Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho… It’s Off to Disney We Go (Again)
Another 5.45am alarm. This time it didn’t seem quite so bad for whatever reason. We all appeared to be in particularly good spirits as we got ready. Even the journeys to both the car park and then on the shuttle bus somehow felt shorter.
Today, though, we turned left off the bus and headed into Disney’s California Adventure—one of my favourite Disney parks. It just feels different from the others, which is probably because it is.
The park is relatively compact but somehow seems to involve more walking than Disneyland because you often have to walk around the different lands rather than simply through them.
Once again Neil had meticulously planned our day, combining Lightning Lane, Single Rider queues and standby lines to maximise the number of attractions whilst minimising the amount of walking Karen and I needed to do.
We headed straight for Cars Land which, to me, is one of the best-themed lands Disney has ever created. We joined the very short Single Rider queue and were all on Radiator Springs Racers by 8.02am—Karen and Neil even managed to end up in the same car.
I absolutely love this ride and would comfortably place it in my top five anywhere. The backdrop of their version of Monument Valley is breathtaking and the race itself feels like being on a giant Scalextric track.
It simply has to be ridden to be believed.
Next came Barry’s old favourite (or perhaps not), Luigi’s Dancing Cars, which still gives us all a laugh in the California sunshine.
Don’t worry—this blog isn’t just going to list every ride we went on in order. Just some of the highlights… and lowlights.
One early lowlight came on Spider-Man: WEB SLINGERS, where somehow—and none of us are entirely sure how—Karen absolutely thrashed both Neil and me. I concluded that clearly no actual skill is required to win.
Thankfully normal service was resumed later on Toy Story Midway Mania when Neil emerged victorious.
A moment of complete confusion came on Guardians of the Galaxy. Despite having ridden it before, I had somehow convinced myself it was the roller coaster version found at EPCOT. Of course, here it’s actually the re-themed Tower of Terror, which caught me rather by surprise.
That still doesn’t excuse me for putting my sunglasses in my shirt pocket just before the ride started, only to feel them gracefully float out during one of the many drops. I retrieved the from the floor once the ride had finished.
At that point I foolishly announced, “Let’s do a couple more rides before we have a break.”
Unfortunately, this involved quite a long walk, eventually ending at Mickey’s Fun Wheel.
Karen flatly refused to even consider the swinging gondolas, so I accompanied her in one of the stationary ones whilst Neil sensibly chose the much more exciting version.
Karen and I then rewarded ourselves with some much-needed cold drinks whilst Neil headed off to ride the Incredicoaster.
Next came the new version of Soarin’. It began with the pre-flight briefing from both the old and new Patrick…
IYKYK.
The attraction itself was every bit as wonderful as ever. Both Karen and I agreed it should be at least four times longer.
If I could persuade someone who didn’t “get” Disney to experience just one attraction anywhere, it would be Soarin’. It is pure Disney magic and still leaves us speechless—helped enormously by those wonderful smells.
Again…
IYKYK.
Another sit-down beckoned outside Starbucks where Karen and I listened to a jazz band and watched Mickey and Donald greeting guests whilst Neil disappeared to fit in a few more rides.
We may, of course, have purchased another drink from Starbucks whilst we were there.
By now the Californian sun was at its fiercest as we wandered over to Hollywood Land for Monsters, Inc., which, if I’m honest, was a little disappointing.
Next was supposed to be Goofy’s Sky School—or as our family will forever know it, Phil Mulryne. I honestly can’t remember how that nickname started, but it’s never going away.
When we arrived, however, the ride was closed.
It wasn’t until later, whilst we were sitting in the shade after riding The Little Mermaid, that we noticed people were still stranded at the very top of the ride in the full afternoon sun.
We had definitely had a lucky escape.
Whilst we sat there, a live band was playing music from the Deep South, which made for a thoroughly enjoyable atmosphere.
Somewhere amongst all this Neil had tackled Grizzly River Run and returned looking decidedly damp, though thankfully not completely soaked.
I have refused to ride it ever since the occasion I got absolutely drenched and ended up paying a ridiculous amount of money in a Disney shop for a pair of dry socks. My shoes had filled with water and there was simply no way I could have walked around for the rest of the day like that.
Because Goofy’s Sky School had broken down before we could use our Lightning Lane reservation, Disney automatically gave us a replacement pass that could be used on almost any attraction.
After much debate we unanimously voted for another ride on Soarin’.
It was just as magical the second time.
By now we were all getting hungry and wandered over to the San Francisco area.
I refuse to use its new name, which tries to merge San Francisco and Tokyo into one word.
I had the clam chowder again whilst Karen chose a turkey pesto sandwich. We shared a large Coke—without ice, at Karen’s insistence—which was apparently today’s drink of choice.
When Neil rejoined us he ordered himself some tacos.
Naturally we all followed dinner with ice cream from Ghirardelli.
Our final attraction of the day was World of Colour – Happiness.
Our Lightning Lane passes entitled us to a reserved viewing area and we arrived just before 8.30pm for the 9pm performance.
Unfortunately, by then all the places where I could lean against a railing had already gone. I knew I’d struggle standing unsupported for the whole show, so after agreeing where I’d meet Karen and Neil afterwards, I reluctantly left the viewing area to find somewhere less crowded where I could at least lean against something.
As I was leaving, one of the Cast Members asked why I was going.
After I explained, expecting nothing more than understanding, he instead invited me to sit on a bench in the accessible viewing area, which at that point was virtually empty. Better still, he said Karen and Neil were welcome to join me if I could message them.
I was genuinely impressed.
We ended up with a perfect bench in a prime viewing position with nobody standing in front of us.
I had never expected anything like that, nor had it even crossed my mind to ask.
We felt incredibly fortunate.
The show itself was spectacular, although I have to admit I thought the Muppets pre-show was probably the best part.
It is astonishing what Disney can create using nothing more than water, projections, music and a few thousand lights.
Afterwards we made our way out of the park where, pleasingly, there was already a shuttle bus waiting to take us back to the car park.
Just over twelve minutes later we were back at the apartment where Karen accidentally made me a cold cup of tea.
An unfortunate way to end an otherwise perfect Disney day.
And with that, the day—and almost the holiday—was over.
Our apartment here in Anaheim has served us very well and we’ve all liked it. Another day here and we might even have found time to discover one of the swimming pools.
