Ever since Walt's day, Disney Parks leaders and Imagineers have been listening to their guests to help determine what should be added to or changed in the theme parks. One of the early comments from guests at Disney California Adventure was they felt there wasn't as much for young children. The answer came in fall 2002 with the addition of a bug's land.
Inspired by the Pixar film a bug's life, a bug's land grew upon the foundation of original park attractions Bountiful Valley Farm (now gone, although you can revisit it at this link) and "It's Tough to be a Bug," a 3-D spectacular originally created for Disney's Animal Kingdom. In that park, the film is presented in the Tree of Life Theater, under the roots of the massive park icon. Here, guests enter the "back 40," a plot of farmland that hasn't been developed or plowed due to a dry wash that cuts through the property. As we continue along the dry wash, it becomes a canyon, and we find ourselves shrunk to bug-size proportions before entering an underground theater at the base of Ant Island.
The third and newest part of a bug's land is Flik's Fun Fair, a sort of bug carnival. An overturned box of Cowboy Crunchies cereal (a nod to Toy Story; notice Woody's hand holding the cereal spoon) serves as the entrance portal to the fair. This particular package of Cowboy Crunchies apparently came with an "instant win" opportunity to earn a trip to the fair. Not only are we winners, but we also get some fun cut-out-and-color stand up figures of favorite characters from a bug's life!
In Flik's Fun Fair, everything is oversize. Towering above us are 75 giant clovers (one of them even has four leaves). Along with natural landscaping of enormous proportions, they create a sense that we are truly seeing the world from a bug's perspective.
Throughout a bug's land, the Imagineers have cleverly designed even the most mundane of theme park staples in a way that makes them blend seamlessly into the story of Flik's Fun Fair. Here, restrooms are built into an overturned box of tissues (a new "sneezy-to-open" box no less!). The Kodak-sponsored Picture Spot (for Shutterbugs, of course) is identified by a sign that looks like a corner of envelope held up by a paperclip. See the postmark? The letter was sent from Anaheim.
In a bug's land, benches are made of used Popsicle sticks, area lighting is provided by fireflies and No. 2 pencils provide fence posts and ground lighting. A juice box turned on its side becomes a stand for selling drinks, and a giant box of churros is peeled open, so we can get to the yummy cinnamon treats inside.
Even The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, added nearby in 2004, works from this angle, as if we bugs were gazing up from the grounds of the Hollywood Tower Hotel.
There's so much to see and appreciate in the design of a bug's land, you could easily spend an hour exploring here... and that doesn't include enjoying the rides. Shrink back with us tomorrow for a look at the attractions the bugs have set up for Flik's Fun Fair.