ust recently, I had the chance to visit Disney’s California Adventure for the first time. Like many of you, I have been crawling the web with curiosity, waiting for the park to open. During three trips to Disneyland my family and I gazed out the window from the Pacific Hotel, watching the curious wonder evolve. There was plenty to wonder about and plenty to read: The park will be great; the park will fail; it will make tons of money; it will make no money; Walt would have loved it; Walt would have hated it.

o, what did I think? My response is two fold; what I loved, and what I think is missing.

What I loved…

CA is beautiful! Each tile in each mosaic, every color selected for the palates of each land and all the details are clever, fun and expertly done. I found it to be such a treat for the eye! It is truly gorgeous.

CA is fun! My brother and I rode California Screamin’ twice. We relived our childhood tradition of the scariest roller coaster rides together in a brand new place.

We went “Soarin’ Over California” and had to do it again. (I really think Walt would have loved the latest technology being used to entertain guests.) We had dinner at the Soap Opera Bistro which was not only wonderfully decorated and the best steak I’ve had in two years, but it was a hoot to boot! My favorite by far, was Disney Animation. Everything from the wall art, to the costumes, to the set design and scripting was fun, well thought-out and entertaining to a “T.”

What is missing…

CA is like a brand new home. It is beautiful, shiny and new, but doesn’t have a soul quite yet. Just like a new house, it needs people to be in it, to live in it and to create memories in it. Each person and each new memory made there will turn the house into a home.

alt knew that designing and building the best park meant nothing without the people to help preserve the magic, and it is people that will give DCA what it is missing. The DCA cast members have a daunting task: To create a Disney experience for a place that it not Disneyland for guests who are not sure what to expect. Many have visited and said, “It’s nice, but it isn’t Disneyland.” They are right! But it isn’t supposed to be. To the Cast Members I say, “Be patient with us. Give us time. We aren’t really quite sure what we are seeing, or what to make of this yet, but we will! Keep playing with us and stay in character. We’ll catch on!”

raditions have to begin somewhere. They start as a “first time” and become something so fun, or heartwarming, or endearing that we must do them again and again. One of our readers began those traditions in 1976 as a toddler and so wisely states, “Like in life and culture, traditions evolve.”

he next day, while waiting to get into Disneyland, I couldn’t help but glance back at the Golden Gate. The lines were long for Disneyland yet several of the people were looking over their shoulders to take a glimpse of the curious newcomer. It felt not unlike the first travelers to California who new it was a risk, but still thought to give it a try.

ur traditions come and go, ebb and flow, change and grow as we change. Reader D.L.H. continues, “I can still circumnavigate the park by rail, read the Welcome as I walk in, and thank the partners for giving in me those memories. But new traditions start. Now I am a grown man (only physically!) with a new wife. We read the welcome every time in Disneyland Paris, or the Magic Kingdom or Disneyland. We waltz every time in the gazebo in Town Square, kiss on the bow of the Mark Twain, the Admiral Joe Fowler, or the Molly Brown, and these are new traditions. As kids come on the scene, or the parks change, our traditions will evolve, growing from deep routed experience or on the whim of spontaneity. As we "relive fond memories of the past" as well as savor the promise of the future. Traditions Welcome!”

I would love to hear your family's Disney traditions, please drop me a line,

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— Allison