On Wednesday morning we headed to California Adventure. This was our first trip to this park, so we were excited to check it out. In hind sight we should have swapped our Wednesday and Thursday activities. We planned to go to the beach and the resort pool on Thursday. If we had changed our plans it would have given us a break from two straight days of walking. The kids were really tired on Wednesday morning, so we got a later start than we wanted which led to more traffic and getting into the park later. Nevertheless, we pushed forward and got to the park about 45 minutes after it opened. We were told by many people that the first thing you should do is get the fast pass for the new Cars ride. So while Danny did that we went on the Monster's Inc. ride and took this picture. It is a 3D looking backdrop on a flat wall. Very cool!
A picture in front of Monster's University.
We were all excited to see Cars land and it didn't disappoint. It was so much like the movie!
First, we went on the tractor ride. Here is Grant in line with some of the Mader memorabilia.
They loved this ride, it flings you back and forth as it moves in a figure 8 around the ground. We went on this one later when it was dark as well. I rode with Claire and Grant and every time it would fling you from side to side you smashed the person on the end.
Danny and Andrew got their own tractor.
We were walking up Main Street looking for a place to eat lunch when we saw the Cozy Cone Motel. Plus they had Lightning McQueen out front for pictures.
Claire ended up going with Danny to get lunch while Andrew and I waited with Grant. It is cool because the car talks to you and makes noises.
Right after our turn it was time to switch Lightning with Mader, so Grant got to wave goodbye.
We were able to grab a quick picture near Mader.
Posing in front of the Radiator Springs sign.
Another wave to Mader.
The next ride was Luigi's tire ride.
There are air vents in the ground which blow air up and make your tire sort of float. You move by shifting your weight back and forth which is much easier said than done.
Around this time Claire started to complain about her feet hurting. We should have gotten her a stroller for the second day. It would have saved a lot of complaining. Every time we got off a ride she would jump into the stroller which greatly upset Grant.
Lighting McQueen driving by again. Grant loved seeing the cars drive by.
We ate lunch at Flo's drive in and it was really good.
While we were having churros for dessert and waiting for a show to start, Claire's tooth fell out!
We were waiting for DJ to come and perform. He plays music while the dancers get kids to come up and dance.
Grant went up and danced no problem.
While I went to ride Tower of Terror, they had a photo op with Red. No on wanted to come with me on the ride, which was probably a good idea.
We rode Soaring over California where you are in seats lifted off the ground and you are in front of a large screen that flies over various scenes of California. It was really cool! Then we headed over the pier. No one wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel, but we had to at least get a picture.
Grant wasn't tall enough for this ride, so Andrew and Claire rode alone.
Out of both parks we probably waited the longest for the Toy Story ride. The one hour wait seemed much, much longer than it was. It was a fun ride where you play carnival like shooting games.
Finally it was our Fast Pass time (4:45 pm)! The wait for the new Cars ride is 2 hours long, so if they run out of fast passes you have to wait in that line. We were all excited to get on this ride. The way they created the scenery was amazing - it really looked like you were in the desert.
First it takes you through scenery outside and then inside where you go through Radiator Springs and meet some of the characters.
You can't really tell because Grant's face is hidden by the window frame, but he did not like this ride. The last part of the ride is a car race, which he said was too fast. The rest of us loved it - it was by far our favorite ride.
A picture looking up Main Street. Andrew and I rode the Cars ride again as a single rider, so we didn't ride together.
At the end of the night Claire wanted to take pictures of the lit up neon signs. It was really neat to see all of that. They were all so tired that there was no way we could stay to see the light show. We saw most of the park, but there were a few things we missed that maybe we can do next time. It was definitely a good first visit though.
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