LA/SanD/Anaheim triangle with no car - July 2024 Day 12 Disney's California Adventure

[Vertigo]

Day 12 – Californian Adventure

Weather – Just Hot – all day.

A new park for us today. We have never been to DCA and couldn’t wait. Up again early for rope drop, we again hit breakfast, showers and were ready at the Toy Story lot for 7.

Getting used to this now as the queue for security was short and moved quickly, quite a few people were waiting for the busses already, but I could see about 4 busses queued up waiting to collect so I knew it would only take a few minutes. And indeed it did.

Again the main security looked very busy as we approached on our bus but we were able again to just stroll past it on the other side of the railings.

We were feeling rather smug about our hotel choice. It was working perfectly for us.

To be honest, with the early access and not being on Genie+, there was only one ride to head for – Radiator Springs. The issue with that was, unlike the Disneyland Park, this is the only real option here and as such everyone was planning to head there.

We were quite near the front of the rope drop hoards, but not right at the front.

As the rope dropped, it was a bit chaotic as unlike Disneyland or even Universal, hundreds of people started to run completely ignoring the pleading cast members to stay within one side of the road as they scooted around the cast members and headed off into the distance.

It was all a bit unseemly. Forgive my inner snob here, but this was Thorpe Park behaviour, not Disney!

It was like the start of the day in the black friday sales where people fight over a cheap TV.

We waited a good half an hour to get on which shows you how many people had got in front. It was a little irritating, but as with all irritations like this, I soon get over them when I see the theming and the ride starts.

The ride is worth the wait. It’s like Test Track but better. I also like the fact there are two ride versions with a mini difference. We didn’t realise this until the second ride later.

Next up was Guardians: Mission Breakout….formerly known as Tower of Terror. I loved what they have done with this- it’s a lot more fun than the very intense and creepy Tower Of Terror. The drops are still the drops. But when you have 80’s party music banging around and Rocket on your roof its such fun.

That said – I can’t wait now to go back and do the original Tower of Terror and see how I feel about it after riding this version.

Genie Plus was now activated and we had a ride booked on Incredicoaster. Obviously this was our first time and it was the ideal coaster for me. Fast launch, one big loop and sharp turns. Great fun – I think it is an ideal Coaster for people who don’t really like coasters as it gives you the speed, without being too scary and definitely not an issue for motion sickness sufferers.

We had Webslingers on our plan for the morning and headed straight over afterwards. Now this ride was a real workout! My arms actually hurt a bit after. For those that have not done it, you have to shoot webs from your wrists in the same way Spiderman does and you end up doing a kind of continuous movement of your arms…it was very tiring!

Certainly fun, but I’m not too sure about it myself. I can see why the mixed reviews. It also may be that i wasn't very good at ait...

After those marquee rides, we slowed down and rode The Little Mermaid – what a lovely sweet ride. Classic Disney and what Disney does best. A ride for everyone.

We really got a lot done in the early morning and did a number of the smaller rides before our G+ activated for re reruns on the big rides.

We headed back to the hotel for lunch and also the heat was really peaking, so we fancied a swim. As an aside, we saw the Disneyland Vlog and youtuber “Fresh Baked” on our bus just minding his own business. We had watched quite a few of his vids in the build up but we are not the kind of people to go up and say hello.

Sandwiches made and cups of tea (despite the 30+ degree heat…we still need our tea!) we spent a nice afternoon lounging around before heading back to the park.

This time security at the bus stop had closed, so it dropped us at the main security but as it was now somewhere near 5PM it was virtually empty and we walked though without a hitch.

The evening was spent on re-doing rides, but also to meet characters. Especially in Marvel land.

But first we watched the short Spiderman show on the roof. That was pretty cool and spidey came and said hello and high fived everyone.

My eldest had her outfit all planned and couldn’t wait to meet as many characters as she could. The characters were all excellent and really engaging. They latched on to her dress and chatted constantly. We probably had longer with each character than we should have but as I say, they were engaged and it wasn’t just a “how are you” etc it was a full on conversation in character.

Thor and Loki were particularly hilarious. Black widow wouldn’t stop talking! – she was lovely.

Shang Chi was also hilarious when he admitted that his queues were always short as no one knows who he is!

We managed Soarin’, Toy Story mania as well as re doing the big ones again. It’s not that big of a park really.

The park itself was very different in the evening. The coolness was welcome but also being dark the place lit up!

The atmosphere was totally different than during the day.

We pretty much stayed until chucking out time and went back for our usual round of wine and cards with Friends on TV on background.

Another great day done and we are back here tomorrow to do it all over again.

[Mortimer Mouse]

What a great day!