Disney’s California Adventure preview center sprinkles pixie dust before construction dust

A new preview center opening Oct. 20 at Disney’s California Adventure aims to tempt visitors with a sneak peek at coming attractions just as the Anaheim theme park prepares to undergo a massive $1.1-billion makeover. Designed to look like the interior of an artist’s studio, Blue Sky Cellar will feature Walt Disney Imagineering models, sketches, concept art and videos of a nighttime water show, Little Mermaid dark ride, Cars Land themed area and overall 1920s Los Angeles retheming planned for the under-performing park. Concept art of the Silly Symphony Swings shows the Orange Stinger ride reenvisioned with a Mickey Mouse theme based on the 1935 cartoon “The Band Concert.” The rethemed ride is expected to reopen in 2009.

Disney’s California Adventure is poised for a makeover that’s designed to give the troubled theme park the main thing it lacks — an emotional connection to keep people coming back. The sweeping overhaul will transport visitors to the California of the 1920s, when Walt Disney first arrived in Hollywood. In the same way that Disneyland’s Main Street evokes Disney’s hometown of Marceline, Mo., a refocused California Adventure will follow the young animator’s journey to Los Angeles.