The Moretons Amazing California Advenutre - Day 6

[LLKJDisney]

DAY 6 – CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

Up at 6am again today and Sergeant Major Lee was in full swing we had to be at the park for opening, we could sleep when we get home, he said. I will spare you the description of our morning routine, as it was the same, as yesterday except today I had to put quite a bit of after sun on as now I looked like a lobster!

We left the house at 7.20am; it was not as overcast this morning, which meant less whinging from me. Due to the disappearance of our stroller yesterday we were using the other one at the house, which happened to be a double buggy. Although it was very bulky it did mean we could put all our bags on it and Jacob even rested his little legs by jumping in it occasionally.


We were through the turnstiles and in the park by 7.50am; a rope was across the park stopping people from going past the fountain. We had one plan in mind; get Fast passes for Radiator Springs Racers.
However we also knew that the other 10000 people around us had the same plan. Anyway the park was officially opened and we managed to locate the end of the line for FP’s, which was at least 500 metres away from the FP machines. Lee and Dick went to obtain the golden tickets but when they joined the line they were told that the ride was down and that they had no idea when it would be working. Someone also told Lee that it was down for most of yesterday too!
This put a serious dent in our plan but in true British style we soldiered on and came up with a new plan. Well, when I say plan I mean wondered round aimlessly for a few minutes. We ended up in Bugs Land, which was completely empty.

The boys went on all the rides, as they were a walk on. Dick and Lee accompanied them on the Tuck and Roll Buggies, which were dodgems for kids but they were painfully slow and not much fun. Lee and me then went on the Heimlich Chew Chew Train, which was good fun, especially for Lucas.




The boys then went on Fliks Flyers with Sue and Dick. While they were on there, Lee and I went to collect FP’s for Tower of Terror. We got one for Jacob although we weren’t confident he would go on. We had ½ hour to kill before the FP, so we went back to go on TTBAB. We got all the way through the queue and outside theatre, only to be told it had gone down! We were not having a great deal of luck so far.

The boys spotted Maters Jambouree ride and wanted to go on straight away. Lee took them on, as the wait was only 15 minutes, although 15 minutes in a queue with Lucas can seem like a lifetime. They loved the ride and laughed all the way through it. They got off and we headed towards ToT, we noticed the FP machines for RSR had opened so Lee sprinted (well walked fast) to get in the queue. Although the machines had just opened the queue was big but very well organised and went down very quickly. The FP time for our ToT passes had passed so we were able to get 6 FP’s with a return time 12 to 1pm. We were relieved to get these, as we definitely wanted to get on this ride today.

We took the short walk to ToT with Jacob still keen to ride we went entered the queue, that’s when his nerves kicked in. He asked lots of questions and made us promise him he would be ok but he went on and enjoyed but he said he didn’t want to go on again. We were proud he went on. While we were riding Lucas ate snacks (as usual). We then wondered back to TTBAB and after only a 5-minute wait we were in. Lucas loved his bug eyes. Jacob however did not and hated it and left before the end with his Grandma, we wondered how 5 minutes earlier he was ok with being dropped 13 stories but now he was scared of some pretend spiders!

It was still only 10.30am and we had achieved a lot, unfortunately Soarin and the River Rapids were down for maintenance, but we knew this was the case. We strolled round to Paradise Pier and enjoyed the atmosphere and the lovely weather. As with yesterday the crowds were beginning to build up around mid-morning. We decided to take advantage of the fact that the Little Mermaid ride was a walk on. I enjoyed it even if the boys weren’t massively impressed. As it was now 11am which to the Moreton’s means Ice Cream time, we went in search of anywhere that sold ice cream, however we soon realised that the nearest place was over the other side of the pier so our cravings would have to wait.


We continued our walk around the pier and went past Goofys Sky School, which Jacob did want to go on but it was down. We then came across some family favourites Jessie and Woody, the boys loved getting their autographs and interacting with them.



We decided to give TSM a miss as it had a queue time of 50 minutes. We all love this ride but waiting 50 minutes with the boys was not an option. Why doesn’t it have a Fastpass!

All of us apart from Dick went on King Tritons Carousel, which was a 10-minute wait, but it took ages as there was only 1 member of staff on and it took her ages to check people were strapped up correctly.




