Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Big Thunder BBQ is the only all you can eat place for dinner.<< Interesting. Is that a recent change? I thought it was all-you-can-eat, all-the-time. I haven't eaten there since the old days since I never felt hungry enough to justify the all-you-can-eat price, but if they had a more moderate lunch menu I would definitely be interested in checking it out!
Originally Posted By monorailblue I think he meant there are no other dinner options which are all-you-care-to-eat.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss You could leave the park and do the dinner buffet at the Storyteller's Café in the Grand Californian.
Originally Posted By doombuggy Right, it's the only AYCE in the park for dinner. Never knew they did lunch too, will have to remember that this trip.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Any table service restaurant in any Disney Park is AYCE for me. The portions are MASSIVE.
Originally Posted By monorailblue I believe the lunch menu omits one of the proteins (the sausage?) and one of the sides (the corncob wheels?). It is less expensive, but the food offerings are slightly fewer.
Originally Posted By Ohana The all you can eat concept is cool but the food is only fair quality. I do like the live entertainment while you eat though.
Originally Posted By doombuggy I hope they use these 2 more now. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://voyagesextraordinaires.blogspot.com/2010/06/ranger-j-audubon-woodlore-and-humphrey.html">http://voyagesextraordinaires....rey.html</a>
Originally Posted By Moon Waffle Based on recent pics, this area is looking really nice. Very impressed...always felt Condor Flats was just so.....uninspired. This really seems to evoke that National Park feel...and tie nicely to Grizzly Peak, etc. The only thing I wish they would address now is that horrible "extreme sports" voice they have doing the GRR safety spiel. Maybe when DCA first opened that recording fit, but today it just seems so out of place. I always find myself waiting for the voice to finish the spiel with a nice, long "Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!!!!!!!"
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dlandlive.com/photography/special-photo-report-grizzly-peak-airfield-opens-at-disney-california-adventure">http://www.dlandlive.com/photo...dventure</a> Photo report on the just opened, Grizzly Peak Airfield area. I think it looks great. And seeing rain in the photos pulls at my heart strings. I'm a rain lover, and would love to be at the parks sometime when it rains!
Originally Posted By dagobert Thanks for the link. The new Grizzly Airfield looks really good, like a real national park. Since SDL is also getting a Soarin' attraction, I guess it will be the rumoured "Soarin' Over The World". This new movie wouldn't fit perfectly the Californian national park theme.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros It looks really nice! They really nailed it with the station wagon; that immediately sets the era and mood for the land, and brings back memories for tons of people. It's a neat era that WDI hasn't used yet, but it really seems like they nailed it It may look different in person, but I'm not sold on the green Soarin' building. It looks like it's painted go-away-green, yet is obviously not hidden by the landscaping. The way the surfaces of the building were designed, it's clear that they intended for a marquee sign near the top so it's strange to see it without any visual draw there. I'm also not a fan of how the entrance awning looks now, since it's clearly inspired by modern aircraft design but painted in rustic colors I think it's interesting that they used the logo from Epcot on the sign out front of the attraction. I assume that means they'll also use that one for Shanghai too. Given that they just reinforced the California-specific theme of the area, it will be interesting to see how they incorporate the new movie into the area
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance " The way the surfaces of the building were designed, it's clear that they intended for a marquee sign near the top so it's strange to see it without any visual draw there." I thought the building looked kind of plain without the sign and was hoping it just hasn't been added yet, but will be soon?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "It looks like it's painted go-away-green, yet is obviously not hidden by the landscaping." I predict that in about 10 years the building will be obscured by all of the trees they recently planted out in front.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>I thought the building looked kind of plain without the sign and was hoping it just hasn't been added yet, but will be soon?<< There has been no indication that they have any intention of putting a sign up there. A big marquee sign like the old one (even with a different design) wouldn't really fit the new theme, so I would be surprised if one gets added' >>I predict that in about 10 years the building will be obscured by all of the trees they recently planted out in front.<< I hope so, but I'm skeptical. It seems like most (all?) of the trees are in front of the Monorail beam, so there's a fairly significant gap between them; even the outdoor queue seems to be behind the trees. And given that the building is really the only visual anchor on that side of the land, it seems like it will still be where you eyes are drawn, unlike a typical show building that is hidden by a more detailed facade
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I hope so, but I'm skeptical. It seems like most (all?) of the trees are in front of the Monorail beam, so there's a fairly significant gap between them; even the outdoor queue seems to be behind the trees." Right, the building is huge, so I wasn't implying that the trees would make it disappear entirely.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA The updates look great. Not wanting to start a fight, but why were these lands - this and Buena Vista Street - not originally designed like this? Also - can we still hope for a J Audobon Woodlore walk around character with several of the bears? Please? Seems like a no-brainer. C'mon! Pick up the trash!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Not wanting to start a fight, but why were these lands - this and Buena Vista Street - not originally designed like this?<< The Sunshine Plaza got its look as a result of the park's tight budget. I remember reading somewhere that the entire 'land' had a budget of less than $20M (for comparison, the modest Winnie the Pooh ride in DL a couple years later was about $30M in an existing building). Buena Vista Street's detailed architecture and high-end finishes clearly cost a lot more than the simplistic and industrial look of Sunshine Plaza As for Condor Flats, I'm really not sure. It was one of the stronger areas of DCA 1.0; I can't imagine that the pine trees were really any more expensive than the palm trees they replaced. I guess they probably wanted to represent another climate of California in the original park, but given the small and confined footprint it never really felt like an expansive desert
Originally Posted By ecdc >>They really nailed it with the station wagon; that immediately sets the era and mood for the land<< Agree. Looks really well done. I might have to take a Disneyland detour this fall....
