The Poppy Fountain in Downtown Disney

I have a confession: I walked past this crazy, wonderful fountain dozens of times over the past several years before I realized it was a California Poppy. In my defense, the petals do look more abstract up close. Ah, well.

Situated in Downtown Disney near the Parking Lot Tram station (we can see a tram in the background), this large fountain launches its water column skyward in varied bursts, creating a playful atmosphere as the stream rises and falls back on itself, up and down, loudly splashing all over the giant State Flower.

As park Early Birds know, this fountain sometimes makes the weirdest noises when it starts up in the morning. It sounds like a giant cartoon whale with indigestion. People tend to back away a few steps. Then the water starts flowing and Downtown Disney moves one step closer to fully opening for the day.

Parking Area 51

The sheltered, fan-cooled queue for Mater's Junkyard Jamboree leads you past the tow truck's collection of memorabilia from all his Tall Tale adventures.

Mater's quite a yarn-spinner, and the short Tall Tale films play with the boundaries between what "really" happened in the truck's past and what lives only in his boundless imagination. The existence of these life-sized props in Radiator Springs further blurs that line -- probably much to the exasperation of Lightning McQueen.

This collection comes from "Unidentified Flying Mater." In the foreground shadows, we see the end result of UFO Ma-Tor's request to "Take me to your liter."