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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 |
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Yester California Adventure lets you travel all over California. You can visit a Hollywood studio, Wine Country, San Francisco, a farm that produces bountiful harvests, a desert airfield, a mountain wilderness, and a seaside amusement pier. You don’t need to go anywhere else in the state. Why spend your money anywhere else? |
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You say you want to visit Monterey, with its Cannery Row restaurants overlooking the bay? The park has that for you too! |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Themed after the old canneries of Monterey, California |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Intentionally old and weathered—despite being brand new |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Bridge to Pacific Wharf |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Not really a direction sign—more of a “what’s here” sign |
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In addition to three counter-service eateries and two alcoholic beverage vendors, Pacific Wharf has two attractions. Both involve watching flour being made into delicious foods, and getting to eat a sample of each. This proves attractions don’t need ride vehicles or theaters. For some unexplained reason, the Karl Strauss Beer Truck doesn’t have a fish on the sign. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2002 Entrance to Boudin Bakery Tour |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2002 Entrance to Mission Tortilla Factory |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2002 Pacific Wharf Cafe |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Cocina Cucamonga |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Rita’s Baja Blenders |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Karl Strauss Beer Truck |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2002 Lucky Fortune Cookery |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Lucky Fortune Cookery at night |
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Well, it’s not exactly the same as Monterey. But it is one of the most immersive, best themed places in the whole park. And the food is pretty good too. |
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Pacific Wharf was one of the original features of Disney’s California Adventure when it opened in 2001. Park maps showed Pacific Wharf as one of the six districts (mini-lands) of Golden State, one of the four lands of the new park. The other five districts of Golden State were Grizzly Peak Recreation Area, Bountiful Valley Farm, Condor Flats, The Bay Area, and Golden Vine Winery. When the districts went away, Pacific Wharf became the name of a new land that combined the Pacific Wharf and the Golden Vine Winery districts. This Yesterland article is about the original Pacific Wharf district, not the land that also included the winery. The photos above are all from 2001 and 2002. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Cannery Row in Monterey, California |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Pacific Wharf at Disney California Adventure |
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The inspiration for Pacific Wharf came from the historic Cannery Row in Monterey, California, made famous by John Steinbeck’s novel. The once-plentiful sardines were over-fished in the first half of the 20th century. Since the 1950s, the canneries have been reverberating with the sound of tourists, not canning operations. The old buildings are home to restaurants and tourist souvenir shops—and, since 1984, one of the world’s best aquariums, the Monterey Bay Aquarium. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001 Cannery exhibit at Pacific Wharf |
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Disney’s Pacific Wharf lacked the table-service restaurants of Monterey’s Cannery Row, but it was a pleasant food court. The large outdoor seating area was often packed with guests, especially after the June 13, 2012, opening of Cars Land. Not only did park attendance increase due to Cars Land, but Pacific Wharf gained an entry into the new land through a rock arch, providing possibly the most splendid vista in any Disney park. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Wall sign celebrating the sardine industry of Monterey’s Cannery Row |
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Over a course of more than 20 years, Pacific Wharf did not change much. Cocina Cucamonga and Lucky Fortune Cookery swapped locations in 2009. Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop replaced Mission Tortilla Factory in 2012, with appropriate updates to the building. All around Pacific Wharf, buildings’ exteriors became more colorful and “cleaner” looking. The Bakery Tour received an update. And, of course, menu items changed and prices increased. At the 2022 D23 Expo in Anaheim, Disney announced that Pacific Wharf would be transformed into San Fransokyo, the fictional setting of the 2014 animated Disney feature Big Hero 6. Disney had been infusing Disney, Pixar, and Marvel IP into Disney California Adventure, but Pacific Wharf had remained IP-free to that point, except for minor tie-ins such as Mickey Mouse head sourdough bread. There was just one problem. In the movie, San Fransokyo was a mash-up of San Francisco and Tokyo. Concept art showed Pacific Wharf with Japanese lanterns and other cosmetic changes. It looked like Monterokyo, not San Fransokyo. |
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frame capture © Disney A mash-up of San Francisco and Tokyo in Big Hero 6 |
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frame capture © Disney Aunt Cass’ Lucky Cat Cafe in Big Hero 6 |
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In the movie, protaganist Hiro Hamada’s guardian, Aunt Cass, runs the Lucky Cat Cafe, located on the ground floor of a San Francisco Queen Anne style house with Japanese pagoda-style roof features. This restaurant would surely be added during the transformation, right? No. San Fransokyo Square was more of an overlay than a true transformation. On August 31, 2023, Disney California Adventure guidemaps began showing San Fransokyo Square as a new land where the orignal Pacific Wharf district had been. The Pacific Wharf label was gone from the guidemaps. The part of Pacific Wharf land with the winery became a new land called Performance Corridor. The official website touted Wine Country Trattoria as “Dining located in Performance Corridor at Disney California Adventure Park.” As a name for a land, Performance Corridor arguably lacks the appeal of Adventureland or even Pixar Pier. If Cars Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge represent “spare no expense” Imagineering, then San Fransokyo Square represents “keep the cost down” Imagineering. One of the bigger changes was replacing the Karl Strauss Beer Truck with the Karl Strauss Port of San Fransokyo Cervecería. |
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Photo by Worthie Meacham, 2023 Golden Gate-inspired bridge to San Fransokyo Square |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2023 Colorful, sign-covered cannery buildings |
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Photo by Worthie Meacham, 2023 Aunt Cass Cafe, not to be confused with the Lucky Cat Cafe in the movie |
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San Fransokyo Square has Aunt Cass Cafe. It involves new signs, some artwork, and an updated menu for the Pacific Wharf Cafe. It’s been reported that Aunt Cass Cafe is supposed to be Aunt Cass’ second restaurant. The Disney Parks Blog had this explanation for the Cannery Row in San Fransokyo: “As the tech industry began to emerge and the local fishing trade fell on hard times, entrepreneurs came together to reinvent the seaside canneries into a vibrant, multicultural district of neighborhood restaurants and small businesses where you’ll be able to eat and shop.” Okay. Fair enough. San Fransokyo is a fictional city, so why shouldn’t it have its own fictional repurposed cannery district? |
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© 2024 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated January 19, 2024 |
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