The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (157 page)

When ordering sides for the meat dishes or tater bake, there are two cold sides and four hot sides to choose from.  Cold: 
Radiator Pasta Salad
or
Cole Slaw
.  Neither is anything to write a postcard home about.  Hot:  Creamy, home-style
Mashed Potatoes
; mild
Peas & Carrots
; zippy, zingy, outstanding
Roasted Corn Medley
; and, the only loser on the program, bland
Vegetarian Baked Beans
.

The kids’ menu is straightforward: 
Macaroni & Cheese
($6.50), or a
Roast Beef
or
Turkey Sandwich
($7 each).  Fruit, veggies, and a juice, milk, or water, are included with each children’s meal.  For $12 (
Mac & Cheese
) or $13 (
Roast Beef
or
Turkey Sandwiches
) your child’s meal can be served in a
Lightning McQueen Racer
souvenir container.

At some restaurants the desserts seem like generic afterthoughts, but
Flo
’s desserts are tailored to the Route 66 theme.  It’s worth waiting in line for one of
Flo’s Pie-O-Rama’s
: 
Apple Cheddar
,
Chocolate Mud
, or
Seasonal Fruit
.  It’s $5 worth of heaven.  Also delectable: 
Flo’s Classic Shakes
: 
Chocolate
,
Strawberry
, or
Vanilla
flavor, topped with
Road Gravel
(little chocolate and strawberry bits).  A regular shake is $4.29, or have them pour it into a
souvenir glass
for $9.59.

Beverages are the usual selection of cocoa, coffee, juice, milk, and water, from $
2 to $3.50, but there are also some special choices at
Flo’s
V8 Café
. 
Mater’s Tulsa Tea
(about $3.50), refreshing and unusual, is iced sweet green tea with fruit foam.  Give it a try.  The café also served alcoholic beverages during lunch and supper.  Draft Beers: 
Racer 5 Pale Ale IPA
or
Red Rocket Ale
are $7 each.  Wines: 
Eppa Superfruit Red Sangria
($6),
Fess Parker Riesling
($6),
MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir
($8), and
Silverado Chardonnay
($8)–all prices are by the glass.

Bottom line:  Even with significant customer service and process issues,
Flo’s V8 Café
is so lovely, so immersive, offers such dazzling views, and slings such delicious and unsual food and drink, that the pros outweigh the cons any day of the week.  Drop in, fellow Guest–just be ready to “go with the flow” (pun most definitely intended). 
Did You Know?
  The talented
Jenifer Lewis
voiced
Flo
in
Cars
and
Cars 2
.  You’ve seen or heard
Lewis
everywhere, on Broadway, television, and in film, from “Murphy Brown,” “A Different World,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” and “Friends” to the “Sister Act” movies, “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “The Preacher’s Wife,” and “Madea’s Family Reunion”.  Her
Disney
connection goes all the way back to 1987, when she was Pre-Show Announcer for
Disneyland
’s original
Star Tours
, and included subsequent gigs on
Disney
’s
That’s So Raven
and as
Mama Odie
in the
Princess and the Frog
. 
Night Vision:
 
Flo’s V8 Café
is beyond beautiful at night, with its gleaming neon.  If you can, make a point of visiting
Cars Land
at night and be sure to bring a camera.  Since
Cars Land
opened, many stunning photos of
Flo’s
Café
at night have been posted online, but standing there in person is even more thrilling, even if you’ve never been much of a
Cars
fan.

Cars Land
Character Meetings and Performers

Lightning McQueen
and
Mater
are the headliners in
Cars Land
, so it’s no surprise they get
Radiator Springs
’ prime meet-and-greet spot, right in front of the
Cozy Cone Motel
’s office on
Route 66
.  Send some of the grown-ups to brave the
Cozy Cone
lines and pick up snacks, while someone waits with the kids in the sometimes long queue to meet
Lightning
or
Mater
.  The
Audio-Animatronic
characters are astoundingly fluid and life-like, and even speak to Guests.  They seem to have driven right off the screen!  Your kids will always remember meeting
Lightning
or
Mater
, and will treasure the photos you snap.

Of course, while
Lightning
and
Mater
are stars, they aren’t the only cars in town. 
Red the Fire Truck
sometimes rolls through the streets of
Radiator Springs
, and often can be found parked just off of
Cross Street
, near the entrance to
“a bug’s land”
. Even with his bell and sirens,
Red
is a quiet, gentle giant of a vehicle, and when he is parked kids can queue to meet him and pose for photos.  Be on the alert, however–sometimes
Red
mischievously squirts water at Guests!  Not much, though–it’s all in good fun, and actually welcome on hot summer days.

