We got to California Adventure Park, which is directly across from Disneyland. We had been given instructions that we should go and get a Fastpass for Radiator Springs Racers, as soon as we got there. They only issue a certain number of fastpasses for the rides each day, and the park was open til midnight on the Friday night we were there. We had no intention of staying that late, given we had arrived at 9am, but our fastpasses were for 11.50pm! Crazy! We also went and got a 'Fastpass' which is an allocated 'area' to see the light and water show, which was at 9pm - even though we weren't really sure we were going to make that, either. The fastpass tickets were right beside the Grizzly River Run, and there wasn't much of a line, so that was our first ride. This is the picture below, just before we took off on the ride - the one in front of the plane was after the ride, as we all got pretty wet! It was a really nice day though, so it didn't take long to dry off.
We had decided that we would go back over to Disneyland to take a ride on the Matterhorn, roller coaster (in the picture below). There was a huge queue yesterday which went right around the mountain, and when we spoke to one of the people there, they said there was maintenance going on, but it should be better today. There was still a queue, but it moved pretty quickly. It was a fun roller coaster, which went in and out of the mountain, but it was pretty rough - you could tell it had been at Disneyland for quite some time! However, the boys all thought it was 'awesome', and 'sick', so all good!
Back to California Adventureland, we had our fastpass for California Soarin', which was a 4D movie, which you sat in seats which then lifted up so you were swinging, and had a screen showing you all the sights of California, from the Coast, to the Napa Valley, to San Francisco, and lots of other landmarks I didn't recognise, but it was really enjoyable, and the boys liked it too. The best part is the fastpass though - standing in line is just a waste of time, and pretty boring - we all thought there should have been more rides with them! Lucky we weren't there in summer, when the queues are really something else.
Next we went around to Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, where you could follow clues left by Russell, from the movie 'Up', and earn Wilderness Explorer - badges, but more importantly for us, you could run through the trees, climb towers, swing on rope bridges (I walked around on the footpath) and zip down slides. The boys had a lot of fun in here, although there was a little queue (above) for them to take a turn on the tyre ride below.
As we walked around we came across this band, who were playing and getting the crowd involved. The boys loved seeing some of the characters, and Phil was really enjoying the jazz, but we had rides to get to! It was just a big buzz to get on as many rides as possible - and we weren't taking the little kid's rides (as Quinn told us.)
Next we went to the biggest rollercoaster in the park, California Screamin' (the big humps in the picture below). We hadn't been on many rides that we couldn't all go on, but Quinn was too short for this one - as much as he tried, he was not even close to the 48" height limit! We had fastpasses, so had decided that Luke & Phil would go, and we would stay with Quinn, then Ryan and I would have a go. Luke was so excited when he got off, and there wasn't much of a line, so he rode it a second time, in a carriage on his own, when Ryan and I went on. It was scary! I couldn't tell you the last time I had been on a rollercoaster, but the boys told me I screamed like a girl all the way around! They were fearless, and I was surprised at how brave they were (and a bit afraid, as they looked so tiny in the ride with the safety harness which barely came over them). As they were so short, the harness almost covered them, and the photos they take on the rides didn't come out so well.
After that ride, we had to find one we could all go on, so went over to Goofy's Sky School, which was a rollercoaster where 4 people sat in a carriage, and went around a jerky course, way up high. Phil went with the boys, and I stood aside, thinking I would get the next one, with other's who didn't have friends! I stood off to the side for a while, then asked them - they thought I wasn't going to have a go! By this time, Phil and the boys had had their go, so I went around with another little boy. It isn't really that much fun on your own, and you got thrown around a fair bit - it wasn't my favourite ride.
We stopped and had some lunch, which was nice to sit down and take a break. Once that was done, we walked over to Cars Land, which has a lot of rides from the movie. It is really well done, and looks just like you would expect - and it is very, very busy. By this time, Quinn had crashed in the pram, so we thought we should take a look around while he had a nap.
He didn't sleep for very long, and by the time he woke up, we decided we should brave the queue for Radiator Springs Racers. It was over an hour in line (they give you an estimated wait time before you enter), and the natives were getting pretty restless!
There was a lot of detail, as the line curved around, and around, and around, until you finally got to the ride. When you get there, your party gets into a beat up car, which then undergoes a transformation, with new tyres, paintwork etc, which is great, before they let you out on the race track, and race another car. I don't think we were the winners of our race, but the ride is such a lot of fun, it was nearly, worth the wait! This is a picture of part of the race track, with the cars coming down the straight.
Walking through, we got to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. We hadn't been looking for it, but it was only about a 5 minute wait, so Luke and I went in, and Phil stayed with Ryan and Quinn who didn't want a go. You went through a house setting, which was spooky, and everyone got into an elevator, which was set up with seats, like a movie theatre. Then the ride began, and you were taken to the top of the Tower, where you could see out across the park, and then dropped a heap of storeys - and this happened a number of times. I may not have been so keen to go on it, if I had seen how it worked before we got on, but it was fun! We told Phil, and then he had to go and try it out, and he thought it was pretty good, too.
It was getting close to dark, and we had decided to go back to Disneyland to buy our souvenirs. It was fun to see it at night time, with everything lit up. As we went in, people were lining up in their Halloween costumes, to go in for the Halloween party, which started at 5pm It was a ticketed event, in addition to your general entry, so we didn't go along. There were some amazing costumes though, and it gave us a taste of what we could expect for Halloween. I didn't get any pictures, as it seemed a bit wrong just to photograph random strangers!
Shopping done, we decided to get the Disneyland Monorail, which took us to Downtown Disneyland, which is a total shopping and hotel precinct, just for the Resort. It was packed, and shows you how the Disney brand is such a money spinner! We had a little look around, and then had a bit of dinner. We planned to head back to California Adventureland for the night show. We got some spots for the show, but it was not as civilised as the parade in Disneyland the night before, and Phil was the only one who could really see; and Quinn, when he put him on his shoulders. He said it was really good, but the rest of us weren't having a good time, and we decided to call it quits, and head for the shuttle to take us back to our hotel.
We could have probably done with at least another day to have gone on more rides and seen more of the park, but we were all absolutely exhausted, after our 2 days here! It was great fun, and I don't know that you would ever get to go on all the rides, and see everything that is there, just in one visit. The boys loved it, and Phil and I were pretty impressed with the parks too.
No comments:
Post a Comment