Buena Vista Street (formerly known as Sunshine Plaza) is a themed "land" at

Disney California Adventure Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...

at the

Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (Di ...

. Though named for the real-life Burbank thoroughfare that the Walt Disney Studios sits on, the central plaza represents

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and specifically the

Los Feliz LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...

area, in the 1920s when

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

first arrived there. One of the main features is a small-scale replica of the

Hyperion Bridge The Glendale-Hyperion Bridge is a concrete arch bridge viaduct in Atwater Village that spans the Los Angeles River and Interstate 5. The Hyperion Bridge was constructed in 1927 by vote of the citizens that lived in Atwater Village at the time an ...

, which was being constructed when Disney stayed in

Atwater Village Atwater Village is a neighborhood in the 13th district of Los Angeles, California. Much of Atwater Village lies in the fertile Los Angeles River flood plain. Located in the northeast region of the city, Atwater borders Griffith Park and Silver L ...

. The replica functions as a working bridge for the resort's monorail system. This land is similar to the layout and style of

Main Street, USA Main Street, U.S.A. is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, U.S.A. is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20t ...

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

, Disney California Adventure's sister park. It includes dining, shopping, parades, and entertainment. The

Red Car Trolley The Red Car Trolley is a tramway and transportation attraction at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Construction began on January 4, 2010, and the attraction opened on June 15, 2012, as part of the re ...

, a recreation of Pacific Electric's iconic

Red Car The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

electric trolleys, transports guests through this area, from the park's entry to Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! in

Avengers Campus Avengers Campus is a Marvel Cinematic Universe–themed area located at Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris, and being developed for Hong Kong Disneyland. The Marvel-themed areas or "lands" are being dev ...

History

Sunshine Plaza

Disney California Adventure's original main gate entrance, Sunshine Plaza, was designed to evoke a sensation as if one were stepping into a California postcard. After guests pass the giant letters spelling out California, they would pass beneath a mock-up of the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...

, which served to disguise a portion of the resort's

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...

track. Flanking both ends of the faux Golden Gate Bridge were two massive murals depicting the vast mountain ranges in California. A few meters into the park from the main gate was Sunshine Plaza that served as an access hub to all of the park's other themed lands. At the end of the path, there was a fountain featuring a large metal

sunburst A sunburst is a design or figure commonly used in architectural ornaments and design patterns and possibly pattern books. It consists of rays or "beams" radiating out from a central disk in the manner of sunbeams. Sometimes part of a sunbur ...

designed to reflect solar rays into the surrounding area. Sunshine Plaza was also home to a replica of the ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overal ...

'', which housed the plaza's two counter service restaurants: Baker's Field Bakery and Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream. The plaza was also home to two of the park's biggest souvenir shops, Greetings from California and Engine Ears Toys.

Re-imagineering and expansion

Disney California Adventure Park entrance (Buena Vista Street)

On October 17, 2007, The

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

announced a multi-year, $1.1 billion expansion plan for

Disney California Adventure Park Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...

. Included in this expansion plan was the re-theming and complete overhaul of Sunshine Plaza into Buena Vista Street. The

replica was removed and the sunburst structure replaced with a recreation of the

Carthay Circle Theater The Carthay Circle Theatre was one of the most famous movie palaces of Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age. Located on San Vicente Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, it opened in 1926 and was demolished in 1969. The auditorium ...

, which showcased the world premiere of

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

in 1937. The building serves as the new visual centerpiece of Disney California Adventure's reincarnation. In early August 2011, the ''California Zephyr'' display was removed, with major portions being donated to the

Western Pacific Railroad Museum The Western Pacific Railroad Museum (WPRM) in Portola, California, known as the Portola Railroad Museum until January 1, 2006, is a heritage railroad and archives that preserves and operates historic American railroad equipment and preserves docu ...

. The park's main gate was extended outward to where the postcard letters formerly stood, and resembles the

Pan-Pacific Auditorium The Pan-Pacific Auditorium was a landmark structure in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California. It once stood near the site of Gilmore Field, an early Los Angeles baseball venue predating Dodger Stadium. It was located within sight of bot ...

, similar to the entrance of

Disney's Hollywood Studios Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Based on a concept by Ma ...

in Florida. The

travels through the plaza. The main gate was opened on July 15, 2011. The construction of the Red Car trolleys began on January 10, 2010. Construction of Buena Vista Street itself began in October 2010 and opened on June 15, 2012. Throughout construction, the main entrance remained open with areas blocked off from time to time to aid in construction.

COVID-19 pandemic

On November 19, 2020, Buena Vista Street was made accessible as a temporary extension of the nearby, unticketed Downtown Disney District for shopping and dining while the remainder of Disney California Adventure remained closed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The land returned to its normal, ticketed operation when Disney California Adventure re-opened on April 30, 2021.

References

External links