DJ
is a car that will be new to Guests who haven’t visited
Cars Land
. 
DJ
is a blue, neon-striped lowrider with a massive on-board sound system, and
DJ
knows how to party!  He rolls into the center of
Radiator Springs
, the intersection of
Route 66
and
Cross Street
, and begins blasting upbeat tunes like “Car Wash”, “Dancin’ In The Streets,” and “Life Is A Highway” as part of his
Dance ‘n’ Drive
show.  Guests crowd around to dance with
DJ
and the
dancing waitresses
from
Flo’s V8 Café
.

One note of caution–the
AA
vehicles are amazing pieces of technology, and Cast Members walk in front of, alongside, and behind them to ensure unwary Guests don’t step into the vehicles’ paths.  But kids are so excited to see the cars rolling along, sometimes caution and common sense go out the window.  So you’ll want to keep an eye on your children when the cars are rolling.

How do those cars
really
move?  Part of the secret involves Cast Members, clad in black costumes, hidden inside the vehicles.

Perhaps the most amazing character in
Cars Land
is the land itself, especially
Route 66
.  Every day at nightfall, Guests gather along the street, waiting expectantly for the
Cars Land Lighting
, when all 16 of the brilliant neon signs along
Route 66
are lit in sequence, to the tune “Life Could Be A Dream (Sha-boom)”.  It’s a quietly awesome moment, and not to be missed if you’re in
DCA
around dusk.

Condor Flats

Condor Flats At-a-Glance

Attractions:
 
Soarin’ Over California
(FP) (S)

Gear:
 
Fly n’ Buy

Grub:
 
Taste Pilots’ Grill
(L, D, S)

Condor Flats
Introduction

When
DCA
first opened in February 2001, the entire park was focused on the state of California,
Walt
’s adopted home. 
Walt
was very fond of California.  That’s why there was an entire land called
Golden State
dedicated to California regions that
Walt
particularly admired.

DCA
’s
Golden State
was divided (roughly) into three areas of importance to California history, and to
Walt
, his achievements, and his family: 
Condor Flats
,
Grizzly Peak Recreation Area
, and
Pacific Wharf
. 
Golden State
was a far-flung land covering a lot of acreage, wrapping around iconic
Grizzly Peak
and encompassing numerous attractions and eateries.  The mere fact that
Golden State
was subdivided into multiple themed areas is a clear indication of how complex—even unwieldy—
Golden State
was.

When
DCA
completed its billion-dollar renovations in 2012,
DCA
took that opportunity to carve massive
Golden State
into three separate lands:

             
Condor Flats
is dedicated to California’s aeronautical history, its innovative aerospace engineers and test pilots.

             
Grizzly Peak
celebrates California’s wilderness, Native American history, and natural resources.

             
Pacific Wharf
focuses on the vibrancy and diversity of California culture through the tasty metaphor of a melting pot of diverse cuisines, particularly in San Francisco and Napa Valley.

Condor Flats
is now the smallest land in
DCA
, .containing only one attraction, one shop, and one restaurant.  But the slight footprint of
Condor Flats
doesn’t diminish its importance.  Just as
Cars Land
can be viewed as a celebration of California car culture,
Condor Flats
pays homage to California’s brilliant aerospace designers and courageous pilots, whose efforts paved the way for innovations that changed the way the world fights, trades, travels, communicates, explores, and even how it thinks.

What do airplanes and astronauts have to do with
Walt
?  He was fascinated by transportation.  Consider his creation of
Disneyland
’s
Tomorrowland
, a kinetic poem of submarines, people movers, monorails, miniature autos, and rocket jets.

Although never a
licensed pilot,
Walt
enjoyed flying aircraft, and the pilots of his company planes sometimes let him take the controls. 
Walt
was interested not only in aeronautics, but also foresaw and actively encouraged United States research and advancements in space travel.  With his usual pragmatic optimism, he knew humans would journey beyond the earth.

That’s the connection between
DCA
’s
Condor Flats
and
Walt
; both the land and the man were dedicated to California’s contributions to human flight.

When Guests v
eer west as they leave
Buena Vista Street
, they find themselves on an airfield in a rocky desert landscape with an asphalt tarmac under their feet.  Welcome to
Condor Flats
!

You won’t find
Condor Flats
on any map in the real world.  This is a fictional land, a composite of California’s
Mojave Desert
locales where so many craft have been tested over the decades and advanced the capabilities of flight and space programs.

Condor Flats
packs a lot into its small space.  There are runways; a massive space shuttle engine nozzle spraying water and mist; a vintage propeller plane; a service station that actually houses a souvenir shop; a restaurant serving hearty fare;
Minnie
and her
Fly Girls
singing classic tunes; and the land’s grand centerpiece,
Soarin’ Over California
.