California Adventure's Golden Gate Bridge No More


The concrete C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A letters are gone. The large sunburst that served as the backdrop for the fountain in Sunshine Plaza is scrap metal. And now the Golden Gate Bridge that greeted park-goers since California Adventure first opened its gates in February 2001 has officially been dismantled.

Learn more about the new plans for the bridge, as well as other California Adventure updates, after the jump.
]

As of last Friday, the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the most (if not the most) iconic symbols of the state of California, is no longer a part of Disney's California Adventure. Construction workers have slowly been dismantling the structure for awhile now, but last week marked its final bow.

Disney's extensive renovation and expansion of the park was first announced in 2007; final construction is expected to wrap sometime in 2012 when the highly anticipated Cars Land debuts just west of Tower of Terror. The cost of the entire expansion is estimated at $1.1 billion.

The Golden Gate Bridge, which also serves as a track for the resort's monorail system, was a second gateway of sorts for the park's entrance. It will be renamed the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge; its design will be based on the bridge where Glendale Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue (duh) come together to cross the Los Angeles River. Here's a fancy pants photo of the bridge in 1927.



Anyone else see a fire burning off in the distance there?

Anyway, the bridge's facelift is just one part of a complete overhaul for the entryway, which will be renamed Buena Vista Street. The name is a nod to the street in Burbank where Walt Disney Studios is located, and its design will feature re-creations of many of the famous Los Angeles landmarks Walt found when he first moved to the city in the 1920s.

Here's an artist's rendering of what Buena Vista Street will look like once it's finished.



The park's redesigned main entrance, which resembles the entry of Disney Hollywood Studios in Florida, opened in mid-July. Construction on the rest of the entrance will be completed next spring. Here's a video of a Disney suit talking more about what California Adventure's new entrance will include. (Talk about the opening starts around the 2:15 mark.)

I'll have some new photos of California Adventure's continuing construction progress in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *