OK, I have to tell you that I love California Adventure. I enjoy this park just as much as Disneyland, and with fewer people in the park, it’s sometimes more enjoyable than Disneyland.
When we went, it was a Friday, the second to last weekend of August 2007. We entered the park about 30 minutes after the open, and spent probably another 20-30 minutes outfitting the children with hats. You need to have a hat for that warm California sun. I took my two children, and went along with my mother and 4 of my brothers. The temperature was warm, but not stifling.
Another word about the sun. You MUST put on sunscreen, and wear a hat. Drink lots of water while you are walking. California is a desert, in disguise, if you aren’t careful, you will get burned or dehydrated very quickly. I dressed the kids for warm weather, and for the possibility of getting wet. They each wore a swim suit with regular, lightweight shirt on top. (my daughter also threw on shorts over hers, but my son wore his suit as shorts.) I stowed a change of clothes for each of them in a locker outside of California Adventure. There are lockers outside the park, to the left of the California sign, and there are also lockers inside the park, to your right as you enter the park, near the rest rooms. I always stow our gear in the lockers outside the park, they are usually pretty plentiful, and it gives us something to do while we wait for the rest of our group to meet us at the “C” in California. At the time of our trip, it was August. Pretty warm in California. As I’m writing this, its Fall in California, and still pretty warm. But if you’re planning to spend the whole day, you might want to add a sweater to your locker for later. After the sun goes down it can get a might chilly in the evenings.
Um, this will sound silly, but I actually heard someone say, “Meet me by the “A” in California.” There are 2 “A’s” in California, you may want to specify a consonant, like “C” or “F”, or be really specific and say ‘Meet me by the LAST “A” on the California sign’, if you’re going to meet someone in front of that landmark. I’m just saying. Or, you know, at least learn how to spell California, before you make this embarassing mistake. Lots of people like to use these letters as meeting points. You could spend a long time looking for someone who went to the wrong letter “A”.
My mom and I had planned out a few of the things we had wanted to see the day before, but we really hadn’t hashed out a “game plan” like some folks are known to do. Here’s the cool thing we found, to plan what we wanted to see ahead of time. Click Here for planning fun, on the Disneyland.com website. My Mom and I used this tool, to make a list of attractions we wanted to be sure and see.
I’ve visited California Adventure a few times, and I always come away saying things like, “I didn’t know that was there!”, or “I wish I had more time to see a couple more things.” With our list, we knew which attractions were MOST important to us, so we could skip the ones that weren’t as important, and add in things that other people in our group wanted to see, or just slow down for the kids, who were hot and tired and needed to go get wet in the play area. I was glad we did the list, because my Mom didn’t even realize that the parade formerly known as “The Main Street Electrical Parade” now runs at California Adventure every night.
Generally, and especially with kids along, we go with the flow and execute several “plans” along the way. Like when we’re hungry for lunch, we’ll generally consult on where we want to eat, what is available, and when we want to stop, etc. Depending on the whine factor the kids are exhibiting we make a plan from there.
My brothers made a couple of jokes about what we’d do after visiting everything in California Adventure, which they estimated would take about 2 hours. ha, ha. We spent the whole day at the park, campers.
I’ve never understood the complaints about this park, I’ve always found it enjoyable, and usually we don’t budget enough time to see everything. I have always left this park wishing I had more time. OK, yes, there are fewer roller coasters, and BIG rides, but I have to tell you, that I’m not so much into the big roller coasters anymore. I will still ride a few of them, but its not enough to ruin a fun day at the park for me if California Screamin’ is closed.
There is so much to enjoy about California Adventure, that I will keep coming back over and over again.
Here are a few of the attractions that made the list Mom and I made before our visit:
1. Soarin’ Over California: I hadn’t been on this ride before and had heard it was not to be missed. This time I wasn’t going to miss it.
2. Grizzly River Run: A great way to cool off, your standard water rapids ride.
3. Muppet Vision 3D: I have seen this show, every time I’ve been to CA Adventure, and I love it.
4. Disney Animation: Fun for the kids to go in and see how animation comes to life.
5. Bountiful Valley Farm: Getting wet for hot, tired kids can really get them cooled off and ready to go again. And a place for Mom and Dad to relax while the kiddies run around and play.
6. Disney’s Aladdin - A Musical Spectacular: I hadn’t seen this before, but again, had heard great things.
7. Turtle Talk with Crush: Another first for me, I was really interested to see what the hub-bub was about.
8. Disney’s Electrical Parade: An old favorite from my childhood, I never miss this parade. I was so happy that Disney brought the Main Street Electrical Parade to CA Adventure.
9. Monster’s Inc. : This is a classic dark ride, like those found in Fantasyland, and not to be missed.
10. It’s Tough to Be a Bug: Another 3-D show, but I never miss it. Great to come here and cool off while others in your party head off to the Tower of Terror, which is so not for me.
Tips for California Adventure:
- As always, start early, as soon as the park opens.
- Dress to get wet.
- Store a change of clothes in a locker at the beginning of the day. Clothes are available in the park for purchase, but they may not have your size, and they are expensive. You’ll be glad to walk back to that locker if you can have your own dry clothes that fit, instead of a $25, too small T-shirt.
- Dress for the season… it may start off warm in the Fall/Winter months, but gets chilly after the sun goes down. Put a sweater in your locker for later.
- Buy/bring a hat, sunscreen and sunglasses. You can get all of these items at Walmart/Target much less expensively than at the park. I usually will plan to buy hats at the park, because the kids love to have special “Disney” hats, but I try to pick up sunscreen at the store before we get to the park, because Disney prices are much higher, even on these basic items.
- Bring/buy and drink lots of water. I always bring one bottle of water per person, and buy others during the day, as needed. You don’t want to get dehydrated, heat exhaustion and heat stroke can ruin your day at the park.
- Bring batteries/film for your camera. These items are also available for purchase in the park, but very expensive.
- If you have a digital camera, make sure you charge the battery the night before, and pack an extra SD card in case you have some kind of malfunction when you get to the park.
- Plan ahead. Check out the Disneyland Resort website and check out the list of attractions and have an idea of what you want to see before you hit the park. (see my link above and at the right). Its not necessary to plan every single moment, but you should know what to expect before you get to the park.
Photos by: Mike, editorial comments by Jen
