Mickey cracks open Minnie’s piggy bank

Disney has announced that they are spending more than $US1 billion to renovate California theme park Disney’s California Adventure, which is more than it cost to build the theme park six years ago, announced the Walt Disney Co.

“The struggling park, which sits in Disneyland’s shadow, was a disappointment from the start, failing to draw the crowds the company had anticipated,” reports the LA Times.

The idea behind the overhaul recently approved by the board of directors is to give it new attractions and a sharper identity – and make it more like Disneyland, the newspaper says.

A host of new attractions will include several based on Pixar animated films such as “Cars” and “Toy Story.”

Disneyland’s younger sibling attracted fewer than 6 million visitors last year, which was far short of the 7 million people the company said would attend every year and a far cry from the 15 million who bought tickets to Disneyland, according to the Times.

The park has never been widely embraced. Walt Disney’s nephew Roy Disney accused the company of building the park “on the cheap.”

Even California Adventure enthusiasts were pleased to hear about the refurbishing, first reported on the Wall Street Journal’s website.

California Adventure was part of a $1.4-billion remake of the Disneyland Resort that included a luxury hotel, the Grand Californian, and the Downtown Disney shopping district.

A Report by David Wilkening