Huxwolds California Dreaming (Aug 23) - Day 2: Disney’s California Adventure

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Huxwolds California Dreaming (Aug 23)
Day 2: Disney’s California Adventure (Sat 19/08)

Index
Day 1: Disneyland Park

As is customary in the first few days of a US trip, I woke up and dropped off a couple of times during the night

I woke again at 3:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep, so had a quick look at my socials then put on Community. 3 episodes later, I’d managed to doze off for 10-15 mins a couple of times but was mainly awake.

I checked my WatsApp just after 6am - Sooty was doing fine…

I wrote up the rest of yesterday’s notes whilst having a coffee in bed.

Rich woke up about 6:30 and at just after 7, I remembered that California Adventure opens at 8 today (not 9) so we woke up Tom and quickly got ready for the day (remembering to take a can of sunspray today).

I was wearing my new SpiderMan ears, which I’d bought from Shop Disney, incase they’d sold out in the parks NB - This ended up being a good call as we didn’t see them on sale anywhere and I only saw about 3-4 other guests wearing them during our trip…

We left the hotel around 7:50 and were through security and in the park by 8:20…

As it was a Saturday, we bought Genie+ straight away ($25 each) and booked Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout for 9:10-10:10

Then we headed for WEB Slingers to do the Standby line whilst it was still early, taking pics and seeing Ant Man & The Wasp on the way..

We arrived at WEB Slingers just after 8:30 - Standby said 20 mins, but took just over 25 (still not too bad).

Rich took this pic of me in the queue line - we joked that I look like Tubbs from League of Gentlemen 🤣 …

The ride was pretty good for a shooting dark ride, and better than I expected, given some reviews…

We had a look in the WEB Store after our ride. The WEB Bots were very cool, especially the mini versions - they even had a teeny Christmas ornament one too, which went on the maybe list.

We headed for Mission Breakout, seeing Iron Man on the way…

At 9:15 we scanned in for our Lightening Lane and immediately booked Incredicoaster for 9:30-10:30…

Mission Breakout was good fun - I think I prefer it to Tower of Terror. I didn’t make a note at the time, but I think we got the Born To Be Wild version.

Tom and I were both feeling a bit peckish, and decided that we’d wait and have a Num Num Cookie after riding Incredicoaster.

We spotted all 3 Spiderbots that were dotted about…

We made our way out of Avengers Campus and past the Sanfrantokyo bridge (which was a couple of weeks away from being complete)…

We took loads of pics on the approach to Pixar Pier - I really loved this area…

At 9:50am we scanned in for our Incredicoaster LL and booked Soarin’ for 9:55-10-55 (as Toy Story Midway Mania was currently down)

Incredicoaster is a really good coaster - longer than I expected and I loved the audio, theming and cookie smell. It was a little bit rough going through the loop, but not too bad.

I remembered we had Memory Maker included with our Genie+ so I linked our ride photo…

Tom and I shared our Num Num Cookie ($7.50)…

It was yummy and hot with melted chocolate that went everywhere (thankfully just over our hands on not down our tops).

We mooched through the rest of Pixar Pier…

Sadness was doing a meet and greet - I had to meet her as I sometimes joke that I look like her. She was pointing at my outfit and her companion commented that she liked my Thor ears / outfit - I explained they were Spidey.

Rich took a video and we got the memory maker pics too…

We stopped to sunspray up and reserved Rogers the Musical for the 1:45pm showing, then carried on mooching via Grizzly Peak to Soarin’, arriving at 10:55…

Once we’d scanned in we booked Goofys Flight School (I didn’t make a note of the return time but it was pretty much straight away)

Soarin’ was ok. It was the Around the World version, so the same as EPCOT except for the Disneyland ending.

After Soarin’, we topped up our sun spray and walked back through Grizzly Peak to Goofy’s Sky School…

TSMM was still down so we booked Monsters Inc for 11:15-12:15

Goofy was really rough - all the way around I was asking why do we keep doing Wild Mouse coasters when they jolt you around so much? Definitely a one and done credit.

11:10 - We all needed a sit down after Goofy, so we got a bottle of Coke to share and an Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich for Tom (approx $11)…

We looked on the app and there was a Spider Man show at 11:35 so we headed there next, seeing the Green Army Men on the way…

We arrived at Spidey about 5 mins before the show started…

It was really good, the animatronic jump is fab and Tom and I got high fives from Spidey at the end (Rich had already started walking away so missed him).

