Bountiful Valley Farm, one of the original districts in the Disney California Adventure park, was designed as a nod to California's position as America's top farming state, producer of more than 350 different crops. The Farm was one of the most Epcot-like sections of the park, featuring education-heavy exhibits and little else.
In the photo above, you can make out several elements of Bountiful Valley Farm. The Tractor Yard featured a vintage Caterpillar 10, along with two modern Caterpillar machines. In the background is Farmers Expo, a collection of simple interactive exhibits sheltered under a structure reminiscent of the outlying farm buildings seen in the agricultural areas of the state. Exhibits here ranged from "California Trans-Plants" (about non-native plants which thrived) to "Crops That Flopped" (the story of ten cropped that were introduced but didn't succeed). Others paid tribute to cows, farmers and even bugs.
Bountiful Valley Farm was among my boys' favorite spots during a recent visit to the Disney California Adventure park, if only for the Irrigation Station water play area and the gathering of musical "instruments" comprised of found items from around the farm. We practically had to drag them away from these noisemakers. What can I say? Sometimes, it's the simplest things that appeal most to them... that and the milkshakes from nearby Sam Andreas Shakes.
The Farm also featured planters filled with rows of crops, rotated with the season (some of which can be made out in the top photo, under the statue of Francis the ladybug). Warm season crops included melons, peas and strawberries, while the cold season cycle brought crops such as leaks and lettuce. Flowers on the hillside near the theater for "It's Tough to be a Bug" pay tribute to California's cut flower industry, and the small grove of orange and lemon trees planted along the walkway brings to mind the state's citrus gold.
Bountiful Valley Farm hosted its last Guests yesterday, September 6, 2010. As the Disney California Adventure park transitions from a literal representation of the state to a state of dreams that inspired the many worlds of Disney, niche attractions such as this are bound to fall by the wayside. In time, this area will be marked by a stretch of Route 66 and Radiator Springs, bringing car culture to the park in the form of Carsland.