It had now passed 12 so we could grab some FP’s for California Screamin, I was so looking forward to riding this and was desperate to go on. Lee and I got FP’s for 1.55pm, which was perfect. The troops were getting cranky so we were glad to spot the ice cream shop. We stopped and refuelled with a soft serve ice cream, is it just me or does ice cream taste better when you are at a Disney park


Carsland was now on the agenda, we resisted the temptation to have a look round it earlier, so this was our first real look around the area. The theming was excellent the attention to detail was spot on, the boys have watched Cars millions of times and they loved it. We joined the queue for RSR and even with a FP it still took 20 minutes to get on but this was a much better option than the 120-minute stand by queue.

Lucas wanted to ride in a red car and was most upset when we got a blue one! He also wasn’t happy at coming 2nd in the race. The ride was amazing, much better than Test Track especially for children. We would have loved to go on again but all the fast passes had been issued for the day. We took some pictures of the ride and made our way out of Carsland back towards California Screamin. The boys had a picture with Mator who is Lee’s favourite Cars character.




We still had a little time to kill before California Screamin so we headed into Hollywood Land to seek out the Monsters Inc ride. On the way we chatted and all agreed that California Adventure was a great park, it has something for everyone. I preferred it to the Disneyland Park. The Monsters Inc ride had a 10-minute wait, it was excellent and we all loved it, Monsters Inc is another favourite in our house. We decided to nip in to see Turtle Talk with Crush as we love this in Epcot, we found this show a little hurried and under whelming, it was still funny but it felt like it wasn’t unique and was a little rehearsed.
We tried to meet Olaf but we were told the line had just closed, the boys were gutted and we tried to soften the blow by explaining we would meet him on the last day of the holiday. This is a promise they would not forget!

It was now time for CS I was very excited, only Lee and I went on, the rest waited by the start of the ride to watch us shoot past. The ride didn’t disappoint! it went on for ages and we were both surprised how smooth it was, we were expecting a boneshaker but not at all. It was now 2.30pm and we were wilting, the park was now very busy but we had achieved so much. Only TSM was left on our list of things to do, oh and of course OLAF.

We headed towards the exit but we were on the look out for some more characters, so the boys could fill their books up. We spotted Goofy and grabbed his signature,


we then watched the Paperboys perform with Mickey, Lucas loved dancing around and wiggling his bottom. Jacob was chuffed that Mickey came over and high fived him, there faces were a picture.


We did check on Olaf again but he is a popular snowman and the wait time was over an hour. We did manage to meet Sully though, but we know monsters don’t do paperwork so no signature. Lee asked about Mikey but the CM told him he doesn’t come out anymore – is this true? We did get one more signature before we left and that was Doc McStuffins although the boys were not over keen on her.


It was now just past 3pm and we had spent nearly 8 hours in the park, we decided that was enough for us and headed back to the car. Although the boys were tired they were much better behaved today and I think their body clocks had fully adjusted.

We were determined to eat at Outback Steakhouse so we went there for dinner, we were the first people through the doors and our server was Gene who again was very good. The restaurant soon filled up and had a good atmosphere. We all demolished our dinners and a few loaves of their brown bread. Dick said his steak was the best he had tasted for a while. Lee and I shared a trio of puddings, while Dick had cheesecake. The bill was $140 plus tip.

Once back at the house we caught up on washing and played Junior Scrabble with Jacob. I emailed the house owners to report the missing stroller, they replied straight away saying it was not a problem and we could buy a new one and they would reimburse us. I thought it was great service.

Before bed we watched Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares USA and it scared us all and some of the kitchens were shocking. We were al shattered after a very enjoyable day. Tomorrow the plan is to hit Hollywood Baby!

[Pussycat Doll]

Lovely day Kerry, Carsland wasn't open last time we were there, I guess that's an excuse to go back! Pussycat

[ely3857]

A fab day despite the ride tech issues!

[smedley]

Lovely day, shame about the closed rides, but it seems like you got a lot done!

[Aims]

In spite of all the rides down at the beginning of the day, I'm glad you had a great day at CA Adventure. It's a nice little park, and there's some great theming. Hey, I like the Little Mermaid ride too, although the rest of the family could care less, lol. And I totally agree about Toy Story Mania! Why on earth doesn't it have Fastpass? I don't get it, because I have never seen the line less than an hour long. Well done to Jacob for getting the courage to ride ToT! Good day, Kerry, and a nice meal to end it...sounds perfect.