Is it time for Disney California Adventure to change its name? Brace yourself, but our answer is simple: no. Before you throw tomatoes, here’s our thinking as to why…
1. Imagineers have “made it work” before
2012 served as the official re-opening of Disney California Adventure, anchoring it in reverent and timeless lands recalling historic California and packed with the detail and texture you expect of a Disney Park. Obviously, every change since then has sort of felt like a “two steps forward, one step back” withdrawal that undoes so much of the park’s hard-fought reimagining.
But to give Imagineers credit, they’ve clearly tried to take the apparent mandate from Disney corporate in stride, using IP injections to do good work. Pixar Pier may be a logical mess, but it clearly was needed to release the funds that completed the land’s beautiful turn-of-the-century wrap, resulting in a land of gorgeous jewel tones, Victorian turrets, and other thematic details that wouldn’t have happened without the Pixar tie-in.
Similarly, as we mentioned, Avengers Campus may have opened without the anchoring Avengers E-Ticket it needed, but Imagineers are right – it kinda works as a “Tomorrowland” for California Adventure. It’s got a clever focus on tech and adaptive reuse that kinda-sorta does serve as an ode to the state’s spirit of innovation and Silicon Valley tech, with a through-line of cooperation and collaboration that’s lofty and subtle, but kind of cool!
There’s no reason yet to think that Imagineers won’t try to do the same with Pandora. It might be that the land is entered via portals, clearly separating it from the “rest” of California Adventure in the same way that Imagineers narratively separately Galaxy’s Edge from quaint, charming, historic Disneyland.
Not to mention, we saw how beautifully Imagineers made the original Pandora work at Animal Kingdom, casting guests as eco-tourists visiting Pandora to gaze in awe at the flora and fauna of Pandora, experiencing the culture and cuisine of the Na’vi. We have no reason to suspect that they won’t do the same for California Adventure’s version of the land, perhaps angling the “Cove of the Ancestors” setting into a poetic and subtle metaphor for the beauty and biodiversity of California’s legendary coasts. Of course it doesn’t make sense at a glance, but why would we assume that Imagineers won’t do their best to make it work when they always have before?
2. It could only get worse…
For years, Disney has struggled with what to call their “smorgasbord IP parks.” In the mid-2010s, the company famously polled guests on potential rebrands for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. That makes sense since – with Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge en route, the park was already slated to lose any semblance of actually being a studio.
But the names they polled guests on were… well… bad. Disney’s Cinemagic Kingdom. Disney’s Kaleidoscope Park. Disney XL Park. Disney Storyverse Park. None seemed to capture the park’s odd mix of historic Hollywood, mish-mashed IP, and backlot leftovers. So ultimately, the park stuck to its “Hollywood Studios” name.
Fast-forward to 2026, though, when the opening of the World of Frozen at Disneyland Paris will officially coincide with a renaming of the French resort’s Walt Disney Studios Park… Yep, Disney seems to have settled on a new nomenclature for their mish-mashed IP parks going forward: Disney Adventure World. It’s a name that’s also… well… bad. It’s intentionally generic, and meant to be able to encapsulate whatever “Living Lands” come to the park next – Avengers, Frozen, Lion King, Toy Story… It does the trick, but ask yourself – do you think California Adventure should be renamed Disney Adventure World? Probably not. So unless you want Disneyland Resort’s second gate to be called Adventure World, XL Park, or Cinemagic Kingdom, maybe just leave California Adventure alone!
3. California Adventure is still at least as thematically pure as any other Disney Park
Finally, it’s important to note that in the 2020s, we’re firmly in the era of what fans call the “Disney+ Parks” era – a time when decisions for the parks are based solely on Disney+ streaming data, and when Imagineers are tasked with incorporating Disney + Pixar + Marvel + Star Wars + Avatar into the parks at any cost. So sure, California Adventure is stuffed with characters that don’t technically make sense among its Californian settings…
But when you zoom out, is Disney’s Hollywood Studios really “about” anything specific? Is EPCOT? Even Magic Kingdom? Overall, isn’t it true that any Disney Park could be renamed “Disney Adventure World”? No Disney Park on Earth is holding deeply true to its once-paramount theme. Zootopia is just as likely to come to Disneyland as California Adventure, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney Studios, Shanghai Disneyland, etc.
So when you consider that, California Adventure is actually doing pretty well! This is a park entered by way of Buena Vista Street! With the gorgeous Grizzly Peak celebrating California’s National Parks! With a discordant but ultimately historic Pixar Pier of Victorian boardwalk architecture! Even Cars Land, celebrating the legendary Route 66 road trip that brought millions through the mid-century neon towns of the west and into the Golden State!
This is a park with the historic Carthay Circle Theater as its de facto icon! No one who’s stepped into the park’s San Fransokyo Square or Buena Vista Street or Paradise Gardens could honestly say in good conscience that the park is “just” a Disney-Pixar Studios or a Disney Adventure World. This is still a park firmly rooted in beautiful Californian settings. So even if it doesn’t totally make sense that Mike & Sulley, Ariel, Woody & Buzz, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and – soon – the Na’vi are found in a park celebrating California, this park has as much right to keep its name as EPCOT or Animal Kingdom as they likewise become inundated with IP.
That’s just our thinking. But what do you think? Is it time for California Adventure to surrender to progress and axe its named connection to the Golden State? Or do you agree with us that this is still a park rooted in lands that bring California’s history to life in beautiful ways? If this park did change its name, what do you think its new name should be? Something generic like Disney Adventure World or Disney Studios? Let us know in the comments below!
