Disney's California Adventure Attractions:
Our early morning was at 8:00,
so we made sure we were out the door at 7:30.
We walked across the street and through
The Grand Californian hotel to use their entrance.
There was already a line waiting to enter.
When we got in the park I had Trenton rush the kids
(no running allowed in the park hee he)
straight to Cars Land.
I went to Fast Pass The World of Color,
and met them there.
Cars Land is totally awesome!
Truly a reproduction of Radiator Springs come to life!
We headed straight for The Radiator Springs Racers.
(Height 40 inches)
We had no idea what to expect on this ride,
but had we known anything about it,
I'm sure it would have exceeded our expectations.
It has the thrills, speed, and whimsy that we all love!
We rode it twice in a row,
we had heard the day before that Fast Passes for this ride were
gone within an hour of the park opening.
M and I moved on to The Little Mermaid ride,
and the boys went to California Screamin'.
M loved 'The Ariel' ride!
We rode it twice in a row,
(didn't even have to get our of our clam)
and were going for a third round, but she changed her mind and we jumped out.
If lines are slow, ask the nearest cast member if you can go again &
they won't even make you get off and back on.
As we went to find the boys we ran into Donald.
This is the first time we have found him!
There were only a few people in line,
so that made it even better.
We found our boys and they were on about their 3rd
round of back to back rides.
I can't even begin to tell you how much they loved this ride!
Almost as much as I love this picture I caught as they were taking off.
(0 to 55 in 4 seconds is how this ride begins)
This ride has the tallest height requirement at 48 inches.
M rode the carousel,
and then we all moved on to Toy Story Midway Mania.
Mr. Spud is there to greet you & tell jokes as you wait in line.
Super fun ride!
We figured out that if you hold the trigger back your gun will
shoot continuously. (Of course this was after the ride was over.)
We walked around the pier, ran into Phineas & Ferb,
and then rode Jumpin' Jelly Fish and The Golden Zephyr.
I think we rode the jellyfish 5 times in a row!
The kids loved them, especially M & B!
They are a 40 inch height requirement.
We snuck around towards The Grizzly River Run,
& found "Dug" on our way.
He was in front of the Redwood Challenge Trailhead.
It's a playground, and we didn't play there this time.
We did hit it on the first time we came.
The boys were 2 & 4 and it was awesome for them to run off some energy!
We rode the river run, and had a blast!
We all got soaked-I'm talking drowned rat type of soaked!
A lady that was in the raft with us said she had rode it just moments before
and didn't get wet at all.
So take your chance on this one.
I have to say that water was refreshing-it was so hot that day!
We stopped for ice cream, before going to Soarin' Over California.
Our kids had no idea what to expect on Soarin',
none of them had ever been on it.
It is one of my very favorite rides!
They all loved it!
Soarin' and Tower of Terror are both a 40 inch height.
Next we walked up to the Tower of Terror.
It's maybe my least favorite ride,
but M was loving all the "big" rides so much I put on a brave face,
and we all hopped on board.
It is now M's least favorite ride as well!
She didn't cry, or throw a fit about it;
she just said "I don't ever want to do that again."
We shopped in the gift shop while the boys took a second ride.
We went to The Taste Pilots Grill for lunch after that.
On the way to lunch I wish we would have stopped at
The Monster Inc ride.
It's tucked back on the Hollywood Back Lot.
I have heard it's really great!
I guess it gives us something else to go back for!
After lunch we decided to go over to Disneyland
to ride Space Mountain.
It was closed the previous day to get ready for Halloween.
It's called Ghost Galaxy for Halloween.
The line was long & hot,
the ride was dark & scary.
Needles to say we only did this one once.
The boys liked it, but M had the same reaction she did
to the Tower of Terror.
The height for this one is-you guessed it! 40 inches!
The kids wanted to do the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters again,
so we did that, and then were going to go to The Haunted Mansion.
The park was getting packed & my Hubby,
as truly of a wonderful dad & husband he is; he hates huge crowds!
The small town boy inside of him just can't take it.
I could see that anxiety building up & decided that it
was time to hit the pool.
It was a great break in the middle day.
We swam, showered, and had a rest before heading back into the park for
The World of Color.
Our passes were for 9:00. We left to walk over at 7:30.
There was a line to enter the viewing area.
I jumped in line & it seemed to quickly open up to let us move into
the viewing area.
I had (and still don't) no idea where to go. I knew from reading a few Blogs
with Disney advice that you get wet in the front row.
So I avoided that area.
I found what looked like a great spot about 3 tiers up from the water
& planted our stroller & bag to hold spots.
Since the show wouldn't be starting for an hour
I told the boys to feel free to go hit some rides.
They headed for none other then California Screamin'
I brought a pack of glow sticks ($1 at Michael's Craft)
that kept M & I amused while we waited.
When the boys got back I took M to go use the restroom.
It was hard to get back to our spot, stepping
over a ton of people-most of which were not nice.
I mean seriously people! We are on vacation!
It's suppose to be fun! Lighten up!
Anyway I was thinking how awesome this was going to be,
from where we were sitting I figured we would have a great view.
Then they made us all stand up & move forward!
Yikes!
There was only one row of people in front of us
and then the railing, but when everyone moved up and weasels
their way in I knew we were in trouble.
M was probably the only on who had a good view of the show,
and that's because she was on my shoulders until
I couldn't feel my fingers & then Trenton's shoulders.
B stood in our stroller, but still had a limited view.
T could hardly see at all, at one point I noticed he was sitting on the ground
playing with a glow stick.
It broke my heart that he had completely given up even trying to see.
The show itself is wonderful!
Water, Disney images, great music, and fire at times.
Really a cool 30 minute show!
If you eat at certain restaurants in DCA you get to sit in a reserved viewing area.
I looked into it, but thought it was pretty pricey,
and decided we would just try our luck with the Fast Passes.
The reserved area was right in front of us &
was not nearly as crowded as the rest of the areas.
World of Color Reserved Seating/Dining
This bad experience didn't ruin our vacation by any means,
and it won't keep us from trying to see it again.
We were there on a Friday night, so I imagine during the weekdays
it's much slower.
