Farewell to the Original Disney's California Adventure Enterance

Disneys California Adventure Park is a theme park that has a pretty bad reputation. What started out as a ho hum theme park is now under going a 1.1 Billion dollar makeover with new attractions and redesigned "lands".

Going away with the makeover is the current entryway to the park. What once was as welcomeing as a neighborhood strip mall is now going to be transformed into a place where that will be remanisant of Los Angeles was in the 1920s. When Walt Disney first arrived in Southern California. No longer will you feel uninvited in the park. Now once you walk thru the gates you will be emersed in amazing detail just as Disneyland is across the Esplande.

Dispite the negative reviews that California Adventure has been known for thruout the past 10 years. I got the oppertunity to visit Disneys California Adventure just over 2 years ago in 2008. The remodel had just started and I wanted to see the park before much of the original stuff was changed. Although the park lacked in some aspects I thought it was a decent park overall and not as bad as people make it out to be. One of my favorite aspects though was the Original entrance to the park.



I thought the original parks entrance was very unique and wasn't the problem to begin with. I loved the feeling that you were walking into a california post card to start your adventure. The letters that make up "CALIFORNIA" are possible amung the most loved parts of the park. Millions of people loved taking photos with those letters. Unfortunatly though Disney has felt the need that with there currant redesign the Post Card idea will no longer work. Its sad in my opinion as the idea and look wasn't the problem in the first place. The problem was once you walked thru the turnstyles the themeing ended and the entry plaza was dull and unwelcoming.



On January 4th, 2011 the California letters will be removed. This in addition to most of the original tile mural already having been removed. What Disney is planning for the new enterance to go along with the 20s themed entry plaza is make the entry feel like the old Pan Pacific Theater. A good idea to go with a good theme. In addition to the new entry way the whole plaza will be growing as the turnstyles will be set up approxametly where the "CALIFORNIA" letters are currently located. Unfortunatly DCA is going to really feel like a mess for the next year now while the entrance remodel takes place there will be a temporary entrance set up and a series of covered walkways will be setup thru the construction zone. Completion date for the new entrance will be the Spring of 2012.

So farewell. To one of the most loved aspects of the original Disney's California Adventure. The entryway.

Film Review: Tron Legacy

In 1982. A year before I was born a movie that was said to revolutionize the film industry was released. That movie was Tron. A movie about a man transported into a digital world. The movie was groundbreaking at the time as it was the first movie to blend computer animation with live action sequences. However the movie was not successful by any means and for 28 years the movie has been nothing more then a cult classic for geeks. I remember watching the movie when I was younger. In a world where the Original Nintendo Entertainment System or the Atari 2600 were the greatest tech devices out. The original Tron seemed so amazing as it felt like you finally saw a video game come to life. However watching the movie can somewhat be a laugh fest since the graphics and animation have seriously become very outdated. Unfotunatly due to its heavy use on Computer Graphics the original Tron didn't survive the visual test of time like so many other great movies that came out of the 80's. As the following trailer to the Original movie will show:



No matter how corney the original Tron could be though I liked it. So when Disney started to announce back in 2008 that there would be a sequel coming out I was pretty excited about it. From teaser trailers to the full trailers that were finally realised earlier this year. To following the events of the elecTRONica festival over at Disneys California Adventure Park I was very excited for the day that Tron: Legacy would be realeased. On Monday December 20th, 3 days after the films release I finally got my oppertunity to go see the movie along with my wifes brothers.



