Amusement Parks Orange County

The family of a 4 1/2-year-old boy severely brain damaged after being trapped under a Disneyland ride filed a lawsuit against the park late Tuesday afternoon demanding unspecified damages and a jury trial. The complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court accuses the Anaheim amusement park of negligence and wrongdoing that led to the Sept. 22 accident on the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin ride.

As workers put the finishing touches on Disney's California Adventure, the new theme park next to Disneyland in Anaheim, Barry Braverman marveled at what has emerged on the Magic Kingdom's old asphalt parking lot. Braverman led the Disney design team that developed the 55-acre park, which will have its grand opening Feb. 8. (Some members of the public, including Disneyland partners and annual pass-holders, will be visiting starting Tuesday.

It was tough enough to find a good parking space when there was just one amusement park intown. But with Disney's California Adventure taking over three-quarters of the old Disneyland main parking lot, the obvious question is this: Where are they going to put all those cars? Disney hopes that Mickey & Friends, a 3.8-million-square-foot parking structure, billed as the largest in North America, will keep traffic jams from becoming part of the California Adventure experience.

It's called Downtown Disney. But that doesn't begin to describe the new dining, shopping and entertainment center at the Disneyland Resort. "I've always thought of it as this really lush urban garden," says Mike Berry, senior vice president of Downtown Disney, which opens Friday.

Adding night life to Disney is like tossing a few shots of espresso into your decaf latte. And yet that's exactly what they're trying to do at Downtown Disney, where nightclubs are central to the esplanade nestled between the Magic Kingdom and the new California Adventure. "We wanted Downtown Disney to be a high-energy place to go in Orange County," said Michael Berry, senior vice president of the district. "We're not only about family entertainment.

Just in front of Disney's new theme park, California Adventure (more about that later), sits the mouse's answer to Universal Studios' CityWalk. It's called Downtown Disney, and it will try to lure your liras with retail shops, entertainment venues and eating establishments. Acting as a money-drawing Main Street that sits (admission- and gate-free) between Disneyland and California Adventure, Downtown Disney boasts a number of noteworthy places to eat.

In an incident that went unreported to state investigators because of a legal loophole, a 6-year-old girl lost most of an index finger Sunday while playing with a toy rifle on Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland. Priscilla Figueroa of North Hollywood was rushed to UCI Medical Center in Orange after the accident, but doctors were unable to reattach the portion of her left index finger, hospital spokeswoman Kim Pine said. The little girl, who is right-handed, was discharged from the hospital Monday.

Disneyland's Fort Wilderness on Tom Sawyer Island remained closed Thursday until the park completes its investigation into a weekend accident in which a 6-year-old North Hollywood girl's finger was torn off. The rest of the island was reopened. Priscilla Figueroa was playing with a toy rifle in the fort Sunday when she apparently slipped and caught her left index finger on something, according to police reports.

Disneyland's Fort Wilderness on Tom Sawyer Island remained closed Thursday until the park completes its investigation into a weekend accident in which a 6-year-old girl's finger was torn off. The rest of the island was reopened. Priscilla Figueroa of North Hollywood was playing with a toy rifle in the fort Sunday when she apparently slipped and caught her left index finger on something, according to police reports.