Disney California Adventure is a theme park in Anaheim, California and one of two theme parks comprising the Disneyland Resort (with the original Disneyland Park being the other). It opened on February 8, 2001 as Disney's California Adventure Park, with its name change (the removal of the possessive and the word Park) announced on May 28, 2010. The park is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of the Walt Disney Company.
The 67 acre Disney theme park - built during the 'Disney Decade', a growth initiative of former Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner - was designed as part of a major expansion that transformed the Disneyland area and its hotels into the Disneyland Resort. Whereas the original 85 acre Disneyland Park contains eight themed "lands," Disney California Adventure is divided into eight themed "districts": Buena Vista Street, Hollywood Pictures Backlot, Grizzly Peak, Pacific Wharf, "A Bugs Land," Cars Land, Condor Flats, and Paradise Pier. Each district is meant to resemble various aspects of Californian culture and landmarks, both stylized and idealized.
In October 2007, the Walt Disney Company announced a $1.1 billion re-construction of the park (against its initial $600 million price to build) to counter initial criticisms that the park lacked the immersion, character experience, and timelessness of Disneyland Park. As a result of the initiative, each district was re-imagined to transform the park from a veritable spoof of modern California culture to a romanticized, idealized version of the state exploring specific time-periods and historic settings. For example, the park's Paradise Pier (originally a modern, seaside carnival-style wharf with comedic midway games and rides like Maliboomer and Mulholland Madness) was re-themed to a Victorian Era pier with flashing incandescent lightbulbs, classic midway games with Disney character references, and the Toy Story Midway Mania interactive attraction. The ambitious re-construction project began in December 2007, and will be completed on June 14, 2012.