So how was the film? It was INCREDIBLE. I can't say enough good about this film. I can honestly say it exceeded all of my expectations. I know there is a lot of people out there who are on the fence about seeing the movie because they didn't care for the original or because the didn't like the first one. To them I urge to give the film a chance. I learned to stop trusting film critic reviews a long time ago as I find most the time I hate movies that critics love and love movies they hate. If you like action movies then go see Tron Legacy. This film won't break any records or be the next smash hit. And i'm ok with that. The film not only reignited the Tron franchise but it stayed true to the Original Tron while bringing it into the 21st centurery. Tron Legacy might not be the game changer or the movie thats way ahead of its time like the original was. Keep in mind that its on par with other graphics intense si-fi movies that come out each year. However unlike so many others I think Tron Legacy has a very smart and deep story to go along with the amazing visual effects. A story that i'd love to see them drag out into another film. It was so refreshing to me to see an original sequel to a film made 28 years ago instead of starting over with a "remake" that tends to be the trend in Hollywood these days. Something thats starting to get old. Tron Legacy in my opinion is one of the very few movies where the sequel is better then the original. Its new enough to stand on its own but it still has many throw backs to the original film of the 80's. Disney has confirmed plans for a 10 part mini series on the Disney XD channel but the details of that are still unknown. Oh and how could I forget the Music. The Daft Punk soundtrack is what pulls the whole movie together. There couldn't have been a better choice of music for this film and its the first in a long time where after seeing a movie i've wanted to go out and purchase the soundtrack.

So go see Tron Legacy. Doesn't matter if you liked or even seen the first one or not. Its a good movie that i'm already desperatly wanting to add to my Blu-Ray collection. Heck maybe the Original Tron will comeout on Blu-Ray then as well.

My Vehicles

Since this blog will be mostly about cars I only feel its right to start this blog with a sampling of the vehicles I have owned over the years. Cars are not something I got into later in my life. Pretty much my life was distened to involve cars one way or another. My father had many fast cars while growing up. He having owned 5 different Pontiac Firebirds over the years. My Grandpa and Uncles were also very into cars as well as my cousins. Just as all other little boys I grew up in my youth always having Toy cars or Hot Wheels to play with. My Favorite video games also turned out to be ones with cars racing. I loved going to Races and also to car shows with my family. Infact my first word I ever spoke turned out to be the word "Car".

So Fast Forward now to May of 1999. I just turned 16 and my Dad was giving me his 1988 Nissan Pathfinder SE-V6. The truck was in excellent condition and had a 2 inch body lift as well as 32inch tires on American Racing Wheels. I went thru a 4x4 phase with this truck and because of my need to take it off road the thing fell apart and was starting to cost more to keep safe so my parents asked me to sell it for something more reliable. I agree'd with the warning "that whatever I buy next will not stay stock". I owned the Pathfinder for about 10 months before I sold it.



The Pathfinder was replaced with.................. A Neon. Yeah thats right the most girly of all girl cars at the time it was built. A 1995 Plymouth Neon Highline. I didn't want a Neon. When my parents told me about it I said no way. However they talked me into going and looking at it where I fell in love. Not with the car itself but with its Blue Color. So I bought it. I had no desire to do anything to this car other then some wheels and a spoiler. However not long after buying the car I looked at my first issue of the Magazine "Super Street" and not only did that magazine open my eyes into the Sport Compact Scene but I layed my eyes upon the Wings West Neon and I knew that I wanted to make my Neon "The Best looking Neon anyone has ever seen". Thru much trial and error and although the car would be considered "rice" by todays standards I truely belive I accomplished my goal with this car over the 2 1/2 years that I owned it. However the car was built as a slow Show Car and towards the end of my ownership with it I started getting more involved in racing. I ended up selling it when I decided to serve and LDS Mission for 2 years in December of 2002.



