{"id":599,"date":"2014-10-16T12:24:31","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T12:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.garrard.com.au\/usa\/?p=599"},"modified":"2015-02-23T22:21:02","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T22:21:02","slug":"disney-california-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.garrard.com.au\/usa\/uncategorized\/disney-california-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney California Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After tearfully farewelling the Mays and wending our\u00a0sombre way down the Santa Ana Freeway,\u00a0we arrived at Disney California Adventure around late morning. \u00a0As mentioned in the\u00a0Disneyland post, we spent three days flitting\u00a0between the parks, but I’ve put all the Disney California pics in this one post. \u00a0And just saying, Disney California Adventure is FUN FUN FUN. \u00a0Another thing we appreciated\u00a0about the two Disney parks was that their Halloween celebrations were totally dialed down compared with Universal Studios. \u00a0In fact, Disney California Adventure didn’t have anything Halloween at all.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Radiator Springs. \u00a0Oh happy day. \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/div>\n

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It was sincerely\u00a0cool. \u00a0We’d heard people opine\u00a0that Cars Land\u00a0wasn’t particularly impressive, but we LOVED it, especially the Radiator Springs Racers. \u00a0TOO MUCH FUN. \u00a0The lines for the Racers\u00a0were always super\u00a0long, so we opted to utilise\u00a0the\u00a0the single rider lane. \u00a0Radiator Springs Racers are are series of cars\u00a0each with\u00a0two rows of four seats. \u00a0Single riders are used to fill up the spare seats. It just meant that you weren’t always\u00a0able to ride as a family. \u00a0But after experiencing the first enormous wait in the main line, we felt that cutting the wait time in half (or more) was worth it. \u00a0It worked extremely well\u00a0for us. \u00a0So there’s your tip of the day; when visiting any of the Disney parks, try the single rider line.<\/p><\/div>\n

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We had lunch at Flo’s – how fun is that!!<\/p><\/div>\n

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The boys met up with Lightning at the Cosy Cone Motel.<\/p><\/div>\n

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We spent a goodly amount of time in Radiator Springs. \u00a0We’re Cars fans from way back.<\/p><\/div>\n

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But there was more to see and do than just Cars Land!<\/p><\/div>\n

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This is another ride we visited several times. \u00a0Such fun.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Not only did we get beautifully saturated on a hot day, but we also got to chat with our fellow adventurers. \u00a0These two guys were visiting from Utah.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Nate wasn’t big on the California Screamin’ rollercoaster, so he and I circled many a time on the merry-go-round that sat at the foot of the rollercoaster entrance.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The rest of the kids and John, however, couldn’t get enough of the California Screamin’. \u00a0Andy informs me he went on it seven times.<\/p><\/div>\n

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After which they were pretty familiar with where the camera was.<\/p><\/div>\n

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I couldn’t convince Nate that the California Screamin’ would be fun, but I did eventually talk him into Goofy’s Fly School, which is a little smaller. \u00a0Just quietly, I think it was worse than California Screamin’ would have been. \u00a0(Dad, it was like the Mad Mouse.)<\/p><\/div>\n

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He also got to meet Buzz while he was waiting. \u00a0Nathan confided to me that while the hug was great, Buzz’s plastic armor was actually a\u00a0little uncomfortable. \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/div>\n

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Every day, in both parks, there was a parade of all the characters that wound through the main thoroughfares.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Meeting Flick in ‘A Bugs Land’.<\/p><\/div>\n

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In spite of it’s predictable storyline, I like\u00a0Planes. Consequently,\u00a0I really enjoyed Condor Flats. \u00a0And if you ever get there, the ‘Soaring Over California’ ride is something really unique. \u00a0We decided it was one of our favourites. \u00a0Just make sure you get a Fastpass early.<\/p><\/div>\n

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We made sure we got a Fastpass for Disney’s World of Colour, and I’m so glad we did – it was truly spectacular. \u00a0We would definitely recommend going if you can. \u00a0While we were waiting for the show to start, we downloaded the app to play ‘Simon’ with the ferris wheel. \u00a0Who knew you could do that? \u00a0And if you won the round, you could choose the next colour pattern for the whole crowd. \u00a0We didn’t win, but it was a brilliant way to pass the time.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Okay, Disney’s World of Colour. \u00a0It was beautiful. \u00a0It was positioned on the lake in front of Paradise Pier, and it was a combination of music, and water, and fireworks, and fire, and colour, and shapes, and sound, and imagination. \u00a0Scenes from Disney films were projected onto screens made purely of water mist. \u00a0It was a magical effect and so beautiful. \u00a0The fountains of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, while still very impressive, had nothing on this. \u00a0Highly, highly recommended. \u00a0We saw this on our last night at the Disney parks. \u00a0We stayed at Disney California Adventure\u00a0until midnight, and then headed for the Disney Store outside the gate for some late night shopping. \u00a0By this stage, John and the two younger boys were dropping on their feet, so they made their way\u00a0to the car, whereupon they promptly fell asleep. \u00a0We eventually headed home at about 1am in the morning. \u00a0We totally enjoyed our three days at Disney.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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