Letters will welcome guests to home
of California State Fair
Anaheim,
Calif., May 30, 2012 – The Disneyland Resort donated the iconic
"CALIFORNIA" letters previously located in the esplanade at the Disney
California Adventure park entrance to the Friends of the California
State Fair, a nonprofit organization that benefits California Exposition
& State Fair (Cal Expo) in Sacramento, Calif. Cal Expo is the site
of the California State Fair and hundreds of other events annually.
"As
we near the completion of the Disney California Adventure expansion, it
was important to us to find an appropriate home for the 'CALIFORNIA'
letters," said Disneyland Resort President George A. Kalogridis. "The
letters were very popular with millions of Guests over the past decade,
and Cal Expo is a fitting destination to continue their legacy."
Plans
are underway to make the letters an integral part of a new Cal Expo
entrance. The "CALIFORNIA" letters will make their way to their new home
sometime in late September and will be placed high enough at the entrance to be seen from Exposition Boulevard.
"The
Friends of the California State Fair serving Cal Expo is honored to
have been selected the recipient of this gift from Disney Resorts. We
see this donation, and the relocation of these letters, a continued and
fitting tribute to the celebration of this magnificent state," said Norb
J. Bartosik, Cal Expo CEO/General Manager.
The
letters were part of the original California postcard entrance to
Disney California Adventure park when it opened in 2001. Over the years,
they became a favorite photo destination and meeting spot for
Disneyland Resort guests because of their statuesque presence. The
letters were removed to complete the new main entrance to Disney
California Adventure park, built to evoke the feeling of California in
the 1920's, when Walt Disney first arrived in Los Angeles.
The
donation of the letters is the latest among several other iconic Disney
California Adventure park artifacts over the last five years.
- The
cab of the California Zephyr train that was formerly the home of
Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream and Bakers Field Bakery was donated to the
Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, Calif. - The sun icon that welcomed visitors to Sunshine Plaza was donated to the City of Anaheim for future use.
- The
giant toy train from EnginEARS Toys will be donated to Children's
Hospital of Orange County (CHOC Children's) for future use. - Postcards
and displays from the Greetings From California store at the main
entrance of Disney California Adventure park were donated to many
Southern California nonprofit organizations and educational facilities
including the Boys & Girls Club of Tustin, the Anaheim Family YMCA,
the Child Abuse Services Team office in Orange, the Environmental Nature
Center in Newport Beach, and Betsy Ross and Orange Grove elementary
schools in Anaheim. - Signs and character displays from Greetings From California were donated to Pretend City in Irvine.
- The Reboundo Beach surfboard basketball game was donated to the Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove.
- Benches from throughout Disney California Adventure were donated to the City of Anaheim for use in public spaces.