Press release: DCA's landscaping
THE LANDSCAPE OF DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PAINTING THE PARK WITH PLANTSThis is no ordinary landscaping project. Disney's California Adventure Park, the newest and most unique theme park in the Disney family, posed quite a challenge to the Disney Imagineering team charged with the task of designing the look and feel of the overall area development. "We are not just landscapers of trees and plants in the usual sense," says Becky Bishop, Concept Landscape Architecture Director for the new park. "We do everything that gets rained on including the paving, railings, walkways, walls and fences in addition to plant material and irrigation."
Disney's California Adventure consists of three distinct and very different lands in terms of hardscape (walkways, etc.) and softscape (plants, trees). Golden State includes an aviation themed desert area, a Bay Area region, a Napa Valley winery section, the high Sierra Mountains and wilderness and a farm location. Hollywood Pictures Backlot showcases a fashionable thoroughfare and Paradise Pier epitomizes the California oceanfront amusement park and beach culture. Landscape design began with a color palette. "I always start by looking at the space and think about painting it with color, just as an artist with brushes does," Bishop explains. "The vineyard for example; the grapes and the vines are all colors and paints to me first."
From the first broad brush look, Bishop and her team then focused on each of the three districts in terms of specific plant communities, trees, paving materials and color. The predominant color in Golden State is green with the richness of the high Sierras represented in Grizzly Peak with pine trees, sequoias and redwoods. "We also use about five different grasses across the entire district," Bishop says, "from the desert area to a rich meadow to the mountains. We have one particular grass that grows fairly tall with the top three inches a bright red color. We'll put it on the west side of the mountain hillside because when the sun sets it will glisten off the red stems and be visually stunning." The Golden Vine Winery features natural cork trees and a small vineyard where the grapes will produce Johannesburg Riesling.
The Bountiful Valley Farm district of Golden State offered a myriad of California fruit and vegetable growing opportunities for the landscaping team. In the citrus section of the farm oranges, tangerines, tangelos, grapefruits, lemon and limes are among the growing crops. Additionally, plums, nectarines and apple trees are showcased along with blossoming pecan, walnut and pistachio trees. Rows of vegetables are planted as well, among them brussel sprouts zucchini, artichokes, asparagus, and lettuce, all changed out according to the growing season. "What we've created in this area is truly a tapestry of color and texture," says Bishop.
On the paving side for Golden State, the mix goes from redtop roads which are seen in Northern California to the mock runway located in Condor Flats, the aviation sector of the district. "We researched the paving for the runway at Edwards Air Force Base," says Bishop. "What we found was cracked pavement with tar filling in the expansion joints. For our runway, we wanted to be as authentic as possible so for the first time at a Disney theme park, we've intentionally broken the pavement and filled it in to make it look old." The Bay Area district features an urban plaza paved with cobblestone shaded by Sycamore trees planted in tree grates characteristic of that city.
The color palette for Hollywood Pictures Backlot was principally based on paving rather than greenery although lush palm trees are lavishly placed to accent the glamour of Hollywood Boulevard. Paving with an accent on creativity was used in the forecourt of the Muppet*Vision 3-D attraction. "The Muppet Theater is huge and we didn't have a lobby so we decided to make the area development a lobby," says Bishop. "The paving design is based on a rug of all different colors and it looks wonderful and welcoming to guests."
Amusement park and beach-themed Paradise Pier offers yet another completely different look in plants and paving. "Sand was the big thing," says Bishop. "We had to have sand for our boardwalk." Bishop did a great deal of research on oceanfront amusement parks including visiting perhaps the world's most famous amusement zone, New York's Coney Island. "The boardwalks there were gorgeous and raised off the sand," she says. "The other thing that was important was the screw patterns used in the wood. Most people probably wouldn't even notice it but it's really important as to how the patterns lay out." Wood for Paradise Pier's boardwalk has been crafted from a hearty hardwood important from Paraguay and designed with authentic Coney Island boardwalk screw patterns. Paradise Pier is also landscaped with tropical plants such as palms sea grapes and succulents, all of which are incorporated in sand planters throughout the district filled with the excitement of roller coasters, midway games, thrill rides and fun-filled eateries.
Another paving challenge was creating the pathway for the parades, which will march through Disney's California Adventure. "The parade route is a fun texture and very wide, in some places as much as fifty feet wide," says Bishop. "We did a block pattern combination of four different colors so it doesn't feel like it's huge, long, wide road but there's a little bit of pattern at your feet." Overall, there are over a dozen different types of paving utilized in the park from dirt roads to paved roads to old roads, urban roads and beach roads.
Antique roses, coral trees, eucalyptus and pepper trees, oaks, Monterey pines and poplars are among many more types of plants that have been incorporated into the Disney's California Adventure landscape. Whether representing the state from the north, east, south or west, authenticity has been the key to painting the park with colors in plants, trees, grasses, flowers, paving stones, concrete and sand. The result symbolizes the beauty of the state and its dynamic geographic diversity.
Related Links
-- Posted October 23, 2000
Source: Company press release