I always thought that its better than Six Flags was a rather pathetic defense for DCA. But Im going to enshrine the It's much bigger than the one at Chevy's
line as being the ultimate summation for each and everything thats wrong with the park.
And while the exhibit does highlight the influence of the tortilla on Californias history (just like the Taco Bell Gardens out by Temecula does) here is a partial list of some of the more interesting aspects of California that havent been included:
The Spanish colonial history, the missions and the Rio del Camino, any representation of the native cultures, the amazing kelp bed forests off the coasts which are regarded to have a greater diversity of life than the
Amazon rain forests, the La Brea tar pits that have the actual bones of some of the most amazing animals that have ever lived (did you know that camels were native to California in between ice ages?), the Russian colonies and the whale and fur trade that thrived for hundreds of years up north, the many active volcanoes that exist in the state and how natural obsidian was traded all the way to New England in pre-European times, that California is home to a species of tree that is the oldest living thing on earth, the entire California gold rush, the role of California in the Civil War, a mention of Californias own revolution, Fifties style California Crazy architecture (the kind Disney could afford to build at WDW), two of the finest natural harbors in the world and the largest manmade one, authors like John Steinbeck or any hint of Californias cultural impact beyond Beach Boys tunes, and about 700 others. To start the complete list, find Hewell Howers California Gold series available through PBS.
My problem with California Adventure is not the size of the tortilla making machine or even really with the California theme in principle. My problem is that Disney simply didnt even try to build a quality park in the first place. And instead of fixing that mistake they have decided to tell people we should lower our standards instead.