When I returned from my LDS mission in December 2004 I wanted another Neon. But not just any Neon. An SRT-4. However that didn't span out well when a vehicle that was a dream of my fell into my lap for a price too good to pass up. Instead of the SRT-4 I picked up a 2000 Acura Integra Type R from my cousin. I had always loved Integras. So much that I always wanted to own a GSR but was always hesitant due to the theft issues. I never thought i'd own a Type R but now I did. And it wasn't just any Type R ether. This thing was supercharged. It was fast, good looking, and what I always wanted for a race car. Unfortunatly I broke the car due to a misshift and it took 2 1/2 years and removal of the supercharger before the car ran right again. 6 years later I still own this car and it has gone thru a complete transformation from when previous owners had it. It is still no longer supercharged but thats OK as I love it being Naturally Asperated. Although my love for racing started in Drag Racing with the Neon it has grown into a love of road racing with the Type R that I have had the pleasure of racing out at Miller Motorsports Park many times now. The car is now running better then it probably ever has and I love every second that I get to drive it. I never plan on selling this thing unless its taken from me.



I got to the point where I no longer wanted to daily drive the Type R so I started looking around for a new Daily and keep the Type R as a project car. I ended up picking up a 1993 Honda Del Sol S from a coworker for only $800 bucks. It needed some work so after a month and a couple hundred more dollars the Del Sol was out on the road and my Daily Driver. This thing was stripped down as it could be. A/C didn't work, no power anything (except windows), suspension was crappy, you name it it probably had it lol. But it did what it needed to do and it got over 40mpgs which I absolutly loved. The car never gave me any problems and was very reliable for what it was. I ended up owning this car for just over 3 years before I sold it in August 2010 to a high school kid buying his first car.



And lastly this is my current daily driver. I picked this up in June of 2010 after looking at well over a dozen cars. I'm glad I was patent as this car turned out to be all I wanted and more and was a great deal. Its a 2001 Infiniti G20t. Theres nothing real special about it and I must say that its very strange for me to still think that I drive a Stock car now. That should change in spring though when some Racing Hart wheels and some other minor goodies go on it. I needed a 4 door for when we decide to have a family and I don't think I could have chose a better daily right now then this car. I love have a semi-luxury car lol.



I guess you can say that when I married my wife that her car kinda became mine as well. She drives a 2007 Mazda3 itouring that she brought brand new. I however do not have any photos at this time of it though.

Well that sums up my vehicle history. I havn't gone thru vehicles like crazy like so many other people do and I'm ok with that. I'm just naturally the type that likes to hold onto things for long periods of time. I look forward to sharing more indepth details with you about all these vehicles in future blogs to come.

Welcome to my Blog

Hello everyone. I don't know who all will end up reading this blog but if you do so let me first start by saying thank you. This is not my first time writting a blog. I have another blog that me and my wife write for our family. However i've been wanting to do a personal blog for quite sometime now. I've just now decided to stop procrasinating and finally do it.

So what is this blog going to be about? Well as I said its my personal blog. I'm going to use this blog to post up about anything and everything that interests me. By doing a simple google search for my internet screen name (Teknik_DC2 or TeknikDC2) you will find a large varitey of websites i'm a part of from Automobile related sites to Travel Forums to Movie discussions to Toys and collectables. Theres many things out there that I have interest and intregs me. And so this Blog will be about many of those things but the largest focus will be on my love for cars and the history of the Utah sport compact community that i've had the pleasure to be a part of for the last 10 years.



To introduce myself to those who don't know me my name is Jeff. I'm 27 and I work in the Grocery Retail Buisness as a Manager at a local Grocery Store. I married my beautiful wife Kiera back in 2008 and as of right now we don't have any Kids. Althogh I may post about many things I like here Kiera will always be the love of my life and nothing can ever replace her. As I said I love cars. My baby being a 2000 Acura Integra Type R that has become somewhat of a garage queen and I daily drive a 2001 Infinity G20t. But you'll hear more about those in a later blog. I also enjoy traveling and vacationing. So much infact that Kiera and I have taken a cruise each year we have been married.



Anyways that pretty much sums it all up for now. Now that I have officially started this blog i'm going to strive to keep it updated regularly (something i've been horrible about with our family blog). Because of this i'm commiting myself now to you my readers that this blog will be updated every Wednesday (unless for some reason I phisically can't). So check back then for a new blog post. Thanks everyone.