Page 33 - 2020 Travel Guide to California

LEGOLAND California, right; CityPASS
digital tickets, below; Children’s Fairyland
at Lake Merritt, Oakland, bottom; Flight
of the Hippogriff at the Wizarding World
of Harry Potter, Universal Studios
Hollywood, opposite.
The rest of the park is divided into two
areas connected by escalator: the Upper and
Lower lots. Transformers: The Ride 3-D is a
fan-favorite on the Lower Lot. On the Upper
Lot, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, a 3-D
simulator ride, and Super Silly Fun Land, an
outdoor family-friendly playground, both
opened in 2014. The official studio tour
commemorated its 50th anniversary in 2015
with the opening of a new grand finale
dubbed Fast & Furious: Supercharged.
Children’s Fairyland
Believe it or not, the first theme park in the
U.S. to cater to families with young kids was
Children’s Fairyland, a blink-and-you’ll-
miss-it theme park on the shores of Lake
Merritt in Oakland. The place opened in
1950 (original admission started between 9
and 14 cents), making it the first official
theme park in California, as well. According
to some, it was one of Walt Disney’s inspi-
rations for the eponymous park he created
five years later.
Today, Fairyland includes small rides
such as a mini Ferris wheel and carousels,
and life-sized sets depicting scenes from
timeless storybooks (Pinocchio’s castle and
the Humpty Dumpty wall are two favorites).
The theme park also is home to the Story-
book Puppet Theater, which opened in 1956.
A number of the country’s most famous
puppeteers got their start here, including a
teenager by the name of Frances Oznowicz.
You likely know him as Frank Oz.
Disneyland
The big news at Disneyland is the 2019
opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, a new
themed area or “land” in California’s most
famous theme park, which opened in 1955.
This new area joins eight other lands,
some of which focus on actual history:
Frontierland recreates the setting of the
American frontier, while Main Street
U.S.A. is patterned after a small Mid-
western town (many believe Walt Disney
got his inspiration from his own boy-
hood town of Marceline, Missouri).
The park opened with one hotel, but
since the 1990s it has grown exponentially,
adding a new theme park (Disney’s Cali-
fornia Adventure), a shopping district
(Downtown Disney) and two additional
hotels. One of the newest attractions,
Guardians of the Galaxy–Mission:
BREAKOUT!, was inspired by the Marvel
Comics movies and opened in May 2017.
2020 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 31