We arrived at Monsters Inc at 11:45 - it was good fun and a great family dark ride…

There weren’t many more Lightening Lane options left to book, so we decided to get some lunch, watch Rogers The Musical then head back to the hotel for a rest (as we could still book a LL for TSMM for when we come back later tonight). We also reserved a viewing spot for World of Colour: One at 9pm.

12:20 - We ended up at SmokeJumpers Grill in Grizzly Peak for lunch….

Tenders for Tom, Spicy Chicken Burger for Rich, and a seasonal special Bacon-Chilly Macncheese Chicken sandwich for me. All came with Crinkle fries and we got a large Coke to share ($48.77)…

We all really enjoyed our choices, even though mine was a bit spicier than I would normally choose - It was a really good theme park meal, and good value too.

We had a restroom break and popped into the store opposite SmokeJumpers…

We still had a bit of time to fill before Rogers so we mooched in some more shops on Buena Street..

At 1:15 we still hadn’t had a notification for our Rogers The Musical check in, so we went to the entrance and a Cast a Member told us the 1:45 show was full, and that if there is space available we may be called for the 4pm show instead…

All of the Premium Viewing packages had sold out for the day…

We decided we were all done in the park for now, so headed out, arriving back at the hotel just after 2pm.

Our plan of action for later was to head back to the park for a few hours at about 6pm, then over to Anaheim Garden Walk and Cheesecake Factory for dinner (saving World of Colour for Wednesday night).

The TSMM LL time was still only 4:30-5:30, so I finished off my notes from yesterday, whilst waiting for it to get a bit later.

We checked Google Maps and worked out our plan / Uber route for tomorrow: Original Pancake House for a late breakfast, then onto Puente Hills Mall (which opens at 12pm). back to the hotel for a rest / chill, and then Outlets at Orange and Dave’s Hot Chicken for dinner (as they are close together).

Rich also checked reviews for Byrd’s Hot Chicken, which we’d seen on the walk back from Disney - it looked good so we added it to the Food A list (possibly instead of Anaheim Packing House).

By 2:45 the LL for TSMM was up to 6:10-7:10 so I booked it and set an alarm for 2 hours time, when I could stack another one.

I managed to drop off and got a full hours sleep, then dozed for a bit more until 4:45.

There wasn’t much left for us to book, so we went for Grizzly River Run (rubber dinghy rapids) at 5:30-6:30.

We all got changed and I packed some flip flops and a trusty Footasylum carrier bag to keep our stuff dry on the rapids.

We’d seen on the weather app throughout the day that Hurricane Hillary was on its way (the first California Hurraicane in over 70 years). It was saying that it would be actually more of a tropical storm by the time it hit California, and we’d already planned that tomorrow was going to our Puente Hills / Rest day, so it wasn’t going to spoil our plans…

The weather forecast said some light rain may start at 6 (but it didn’t in the end).

We were ready to head back out by 5:20 - Rich mentioned that this was the first time since 2005 that he didn’t have our trusty Nautica rucksack to carry around, and I realised I hadn’t even thought to pack it this year.

The unhoused man who was usually sat in the bus stop by CVS was warning everyone passing that Hillary was coming. I hope he was able to find somewhere to shelter for it.

We were in the park by 5:45, passing Mickey and Daisy on the way to Grizzly River Run…

5:55 - I changed into my flip flops for the ride, and we gave the Footasylum bag it’s first (and only) outing of the trip..

It was a really good rapids, with 2 surprise drops. It’s no Bilge Rat Barges (which is my all time favourite for theming and soaks), but probably the best technically. We got a bit damp but not too bad.

6:20 - We arrived at TSMM, but when I went to open our LL reservation for scanning, it was down again and we’d been given a Multiple Experiences LL instead.

We pondered whether to use it for Guardians or Increadicoaster, and decided on Incredicoaster as it was closer, and scanned straight on. It was another good ride…

We mooched in the Pixar shop - Tom was looking at the Remi plush again and thought that it’d be a great gift for Lola, and said that he’d get it it later in the week.

Rich and I loved these Woody’s Roundup Marionettes, but there was no way we could fit them in our cases to get them home…

We noticed that the Pixar Lamp moves on this sign…

6:45 - I got a Cappuccino from the Joffrey’s stand just over the Pixar Pier bridge ($5.75)…

They had a S’mores Cold Brew special which looked nice - I put in on the wish list for our next visit on Wednesday…

We wandered around the Samfrantokyo food area, whilst I drank my Cappuccino, which was really nice once it had cooled down a bit (the cup was really hot and difficult to carry at first)…

Even though it was still too early for the neon lighting, we went went into Cars Land for a mooch, taking loads of photos..

