Disney's California Adventure's Condor Flats
Jeff from Houston, the host of the Meandering Mouse Podcast asked me while at DCA why I like Condor Flat so much. I had to stop a second and think a little. No one had ever asked me that before. I have said many times how much I dig this area, but never qualified it. I love aviation. I served four years in the Air Force. No....I wasn’t a pilot, I didn’t even have a flight job. But then again I can’t really tell you what I did. You know the line. I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you.
This area has a lot of nice little details dealing with aviation. Chuck Yeager’s Glamorous Glennis shooting out of Taste Pilots Grill. The large rocket engine that shoots out mist on hot summer days. The large hanger that houses Soarin’ over California. The little shop with the Tower and gas outside. Even the restrooms have an aluminum hanger feel. It feels like an airfield from the early days of California aviation. Have you ever seen Rocketeer? Thats the time period.
The Imagineers did make a mistake here though. Have you seen the deHavilone Beaver, thats a plane if you did not know, that sits just on the edge of Condor Flats as you head toward Grizzly Peak? Well, thats not the place it was supposed to be parked. The next time your at DCA in Condor Flats, face the little shop. Just to the left is an area that has taxi lines painted on the ground that helps guide an aircraft while taxing on the tarmac and runways and it leads right under the canopy that is attached to the shop. There is fuel here, and all the stuff need to service the aircraft. I guess they can’t get it right every time.
I rate Condor Flats an IMW C ticket. For all the reason I’ve said I like it, it was also designed into a corner with no room for expansion. It’s way to small. One great attraction, a fun well themed fast food location and a nice little shop. Thats it. Bummer......
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