Get ready for us to drop into the history of one of the newest attractions at the Disneyland Resort. Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout is the first Marvel-inspired attraction in a Disney theme park. So throw in your favorite mixtape, as we head across the esplanade from Disneyland to California Adventure for the history of Mission Breakout. But before that, we need to go back to the beginning of DCA.
Disney had plans to open a second theme park in Anaheim from the early 90s. The first idea was to open a park-like EPCOT and it would be called WESTCOT. With the terrible performance of the new Euro Disney park, the idea for the new park in California was scaped. In the Summer of 1995 Disney CEO, Michael Eisner and executives decided to plan and develop a theme park based on California and its rich history and culture. On February 8th, 2001 Disneys Califonia Adventure opened to mixed reviews. The park opened on 55 acres with 22 rides and 15 restaurants.
When DCA opened it was designed to sell merchandise and food mainly. The California theme put a lot of people off as it was in the same state. The park attendance slumped in the second and was worse than the first year. The idea to put a Tower of Terror attraction in Europe was scraped to help the failing California park, it was announced the attraction was coming to DCA. On May 5th, 2004 The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror opened in DCA and it was the boost it needed to start performing and attracting more guests. Over the next 10 years the attendance to grow and grow.
In April of 2016 rumors started to swirl about a possible overlay of the Hollywood Tower Hotel. This was partially because of the licensing fees for using the Twilight Zone. In July of 2016, it was announced that the Hollywood Tower would close for a Guardians of the Galaxy overlay becoming first Marvel-based attraction in a US Disney Park. At first, It was not taken well by Disney fans. They vowed to never come back and wondered what right Marvel had to be in a Disney park. By September of 2016 construction had already begun on the outside of the building by taking down the hotel sign. On January 3rd of 2017, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror served its last guests and closed its doors forever.
Joe Rohde of Disney headed up the Imagineering headed up the task of bringing The Guardians to DCA and in a short time as well. The Attraction was set to open in the Summer of 2017. The attraction would take place in the collector’s fortress from the first Guardians film. All of the original cast returned to their roles for the attraction. All the scenes were filmed by James Gunn. The idea was that you would be able to tour the fortress and be able to look at the Collectors Tivan Collection. But the Collectors prized possession and highlight of the tour were The Guardians of the Galaxy themselves. To which he has tricked them and put them on display as well. All except that sneaky Rocket Racoon. The lobby features many Marvel artifacts on display as well as The Guardians themselves.
The queue of this attraction is one of the best to see in any of the parks. There is so much to look at and take in. From nods to the previous tower and even previous Disney attractions. One of the biggest highlights is Harold the Yeti from The Matterhorn at Disneyland. The idea of the elevator shaft portion of the ride is to help Rocket get aboard the Gantry lift so he can get the workings of the tower and release his friends the Guardians of the Galaxy. There are six different songs that plat throughout the lift that will give you six different drop sequences. This was a huge upgrade compared to the previous tower’s predictable sequence. On May 27th, 2017 Mission Breakout opened to mixed reviews. Like anything new people always find something to not be happy about. But I believe ( and this is my opinion ) That Guardians is a huge upgrade to its predecessor. I also think is a great anchor for the upcoming Avengers Campus. What are your thoughts on this? Are you team Twilight Zone or Team Guardians?
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