ survived the $1.1 billion makeover of Disney’s California Adventure, which was announced in October 2007 and completed in June 2012. But what about the “industrial” Mickey head silhouette? No. The Imagineers responsible for the massive makeover must have recognized that the vaguely 1990s-style Mickey head silhouette on California Screamin’ and the vaguely 1970s-style sun-with-a-face on the Sun Wheel both contradicted the early 20th century amusement pier theme of Paradise Pier—on a grand scale. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2009 The California Screamin’ loop before (top) and after (bottom) |
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In 2009, instead of just replacing the Mickey head and the sun face with old-fashioned versions, the Imagineers also swapped the Mouse and sun between the two rides. The circle which had been the Mickey head on California Screamin’ now contains a simple, painted sun whose colors echo Toy Story Midway Mania! below. A broadly smiling Mickey Mouse face, reminiscent of the face at the beginning of the original color Mickey Mouse cartoons, is now on the former Sun Wheel, renamed Mickey’s Fun Wheel. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2010 Toy Story Midway Mania! and the loop above it |
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There was a surprising amount of controversy on MiceChat and other Disney fan forums when the changes were first announced—some liked the Paradise Pier skyline as it was; some objected to the Paradise Pier sign on Screamin’; some thought the changes were a pointless waste of resources; some objected to “slapping a Mickey face” on the Sun Wheel; some surmised that the only reason WDI would do such a thing would be if the updated icons would have a role in the new water show; and some wondered why any amusement pier rides would be kept as part of the $1.1 billion redo of the park. Once these and many other changes around the Paradise Pier lagoon were completed, park guests saw the reason. Paradise Pier gained charm that was sadly lacking when it opened. But more changes were needed. But instead of another phase of Paradise Pier enhancements, the area would become Pixar Pier in 2018, and California Screamin’ would become the Incredicoaster. The Pixar theme meant a third decoration behind the loop. |
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Detail from the Artist Concept © 2017 Disney-Pixar Artist concept for updated roller coaster loop |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2018 Pixar Pier transformation underway |
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The actual art behind the loop doesn’t quite match the concept art, but the idea is the same. |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2018 Incredicoaster at Pixar Pier |
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So far the loop has had three decorations. Will there be a number four? |
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© 2022 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated July 15, 2022 |
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