We saw Lightening McQueen, bringing back memories of Tom meeting him in 2006 and 2008 - he was a big cars fan and had loads of the mini cars toys…

More pics and a mooch in the shops…

We’d known in advance that Radiator Springs Racers was closed for Maintenance during our trip, which was a shame, but we got some nice pics…

7:15 - We mooched through Avengers Campus, seeing Loki, Thor and Groot…

Guardians looked fab in the twilight…

We took a few more sunset pics in the Hollywood area, and saw Mickey and Goofy as they were passing by…

Tom accidentally got a great video of Mickey pointing at him as he was filming the Trolley Car - the pic is a bit blurry as it’s a screenshot of his Insta story…

We stopped for some photo pass pics next to the Walt and Mickey statue…

We were next in line but had to wait a while as the photographer was talking to the girls she’d been taking pics of before us.

The pics didn’t come though straight away, but when they did they were nice…

It was around 7:30 as we left the park…

The sky looking across to Disneyland was stunning…

We all agreed that California Adventure is a really fantastic park with the better rides of the two, but based one 1 day in each park, Disneyland just pips it for the vibe and magical feelings.

It took about 15 mins to walk to Anaheim Garden Walk, arriving at 7:50. There were dinosaur statues lining the walkway up to it…

We had a mooch around the various stalls that were there for the Anime Days event..

Tom bought a $5 mystery Pokémon bag and got a scrunchy and a keyring…

We added some bits to the chalkboard graffiti sign…

We had a look in a cool shop where you could rent board games to play…

Garden Walk had a great vibe - like Pointe Orlando used to be back in the day.

By 8:10 we’d arrived at Cheesecake Factory - I checked us in and we were advised it was a 30 min wait, so we went outside for Rich and Tom to have a smoke / vape.

The lighting outside (running down the side of the Disney parking lot was really pretty…

Our buzzer went off quite quickly, and after a few mins wait by the front podium, we were seated by 8:30…

We had the obligatory bread to start (all brown ) - we all dived in quickly so I didn’t get a photo.

Dr Pepper for Rich and Tom and Sprite for me whilst we browsed the menu. We all ended up going for the same as last year - Steak Diane for me and Bacon Bacon Burgers for Rich and Tom (Tom swapped to sweet potato fries).

Our server brought us some more bread (mixed this time) and drink refills for Rich and Tom.

The food was amazing - my photos (below) do not do it justice…

I couldn’t manage all my mash as it was a huge portion and very buttery / rich.

Tom got a better pic of his burger…

It was definitely a cheesecakes to go situation. Key Lime for me, Cinnabon’ Cinnamon Swirl for Tom and Chocolate Caramelicious Cheesecake Made with Snickers for Rich….

The bill came to $123.59 - we rounded up to $150 as our server had been great.

9:30 - Although we were all really full and tired it wasn’t too far to the hotel, and there was still no sign of any rain, so we walked back…

We could see and hear the Disneyland Fireworks on the way…

We all agreed it would probably be best to skip House of Pancakes in the morning as we’d probably still be full from tonight, so it would be a waste. This meant we could have a longer lie in.

We were back at the hotel by 9:45 - Tom stayed downstairs to FaceTime Lola.

I was getting changed into my PJs in the bathroom and Rich had made a start on his cheesecake before I came out, so I only got pics of mine and Tom’s…

Rich just about managed to finish his cheesecake. I had half of mine and Tom was too full to have any tonight.

At 10:15 we saw on Twitter that Six Flags had announced they would be closed all day tomorrow and that Disney would closing early due to Hurricane Hilary, so we put the news on the TV and checked Twitter for more updates. Hilary was still due to hit Southern California, but had been downgraded to Category 1, so hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad for us…

At 10:30 we settled down for the night - Rich and Tom were both asleep quickly but it took me until 12:10am to type up my notes for today as it had been another busy one. It was ok though as we had no alarms set for tomorrow morning

24,183 steps today and 657 excess calories burned off today, so we earned our Cheesecakes

Day 3: Puente Hills Mall, Outlets & “Hurricane” Hillary

[katnav]

We love a cheesecake factory too! Hope you miss the majority of the weather the next day.

Getting lots done each day.

[Ohanaa]

Sounds like you are having a great time!

[Cinderella]

Great day