parktrotter

To finish with the California Adventure park, I think everyone likes this one: the virtual reality ride they call Soaring Over California. Ride-goers (a new word?) line up in the Wings of Fame hallway, where they look at photographs of famous aircraft and aviators. It’s another example of what I’ve said about the atmosphere in California Adventure. In Disneyland, they stay on message, and a hallway like this would be lined by drawings of Goofy trying to repair a biplane and chopping his ears off, or something of the sort. Here, you get photos of actual reality. I prefer the actual reality—but it does interfere with the creation of that total alternate reality for which the older Disneyland is famous.

At the end of the line, they show you a safety video starring the actor Patrick Warburton, Elaine’s boyfriend from Seinfeld. It’s played for laughs, and is—actually fun, probably the only safety warning in either park that deserves that word. Then you enter the ride itself.

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