USA Trip 2014 Park #4
1 Dec 2014
This was the day that Disney redeemed itself in my eyes. Crowds were manageable, there were a few great rides, and the fountain show at the end of the day was wonderful. I suspect that hearing a nearby group of teenage boys belting out Let it Go word for word added to the impressiveness.
Terror and I chose to go to Disney California Adventure Park instead of Disneyland Park because the rides looked better, and we had both done the whole Disney princess castle thing before.
I was mostly looking forward to the Tower of Terror. Sure this was not a roller coaster, but I had seen the ride on TV as a kid and had wanted to go on it ever since. The whole set up was great, from the exterior of the hotel, to the interior design, and the ride itself. By this point we had downloaded more game apps on our phone to keep us entertained while queueing, so the hour long wait didn’t seem so bad.
As we strapped ourselves in for the Twilight Zone themed elevator of doom, I knew what to expect but it didn’t make the ride any less fun. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard on a ride before. The sudden ups and downs provides some air time and stomach dropping feelings that I love. I am also a terrible person, and thoroughly enjoyed watching children scrunch up their little faces and bury in to mum/dad’s side until it was over. I reckon their parents told them they were going to ride an elevator, without providing the full details of the thrill factor. We went on a few times, experimenting with a few different ride photos. I think my favourite one was where I dropped a peanut down Terror’s shirt just as the ride started falling. Truth be told I would be satisfied sitting on this one all day. I was curious as to why I hate drop towers, yet this ride was a favourite. I have come to the conclusion that I love the feel of falling, but hate the heights and the anticipation. Ok so back to the hunt for a coaster…
Cars Land was a bit of fun, filled with mostly kiddy rides. We quickly jumped on Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree which I think is the result of a tractor and the cha-cha hooking up.
While lining up for the Radiator Springs Raceway, Terror and I decided to split up and jump in the single rider queue. Even though we couldn’t sit together, it did reduce our waiting time significantly. We also met an interesting character who was on a mission to ride this attraction every day for a whole year. He had a nice looking collection of entry pass tags, and we wished him well. The ride itself was just ok, but the scenery was pretty cool to look at. It felt a bit like a roller coaster, but looked more like a giant slot car system. At least we were getting closer to a coaster?
Terror and I then headed to the only true coaster for the park (we already know Disney is not known for big numbers of roller coasters!) California Screamin’ was actually way better than we were expecting. The fast launch, some great hills, a couple of tunnels and some decent air over the little camelback section made it really fun.
We were also pleasantly surprised by Mickey’s Fun Wheel. Congratulations Disney, you made Ferris Wheels fun! (Now if only you could add another Thunder Mountain style coaster to the Grizzly Peak area, I would be extra impressed!) You could take the easy version which is just a standard ferris wheel experience, or you could choose an interior gondola which move side to side as the wheel goes around. No prizes for guessing which one we chose. This ride was also the centre piece for the fountain show which was themed around Frozen.
Part of what made this Disney experience good, is that you could enjoy the park without the big thrills (who am I anymore??) We loved A Bug’s Land, and the fun little touches of humour throughout.
The Little Mermaid ride was sedate but cute, the Monster’s Inc ride and decorations were very clever, and the indoor flying ride Soarin’ over California was well done.
Terror is also a huge Aladdin fan, and we both loved this musical spectacular. There was a huge variety of food choices, great places to sit and relax, and we found the chilled atmosphere really refreshing. I think I also enjoyed the inclusion of a lot of Pixar characters instead of the usual Disney princesses. Even though California Adventure was not Disney’s biggest or most impressive park, it was the one I enjoyed the most.
The weather had been so kind to us, so we didn’t mind that on our next day off, it was absolutely bucketing down. We made the most of it by visiting our first Walmart, and trying on all the glorious knitted Christmas jumpers we could find. My one regret of the trip was not buying them all.
We also visited an outlet centre, and ate the most delicious thing I have ever experienced in my life. It was a strawberry cheesecake flavoured caramel apple. OH. MY. GOD. This surely was the food of gods. It also gave me one massive sugar high, that poor Terror had to deal with as she was the designated driver.
Our last stop in California was a banked track roller derby venue. In Australia we only have flat tracks, so we got in touch with a local derby league who were happy for us to come and crash their training. It was very unfamiliar, and although I think we did ok, I did end up with a mild concussion after a massive stack in to the middle of the track. I was pretty nauseous and woke up with some epic whiplash, but there was no time to see a doctor…we had a plane to catch and more coasters to find!
Roller Coaster Ramble 